Cozumel Newbie questions

[Fordan]

Going to be heading down to Cozumel end of Jan/early Feb, and had a few questions.

1) Everything seems to be set up around the 2-tank dive; do most people do only the 2 dives per day, or do they try and set up 2 dives in the morning, and 1-2 in the afternoon/evening? Do the dive profiles allow this?

2) How deep are the dives? The impression I get from looking around is 80-100+ ft... Are there many where you start pushing the MOD of EAN32 at 111fsw? Or EAN36 at 95fsw? Do many divers dive Nitrox down there?

3) How are singles/instabuddies handled on the smaller boats? Seems like there's a decent chance of ending up with a couple of buddy pairs plus me. Typically, this means I'd probably end up paired with the dive master, or worse, intruding into someone else's established buddy pair, which leads into...

4) How is ending the dive typically handled? Entire DM led group at once when the first person gets low on air, buddy pairs head up together, or individuals going up alone? I know I'm an air hog, and that I'm likely to be one of the first to run low on air for most of the obvious reasons (newness, big guy-6'3", could be in better shape, etc). I'd hate to force an entire group up or a buddy pair that could have stayed down longer if forced onto them. I've looked at some dive shops that offer a private divemaster as a possible solution, but that isn't a particularly cheap option...

5) Safety gear... Anything mandatory? Anything a Really Good Idea? Anything provided by most dive ops? Last ocean diving I did was down at the Great Barrier Reef, and Queensland requires a safety sausage/whistle for all divers, which my liveaboard provided.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[jjwdiver]

Here are my thoughts on this...

Going to be heading down to Cozumel end of Jan/early Feb, and had a few questions.

1) Everything seems to be set up around the 2-tank dive; do most people do only the 2 dives per day, or do they try and set up 2 dives in the morning, and 1-2 in the afternoon/evening? Do the dive profiles allow this? yes, its possible to do that or more, but follow your computer, tables and common sense

2) How deep are the dives? anywhere from 0' to 130' is commonThe impression I get from looking around is 80-100+ ft... Are there many where you start pushing the MOD of EAN32 at 111fsw? Or EAN36 at 95fsw? Do many divers dive Nitrox down there? Nitrox is available anytime...but let dive operator know the day before so they have it ready for you. Bring an analyzer and check it yourself so you dive the right settings on your computer

3) How are singles/instabuddies handled on the smaller boats? Seems like there's a decent chance of ending up with a couple of buddy pairs plus me. Typically, this means I'd probably end up paired with the dive master, or worse, intruding into someone else's established buddy pair, which leads into... easy to hook up with a buddy or 3, if diving nitrox...get with another who is also

4) How is ending the dive typically handled? Entire DM led group at once when the first person gets low on air, buddy pairs head up together, or individuals going up alone? all of the above - depends on the DM, the dive site, buddy abilities, etc...I know I'm an air hog, and that I'm likely to be one of the first to run low on air for most of the obvious reasons (newness, big guy-6'3", could be in better shape, etc). I'd hate to force an entire group up or a buddy pair that could have stayed down longer if forced onto them. dont be shy about your air consumption. worse dive I ever had was because air suck guy never said anything. I have great air consumption and am willing to share...so buddy & I end up together or with group. Ask around to see if someone would be willing to do the same I've looked at some dive shops that offer a private divemaster as a possible solution, but that isn't a particularly cheap option...

5) Safety gear... Anything mandatory? Anything a Really Good Idea? buy a safety sausage or signal bag...whatever you want to call it. Have a whistle, stick near a buddy or atleast within sight, dont touch stuff!Anything provided by most dive ops? Last ocean diving I did was down at the Great Barrier Reef, and Queensland requires a safety sausage/whistle for all divers, which my liveaboard provided. you're on your own for these things in Coz as far as I know

Thanks for any help you can provide!

you're welcome! I'll be there soon...very soon!!!!

 

[DandyDon]

Jjwdiver did a great job on your questions. I'd like to add only couple of comments...

Going to be heading down to Cozumel end of Jan/early Feb, and had a few questions.

1) Everything seems to be set up around the 2-tank dive; do most people do only the 2 dives per day, or do they try and set up 2 dives in the morning, and 1-2 in the afternoon/evening? Do the dive profiles allow this?

With the multi level nature of the dives, two-two tank boat trips doesn't load you up too badly on air, but a Nitrox tank or two would help a lot. I did 4 air tanks one day last trip and got close to deco once.

2) How deep are the dives? The impression I get from looking around is 80-100+ ft... Are there many where you start pushing the MOD of EAN32 at 111fsw? Or EAN36 at 95fsw? Do many divers dive Nitrox down there?

Yep, but I hope your Operator doesn't take a newbie on dives beyond 111 ft. The 95 Mod could be a problem on some dives, but you might dive air first tank, the 36% on the second/shallower dive to avoid Ns build up on a 4 tank day. If you don't own a Nitrox analyzer, the shop should have one.

3) How are singles/instabuddies handled on the smaller boats? Seems like there's a decent chance of ending up with a couple of buddy pairs plus me. Typically, this means I'd probably end up paired with the dive master, or worse, intruding into someone else's established buddy pair, which leads into...

As tight as the DM lead groups are in Coz diving, that'll be easy enough to work around.

4) How is ending the dive typically handled? Entire DM led group at once when the first person gets low on air, buddy pairs head up together, or individuals going up alone? I know I'm an air hog, and that I'm likely to be one of the first to run low on air for most of the obvious reasons (newness, big guy-6'3", could be in better shape, etc). I'd hate to force an entire group up or a buddy pair that could have stayed down longer if forced onto them. I've looked at some dive shops that offer a private divemaster as a possible solution, but that isn't a particularly cheap option...

Ascending alone is a bad idea, altho done. You have a month to shape up a bit. Ask your Op about 100 cf tanks.

5) Safety gear... Anything mandatory? Anything a Really Good Idea? Anything provided by most dive ops? Last ocean diving I did was down at the Great Barrier Reef, and Queensland requires a safety sausage/whistle for all divers, which my liveaboard provided.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

I would never go into the ocean without a safety sausage and storm whistle. Never have, never will - but you have to own those. $30

Have you booked your Operator & hotel yet...?

 

[Fordan]

Bring an analyzer and check it yourself so you dive the right settings on your computer

They won't have an analyzer I can use to check the percentage? I don't currently have one... I don't object to picking one up, other than it being yet another piece of gear to haul around for diving. In my Nitrox class, they told us that there would be an analyzer where we got the fills, although some people did pick up an analyzer themselves to recheck their tanks before diving on them.

Thinking about it, my shop may have been prepping us to dive Nitrox with tanks picked up from them. In Cozumel, where it seems most of the ops have their tanks filled at the marina, I could see a dive op without an analyzer possibly.

I have great air consumption and am willing to share...so buddy & I end up together or with group.

So your buddy was breathing off your Octo? Seems like a good way to give a DM a heart attack, at least if you don't tell him/her ahead of time...

Yep, but I hope your Operator doesn't take a newbie on dives beyond 111 ft.

But but but.... I have this AOW card that says I'm an Advanced Diver! (joke... The AOW worth/timing threads are that way ----> ) My deepest dive to date is 76 feet (my AOW "deep" dive) so some of the depth I hear listed seem a bit daunting still.

Ascending alone is a bad idea, altho done.

Agreed, but I have done it, albeit from around 15-20 feet (liveaboard instabuddy didn't want to dive, ended up grouping up with a married couple with good air consumption. Agreement with them and crew that when I got low, I'd hit the surface and snorkle back to the boat) Doing it from 60-90+ feet down does not seem like a good idea. I really don't want to be the guy who forces people I barely know up early, though, which is why I was considering arranging for a private DM for a buddy. (Who I'll also force up early, but since I'm paying him, don't care as much). Maybe I'm just being paranoid about this.

I am looking at dive ops who use bigger tanks, but the ones that have everyone on big tanks leave me in the same position, where I'll still be out of air earlier than most.

Have you booked your Operator & hotel yet...?

No, not yet. I've spoke to one dive op so far to get pricing for a hotel/op package. I'll gladly take any recommendations people have specific to me; I am reading the various dive op threads in this forum, though. One thing I was thinking about doing was spliting my time up to dive with say 2 operators... thoughts on this?

What do people think of Casa Mexicana? Seems a bit expensive (compared to others), but the Internet access in the room is attractive to me.

 

[Fordan]

Oh, and to toss yet another question on the pile, wetsuit, or not? I'm leaning against, since when I did my liveaboard at the GBR, I had one with me, but only used it on the first dive, and did swim trunks/t-shirt the rest of the time. Water temp was a pretty constant 74F, and I was comfortable the entire time, even with 4 dives in a day... My only concern is protection from wildlife doing bad things with unprotected skin. How much risk is there in Cozumel?

Again, thanks for everyone's responses.

 

[scubawife]

Oh, and to toss yet another question on the pile, wetsuit, or not? I'm leaning against, since when I did my liveaboard at the GBR, I had one with me, but only used it on the first dive, and did swim trunks/t-shirt the rest of the time. Water temp was a pretty constant 74F, and I was comfortable the entire time, even with 4 dives in a day... My only concern is protection from wildlife doing bad things with unprotected skin. How much risk is there in Cozumel?

Again, thanks for everyone's responses.

If you dived in 74F doing 4 dives/day over multiple days and were comfortable without a suit, you should be fine in Cozumel. I spend two weeks diving in Coz and the mainland earlier this months. Temps were consistently 79-81F.

A couple things to keep in mind - length and depth of your dives. If you're doing 4 shallow dives and they are short, you might not be cold. If you do longer, deeper dives, that could change. If your suit is a 3mm or less, I'd take it just in case you need it.

Getting Nitrox isn't a problem. Most shops charge an extra $10/tank. You'll usually dive the first tank air and second tank nitrox. You'll get 32 or 36, but most won't guarantee which one you'll get since it depends what they have available at the fill station. The op should have an analyzer onboard and offer to allow you to analyze your tank.

I dive with ops that use steel tanks. You're right about the tanks. If you're an air hog then being with good breather who have the same size tank isn't going to help you much. Your times will be longer then usual, but the rest of the group will still do better. You might want to look at dive ops who use AL80's but can provide you with an AL100. That should help. If you want to work on improving your air consumption, consider hiring an instructor for a couple days who will asses your skills and help you perfect your bouyancy, drop some weight, suggest differnt breathing excercises, etc. All of which will help your get more time from your tank.

 

[DandyDon]

They won't have an analyzer I can use to check the percentage? I don't currently have one... I don't object to picking one up, other than it being yet another piece of gear to haul around for diving. In my Nitrox class, they told us that there would be an analyzer where we got the fills, although some people did pick up an analyzer themselves to recheck their tanks before diving on them.

You missed my post on that... " If you don't own a Nitrox analyzer, the shop should have one."

Since you do have Aow, they may take you on deeper dives. Watch your MODs, and read up on downcurrents on this forum.

Oh, and to toss yet another question on the pile, wetsuit, or not? I'm leaning against, since when I did my liveaboard at the GBR, I had one with me, but only used it on the first dive, and did swim trunks/t-shirt the rest of the time. Water temp was a pretty constant 74F, and I was comfortable the entire time, even with 4 dives in a day... My only concern is protection from wildlife doing bad things with unprotected skin. How much risk is there in Cozumel?

Again, thanks for everyone's responses.

I dive a full skin always, and put a long wetsuit over it when needed. As yu get better with air consumption, you'll chill faster. This varies a lot with divers, tho. I'm taking my skin, 3 mil and 5 mil, just cuz I'd hate to want a heavier suit I left back home if the 3 wasn't enough for me - which is should be.

You may be fine in a skin, but take a wet suit just in case. The water will probably be warmer than 74, but if a norte hits, the wind could be a little cool, or - you might get ill enough to chill, but not stop your diving. Lots of possibilities.

There are many good Ops on Coz. Blue XT seems to be the most popular over all on SB, and for good reason - it's probably the best. You just need to read the reviews here to find others have their own other favorites. There are a couple I'd never dive with again, but others here like them.

I would not change Ops during the stay. They usually like to evaluate you a bit the first day you dive with them, and you can often get better packages staying with one Op.

 

[Moodiejeff]

They won't have an analyzer I can use to check the percentage?

If the dive op offers Nitrox, they will have one to confirm the tanks. The better ones will anyway...

I really don't want to be the guy who forces people I barely know up early... Maybe I'm just being paranoid about this.

If you get sent up early the DM shoots up his marker buoy... just stay close to it and you'll be fine. It is a good insurance policy to bring that safety sausage (just in case )

What do people think of Casa Mexicana? Seems a bit expensive (compared to others), but the Internet access in the room is attractive to me.

Casa Mexicana is one of the nicest hotels on the island. If you're comparing it to places like The Barracuda (just an example) it is like comparing apples and rotten oranges. The breakfast buffet is one of the reasons people stay there. It opens early enough to where you can get a nice full breakfast before your dives in the morning. The price is a bargain if comparing it with some of the other nicer hotels. If staying there I would look into finding a shop that will pick you up at the "Aldora" pier which is about a block away.

As far as tanks: My opinion (as suggested by others) is to go with a dive op that uses AL80s but will get you AL100s to use.

To all you Barracuda supporters: Before you start to flame me, I have stayed at Casa Mexicana and I've been to Barracuda 3 times but have never stayed there, like I said it was just an example to illustrate the price differential.

 

[jjwdiver]

All really great advice. One more note on the analyzer and safety sausage.... Who do you trust? I have my own stuff as I know it was taken care of, recently maintained, cleaned, works right, etc... Not that I'm paranoid, but its my life, not theirs. All they loose is a reputation.

The safety sausage is a seat belt...rarely needed but when you want one, its there!

As a Divemaster, we're trained to look out for the obvious signs of a diver in distress (and those headed that way). Like boy scouts...BE PREPARED. When I wrote earlier in this thread about "sharing air" with an air hog...its always talked about before the dives to the guide/Divemaster. Since I always go with Blue Angel, they know me and my capabilities as a diver. Very comforting to KNOW who you're diving with and that they KNOW you and your manurisms...comes in handy when your communication is limited.

Rambling on....

I always wear a 3mm full suit. Keeps me warmer at the end of the week's worth of diving, & when I hug fire coral it doesnt hurt (just joking!) but if I happen to brush into something or am pummeled into a coral by a diver w/no buoyancy sense...the suit gets ripped, not me.

Bottom line - it's Cozumel. Relax, Dive, Enjoy!

 

[Christi]

I will start by saying that ALL of these questions would best be answered by specific dive operators that you are considering, as everyone has their own procedures and policies. While very well intended by everyone who has answered, no one here can speak to the specific procedures and policies of individual dive operators.

My suggestion is to send your questions to the dive ops you are considering. You can then make your decision based on their responses.

While you have received some very good general answers, I have also added my 2 pesos

Going to be heading down to Cozumel end of Jan/early Feb, and had a few questions.

1) Everything seems to be set up around the 2-tank dive; do most people do only the 2 dives per day, or do they try and set up 2 dives in the morning, and 1-2 in the afternoon/evening? Do the dive profiles allow this?
The standard daily schedule of every operator is a two-tank morning dive. The exceptions to this are the large southern resort operators (Allegro, Occidental Grand, and Iberostar) who sell dives per tank. This is due to their southern location and the fact that they service only hotel guests. They come back to the hotel in between dives, so they can offer their service this way.

Afternoon dives and night dives are typically scheduled by operators with a minimum of four divers. During the winter months, a two-tank afternoon dive really becomes an afternoon/twilight dive since it gets dark about 5:30...although if you are doing short bottom times, this doesn't become an issue.

2) How deep are the dives? The impression I get from looking around is 80-100+ ft... Are there many where you start pushing the MOD of EAN32 at 111fsw? Or EAN36 at 95fsw? Do many divers dive Nitrox down there?
The typical profile for the first dive of the day is 80 to 100ft+, depending on the dive site selected. Dive site selection typically takes place on the boat each morning as a group. The divemasters talks with all of the divers and makes a decision where to go based on desires of the divers, conditions, experience levels of the divers, etc. If you are not comfortable with an 80 to 100 foot dive, I would highly recommend hiring a private divemaster to stay shallower with you. If the dive profile is too deep, you simply don't dive nitrox...period. There are only a few dives that are not suitable for nitrox, and as a new diver most operators wouldn't take you on these dives anyway until you have some more experience.

As far as whether or not you should dive nitrox...well, it's never a bad thing unless th profile is too deep of course. You state that you are an air hog, which would indicate to me that your bottom times are less than 45 minutes or so. If this is the case, nitrox really wouldn't benefit you much other than to give you less N2 loading, which as I stated is a good thing, but diving nitrox will not increase your bottom time in your case. Virtually every dive here is a multi-level dive as well, which helps extend bottom time allowances. People that typically use nitrox here are the ones that want it as "gieser gas" or those who typically do longer bottom times of 50 to 60+ minutes through the week. So, my short answer is that diving nitrox is really a personal decision. It is pretty much $10per tank across the board, although I have heard some shops are now charging $12 per tank for it.

The second dive of the morning is typically something between 40 and 60 feet. Again, this depends on the divers on board, conditions, surface interval time, etc.

3) How are singles/instabuddies handled on the smaller boats? Seems like there's a decent chance of ending up with a couple of buddy pairs plus me. Typically, this means I'd probably end up paired with the dive master, or worse, intruding into someone else's established buddy pair, which leads into...
Every divemaster/operator handles this differnetly. In Cozumel, we do dive as a group with a divemaster at all times. Per Marine Park regulations, the maximum diver to divemaster ratio is 8:1, although I know that some operators do not follow these regulations. The divemaster will either assign a buddy to you or he will become your dive buddy.

4) How is ending the dive typically handled? Entire DM led group at once when the first person gets low on air, buddy pairs head up together, or individuals going up alone? I know I'm an air hog, and that I'm likely to be one of the first to run low on air for most of the obvious reasons (newness, big guy-6'3", could be in better shape, etc). I'd hate to force an entire group up or a buddy pair that could have stayed down longer if forced onto them. I've looked at some dive shops that offer a private divemaster as a possible solution, but that isn't a particularly cheap option...
Again, this is an operator specific question

5) Safety gear... Anything mandatory? Anything a Really Good Idea? Anything provided by most dive ops? Last ocean diving I did was down at the Great Barrier Reef, and Queensland requires a safety sausage/whistle for all divers, which my liveaboard provided.
Every diver should have a safety sausage and a whistle regardless of who or where you are diving, so you should not expect the dive operator to supply these things. In Cozumel, we are drift diving with a busy channel so a safety sausage is even more important in the unlikely event that you get separated from your group. However, the most efective use of a sausage is to shoot it from the safety stop, which requires you to have line and a reel AND to know how to safely deploy it. All divemasters are required to have one and they will deploy it when they ascend with the group or when they send a diver(s) up.

Thanks for any help you can provide!