Newly Certified... Who to dive with?

[sslkrissi]

Hello,
I will be in Cozumel on 06/27/08 while on a cruise ship. This will basically be my first dive after being certified (unless I dive in Roatan too, then this will be my 2nd dive) and I am a little bit nervous. Can anyone recommend a good dive operator that would take care of us?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[old gaffer]

I did my first Cozumel drift dive with Scuba with Alison while on a cruise stop last november. Small fast boats and great personal attention. You would need to contact her ahead of time however. Just do a google search for Scuba with Alison and you will find it. She will give you the details but essentialy you would take a taxi from the cruise ship pier to the Caleta Marina to meet her boat and you would have plenty of time for a 2 tank dive with time to stop somewhere for lunch before going back to the ship. You will save quite a bit of money over booking with the cruise lines dive shore excursion. I think through Royal Carribean a 2 tank boat dive was about $130 and Alison was $70 add in cab fare and you still come out money ahead and you will be diving with no more than 6 to eight people and maybe less than that as opposed to at least 12 on a large slow boat with the cruise lines shore excursion.

Alison has an excellent reputation on these boards and I know she will work with cruise ship passengers. Be sure and let her know that these will be your first ocean drift dives. You will love it!

Gaffer

 

[sslkrissi]

Thanks for the advice. I actually already contacted Allison and unfortunately she is full for that day. Any others come to mind??? A few others that I have contacted that have space available are Dive with Martin, Aldora and Bottom Time Divers. Is there a favorite among these?

Thanks

 

[ronbeau]

Thanks for the advice. I actually already contacted Allison and unfortunately she is full for that day. Any others come to mind??? A few others that I have contacted that have space available are Dive with Martin, Aldora and Bottom Time Divers. Is there a favorite among these?

Thanks

You might want to search this forum for the three dive operators you listed. I believe you will find good review for Dive with Martin and Aldora divers at a minimum.

I have never used either of these operators since I have never been to Cozumel. I just read ScubaBoard on a regular basis.

 

[krbailey]

I just returned from Cozumel and had 17 dives with Dive with Martin, including my AOW certification. I found them to be very professional and a pleasure to dive with (not to mention great prices!). The Dive with Martin Shop is located at the cruise ship terminal, which is very convenient for your purposes.

 

[loudives]

Bottom time for me. Raul is very good and goes nice and slow all the time. A new and nervous diver will love this style. Also since he is owner/divemaster when you tell him what your concerns are he doesn't have to relay to a divemaster.

Raul's boat is a six pack so you get more personal attention. I've been diving with him every year for 15 years and have never seen him do a customer wrong. Many times he only has 2-3 divers so it's like having a private charter.

Email his personal address other than the web site is raul_platas@yahoo.com

BTW his boat has a canopy which comes in handy if you already got to much sun on the cruise.

Relax on you dive, water is clear and warm.

A great 50' dive is "Cedral Pass" bottom at 50' so you don't worry about depth, there is good small reef with lots of life and some small swim throughs. Great dive for a nervous newbie.

 

[sslkrissi]

Thanks again for both replies!

krbailey- since you just have been diving w/ martin, I have a few questions for you...
1. Is there shade on the boat?
2. How long is the surface interval and was it on the boat or did you stop somewhere? If so, where did you go?
3. Do they provide water, sodas and/or snacks?

Thanks

 

[sslkrissi]

loudives- with Bottom time, where do you go for the surface interval and for how long? Does Bottom time provide you with beverages and/or snacks?

Thanks

 

[mamanan]

I too would go with Bottom Time. Had booked with another operator and didn't like them (cattle boat). I also got a response from Loudives about Raul. Hubby and I tried him and got hooked. Such a nice guy and helped me tremendously as I also was new to diving. Raul was just perfect.
We have been back six times since then and Raul always seems to find things others never see because he takes his time and goes slow underwater. I get to stay down longer with him because I'm so comfortable.

Raul says Lou comes 3-5 times a year and I just haven't been able to meet up with him to thank him in person. I will always take the advice he gives me about Cozumel. He also has a few backup operators he dives with if Raul can't take him. I would have to research there names but if Raul has room go with him.

Nan

 

[loudives]

loudives- with Bottom time, where do you go for the surface interval and for how long? Does Bottom time provide you with beverages and/or snacks?

Thanks

Raul has bottle water, most times has Banana, cantaloupe, watermelon, cookies, real good pond cake with coconut sprinkles. He doesn't have all these every day but usually 2 of the above on the boat. May not get the cake if less than 4 on the boat.

He also has lined rain slickers, first aid kit, radio, towels. All you need to bring is YOU, YOUR GEAR, AND MONEY.

BTW cash only on the island. Credit card on the web is OK.

Surface interval depends on where your dives are. Far southern sites he will do interval at an old pier on an abandoned beach. Many boats go there. There is also a beach club about half a mile north that he frequents for the interval. There are several other piers that you do intervals at. Sometimes if the divesites are far from each other he will troll to the site doing interval as you troll but you can ask him to beach or tie to a pier and he will.

Since you are a newbie and nervous he will not take you deep and you will probably be so excited at what you will see that your bottom time will be short as you will suck air. This makes the surface interval about 1 hour. The deeper and longer the dive the longer the interval has to be.

Make sure you give him the ships dock times so he can suggest dive sites that will get you back on time. 2 tank dives take 3.5-4 hours on average.