Hotel/Dive Shop Recommendation in Coz?

[Christi]

Here's a related question.

Do most of the dive ops all go to the same locations? Or does it vary according to different factors? ie. group experience, pick up location, conditions, etc.

I've got about 6 dives while I'm there and I want to make the most of them!

John

We all have access to the same sites. Some shops don't visit certain sites due to the distance, others charge extra for those sites, and some don't charge anything more...but reserve those sites for their multi-day divers.

Some shops have set schedules, others use the democracy system...ie: divers on the boat get asked where they want to go and everyone gets a vote...majority wins barring any unreasonable requests, conditions prohibit, or experience level of divers isn't suitable.

The truth is that there isn't really a bad dive here and no reputable shop is going to take you on crappy dives intentionally. With it being your first time here, I wouldn't worry about it too much....whatever sites you do will most likely end up with you anting MORE and planning your next trip before you even leave the island

As long as you're not banking on Devil's Throat, Barracuda or Maracaibo in your very limited three dive days...yuo will be happy and get some great dives in. If you're lucky and have the sufficient skill set, you may even get to one of these sites!

[awap]

Here's a related question.

Do most of the dive ops all go to the same locations? Or does it vary according to different factors? ie. group experience, pick up location, conditions, etc.

I've got about 6 dives while I'm there and I want to make the most of them!

John

If you really want to make the most of those dives, then an operation like Blue XT is the way to go. The extra amenities are nice if that is what you are looking for. While I do appreciate those extras, the reason I use Blue XT is simple - more bottom time. If you are reasonably good on air, they will structure the dives (depth/time profile) to get an hour or more out of most dives. Last week we got caught in some washing machine currents at Palancar Bricks which took its toll on consumption rates and resulted in that one dive well under an hour. All the rest ran right about an hour except for a spectacular 1.5 hour trip through Columbia Shallows. The extra cost is more than offset by the additional bottom time and extended, relaxed SI.

[jcole]

Thanks Christi and Awap...

That's pretty much along the lines of what I was thinking.

This will actually be my sixth visit to Cozumel, and my 4th time diving there (my parents took my brother and I there in the early 80s on their dive trips). I know you probably couldn't tell by the amount of questions I'm asking. :11doh:

Its just that I like researching this stuff and all my dives to date in Cozumel (with the exception of one very cool shore dive from Chankanaab) have been with Dressel Divers out of the Iberostar. While I enjoyed my time with them for the most part, I'm looking forward to branching out a bit and going with a more personalized operation.

Its sounding more and more like I should probably spend the extra money and go with Blue XT Sea.

BTW - My trip dates have changed to Jun 20-23.

John

[jcole]

Update: We decided to stay at the Fiesta Americana for this trip. It seemed to have everything we were looking for.

However, I'm really shocked at how much airfare out of Houston is to Cozumel these days. I remember it always costing around $300-400 tops. Now everything seems to be around $600 aside from the handful of Funjet charter packages.

John

[Christi]

Update: We decided to stay at the Fiesta Americana for this trip. It seemed to have everything we were looking for.

However, I'm really shocked at how much airfare out of Houston is to Cozumel these days. I remember it always costing around $300-400 tops. Now everything seems to be around $600 aside from the handful of Funjet charter packages.

John

Are you checking through Continental's website?

If so, check the box when selecting your flight dates that says +/- 3 days. You will get a grid that may show you some much lower fares. Of course this only works if you are flexible with your travel dates.

If you are trying to fly Friday through Monday, you're going to hit those higher fares. Wed - Wed or Thurs to Thurs are typically always the lower fares.

Hope that helps!

[jcole]

Yes, I extensively searched Continental.com, Funjet.com, Travelocity.com, Expedia.com, among others.

I agree that the weekend travel is more expensive, but my schedule doesn't allow for during the week travel times at the moment and they were few and far between as it was. Even so, they were still about $420.00 going from a Mon - Thurs.

The FunJet charters right now are in the range of $400-500 out of Houston for the most part and the most affordable I found. However, strangely enough, booking the FunJet travel through Expedia.com saved money over the FunJet.com site (for specific hotels).

I'm wondering if this is the shape of things to come in the new petroleum limited world? $600 on average airfare from Houston to Cozumel seems pretty steep and not so great for the tourist business there.

[Nevis Diver]

If it weren't for my brother-in-law wanting to use Dive Paradise (I still may sneak away.), I'd use BlueXTSea this October. (I'm actually comparing prices now...). So they still maybe an option.

Michael

I used to dive with Dive Paradise and about 5-6 trips ago I "snuck away" from my group and dove with Blue XT Sea. I have never looked back. I just smile as we pass the large, slow DP boats with 20 people or so on them.

[jcole]

I wanted to post an unsolicited follow-up on my recent trip to Cozumel diving with Blue XT Sea Diving.

We just got back from three nights at the Fiesta Americana yesterday. We had booked a total of 6 dives with Christi and Blue XT Sea.

In a nutshell, it was probably one of the best (albeit short) dive trips I've ever taken. We had a limited amount of time on the island and the Blue XT Sea crew really helped us make the most of it.

Pedro Pablo and Mago picked us up on the Fiesta Americana pier the afternoon of our arrival and took us straight to Palancar Caves for our first dive. For the second dive, we went to Punta Tunich. Great formations and swim throughs on the first, lots of marine life on the second.

The next morning, they took us to Punta Sur and we dove Devil's Throat. This was probably one of my single favorite dives ever. Afterwards, we did Cedral Wall.. also very nice.

The morning of the last day, we dove with Blanca and she took us to Santa Rosa Wall, which was an excellent dive, followed by Paradise Reef - very chill and relaxing. In fact, I think this last dive rates as my longest dive in terms of duration as we were underwater a full hour and a half.

All of the other dives were at least an hour long (shorter if you were running low on air). There was on average a total of 3-4 of us diving on the boat (not including the DM) on any given dive.

During the dives, we saw lots of turtles (big ones), nurse sharks, huge lobsters, sting rays, flounder, grouper, eels, barracuda, and lots of interesting little fish.

I was thoroughly impressed with how hard the crew worked to take care of all of our needs and make us comfortable on ever dive. Probably the highest level of dive service we've ever had.

Thanks for a great time!
John & Mo