Non-Certification Diving in Cozumel

[Zagnut]

A friend of mine is going to Cozumel for a week and is wanting to try one of those non-certification dives. I personally would prefer he get certified before he goes, but he's a big boy and is going to do what he wants to do. He doesn't want to shell out the cash on certification until he's sure it's something he would like to do.

My question is this. What are his options for operators who do this kind of diving? Can any of you all recommend an operation that has a good reputation and track record for this kind of diving? Also, he is staying at the Occidental Grand. Are there any of these ops close to this resort?...although the dive op's safety record should take precedence over conveniece of location.

If he's going to try this kind of diving, I would at least like him to hook up with a dive op that is reasonally safe. Thanks for any output you all may have...any takers?...Doc Vikingo?..Anyone?..

 

[ggunn]

Well, I see signs all over the island that say "dive in 2 hours" or some such, but I'll go on record as being against it. Safety is (or should be) our primary concern when diving, and a couple of hours of rushed "instruction" can't (IMO) substitute for a bona fide cert class.

Plus, if you guys want to dive together, you'll be locked in to where they will let him go, which won't be anywhere near the fantastic dives that Cozumel has to offer.

Twist his arm; get him certified. He'll thank you for it.

 

[MikeFerrara]

They all do it. If you have money you can go diving. Well, maybe I wouldn't call it diving but you can go breath underwater.

 

[Zagnut]

Yeah, I would really rather he gets certified also. I have repeatedly told him it's the best $300.00 he'll ever spend, but you know how people are... :banging:

I'm not going down there with him. And if I was, I wouldn't dive with him in one of those types of dives. I wouldn't want to sit around for 2 hours and wait on his "instruction" only to go on a 2nd rate dive when I could be on Palancar Reef. If he doesn't kill himself, I'm hoping he will want to get certified when he gets back home.

It's like...he doesn't know what he doesn't know ...and should know before he straps a tank to his back. I'm hoping he will realize this when he gets back and decide go about it the right way...either that or he will decide to stay at the surface with a snorkle....

Thanks again for the replies.

 

[Valwood1]

About five years ago, my first "dives" were non-certification at the Cousteau Reserve in Guadaloupe. It was a bit of a spur-of-he-moment adventure and an incredible experience for a non-diver.

25 feet, fairly flat, and not nearly as much landscape and wildlife as in, for ex, Coz. All on a boat with 15 people, and in the company of a female DM who, between her very limited English and my equally limited French, somehow managed to explain generally was going on. The dive might not seem like much to an experienced diver, but it was a truly amazing view of an previously-unknown and unexperienced world for the uninitiated.

I didn't become certified until Sept 02, and have made only 25 dives (all at Coz -- which ain't a bad place to go). Even though I have seen and will see more "interesting" sights than on those two days of uncertified diving, I think that I always will have some very special memories of Guadaloupe as my "first time".

So, non-certified dives might not be quite as dreadful as has been implied.

Bill

 

[cozumelinsider]

For the most part, the dive shops here are fairly consistent in requiring that a potential diver at least do a Resort Course prior to diving. If your friend elects convenience over other criteria and inquires at the dive shop there at Occidental, they will put your friend thru the Resort Course training prior to allowing him to dive. The resort course is structured so that it DOES take only about 2 hours of basic skill training before going on the dive.

Good news is that the Resort Course CAN count toward your friends full cert IF HE ELECTS right afterward to continue!! It counts as module 1 of open water training so he's losing nothing and has everything to gain by doing a Resort Course!

Hope he has fun and joins the rest of us "down there"!!

Sherri
PADI OWSI 81869

 

[amandasdaddy]

See if he wants to try SNUBA.

He can have the semi-freedom of diving and breathing underwater without being able to get deep enough to hurt himself too much.

I've wanted to try SNUBA myself, it's a air hose assembly that allows you to breath on a tethered cord. I am not sure how deep you can go, but I'd think it would keep you from getting in too much trouble.

As for him "diving", I have seen certified divers kill themselves during a self proclaimed emergency ascent and not exhaling. He died 1 hour later. So even if he is certified, he is not without risk, but he'll atleast know what to do in an emergency and how to deal with it.

I wouldn't dive with him if he didn't get cert'd first... he might drownd you.

Good luck whatever you do.

 

[Iruka]

I'm an instructor here and have personally led over 2,000 what they call "intro divers" here without incident, (and certified hundreds more)and there've been very few accidents overall. Sure, you're not going to get the nicest dives...safety and convenience are the criteria...but it's usually fun for a beginner & price ranges from $50~70 or so for one dive, and takes just a few hours of your time. It's shallow (and I know you can embolize shallow), little or no current, and they do some of the basic OW stuff...reg clearing, mask clearing, etc...and have a guide there to...literally...hold their hand if necessary & I ALWAYS tell my intros that they can "ride the float" and look down at the fish if they're at all nervous. With 4300+ dives, *I* really like diving...but for someone who just wants to get an idea of what it's like, I don't think there's any problem with a properly run intro/resort/discover scuba course....and a GOOD experience will definitely encourage them to get certified.




Chris
dive@letsdiveguam.com

 

[ggunn]

amandasdaddy once bubbled...
See if he wants to try SNUBA.

He can have the semi-freedom of diving and breathing underwater without being able to get deep enough to hurt himself too much.

With SNUBA, one can go as deep as 20-25 feet, which is plenty deep to injure or even kill yourself surfacing with a full held breath.

 

[amandasdaddy]

Good Points Chris and Zag,

I suppose if someone wants to discover scuba, with an instructor is as safe as you can get. I'm a DM and have seen good and bad divers, and my fear is that you wouldn't know how the person will react until they are in the Ocean (I guess you could to a training dive in a pool first).

Good luck with your friend. Come to think of it, I have a friend that used to take wanna be divers out diving before they were ever in a class, and nothing bad happened... but I wouldn't do it.

Get an instructor and chances are everything will be fine.

Good post Chris.