Coz dive ops- Dive Palancar v. Chucho Divers

[intheair10]

My gf and I will be staying at the Occidental Grand Cozumel Nov 19-23. I'm trying to decide between the on-site dive op, Dive Palancar and Chucho Divers which received good reviews on Trip Advisor. My experience dealing with DP has been frustrating when trying to make emails or reservations online. They sent me a confirmation email after I submitted a reservation. I emailed them to get more details of the dives and they said they didn't have any reservation in my name. I cut and pasted the confirmation message and they still didn't have me in their system. I talked to Carlos and he seemed casual about the whole thing, to just kind of show up when they have boats going out if I want to dive. I also like the fact that Chucho Divers does 3-tank dives.

What I'm looking for in a dive op is personal, knowledgeble service, no more than 8 people per boat, pickup from the hotel, and to be able to do advanced dives, etc. My gf also wants to do a resort dive.

[georoc01]

There are lots of dive ops down in Cozumel that will meet your needs. I've personally never done anythign with Chucho Divers, but could be fine.

The one thing I do like when stayed down south was that Dive Palancar did single tank boat dives and do your SIs on shore. Since you are staying so close to the reef you can do that and have much more flexibility in your dive day. Gives more options as far as if you want to sleep in one day, or skip a dive w/o being stuck on the boat while everyone else dives.

[Divingdogdr]

My wife and I stayed at the OG last August and we did a few dives with the onsite dive shop. They use bigger boats and typically had 12 or more divers on the boat but they would split the boat into 2 groups with each group having its own dive master to follow. They also limited all dives to 45 min. and 80 feet for the 1st morning dive then 60 fsw for the rest of the days diving. We really did not like that but for a new diver that may not be an issue.
We did not schedule any dives with dive palancar in advance of arriving. Just walked up to the dive shop and made the arrangements onsite. Most of the dive sites they go to are approx. 5 min. from the hotel but fortunately these are some very nice dive sites. As georoc said, they simply return to the hotel pier for the surface interval which is quite convenient and provides for more flexibility. If I remember correctly, they do 2 morning dives and 2 afternoon dives and on certain days (Monday, Wed and Fri. I think) they will do a night dive if enough people sign up for it. One other thing that I did like about DP is that they were very flexible with the scheduling. We had to postpone a dive that we had already paid for and they allowed us to reschedule with no problem.
I have no experience with Chucho so I can't comment on them.
Most of our diving was done with another dive op that picked us up at the OG pier and we only used DP for a few dives. The limited bottom time and depth was a big deal for us but it may not matter to you.
I hope this helps some. If you have any other questions I would be happy to try to answer them for you.

[cvchief]

We stayed twice at OGC. Dont know anything about the onsite operator, but Scuba Dive Cozumel | ScubaWithAlison Alison picked us up at the dock, with never more than 8 on the boat and several times an extra DM. Being new we didn't do advanced stuff, but I would guess she would do what ever. Of course I'm not sure what qualifies as advanced, so maybe we did! She had a resort course along one day. That whole 12 pack boat scares me as a newbie. For instance I was standing on the boat and started out with Alison and realized I forgot my new computer. She turned it around and insisted on waiting until I jogged back to the room and got it. She said, "You got the computer to dive with right, so go get it." I guess that wouldnt happen on a 12 pack boat or at least an number of people would be giving me the 'idiot' look....

[MMM]

What I'm looking for in a dive op is personal, knowledgeble service, no more than 8 people per boat, pickup from the hotel, and to be able to do advanced dives, etc. My gf also wants to do a resort dive.

Any op can and will do advanced sites if the divers have the abilities. They will want to check you out before they will take you anywhere advanced. Although your southern location will make it difficult to get to the advanced sites in the north. Fortunately there are a few in the south as well.

[Christi]

What I'm looking for in a dive op is personal, knowledgeble service, no more than 8 people per boat, pickup from the hotel, and to be able to do advanced dives, etc. My gf also wants to do a resort dive.

As MMM said, there are MANY that will fit these requirements. However, one word of caution, so that you can keep your expectations realistic and not end up disappointed.

Based on the information you've provided regarding your dive experience - I wouldn't get my hopes up of diving our popular advanced dives, even if you happen to have an AOW card (which is no indicator of your true diving abilities and experience) - a reputable shop is not likely to take you to Devil's throat or Barracuda or on any super deep dives this trip.

Trust me - ALL of the dive sites you'll surely have a chance to dive in the 60 to 80/90ft range will blow you away! Diving beyond your experience is not a "cool" thing to do. Be safe and you'll have a long happy diving future ahead of you

Have a great time!

[intheair10]

The 45-minute BT and larger boat capacity I'm not thrilled with. What I like about DP is the time flexibility. I just sent an email to Deep Blue (as my backup) with the above mentioned Q's.

[snowdog]

In August 2009 we booked a week in Cozumel, and then scrambled to find a dive operation.

Our group was comprised of four newly certified divers; we were extremely pleased to learn Chucho Divers limited the size of the dive groups to 6. The core of our group (two couples) did 13 dives in 5 days. A pair of divers were added to our day 4 and 5 dives to round out our group to six (it was clear they were repeat customers).
Chucho (Chu Chu), what can you saw about the best Dive Master in Cozumel (OK that’s my opinion), he took one of our less confident divers by the hand and acted as a personal guide, all the while keeping an expert eye out on the rest of the group.
Chucho Divers coordinated our pickup at the pier of our Hotel which was really cool (it was just another way Chucho made you feel special). At the end of the days diving (with consecutive dive days) I was pleased to learn Chucho would hold, rinse and prepare our gear for the next days dives.

I have only one compliant, like most good time, it had to end. We are planning on another week in august 2010 and will only want to dive with Chucho.

[Limoges Diver]

I went with Chucho Divers, and I must say it was the best experience I had with all 3 dive shops I used on our cruise. Very friendly and accommodating! Plus answered all my e-mails prior to my trip, and we had a great time! I picked a day that nobody else wanted to dive, so it was just my buddy and I. We got a 3-tank dive, with gear rental for him, lunch and up-sized tanks to 100 CU FT., all for $300.00. It's a bit much of you're there for a week, but we were on a cruise, so we only had that day, so it wasn't too much - plus we got our own private charter for the day!
I will dive with him again - for sure!