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scallop

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just east of columbus, oh
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Looking very hard at the Hotel Cozumel for our annual Christmas trip (tentatively booked for Dec 17-30). Have a ton of questions but will start with a couple.

My son who is 14 is my dive buddy, both of us are very inexperienced diving wise with around 10 each, all off Key Largo with the exception of a couple in a local quarry. All have been shallow 30-35' max.

Is the shore dive in front of the hotel easy enough that we could do it unassisted without a DM? How are the currents there, is it something we could do without worrying about it or getting lost? How is the depth, any issue with keeping it shallow?

Same questions for Chankanaab park, some of the other beach clubs?

Are there any boat dives that would keep under his 45' max depth limitation (Jr. open water card)? Not too sure about the whole drift dive thing as once again very "green" in our diving career.

Is there any shore fishing on the island, such as the piers found in Fla.? Or directly from the shore? Can fishing equipment be rented or should I bring my own? How about license requirements?

From what I have read weather wise we should do pretty well as that is supposed to be the start of the dry season, correct?

That should do it for now, plenty more to come.

Any other info anyone would like to add would be appreciated as well.
 
I am sure you will see many responses to your questions, including responses from many people more intimately familiar with Cozumel than I am. That said, your situation (in my opinion) calls out for a private DM for you and your son, regardless of the dive op you choose. The diving around Cozumel is almost uniformly deeper than you want to or should do, and your depth limits will not work for a dive group except in very unusual situations.

No matter what a dive operator says, if there are other people diving with you, it will be hard to stay within your depth limits unless you and your son have your own DM. I would suggest caution on unguided shore dives until you have a better understanding of the currents around Cozumel. Evaluate this after you are there and have gone on a few guided dives and talk to the DM, or perhaps even see if a DM will do a couple shore dives with you. Alternatively, skip the shore dives this time and wait until you have more experience under both of your belts. You may also find that you want to do only afternoon dives or at least not do the first dive in a morning as these tend to be the deepest dives. Some operators are more flexible with that kind of scheduling.

A private DM will cost you some additional money, but I would encourage you not to turn what should be a fun trip into something else and for the sake of a little extra cost.
 
I stay at hotel coz. Yes the shore dive Is easy enough to do on your own. I usually just do a check out dive , but I have many friends that like the shore dive. Its pretty good for a night dive also. The dive shop across the street rents tanks for $6 for shore diving. I dive with dive paradise who is the op located at the hotel. I would talk to them about what you want and they should be able to help you. They have big slow boats and you can relax and not feel rushed. Definitely go with the private DM. Hotel is close enough to walk to town for dinner, so make sure you get off the resort. enjoy
 
I will echo diverokc's comments as well. I have done quite a few shore dives in front of Hotel Cozumel and enjoyed them immensely. Most of the time the current runs south to north (left to right from the dock) we would normally dive into the current usually making it to around the lighthouse and the turn back and let the current drift us back to the hotel or to in front of Scuba Club. The dive in front of the hotel was my buddy's very first open water dive after certification, very easy to do. You can jump in the water before you put your gear on to see which way the current is running to plan your dive as well. Stay close to the wall if you do not have a float as their is considerable boat traffic in the area.
Which ever dive op you choose tell them what you need as far as depth limitations and they will probably tell you to get a private DM. If they don't tell you to, get one anyway to have somebody watch over you two solely.
 
I have videos of the shore diving area from Hotel Cozumel to Scuba Club Cozumel (right next door to the north).
We shore dive that area every day at least once on our trips. It is very shallow, 10-24' max, but there can be current. YOu will be able to rate the current when you get in on each dive. If it is strong, then stay close to the entry/exit ladders. If it is mild, then you can venture out a ways. Do NOT go farther than you can see the pier though (there is a pyramid out as far as I would recommend you go for now). You and your buddy will get great skills improvement by doing this dive several times on your trip. The more you do it, the more you will gain.

Here are a few videos to check out.... just remember that we stay next door at SCC, so our entry and exit points, the start and end of the video, are from there.

[vimeo]40968121[/vimeo]
this one shows the area in front of Hotel Cozumel

[vimeo]40679162[/vimeo]
this one shows the area in front of SCC, right next door.... you can dive both areas easily

[vimeo]11565537[/vimeo]
I did this video a few years back to illustrate to people what the shore dive area looks like and how to navigate it.

Current is almost always running south to north, so begin your dive INTO the current, then drift back to your entry point. We have had the current strong at the start of a dive, then completely die out during the dive, or switch directions, but that is rare.

As far as your 14 year old dive buddy... if you are PADI certified, then he is good for deeper than 45', I think it is 60' unless he has his AOW cert. My daughter got certified at 12 and her limit was 60' at that time. She did her AOW the next year and was going deeper when we were in Cozumel. The DMs are pretty liberal with that restriction and will take you to dive sites that are 80'+ deep unless you say something before you get on the boat. ALSO, If you restrict him to 45' depth, then you can only do 2 dive reefs, Paradise and Columbia Shallows. All the reefs in Cozumel are deeper and the dive boat is not going to force everyone to dive those shallow sites over and over. Cozumel dives are pretty much 2-tank going to a deeper site (60-90' depth) for first dive, then shallower (30-65' depth) on second dive. If you want to dive shallow dives for both each day, you are going to have to be on a special boat for that and MUST arrange this ahead of time. Some dive ops have multiple boats and could arrange this for you, putting other junior dives together on one boat....; but you need to tell them ahead of time or you will be in a mixed group. People go to Cozumel to enjoy the current, the drift dives, the deep walls and swim-throughs.. great diving, but if you aren't comfortable with that, you may have to rethink your plan.

robin
 
On your depths i usually stay around 60-80ft. Everyone else can be at 100ft but doesnt mean you have to. I think i see more big stuff being up higher than hugging the bottom. (unless your looking for small stuff) . You dont have to do swim thru's and all that. My first dive in coz i followed the group to 120ft watching a turtle.. I wish i had a private DM, because i had no clue what to do but follow.
 
My dos centavos:

Sign up for AOW - likely you will be the only students - private lessons for group rates! The instructor will go with you on the boats for your AOW dives; a great way to get more dives under supervision. After the class dives, if you feel you need to, rent a DM to go with you.

Have fun.
 
Second the AOW plan, but do the book work at home and the dives in coz. I started diving with my 12 year old son in coz right after certification. We never felt "in over our heads". I also had a friend do her cert dives in coz. Very relaxing two tank afternoon/twilight dives at paraiso. Relax, and go with the flow. AOW makes more sense than private DM, but please do one or the other.
 
As I said, there are people with much better Cozumel information than I have. I thought there were greater potential current issues with the shore dives for new divers who are unfamiliar with currents, and apparently was mistaken, so my comments on that should probably be ignored. I believe your child's "official" depth limit is 63' and continue to think that to stay within that you will need a private DM (or be doing an AOW course since it essentially puts you with your own instructor for those days). My own belief is that you can get more out of an AOW course if taken after you have more experience, but others disagree and in truth the course isn't very "advanced" for most people so perhaps it doesn't matter much.

I know some parents are very conservative with dive limits for their kids while others view them more as guidelines or suggestions, so some of this depends on how you approach that issue.

In any event, I know you can find some arrangement that will work out well for you and you have plenty of time to look into options.
 
Unlike the other posters, I would suggest you look hard at traveling somewhere else. While the shore diving in Cozumel isn't horrible, it's hardly the draw there. The draw in Cozumel is drift diving in usually deeper terrain, at least for the first dive. There are very nice second dives that can keep you in the 45' foot range, but you'd really want to charter your own boat to ensure you do those sites for both boat dives.

If you want excellent shore diving along with lots to see in the shallows, I'd suggest somewhere like Bonaire instead. The island is very festive around Christmas time, with a much more intimate feel than the concrete jungle of San Miguel. And supposedly there's excellent bonefishing there, whatever that is.
 
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