Recommended dive op in Cozumel

[hammerhead man]

Been to Coz before but am looking for you recommendations regarding a dive op to use. Our group consists of three divers, two very experienced (250+ dives) and one with less than 50 dives. Two of our group do underwater photography. I want a dive op that will help find the critters. I am not interested in cattle operations (i.e. large dive groups). We plan on doing 3 dives per day for 6 days.

Appreciate any info.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Aldora Divers, of course.

:cheerleader:

 

[ColoDale]

Raul Platas with Bottom Time Divers is a geat spotter of big and small things. He has spotted things so small I would have missed it going over the top of it at two feet. He does carry a magnifying glass. Though he nor anyone can guarantee you will see certain things, he does know where to look. He is also the owner and has a six pack boat with water and snacks. He will wash, store and setup your gear (if you want - same price if he doesn't). You can dive your computer. Raul loves to dive and can get exited as we do with a find. I do UW photography as well and if you do use him make sure to tell him you have cameras so he can accomodate them (rinse tank/bucket).

I would think that others that use his services will chime in about his critter spotting abilities. Cozumel Scuba Diving | Go diving in Cozumel with BottomTimeDivers dive operator. And Yes this is my dive op I mostly use Cozumel. I have used others with very good DM's. To be fair, I do like Living Underwater with Jeremy but my wife does not like the steel 120 tanks. I also liked diving with Pedro Pablo with Bluextsea though it's been awhile but he was with them this last May.

 

[cleomagic]

I have dove Papa Hogs when travelling to Cozumel - can't say enough about them. We normally say at the Villa Blanca across the street, and then walk our gear over in the morning. Dive Masters are fantastic, small boats, and will take you were you want to go, assuming the dive conditions are safe

 

[Karibelle]

What kind of critters are you looking for? If you can be specific about what you're hoping to see, most DMs in Cozumel would likely be able to assist you. If you can't be specific, trying to narrow it down even a little will help.

kari

 

[bbarada]

Scuba Club Cozumel!

 

[sharky60]

have you already picked a place to stay and just looking for an op?

Kari's right, most DM's will be happy to find specific critters for you, or at least take you to dive sites where they can be found. There's not guarantee of course, but these guys dive these waters almost every day and know where certain things are being seen.

I second ColoDale's reco. for Raul P. He's great at finding those little critters, SUPER safety minded, a great DM & a great guy to boot.

Jose at Blue Angel is another master at the macro finds, heck finds in general!...in fact, on our trip in May, all the guys we dove with, Mateo, JP & Andres, ALL did an excellent job at finding animals when people on the boat requested seeing.

Sharky's top dive op reco's on the island ...CLICK HERE

 

[jd950]

Well, it's kind of like asking for someone to suggest a good restaurant in NYC.

I am familiar with Living Underwater, Aldora and they could both work well for you. I have dived with a few others that I don't think would meet your needs. I have heard a lot of good things about Blue Xtasy and Tres Pelicanos. I know some people like Dive With Martin and Blue Angel. Living Underwater might have a harder time with the three dives since it is a one-boat operation but you would need to call or write Jeremy to discuss. FWIW, Jeremy loves finding the macro stuff and showing to his clients.

There are probably at least a dozen other good operators. Everybody has their favorites. I would wait until you have about a 12-15 suggestions in this thread then look them up on the internet and eliminate any that don't seem right for you, then make some calls and send some emails to the others giving detailed requirements and asking specific questions. With that approach it would be hard to go far wrong.

 

[loudives]

Ditto what ColoDale has said. Also Raul will not hurry you along. You stop to get the right picture and Raul will slow down and look for other things while you focus. Raul will zigzag an area he knows will have some good photo ops for you.

 

[PeterNBiddle]

Liang at Aldora was a phenomenal critter spotter (and is a stellar DM) for us last June, including spotting multiple pipe horses, which are damn hard to spot.