SCUBA Club Cozumel

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tfleming23

Registered
Messages
15
Reaction score
7
Location
United States
# of dives
200 - 499
Anyone have experience with this place? Recommendations?

After looking into both Cozumel and Key Large to take my 10 yo Jr. Diver over MLK weekend, it appears that I can get a much better deal when everything is accounted for at Cozumel. Kicking around SCUBA Club, but want to make sure it is worth it.

Also, they are telling me the dives are great for a JR Diver, the ability to stick to to 40-50 feet. Anyone with experience on this?
 
Been there a number of times and going back soon. Nice place, good dive shop and the food is good. An easy walk into town after lunch. The shore diving there is OK at best, beats being dry but it's not great. It is not uncommon for them to go a good bit deeper than 40-50 ft and remember all the diving is drift diving. If you and your son are not comfortable jumping off a boat in deep water, doing a free decent, a free accent at the end and holding a 3 minute safety stop in open water, you may want to reconsider. The DMs will likely go a good bit deeper so you would be on your own to follow above, doable but you need to consider it. I am not saying they won't stay shallow but remember, they have other clients besides you and all the boats I have been on tended to go a lot deeper, at least on the first dive. Granted we had the boat to our group and the experience level was pretty high so that may have played into it.
As for it being a better deal than the Keys it depends a lot on where you are coming from, what accommodations you want and if you are willing to do some basic cooking (bagels for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch). I suspect you can put a lot better deal together if you are willing to do a little cooking. Flights into Fort Lauderdale or Miami from the US tend to be less than those to Coz esp. if you avoid the weekends and about even out with a rental car. A road trip with the son stopping at some of the springs and caverns along the way would make a great trip if you are in the SE US. The diving is a lot easier as long as the weather cooperates, 25-40 shallow reef dives are common, no drifting and you have an anchor line to use for accent and decent. The one down side is it will be a little cooler in Fla as opposed to Coz. One last consideration, how much diving do you want to do? SSC basically does 2 dives a day and all the shore diving you want. Doing 4 dives a day in Fla is easy to do but there are no shore dives.
 
Thank you for the response. I appreciate it and am glad to hear that it is worth returning too, definitely makes things much clearer for me.

How deep, in general, do the first dives go? As far as the drift diving and ascent, he did his certification in Crystal River and Rainbow River Florida, which is all drift, and did well there, so I am not concerned about that.

I don't think he will have stamina for more than 2-3 dives in a day, so I am not concerned about that. 2 boat dives and maybe a shore will do him/us well

As far as Cozumel vs. Key Largo, coming from Chicago the flights to Cozumel for MLK weekend are about $40 more expensive than flying into Miami. However, for Miami/Key Largo I'd need to rent a car which will run me three or four hundred. When I account for the costs of dives (about $180 per day for two dives for us) and hotel, I am at the same price as I'd pay for Scuba Club for hotel and diving, and Scuba Club includes meals. The two big savings are that he stays and eats for free, so I only pay for his diving, and not needing a rental car. All in I've figured Cozumel to be about $250 cheaper for us
 
I have stayed at SCC one time 08/2012. At the time, I showed up with 20 cold water di ves under my belt. I had been to 74 fsw as my maximum.

First thing I did when I arrived was to check in, provide my information and grab a tank for a weight check dive on the house reef.

As Herman said, it is not the greatest but I still had a good dive, seeing many fish and a spotted eel so no complaints.

Next morning I am on the boat and heading out. The DM starts to give the dive briefing right before the first dive and to starts it off... "Ok, this dive will be to 90'..."

I had a little rush of anxiety at that point, but knew I had already been to 74' so it was very short lasting. My experience was that the first dive was typically in that range and the second dive would be to 60' or less.

I really enjoyed SCC and I will go back. I like the layout and feel of the place. Diving is the #1 priority!
 
Also, they are telling me the dives are great for a JR Diver, the ability to stick to to 40-50 feet. Anyone with experience on this?

The first dive of the day is usually 80 ft +/- and that is what most of their customers would expect. Some site would allow this and still provide opportunity for a dive shallower than 60 ft but it will probably require an additional (private DM) which should be workable. There are some sites that don't have anything above 60 ft but the dive op should be able to manage that. The key will probably be a private DM.
 
We have got a 10 and an 11 year old diver and I know the Keys as well as Cozumel. The keys offer lots of great diving in the 40 ft range. Coz does not. It's as simple as that. Short of chartering your own boat I do not see how an operation in Coz could stick to JOW limits. The other divers would rightfully feel cheated. Now throw in currents etc. and the Keys win hands down as a destination for a 10 year old diver.
 
I've been to Key Largo and to SCC. Diving can be challenging in both places due to currents. Yes, KL offers much shallower dives. If you decide to go to Cozumel, as suggested above, hire your own dive guide, you won't be disappointed. Check out my pictures and dive reports from SCC by clicking below.
 
I would contact a few dive ops and ask. There are multiple dive sites that would support a shallower dive profile while others go deep. I doubt that your kid is the first ten year old to dive on Cozumel.
 
I would contact Chucho Underwater Chucho Underwater - Dive in Cozumel or email him at chuchochimay@hotmail.com or contact his Assistant Jessica Schaefer. https://www.facebook.com/jessica.schaefer.562?fref=hovercard

They will customize a trip for you. I hadn't dove in 2 years and needed a refresher. I am a solo diver and they grouped me with 3 newbies who were doing their first open water dive. We did a 2 tank dive both around 40-50 ft.

Having 2 DM's watching over us, I felt very safe and secure. They can provide everything you need.

I have dove with Chucho 3 times prior to this trip, but I was able to get all of the rust out of my old bones.

Check out his reviews on TripAdvisor Chucho Underwater - Cozumel - Reviews of Chucho Underwater - TripAdvisor

They helped me find my first live seahorse this last trip.
 
I would contact a few dive ops and ask. There are multiple dive sites that would support a shallower dive profile while others go deep. I doubt that your kid is the first ten year old to dive on Cozumel.

It is very difficult to use other dive ops when staying at SCC. You have already paid for SCC dives and other ops do not pick up at the SCC pier. But you can walk next door to the HC pier.
 

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