Cozumel Equalizers - A Review

[DrSteve]

We have just returned from a wonderful week in Cozumel. This part is my review of the Cozumel Equalizers Dive Op. It's a difficult review to write, so bear with me.

As background I used ScubaBoard and personal recommendations for Dive Ops and emailed each one to try and make the choice.

Why I chose CE...
1. Cheap! $52/2 tank dive/person. The next closest fee was $60. Multiply this over 5 days for two of us and I just saved $80...enough for a couple of decent meals.
2. Darwin Zapata was great to deal with over email.
3. Smaller boat - about 35 foot and holds up to 12 (10 divers max) and with twin 150hp motors it is pretty fast - not as fast as a 6-pack, but not far off.

What we found when we made contact in person:
1. Darwin is difficult to get hold of. He has a cell phone (which costs a small fortune to call in Mexico, close to 0.80 USD /minute from our hotel) and will call you back. The hours at his shop I am guessing are more "suggested" than actual. But if you aim for the middle of projected open time you should be OK.
2. Darwin is a nice guy and has a thick accent which I (a Brit) had trouble with (as he did wth me) although my wife who is American had way fewer problems. He is also losing his hearing so be aware of that.
3. We were told to be at the dock at 8.15 or the boat would leave without us. Except 8.15 is "Island time" and really means 8.45 ish. So be aware!
4. The skipper Cucho is an excellent boat handler (and I base this on 20 years of teaching sailing and having "played" with engined boats). Despite this we ran out of gas on our return trip from the first dive on day #3! How this happened is beyond me. We did get a nice surface interval though. There was some idoling waiting for some folks who did not show, but not enough to run out of gas. The next day Darwin apologized for it and said something about a water pump. What that has to do with gas, I don't know.
5. We had 3 Dive masters over the 5 days. Audrey, who is Dutch and speaks perfect English and Spanish and a few other languages. She was very good and knowledgable with a degree in some area of marine science. Ricardo had just joined the CE and was very laid back. Pedro was also new and IMO way too conservative.

How the dives were conducted:
First dive was always deeper in the 80-100 range. Second dive in the 30-60 range. They tried to do a staggered profile e.g. 5 mins at 100, 10 at 80, 10 at 60, to the safety stop. I'm fine doing this with a computer, but if you dive the tables (as some should have been) strictly you have the equivelent of a 25 minute dive at 100 feet which is pushing the tables a LOT IMO. In between dives we usually went to "Mr Sanchos" beach club (where CE has their beach operation) for a brief stop to pick up extra tanks if needed etc., Usually the surface interval was 1h30+

Audrey - notify her when you reach 1000 psi at which point she put her surface marker up. Proceed to safety stop at 750psi. On our first dive she made me and my wife surface together even though I had plenty of air. But after she saw how we dived she was fine with my wife going to the safety stop on her own or with another diver at the same point.
Ricardo - laid back and the same as Audrey.
Pedro - Way too conservative. He set bottom time for our second dive of 40 feet dive to 40 mins, period. I can last for 50 mins at that depth and many others can last longer. Pedro pissed a couple of people off this way.

Another point was that I had an O ring in my first stage go on our first day. Luckily we had a spare reg which Audrey let me use. She spoke to Darwin about the problem and we took it into the shop on Friday evening. He checked it out and confirmed the problem. "Can you fix it?" "Yes it's just an O ring." "Any idea when?" "It's just an O ring, but I have to try and find it [my reg is a US Divers so we know how notorious they are for unusual sizes]." Eventually I got my reg back on Tuesday in time for my last dive. I had gotten quite frustrated with Darwin because I didn't feel he was level with me - all he had to say was "It's an odd size o ring, I may not be able to fix it blah blah" But I guess that's not the "Island way." But...when I did get the reg back he wouldn't take any payment for it (although I had to pay $25 for 5 days of reg rental) and I know that service call alone would have cost at least $35 at my LDS (who charge 12/day for reg rental)

The final thing which annoyed both of us to some degree was when a 3rd dive was planned. Those of us only doing 2 dives were dropped off at the "marina" area where all the dive boats are moored and where they pick up tanks. So this left us with a 6 dollar cab ride back into town. No real problem, but there was never any warning. When a representative of CE says "we'll get a cab to take you back into town" I expect that CE will be footing the bill, not me.

So...would I dive with them again. Yes...Darwin wasn't a bad guy, he's very genuine and likable. But ultimately Darwin is just the organizer. The boat was good and had a great skipper. The DM's would make my decision in the future. I would dive with them all again. But if Pedro was still being so conservative with the dive times I would refuse to go on another trip with him as the DM. Audrey or Ricardo - no problem!

[caribdiver]

We have just returned from a wonderful week in Cozumel. This part is my review of the Cozumel Equalizers Dive Op. It's a difficult review to write, so bear with me.

As background I used ScubaBoard and personal recommendations for Dive Ops and emailed each one to try and make the choice.

Why I chose CE...
1. Cheap! $52/2 tank dive/person. The next closest fee was $60. Multiply this over 5 days for two of us and I just saved $80...enough for a couple of decent meals.
2. Darwin Zapata was great to deal with over email.
3. Smaller boat - about 35 foot and holds up to 12 (10 divers max) and with twin 150hp motors it is pretty fast - not as fast as a 6-pack, but not far off.

What we found when we made contact in person:
1. Darwin is difficult to get hold of. He has a cell phone (which costs a small fortune to call in Mexico, close to 0.80 USD /minute from our hotel) and will call you back. The hours at his shop I am guessing are more "suggested" than actual. But if you aim for the middle of projected open time you should be OK.
2. Darwin is a nice guy and has a thick accent which I (a Brit) had trouble with (as he did wth me) although my wife who is American had way fewer problems. He is also losing his hearing so be aware of that.
3. We were told to be at the dock at 8.15 or the boat would leave without us. Except 8.15 is "Island time" and really means 8.45 ish. So be aware!
4. The skipper Cucho is an excellent boat handler (and I base this on 20 years of teaching sailing and having "played" with engined boats). Despite this we ran out of gas on our return trip from the first dive on day #3! How this happened is beyond me. We did get a nice surface interval though. There was some idoling waiting for some folks who did not show, but not enough to run out of gas. The next day Darwin apologized for it and said something about a water pump. What that has to do with gas, I don't know.
5. We had 3 Dive masters over the 5 days. Audrey, who is Dutch and speaks perfect English and Spanish and a few other languages. She was very good and knowledgable with a degree in some area of marine science. Ricardo had just joined the CE and was very laid back. Pedro was also new and IMO way too conservative.

How the dives were conducted:
First dive was always deeper in the 80-100 range. Second dive in the 30-60 range. They tried to do a staggered profile e.g. 5 mins at 100, 10 at 80, 10 at 60, to the safety stop. I'm fine doing this with a computer, but if you dive the tables (as some should have been) strictly you have the equivelent of a 25 minute dive at 100 feet which is pushing the tables a LOT IMO. In between dives we usually went to "Mr Sanchos" beach club (where CE has their beach operation) for a brief stop to pick up extra tanks if needed etc., Usually the surface interval was 1h30+

Audrey - notify her when you reach 1000 psi at which point she put her surface marker up. Proceed to safety stop at 750psi. On our first dive she made me and my wife surface together even though I had plenty of air. But after she saw how we dived she was fine with my wife going to the safety stop on her own or with another diver at the same point.
Ricardo - laid back and the same as Audrey.
Pedro - Way too conservative. He set bottom time for our second dive of 40 feet dive to 40 mins, period. I can last for 50 mins at that depth and many others can last longer. Pedro pissed a couple of people off this way.

Another point was that I had an O ring in my first stage go on our first day. Luckily we had a spare reg which Audrey let me use. She spoke to Darwin about the problem and we took it into the shop on Friday evening. He checked it out and confirmed the problem. "Can you fix it?" "Yes it's just an O ring." "Any idea when?" "It's just an O ring, but I have to try and find it [my reg is a US Divers so we know how notorious they are for unusual sizes]." Eventually I got my reg back on Tuesday in time for my last dive. I had gotten quite frustrated with Darwin because I didn't feel he was level with me - all he had to say was "It's an odd size o ring, I may not be able to fix it blah blah" But I guess that's not the "Island way." But...when I did get the reg back he wouldn't take any payment for it (although I had to pay $25 for 5 days of reg rental) and I know that service call alone would have cost at least $35 at my LDS (who charge 12/day for reg rental)

The final thing which annoyed both of us to some degree was when a 3rd dive was planned. Those of us only doing 2 dives were dropped off at the "marina" area where all the dive boats are moored and where they pick up tanks. So this left us with a 6 dollar cab ride back into town. No real problem, but there was never any warning. When a representative of CE says "we'll get a cab to take you back into town" I expect that CE will be footing the bill, not me.

So...would I dive with them again. Yes...Darwin wasn't a bad guy, he's very genuine and likable. But ultimately Darwin is just the organizer. The boat was good and had a great skipper. The DM's would make my decision in the future. I would dive with them all again. But if Pedro was still being so conservative with the dive times I would refuse to go on another trip with him as the DM. Audrey or Ricardo - no problem!

you get what you pay for.

These problems you described were not fluke occurrences. I gave this operation several chances over the past few years and it was always the same thing.

Boats never on time, always an excuse. Sometimes we would even have to wait to go out to see if there were enough people to make the trip. We finally said the heck with this and discovered "real" dive operations who deliver what and when they say.

You should never have run out of gas. that was poor planning and there is no excuse for that. They should go out with a full tank everyday regardless of where they are planning to go. S*** happens and you have to plan for it.

Three divemasters over 5 days? Not a good sign for an operation that small. He is using freelancers, that's what's going on. We dove with him when Aristeo was the lead divemaster. We always enjoyed diving with him, but he left because of all the BS I'm told.

Next time you need an equipmnt rpair, take it to Javier at Scuba repair across from Aldora divers and next to the Hyperbaric chamber. I had to have my reg serviced a couple of trips back. We dropped it off in the morning and had it back that afternoon. He speaks great English too, so there are no language barriers.

Sorry to hear you didn't have the perfect diving experience, but I have to say I'm not surprised given the operation you used.

Try someone else next time. They are not all that way.

[ggunn]

you get what you pay for.

[...]

Try someone else next time. They are not all that way.

I, too, am sorry that your experience was not as good as you had hoped for. I dove with Equalizers for 10 years and was happy with their service; I experienced none of the disappointments you did. I only switched to Blue Angel this year because of their acquisition of the hotel where I always stay - they matched Darwin's price, gave us all the tanks we wanted for shore diving, gave us a discount on our rooms, and the point of origin for the trips was at my hotel. It was an offer I couldn't refuse.

"You get what you pay for" is a cliche that's not invariably true. I have never paid more than $55 (tip not included) for a Coz 2 tank dive, and I have only experienced a few minor disappointments in 11 years.

[DrSteve]

Well I think next time we will look elsewhere and try Blue Angel. We spoke to people who dived with Deep Blue and although they didn't run out of gas, they did seem to have the same frustrations we did. Darwin has apparently just hired these 2 new DM's, Audrey has been with him a while.

Also, one guy we met had dived with Darwin for 15 years and said the op had gone down hill in the last year. Someone else was on their 4th and last trip with him. But ultimately we had some good diving so I'm not complaining too much.

[ggunn]

Well I think next time we will look elsewhere and try Blue Angel. We spoke to people who dived with Deep Blue and although they didn't run out of gas, they did seem to have the same frustrations we did. Darwin has apparently just hired these 2 new DM's, Audrey has been with him a while.

Also, one guy we met had dived with Darwin for 15 years and said the op had gone down hill in the last year. Someone else was on their 4th and last trip with him. But ultimately we had some good diving so I'm not complaining too much.

If that is so, I am very sorry to hear it. Darwin is a good guy. I know that he has gone through some tough times, what with the loss (due to skyrocketing rents) of his space over by the Hotel Flores, and now it appears that he was moved out of his spot by the Acuario restaurant by the new development going up there.

I gave Blue Angel high marks when I was there last month.

[Texas Diver]

Hi DrSteve:

Let me get this straight:

Darwin is difficult to get a hold of;
Dive shop hours are more suggestive than actual;
You had trouble communicating with him;
He is losing his hearing;
His 8:15 AM pick-up dive times stretch to 8:45;
His boat ran out of gas returning from one of your dives;
You had 3 different dive masters over 5 days;
A dive master pissed off a couple people;
He took 5 days to replace an o ring in your regulator, which cost you $25 in rental gear.
He stranded you at the marina after a dive,which cost you a $6 cab ride;

But you say you would still dive with him again? What am I missing here?

[5615mike]

You might also consider Dive With Martin next time. We had a few issues but nothing awful. We paid $50 for 2 tank dives and got a free video. Not great but not bad either. They kept our gear and rinsed after each day of diving. They were never more than 10 minutes late picking us up at FA. Boats are nice and DM's were out of this world funny. Enjoyed it and plan on diving with them again in Sept.. We used to dive exclusively with Aldora but $40 difference for 2 tank dives is certainly not worth it. About half the days Martin provided lunch, ham sand, water and fruit. You certainly don't get that at Aldora.

[DrSteve]

Yes I'm crazy I'd give him another chance. I can't fault the guy for losing his hearing and I'm not going to blame Darwin for the reg problems. I wouldn't have expected it to be fixed any quicker by my LDS.

I only visited the dive shop twice and each time he always suggested after the shop was open. Pick up times - we learned...apparently he tells everyone so people don't turn up late.

Communication wise - I'm in Mexico...no hablo espanol...I've barely heard Spanish spoken *ever* and I'm not used to the accent - that's the problem! You'd have the same problem diving in the north of England!

The gas issue was a big problem and shouldn't have happened. But then once again I've run out of gas on the highway as well.

As I said I'd give him one more chance. But I think it is rather hit and miss. Someone just said Dive with Martin was good - but I've heard people locally say how terrible they are. Others rave about Aldora, but I heard plenty of people say they weren't worth the extra.

[Wristshot]

I applaud your patience and your willingness to give them another chance. However, how will they ever get the message that they need to make improvements if they get repeat business after poor performances?

It would be different if they were the only game in town, or if all the dive ops were the same.

There are a LOT of really good dive ops, and while every op will have someone out there that was annoyed (or worse) rest assured that there are a number of operations that really try hard to take care of customers. It would behoove you and Darwin and future customers if you would take your business elsewhere. Show the good dive ops that their reputations mean something, and show the bad dive ops that their reputations mean something.

There was one problem with Deep Blue once; the steering broke on a boat. No one's fault, nothing to blame. You could argue that maintenence was sub-standards etc etc etc. I figure it falls partly under the category of "stuff happens". Hard to take a boat out of service for maintenance when you are booked every day. Okay, not a huge deal. But how did they deal with it? The driver sat on the outboard and steered with his butt. (kinda funny actually) He went to the nearest place he could dock it (and got yelled at by the people there). The Guide walked a distance to find a telephone, (past where we could see, at least a half a mile+ in bare feet) and they provided a taxi for us at no charge.

Would I dive with them again? Heck yeah! I would have preferred that they didn't have a break down, but they dealt with in ways to minimize the inconvenience to us.

Incidentally, with 5 days of diving, the prices at Deep Blue drop to about $57 per 2 tank dives. For two that is still a chunk'o change over 5 days, but worth it in my opinion. (not that anyone cares what I think!)

Wristshot

[DrSteve]

Thanks Wristshot - rather ironic that I am not a patient person and I expect certain standards. I think the saving grace was that our DM Audrey was great. Her still being with CE would be the biggest draw to dive with CE again. Otherwise, it'll probably be a different DM that we don't know, a different skipper - might just as well be a the latest new restaurant set up by Rocco!

Also at the time of booking my wife was only comfortable comitting to 3 dives. Now she is a scuba fiend - so getting a 5 day package will save us money as you said