New member from Los Angeles

[my911]

Hello everyone,

My girlfriend and I was certified last summer in Maui. We are planning a trip to Cozumel and need some advice on places to dive, dive shop, hotels, and whether to purchase, rent equipment here or there. Bascially, everything about Cozumel. We may still consider going back to Hawaii if members here recommend not going to Cozumel. Thanks in advance.

Marshall

 

[jlyle]

Welcome to the pond.

You may want to repost your greeting in the Cozumel section.

You can read about my view on going to Cozumel by clicking on the links just below my name.

 

[pasley]

Welcome, You may also want to drop in to the Southern California section (under California Kelp Divers) and pay us a visit. There is lots of great diving right here in Southern California. Malibu offers some terrific sights from kelp forrest to rocky reefs, as does Palo Verde and Laguna Beach. We have submarine canyons dropping within a short beach swim to over 300 feet in Redondo and Malibu.

Need a dive partner, or just someone to tag along with? http://www.sandeaters.org is a great place to start. It is NOT a dive club (no officers, dues or membership) it is a dive scheduling website. They have a calendar with a dive every Sunday at 0800 a.m. and an e-mail list you may join and ping if you want to dive another day or location. Someone will usally answer the call to dive.

Sorry I can't help you on the Cozemel trip, it is still in my bag of dreams. All of my 124 dives have been in good old California, and most of those off the beach cause it is inexpensive and fun.

 

[Scott Riemer]

Welcome to Scubaboard!

 

[Kat]

Welcome to Scubaboard. Excellent advise from jlyle & pasley. You might find all the info you need on Coz byjust reading all the old posts.

What part of L.A. are you from? I used to live in San Pedro - I loved it there!

 

[DandyDon]

Howdy!

Your greeting is fine here, but you will want to research the Cozumel forum. In short:
(1) Buy & rent at home, at least until you know what you're doing. I've seen a lot of bad equipment being rented outside of the US.
(2) Stick to operators that cater to newbies, as Coz has great diving, but some of it is too adventurous for someone who was certified a year ago, then has not practice. Make sure that every crew member knows that you're new and out of practice. Except - still take care of your own safety; those fellers are a little loco down yonder.
(3) I think that everyone should own and carry a Sausage and a Storm Whistle, especially for drift diving like Coz's, and buy 4 to 6 weight belt keepers each, as rental belts never have them.

And - Welcome to SB!! :happywave Put us in your computer's favorites and check in often. This is a great place to learn, compare, argue Look around our various forums - everything from New-To-Scuba to Instructors-Only to Dive Medicine.

don

BTW - Did you set up your Profile? Some ideas for your Profle might be taken from looking at mine. Click on my Username to the upper left, then click on my Profile, and see what I've done. For your's, click the [CP] in the upper left of the screen, then click [Edit Profile]. If you need any more help, PM me direct.