Resorts we should avoid?

[blue steal]

Eva is very gracious and allows operators to pick up hotel guests without issues.

Yes she is. I have seen a few boats pick up at BA dock. Most if not all of the pick ups are divers who are staying at the BA.

 

[redacted]

I do like knowing about these special fee antics. While it is mostly of little to no consequence, it does weigh in on my decisions of where to stay and what dive op to use.

I am sure there are folks who avoid op, hotels, and even destinations over such silly antics. With so many good choices, it may not take much to sway the decisions.

 

[ronscuba]

I do like knowing about these special fee antics. While it is mostly of little to no consequence, it does weigh in on my decisions of where to stay and what dive op to use.

I am sure there are folks who avoid op, hotels, and even destinations over such silly antics. With so many good choices, it may not take much to sway the decisions.

Agreed. I generally don't like to stay at all inclusives. Especially in Cozumel. But if I was with a group and they wanted AI, I would vote against staying at any resort that charged a flat rate monthly fee to the outside dive op. I don't mind paying a per use or weekly fee myself, but the flat rate monthly makes little sense to the op if they don't get many bookings from the particular resort.

I believe Christi lists on her website the resorts she does pickups.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

PS: By the way, I built the Aldora pier in 1998 but since I was a gringo was forced to sell it to Aqua World through political coercion/corruption. They now charge me as well as others. It is just called the Aldora Pier because we built it and we don't charge Christi or anyone else to use it.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[Christi]

PS: By the way, I built the Aldora pier in 1998 but since I was a gringo was forced to sell it to Aqua World through political coercion/corruption. They now charge me as well as others. It is just called the Aldora Pier because we built it and we don't charge Christi or anyone else to use it.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Yes - we pay our fees for this pier to a division of Aqua World - not to Aldora Divers. We all still call it Aldora pier because we know who built it

 

[Skittl1321]

PS: By the way, I built the Aldora pier in 1998 but since I was a gringo was forced to sell it to Aqua World through political coercion/corruption. They now charge me as well as others. It is just called the Aldora Pier because we built it and we don't charge Christi or anyone else to use it.

Thanks for clarifying that you aren't the one charging!
But I'm going to ask again (and then if it doesn't get answered I'll figure it is being ignored on purpose)- why is there no uproar about this pier charging both flat fee and per diver fee (since they charge both ways, it really seems like double dipping...); but such a fuss about hotels charging for their piers?

Is it just due to volume? Or do ops think this charge is unfair as well? If this pier is going to be charging, should they TOO be charging divers directly, not ops?

 

[Christi]

I don't know the politics of it all, but why is there no outcry about this pier fee? Is it because there is no associated hotel that guests have already paid? Why should this pier not charge divers but can instead charge ops? (Especially since they seem to charge flat rate plus per person)

Skittl - this is a completely different situation. It is not associated with a hotel and was a privately built pier but is accessible to the public. Hotel piers are private and are intended for the use of hotel guests, not outsideers - especially at the AI resorts where you can't access the property without being a guest.

I chose to offer service to this pier for guests that I book in downtown hotels or villas so that they don't have to taxi to the caleta - it was a service decision I made and expect to pay for its use unlike one of a hotel where the guests are paying high dollar per night for but want to attempt to manipulate who they chose to dive with in order to get a hotel amenity covered. We use the pier almost everyday - so it makes sense for us. It is an option - so operators that don't want to use this pier don't have to pay the fees - if they have guests staying downtown, they simply have to make other arrangements for their divers to meet the boat.

However, we are paying MORE to use this pier now due to increased fees and of course the constantly increasing fuel expenses. I am only offering the "free" pick-ups downtown for guests who have booked their hotel packages though us. If they did not book their lodging through me, and want to be picked up downtown - there is a surcharge - but it is still MUCH less than what a taxi would cost them. It is still very fair to the customer, but doesn't really cover our fees there or the added fuel to pick-up downtown.

Paying $66/month flat fee to a hotel, (who should provide this amenity to THEIR guests) where I may pick up 2 to 6 guests a month at does not make sense! I hope that answers your question?

---------- Post added July 23rd, 2013 at 01:53 PM ----------

Agreed. I generally don't like to stay at all inclusives. Especially in Cozumel. But if I was with a group and they wanted AI, I would vote against staying at any resort that charged a flat rate monthly fee to the outside dive op. I don't mind paying a per use or weekly fee myself, but the flat rate monthly makes little sense to the op if they don't get many bookings from the particular resort.

I believe Christi lists on her website the resorts she does pickups.

Yes, I do. I actually also list the fees associated with each pier if they apply. I also let guests know if they've booked a hotel with pier fees so that they are prepared for it if they get approached by the "pier police"

 

[Skittl1321]

Thanks for responding, Christi- yes, that makes sense. (And even if it didn't, you are of course to make your own business decisions however you want.)


The flat rates at the hotels just seem really unreasonable; because there is no way small ops can cover the volume of divers to be worth it. It just surprised me that the downtown pier charged both a flat rate and a per diver fee. But I suppose with so many downtown hotels feeding divers to that pier, the volume works out.

The Op I chose to dive with gave me a very short list of places she'd pick up, and I don't recall that the downtown pier was on it. We were otherwise told we'd have to taxi to the marina. That's one reason we chose an AI, the cheaper downtown hotels, once combined with cab fare, would cost us a lot more. She told us in advance we'd be responsible for the $3 pier fee. (Which hopefully hasn't changed to flat rate by the time we get there, though we'd pay that too.) At least they only charge you daily and not to get on and off the pier Taxi fare gets you both ways.

 

[Christi]

THe bottom line is that any hotel that accepts guests and has a dock, it is part of the property that is on federal property.. Other than that it is just some way to rip off the guests, or force them to use the low service, cattle boat ops that pay them too much to keep divers captive to the property.

This recent move by hotels, especially Iberostar, if allowed to go on is going to hurt diving in Cozumel, even if many divers don't know the difference between good service and bad. Mexican Law does not allow this and Aldora is working within the law to get this fixed.

dave dillehay
aldora divers

Thank you Dave! If there's anything I can do to help or participate in this - please let me know! I'm not officially "Mexican" yet - close, but not yet - but anything I can do to help in this effort I will be glad to!

---------- Post added July 23rd, 2013 at 02:17 PM ----------

Thanks for responding, Christi- yes, that makes sense. (And even if it didn't, you are of course to make your own business decisions however you want.)


The flat rates at the hotels just seem really unreasonable; because there is no way small ops can cover the volume of divers to be worth it. It just surprised me that the downtown pier charged both a flat rate and a per diver fee. But I suppose with so many downtown hotels feeding divers to that pier, the volume works out.

The Op I chose to dive with gave me a very short list of places she'd pick up, and I don't recall that the downtown pier was on it. We were otherwise told we'd have to taxi to the marina. That's one reason we chose an AI, the cheaper downtown hotels, once combined with cab fare, would cost us a lot more. She told us in advance we'd be responsible for the $3 pier fee. (Which hopefully hasn't changed to flat rate by the time we get there, though we'd pay that too.) At least they only charge you daily and not to get on and off the pier Taxi fare gets you both ways.

BINGO! As I mentioned before, if they feel they need to have assistance to maintain the fees and that we should all pitch in then be reasonable about it. Bill us monthly for the amount of divers we actually pick-up - this is what the Aldora pier administration does. Then, we know what the rate is and can charge the divers who choose these hotels accordingly. But that's the point, they don't want to be the "bad guys" - they don't want their guests to be inconvenienced, yet they are the very reason they are being inconvenienced - or rather manipulated into using the onsite shop - whether or not they are actually under the same corporate umbrella. Dressel and Iberostar are by the way under the same corporate umbrella -= owned by the same corporation. The onsite ops at Occidental Grand, Allegro, Secrets, Presidente, Fiesta Americana, La Ceiba, Hotel Cozumel are not - they are simply concessions.

No, Alison does not pick up downtown and I don't believe she goes north of the Caleta. I could be wrong on that last part - but that is my understanding.

I also make sure to let my divers know in advance that they are responsible for any pier fees.

---------- Post added July 23rd, 2013 at 04:08 PM ----------

I checked with my crew this afternoon about the situation at El Cid as we recently had divers there. They were approached, but only to ask if they were hotel guests or from outside. They confirmed that they were hotel guests and no pier fee was charged. I will assume that the pier charges apply only to non-hotel guests until we are notified otherwise.

 

[John Larsen]

This is not something that the hotels have just started is it ?....I remember staying at suites Bahis 2-3 years ago and being picked up at Aqua safari doc by Pepe scuba and I was charged by Aqua safari..I believe it was 10 pesos a day.