Operator offering 3 daily dives? And lodging with meal plan?

[deepsea21]

Carol... I'll toss my 2 cents in regarding what you are looking for... As some others have mentioned, we too stay at the Casa Mexicana (going on 14 or 15 years now) and started diving with Tres Pelicanos 3 years ago. Addressing your needs:

1) 3 daily dives (2-tank morning, 1-tank afternoon). Go with 3P's that offers courtesy transport at 7:40 AM from their shop right around the corner from the casa. You'll get breakfast in without being rushed and you'll usually be back at the Casa between 12:30 and 1:00 PM which leaves time to grab dive #3 with Aqua Safari that has a shop and dock right in front of the casa. It leaves at 2:30 PM I believe so you have plenty of time for lunch. Of course, you'll be keeping your gear with you and hauling it day in and day out.

2) Dive your own computer (not having to ascend as a group) 3P's yes. Aqua Safari no but you'll be diving a shallow reef on that single afternon dive anyway so you'll still grab about an hour of bottom time.

3) Will let me "buddy" up with the DM instead of another solo stranger. Absolutely 3P's. As the more experienced divers are going to spread out and dive their own dives with 3P's you can hang with the DM and pretty much enjoy a private DM on the morning dives. With Aqua Safari in the afternoon, you'll probably be one in a very small group with a dedicated DM as they tend to do classes and such in the shallows that splits the group in 3/4 (intro/fun with scuba/checkouts with one DM) and 1/4 experienced grabbing another dive with another DM.

4) Knowledgeable DMs who are good at pointing out critters. 3P's and Aqua Safari DM's are great. Quite frankly, some Aqua Safari DM's are downright excellent at finding things on the afternoon dives when the hoard of those who dive with them in the AM are gone and they have a small group in the afternoon.

5) Takes care of equipment between days (or at least has a locker to store it). Not going to happen if you want this 2 AM + 1 PM dive schedule but you can rinse your gear at Aqua Safari rinse tanks on the same block as the Casa Mexicana and then take it up to your balcony.

6) Fast boat w/ shade (a better criteria would be a morning trip that gives enough time to eat lunch before the afternoon trip). 3P's boats are fast with full shade. Aqua Safari boats are slow and offer full shade but you won't be going very far for that 3rd dive anyway so speed really isn't a concern.

Lodging:
1) Prefer somewhere that offers a full meal-plan. If not, then at least an on-site restaurant (w/ breakfast). Casa Mexicana offers the best free included hot breakfast buffet on the island in my opinion. Others say the breakfast at the Palace is better but for $70/night vs. $300/night I don't need to eat sausage wrapped in edible gold leaf.

2) Convenient to the dive op. Both are on the same block as the Casa Mexicana.

3) Wifi (or gets good service from T-Mobile's network). Free WIFI at the Casa with coverage throughout the resort with the exception of the far seats out on the pool deck that overlook the street below and the water.

If interested, contact Jeannie through Tres Pelicano's website and she'll set up a dive/stay package at the casa that can't be beat. Then book your afternoon dives through Aqua Safari seperately. Perhaps some others here know of other dive ops that also pick up at the Aqua Safari dock for a single afternoon dive that you can consider.

That's my 2 cents... for what they're worth.

 

[deepsea21]

If you go on a night dive from shore without a DM, be sure to take a compass and know how to use it. You might be surprised at how easy it is to get "lost" and have to come up and look around to find your way back. Been there, done that, now I take a compass. The cheap plastic fluid filled compasses in the camping department at Academy Sports work just fine.

A diver with less than 30 dives logged should not be solo diving at night from anywhere. Period.

 

[ggunn]

A diver with less than 30 dives logged should not be solo diving at night from anywhere. Period.

I meant the general "you", not anyone in particular. I seriously doubt that anyone who expresses reservations about doing a night dive would just strike out on his or her own at night alone from shore.

 

[deepsea21]

I meant the general "you", not anyone in particular. I seriously doubt that anyone who expresses reservations about doing a night dive would just strike out on his or her own at night alone from shore.

I think you would agree ggunn that a new/newer diver (we were all there at one time) has very few reservations and is excited to experience this new realm, see it all, and push it. You, me and everyone had that period of time when we were first certified and thought we could go full-bore placing our confidence in our training and our equipment which we like to assume will never fail and if it does we can deal with it.

When I look back at some of the things I did when I was first certified, 14 years later I was a foolish... Just because I was certified doesn't mean I was capable of immediately dealing with whatever the ocean or problems the equipment may present.

I guess I am just getting older and after enough dives and one experience that required serious focus and help, these days when we get on a boat or walk off a beach and strap on a tank and go under I have a serious respect for this hobby. It's kind of like a kid lighting fireworks for the first time... It's all fun until you get burned. After that, you have a respect for fireworks and think more about what can go wrong and what you're doing.

 

[ggunn]

I think you would agree ggunn that a new/newer diver (we were all there at one time) has very few reservations and is excited to experience this new realm, see it all, and push it. You, me and everyone had that period of time when we were first certified and thought we could go full-bore placing our confidence in our training and our equipment which we like to assume will never fail and if it does we can deal with it.

When I look back at some of the things I did when I was first certified, 14 years later I was a foolish... Just because I was certified doesn't mean I was capable of immediately dealing with whatever the ocean or problems the equipment may present.

I guess I am just getting older and after enough dives and one experience that required serious focus and help, these days when we get on a boat or walk off a beach and strap on a tank and go under I have a serious respect for this hobby. It's kind of like a kid lighting fireworks for the first time... It's all fun until you get burned. After that, you have a respect for fireworks and think more about what can go wrong and what you're doing.

I'm not sure what you are driving at with this. I don't for a moment think that someone who has already said she was reticent to go on a night dive will read what I wrote and suddenly decide she is ready to set off on a solo night dive from shore, and I was certainly not advising her to do anything of the sort. As to the rest of it, I was in my forties when I got certified and well past the "bulletproof" period of my life.

My advice remains: when shore diving at night without a native guide (and I don't mean solo; I never said anything advising anyone to go solo night diving), you should bring a compass so that you will always know in what direction the shore lies without having to come to the surface and look around, which is even more dangerous in the dark than it is during the day. If you rely on the direction of the current for your bearings you can easily be fooled by it. As I said: been there, done that, won't do it again.

 

[Midge907]

you'll be keeping your gear with you and hauling it day in and day out.

.

What a great idea. You may be able to drop your gear off with Tres Pelicanos in the afternoon after you are done with your dive with Awua Safari, then you don't have to worry about taking it to your room.

 

[elora_c]

Thanks again for all the replies! I missed getting notifications on this thread for the past two days, so didn't reply. I got some great information from 3P (and Blue Angel). I'm currently considering between 3P + Casa Mexicana (14 dives) and Iberostar + Dressel (11 dives), with the scale leaning towards 3P (the biggest hesitation is a silly one for a dive trip - as a not-very-social-picky-eater, I'd rather not have to strike out on my own to find a place to eat). After thinking about the night dive some more, if I go with 3P, I will probably trade one of the 2-tank afternoon dives for a night dive.

 

[krbailey]

First time in Coz, I did Iberostar/Dressel. Did not like the food - quality or variety. Ended up renting a car to go into town to eat. Dressel had a dive schedule that specified which sites it went to on which days. Singularly unimpressed with the whole experience to the point of doing more research (on SB and other sites) and finding a better option. YMMV.

 

[gopbroek]

if I go with 3P, I will probably trade one of the 2-tank afternoon dives for a night dive.

I have an extra week of Vacation I will probably take sometime in October. I'll by diving about 9 days so if you go with 3P I hope to see you there. I normally try to get at least 1 Twilight / Night dive in during my trips, not so much for the night dive (which is always fun) but more so for the twilight. Just prior to sundown the reefs get interesting as it seems to be a peak feeding time.

 

[ggunn]

...the biggest hesitation is a silly one for a dive trip - as a not-very-social-picky-eater, I'd rather not have to strike out on my own to find a place to eat...

To each his (or her) own. A big part of the Cozumel Experience for me is picking out and eating at a different restaurant every night. Even in a 10 day stay I can't hit all my faves.