Aldora

[Hatul]

like I said,I don't know of any other op that does that.

I went twice to Punta Sur with Blue Angel with no surcharge; once to Devil’s Throat and once to Cathedral.

 

[fishi]

I went twice to Punta Sur with Blue Angel with no surcharge; once to Devil’s Throat and once to Cathedral.

I have stayed at BA. It's a roll of the dice, you might get down there, you might not. I enjoyed diving with BA, and I don't always want to dive south but when I do I don't know of any other op that will get me down there EVERY day.

 

[ggunn]

I have stayed at BA. It's a roll of the dice, you might get down there, you might not. I enjoyed diving with BA, and I don't always want to dive south but when I do I don't know of any other op that will get me down there EVERY day.

I have been diving with Blue Angel for several years, and the first thing the DM says when everybody is aboard is "Where do you guys want to go today?" What makes you think that if every day the answer were to be reefs south of Palancar, they wouldn't go there? If the BA boats don't go to the south end every day, it's because we divers didn't want to go there.

Also and FWIW, some of my favorite dives are north of Colombia. If every dive you go on is south of Palancar that excludes 80-90% of the Cozumel reefs. For another thing, since the far south end is out of the lee of the island, getting in and out of the water can be difficult to impossible due to sea conditions and wave action on the southern "wild side" beaches can put so much fine sand in the water that the visibility on the far south reefs goes way down; there are some days when I wouldn't want to dive down there.

 

[mcohen1021]

Call me a scuba snob, but there's nothing like having a private boat/guide in Cozumel.

 

[Christi]

I have stayed at BA. It's a roll of the dice, you might get down there, you might not. I enjoyed diving with BA, and I don't always want to dive south but when I do I don't know of any other op that will get me down there EVERY day.

So you are saying that every single day Aldora dives Punta Sur, Columbia, Maracaibo, and Chun Chackaab and ok, I'll throw Islote in too? Simply not possible or realistic due to varying weather conditions. I love those sites and we dive them regularly - but that could get old too and there are days it's simply miserable or irresponsible/unsafe to hit Punta Sur or anything south or around the southern point many fantastic sites at Palancar and north of palancar - all of which we see aldora boats at as well. It would be a disservice to ONLY dive south of Palancar and I know that's not what Aldora does - just like most of us, they dive every site in the park and to the North. It's great that you love your dive shop, but be careful about speaking absolutes regarding shops you have never dove with and have no first hand knowledge of based on your experience with only a few.

 

[Streydog]

Call me a scuba snob, but there's nothing like having a private boat/guide in Cozumel.

Part of what makes diving fun for me is meeting people from all over the world, even though they are mostly American and Canadians.

 

[mcohen1021]

Part of what makes diving fun for me is meeting people from all over the world, even though they are mostly American and Canadians.

I met folks from Italy, UK, and Belarus this last trip! I don;t mind sharing a boat, just prefer the others are like minded and of comparable or better experience.

 

[uncfnp]

I met folks from Italy, UK, and Belarus this last trip! I don;t mind sharing a boat, just prefer the others are like minded and of comparable or better experience.

And that is the beauty of a boat that allows divers the freedom to dive their profiles within their skills and experience. You get to meet lots of folks with varied experiences but are not constrained to dive within their limits. Puts a lot less pressure on the dive ops to match skills and less stress for divers that can lead them to criticize or critique their boat companions. Everyone wins.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

So you are saying that every single day Aldora dives Punta Sur, Columbia, Maracaibo, and Chun Chackaab and ok, I'll throw Islote in too? Simply not possible or realistic due to varying weather conditions. I love those sites and we dive them regularly - but that could get old too and there are days it's simply miserable or irresponsible/unsafe to hit Punta Sur or anything south or around the southern point many fantastic sites at Palancar and north of palancar - all of which we see aldora boats at as well. It would be a disservice to ONLY dive south of Palancar and I know that's not what Aldora does - just like most of us, they dive every site in the park and to the North. It's great that you love your dive shop, but be careful about speaking absolutes regarding shops you have never dove with and have no first hand knowledge of based on your experience with only a few.

Dear Christi, because of the number of divers we have it is almost always easy to place a diver on a boat specific to their interests. Yes, we do Punta Sur or Maracaibo most every day. One highly qualified nutty group wanted Maracaibo for a first dive, then Barracuda for the second—yes we did it. But we do not do that EVERYDAY, it just depends on what Our divers want, and weather of course. WE happen to have the infrastructure to to that.

Dave DIllehay
Aldora Divers

 

[Christi]

Dear Christi, because of the number of divers we have it is almost always easy to place a diver on a boat specific to their interests. Yes, we do Punta Sur or Maracaibo most every day. One highly qualified nutty group wanted Maracaibo for a first dive, then Barracuda for the second—yes we did it. But we do not do that EVERYDAY, it just depends on what Our divers want, and weather of course. WE happen to have the infrastructure to to that.

Dave DIllehay
Aldora Divers

That's my point - it doesn't happen every single day - and it would be impossible and/or irresponsible to dive some of those sites based on wind and weather on specific days. So my point was mainly to the diver speaking absolutes regarding other operations without first hand knowledge - no different than someone saying shop X is THE BEST when they've got no other frame of reference.

And yes, I know you have more than 2 boats, everyone knows that. You have a great business and a solid operation. I am happy for you that you can accommodate more divers for more variety and that you have many happy divers - your shop isn't everyone's cup of tea, nor is mine. I never aspire to become as high volume as you have - I prefer to keep it small and personal with a solid and tenured crew - everyone wins when they are doing what makes them happy.