Shore Diving comparison

[Curious_George]

How does shore diving there compare to up north by Aldora Villa? Anyone done both?

 

[cicopo]

AND just how far away is Scuba Club from Hotel Cozumel's beach front area? Divers are free to go all the way north to SCC's area too.

 

[ReefHound]

How does shore diving there compare to up north by Aldora Villa? Anyone done both?

I’ve done Aldora 3 or 4 times. There’s a lot of life right at the wall along shore. There’s not a large area of interest but what there is is nice. I’d pick it over hotel Coz but I’d still take the Tikila area over them all.

 

[jlyle]

AND just how far away is Scuba Club from Hotel Cozumel's beach front area? Divers are free to go all the way north to SCC's area too.

Uh...next door. However, the current normally runs South to North in front of the hotels and it's good practice to start your shore dive into the current and then drift back to the entry point at the end of the dive. One could easily visit the artificial (concrete) reef in front of SCC but there's little to see North of the rubble. With included, unlimited shore diving at SCC there are many more shore divers than from HC.

 

[ggunn]

Stay at Scuba Club Cozumel and unlimited shore diving is free. Same great shallow dives, particularly during the night. There’s some bridge rubble five minutes out that has many types of juveniles. We always see octopus against the wall.

The same is true of Blue Angel. The stingray pen next door attracts a lot of life and there are lots of small coral heads and rubble piles to the south of the pen. In the Before Times we'd put in at Turquoise and drift down to BA to avoid fighting the current, but I don't know if that is an option these days.

 

[soonerwink]

I have done shore dives at BA and hotel coz because i was staying there. If your not staying there go down tikila. Ask for Mario Ceh. There is a circle of rocks and a few coralheads.

Must agree, very good shore dives here for Cozumel. Lots of marine life, a few large coral heads, sea fans, and even the remains of the old airplane and a large anchor. Two years ago Mario took me a tour of the area for a 2 hour dive. He knows where to find sea horses, and all the marine life. He is also a great photographer. He only charged me $28 for a tank, weights and guide service. The best $28 I ever spent in Cozumel. That is Mario in the background of one of my pics.

 

[ReefHound]

Uh...next door. However, the current normally runs South to North in front of the hotels and it's good practice to start your shore dive into the current and then drift back to the entry point at the end of the dive. One could easily visit the artificial (concrete) reef in front of SCC but there's little to see North of the rubble. With included, unlimited shore diving at SCC there are many more shore divers than from HC.

I'd rather dive sites where there are fewer other divers. If you're an HC diver who exits as SCC low on air they aren't going to push you back into the ocean although they may scold you a bit as they escort you to the street to walk back. Yes, it is good practice to start a dive into the current but there can be exceptions, especially if the current is mild. Very seldom have I found current by shore that I couldn't go against with an easy occasional frog kick.I've always found the current nearly nonexistent right by the shore so if you're exerting against the current 100 yards out just come closer to shore.

 

[P-Dog]

I was shore diving at Blue Angel last week. The night diving is much more interesting. Rays, squid, eels, octopus, scorpionfish...The night dives were great. I did a couple of them.

I did a few day shore dives as well and enjoyed them, but I like to look into holes and crevices and really search for stuff. Eels, shrimp, crabs, flounder, rays...that sort of thing is what I saw.

Tanks are free.

 

[Sallygirl]

The fiberglass pyramid used to sit near the swimming pool at the Hotel Cozumel. It was moved to the ocean in 2006. Here's a photo taken just after the pyramid was sunk. There were eye-bolts in each corner that were removed the next day.

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Here's an old image of the pool at Hotel Cozumel. You can see the pyramid on an island in the middle of the pool.

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Thank you! Very cool.