Blue Magic Scuba--Cozumel

[Seano]

Hey all,

My wife and I have made 3 one week trips to Cozumel (Feb, March, April) and dove each time with Blue Magic Scuba. My wife did her PADI certification with them, and at first I was leary of the whole thing, but after spending time with Gabriel the BMS instructor, I realized that although condensed, my wife was getting a good education.

Here is my take on the shop for the total 3 weeks diving (approx 42 tanks)

Joyce Mustin, BMS Owner
I contacted Joyce like I do most other dive shops I'm interested in diving with. I sent her an email with some key questions in it, and gave her the dates we were coming to the island. I think I sent out about 5 emails to different shops I had read good things about, and then waited to get responses back. I think I got 4 of the 5 back and all of them but Joyce were just form responses, not giving me any reply to the key questions I had asked. Joyce however, personally replied to me, and addressed each and every question I had, as well as provided me with lots of good info about the island and diving there. She also made it clear that she was available to contact as other questions came up. Personal service means a lot to me and I liked her style right off the bat. When we arrived on the island we went in and met Joyce and her staff and instantly felt a great bond with them. After 3 separate weeks of diving with them, I consider Joyce and her husband Mark to be really good friends.

I would like to note that there were a few times that I voiced concern over something that happened during a dive (I had an issue with one of the captains one afternoon that was not Antonio) and was happy at how well the concern was received and thoroughly addressed.

Jorge-
Jorge is the go to guy for BMS. He seems to have many connections on the island, and can make almost any kind of arrangement for you. (Food, hotel/condo, car rentals, excursions) He is a great guy with a wonderful spirit. He is also a diver, but doesn't get into the water as much as he wants to.

Pumba, Dive master. Pumba is one of the BMS dive masters, and you just love this guy instantly. I had about 35 dives with Puma over the course of 3 weeks. He has such an amazing personality that makes the topside almost as much fun as being underwater. He is one of the best DM on the island, and was constantly showing me things to shoot with my camera that I would have otherwise missed. He is by far my favorite DM. We had some newer divers on a few of our trips and I was impressed at how easily he got them comfortable and confident. Request Pumba as your DM and you won't regret it (Ask him to make you a grass figure during your surface interval)

Gabriel Santana, Instructor and Dive Master
I sat in on a Experience SCUBA course with Gabriel and really liked his teaching style and approach. My wife was his student, so I was really there to make sure that she was getting good solid instruction and that noting was being overlooked. After we all went down to the beach for the 1st tank of the experience, it was obvious that my wife was hooked and she was talking about getting her open water certification before we even made it back to the dive shop. I'm sure there is nothing worse then doing your job, and having a guy like me hovering around being protective. He handled both tasks very well.

Gabriel is very patient, and proficient at teaching certification courses, and I was impressed at how well he taught skills. Whether you are getting your certification for the 1st time, or gaining some advanced cards, you Gabriel is an instructor that is passionate about what he does, and it shows.

Sandro, General Manager. I've only gotten 2 dives with Sandro during my three weeks with BMS. He's a great diver and from what I hear one hell of a DM. I hope to get a chance to dive with him next time I'm back on the island in July.

Antonio, Boat Captain-- Antonio is one of the BMS boat captains. He's very friendly and professional, and knows the dive sites like the back of his hand. How these guys are able to drop you directly on the intended site and taking into account for current WITHOUT GPS is astonishing to me. We liked him so much that we were really bummed the few times we didn't get him as our boat captain. It's obvious that his main focus is safety and comfort, and does both really well.

I really like this shop, and hope sharing my experiences with them helps someone on the board.

We are headed back in July for a few weeks, ping me if you'll be there!

Sean

 

[billindenver]

Wow, sounds like you really enjoyed this dive op. Not sure I have read any other reviews of them...but 'one of the best DM on the Island' is a pretty positive review. Might have to give them a look. For reference, which other cozumel dive ops have you used? I have only experienced four of them thus far, and there is a short list of others I would like to get a look at.

Oh, and Welcome to ScubaBoard!

 

[BaileyM]

Well, I had the same great experience with Blue Magic Scuba. I am not lucky enough to have gone 3 times in the last 3 months though! But, I will be going back this July as well, and diving with them again; maybe the same time as you are. Where did you stay these last 3 trips and where will you be staying on the next one? Just curious about your opinion since we have the same dive op opinions. I was also glad to hear your wife had a good experience with Open Water Certification. It validates what my other friends said about their experience with their instructor Gabriel. Consistency is a good thing.....

 

[Seano]

Well, I had the same great experience with Blue Magic Scuba. I am not lucky enough to have gone 3 times in the last 3 months though! But, I will be going back this July as well, and diving with them again; maybe the same time as you are. Where did you stay these last 3 trips and where will you be staying on the next one? Just curious about your opinion since we have the same dive op opinions. I was also glad to hear your wife had a good experience with Open Water Certification. It validates what my other friends said about their experience with their instructor Gabriel. Consistency is a good thing.....

Hey Bailey,

On our first trip we stayed at the Occidental Grand and really liked the property, but it was way too far south and secluded for what we wanted. The last 2 trips we stayed at the Fiesta Americana. Not as nice as the Occidental, but the location and price are hard to beat. Since the FA dock is so close to Caleta where the boat is, we are usually the first pickup right out of the harbor.

We are going to be there July 8-19th or so... You?

Sean

 

[texanlovestotravel]

Hi! I will be diving with Blue Magic for the first time on July 9th through July 12th. Good to hear I made a great choice - Joyce has been very responsive and I will go in and meet with her when I arrive on July 7th. She mentioned that her husband will also be in town during this time. I am a relatively new diver and have spent my first two diving trips in the past year) on Roatan.

 

[renpirate]

You can't go wrong with Blue Magic Scuba. They are an outstanding operation. I am glad you had a good time with them.

 

[mstevens]

There *are* other reviews of Blue Magic on the board. As far as I recall, they were all very positive.

My experience with Blue Magic (based, unfortunately, on a single week of diving) was pretty similar to Seano's. We had a nephew do his OW referral with Gabriel, which went great. We'd actually gone to BMS to follow Sandro, who is one of our favorite DM's anywhere and were happy to learn that Gabriel, with whom we'd dived before, was there as well. For me, Pumba is too silly and too hands-on with the wildlife, but I understand that many people quite like him.

Joyce and Mark are very nice people who are working hard to run a quality dive shop. There is a small handful of operators that get mentioned here time and time again, which I think means they are consistently providing quality and value. BlueXTSea, Aldora, Dive with Martin, Papa Hog's and a few others come quickly to mind. I definitely think Blue Magic Scuba belongs in this tier.

We certainly plan to dive again with them within the next few months.

 

[Seano]

Pumba is and can be silly, but he's not cocky, and I find his humor to be disarming and welcome. He and Sandro do have very different styles, and I appreciate both of them for who/how they are. That being said, I would describe Pumba as professional when it comes to safety and diving in general... Also in 30 or so dives with Pumba, I can't recall him handling underwater wildlife. In Pumba's defence, I've seen Gabriel handle more wildlife then Pumba, but even that was do so respectfully.

We'll be diving with them for 10 days beginning the 9th! Can't wait to get down there!

There *are* other reviews of Blue Magic on the board. As far as I recall, they were all very positive.

My experience with Blue Magic (based, unfortunately, on a single week of diving) was pretty similar to Seano's. We had a nephew do his OW referral with Gabriel, which went great. We'd actually gone to BMS to follow Sandro, who is one of our favorite DM's anywhere and were happy to learn that Gabriel, with whom we'd dived before, was there as well. For me, Pumba is too silly and too hands-on with the wildlife, but I understand that many people quite like him.

Joyce and Mark are very nice people who are working hard to run a quality dive shop. There is a small handful of operators that get mentioned here time and time again, which I think means they are consistently providing quality and value. BlueXTSea, Aldora, Dive with Martin, Papa Hog's and a few others come quickly to mind. I definitely think Blue Magic Scuba belongs in this tier.

We certainly plan to dive again with them within the next few months.

 

[renpirate]

I can most definitely attest to Pumba being very respectful of the wildlife. He definitely knows his stuff and reacts well to any problems. We had an OOA situation at Baracuda,(a tank was not fully turned on by accident) he handled it very well.

 

[texanlovestotravel]

I went today to check in at Blue Magic and Pumba was the one who got me outfitted. I told him I'd 'heard' of him which he thought was super funny. He is a fun guy all around! Anyway, I was giggling and laughing before I even left and I dont' dive until Thursday, which won't come too soon.