First time diving Cozumel- Need Help!

[uncfnp]

Christi. Email sent.

One last question. Checking Delta, looks like a great fare flying Wed June 22 and return Sunday or Monday July 3 or 4th. Would love the extended stay but hesitant to fly a holiday. Any thoughts?

Hey Jamie. Have you made any decisions?!

 

[JamieMc5280]

For a less expensive accommodation I highly recommend the Suites Bahia. Right next to the downtown pier (built by Aldora but taken over by corrupt politicians), and all the fun of town. The rooms are spacious and very inexpensive.
As far as Aldora Diving, there must have been a miss understanding. Our signature dives are Maricaibo, Punta Sur Sur, Devil's Throat and Columbia Deep (all deeper than 100 ft). For capable divers we go there everyday, not to mention our northern adventure dives, and never take more than 6 similar divers per boat (we have 9). For partial or complete port closures we have one 40 ft fast boat, or dives on the pristine and beautiful east side. Perhaps you ought to talk to Kay again or call me on my US phone which works here as well. That is 830 469-0667

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Thank you for your response- the connection I had with Kay was a rough one. Is my understanding of SI location a misunderstanding as well? She said you only surface at the Beach Club- when I questioned this she said "you must be new to diving" - I let her know that although I don't have hundreds of dives under my belt, I have in fact been diving multiple times Last we dove was in Belize- with BDS and every day our diving was different as were our SIs- some on boat in shallow water where we were able to interact with rays & nurse sharks, one SI was on the pier at San Pedro, another on a beach after our dive at the Blue Hole. Because I'm not familiar with Cozumel, nor the dive sites, I was relying on the information I was given by Kay. Whether I misheard or it was mis-communicated, what I did take away from our conversation is that most dives are 40-60 ft & all surface intervals are at a beach club. She was super helpful in trying to help me find a room that would work and we are still considering Villa Aldora- we're just not certain about being street level and having that be our view- we would prefer an ocean view- that would put us into a 2 bedroom suite which is out of our price range. Anyhow- I hope this explains a bit of my conversation with Kay and clears up any misunderstanding.

 

[cpichette]

Aldora is the op that quoted $111/day- $93 + tax & park fee. I really want to dive with them but am not sure I can afford it. I looked at staying with them as well- but again, super pricey and overkill for what I need. I don't need a 2 bedroom suite for my husband and I alone- pretty much all they have available for the times we are traveling. They do offer unlimited shore dives if you stay with them so that is a bonus. Maybe we don't dive as many days- take advantage of the longer bottom times and make use of the free shore diving? I know they have big tanks- but Aldora is the one that says they don't dive past 40-60 ft. this alone would account for longer bottom times correct?

I only dive with Aldora and I can promise you that pretty much every first dive is below 60 feet, typically 80-90 foot depths unless you do some of the more advanced sites where it is deeper. Some of the second dives are shallower, like Yucab for instance, where the bottom is 50-60 from what I recall. I think the price is worth it, because I typically get 75-90 minute dives on most dives. They have a lot of boats and do a good job matching up similarly skilled groups of divers.

I like to stay downtown. Shouldn't have any problem finding a place to stay as it is hotter than hell and not very busy. I like the Flamingo or Las Anclas downtown. Make sure to bring lots of mosquito spray. I was there once in May/June and will now only go back in the winter.

 

[ReefHound]

Thank you for your response- the connection I had with Kay was a rough one. Is my understanding of SI location a misunderstanding as well? She said you only surface at the Beach Club- when I questioned this she said "you must be new to diving" -

If for some reason she thought you were new divers, I wonder if she was trying to convey that most dives you CAN stay at 40-60 feet. Even on the deeper dives, you typically have walls or steep slopes and could easily stay above 60' while the rest of the group is below you at 80-90. The deeper dives will only have you at depth for maybe 15 minutes before the DM leads people back up the slope to the 40-60' range for the rest of the dive.

There are numerous beach clubs and most find a surface interval at one of them a lot more relaxing than sitting on a boat drifting. You don't have to buy anything. You don't even have to get off the boat while it's tied to the dock.

 

[Prop Joe]

Thank you for your response- the connection I had with Kay was a rough one. Is my understanding of SI location a misunderstanding as well? She said you only surface at the Beach Club- when I questioned this she said "you must be new to diving" - I let her know that although I don't have hundreds of dives under my belt, I have in fact been diving multiple times Last we dove was in Belize- with BDS and every day our diving was different as were our SIs- some on boat in shallow water where we were able to interact with rays & nurse sharks, one SI was on the pier at San Pedro, another on a beach after our dive at the Blue Hole. Because I'm not familiar with Cozumel, nor the dive sites, I was relying on the information I was given by Kay. Whether I misheard or it was mis-communicated, what I did take away from our conversation is that most dives are 40-60 ft & all surface intervals are at a beach club. She was super helpful in trying to help me find a room that would work and we are still considering Villa Aldora- we're just not certain about being street level and having that be our view- we would prefer an ocean view- that would put us into a 2 bedroom suite which is out of our price range. Anyhow- I hope this explains a bit of my conversation with Kay and clears up any misunderstanding.

I think you'll find the Villa beyond nice.
We find the smaller rooms fine and we spend most of our time out in the breezeway or under the Palapa conversing with other divers and our friends. If you can afford it, the Villa is wonderful. I don't think there is a much better place to stay on the island. We've stayed in many places on the island over the years. There are bikes you can use. Diving in front of the Villa is decent for 12' of water. The boats pick you right at the Villa (weather permitting). Town is a nice 20 minute walk along the water.
Tell the office, Villa or the shop if you have any needs (within reason) and they will make it happen. Tell the DM's what you are comfortable with diving wise. Have fun, take pictures and post them when you have a chance.

 

[loudives]

Cozumel has recently hired a new 'harbor master' who is hypersensitive to anything remotely approaching 'sporty' seas, he's very gun-shy, conservative, so the odds of having the harbor closed to diving due to 'weather' are MUCH higher these days then they used to be.

↑
Cozumel has recently hired a new 'harbor master' who is hypersensitive to anything remotely approaching 'sporty' seas, he's very gun-shy, conservative, so the odds of having the harbor closed to diving due to 'weather' are MUCH higher these days then they used to be.


I believe that guy had a short tenure! I just got back from a week yesterday. Got in 5 days of diving in the worst seas I've been in, and I've been going 2-3 times a year for 25 years. Wind was ripping and we had some waves come over the rail of the Pango had to be 4-6 foot sea. Some Ops canceled on their own and some turned back after just a few hundred yards. I know last Nov. that timid harbor master closed the place with just a ripple. No way could that same guy let the boats out last week.

Anyway to answer you and what you want:
Blue angel hotel -- small comfy hotel on the water, pool, mini fridge, small sandwich shop, 15 min. walk to town, all rooms face the water.
Several dive ops pick up there or just a $5 cab to the Marina.
On site op is Blue Angel with rinse tank and place to let wetsuit hang. you take care of your gear. They have a few boats. but no guaranty unskilled divers not with you or on small boat. All depends on how many divers they have. they will not send out many boats if they can fill up just one.
Dive Op options. for guaranty small group (6-8) max several ops with the small fast boats
.
Living Underwater and Liquid Blue used the steel tanks, only one boat so 8 max. These ops tend to have more experience divers due to cost.
Bottom time Divers, Dive with Alison, Tres Pelicaninos, Scuba Tony, Bluextsea, Dive with Martin all have the 6-8 max boats use AL80's nitrox available and give good service. Some will take all your gear rinse and dry for next day, some will not take the wet suit but they will take the rest.

No one can guaranty you that they will only have good divers on the boat as economics also play a part. Some ops will require you all to end the dive when first diver to reach 700psi and surface as a group. Others will either adjust the buddy system with like psi divers underwater or Some masters will take you up for the safety stop then they return to the group and continue until the last diver reaches 700. If you are good on air these are the questions you might want to ask the op.

Ops mentioned in my post will let you dive your air and computer. So you know, my op is Bottom Time, but I have been with all these ops over the last 5 years and they all are top shelf. Last week I dove with Bottom Time, Tony and Alison due to economics. These Ops can not go out with just one or sometimes 2 divers on the boat so they talk to each other and arrange something so you don't have to scramble to find an Op at the last

 

[uncfnp]

I believe that guy had a short tenure! I just got back from a week yesterday. Got in 5 days of diving in the worst seas I've been in, and I've been going 2-3 times a year for 25 years. Wind was ripping and we had some waves come over the rail of the Pango had to be 4-6 foot sea. Some Ops canceled on their own and some turned back after just a few hundred yards. I know last Nov. that timid harbor master closed the place with just a ripple. No way could that same guy let the boats out last week.

Wow. As I said I don't mind sporty seas but 6 foot seas in one of those pangas (?) doesn't sound at all appealing.

 

[JamieMc5280]

↑
Cozumel has recently hired a new 'harbor master' who is hypersensitive to anything remotely approaching 'sporty' seas, he's very gun-shy, conservative, so the odds of having the harbor closed to diving due to 'weather' are MUCH higher these days then they used to be.


I believe that guy had a short tenure! I just got back from a week yesterday. Got in 5 days of diving in the worst seas I've been in, and I've been going 2-3 times a year for 25 years. Wind was ripping and we had some waves come over the rail of the Pango had to be 4-6 foot sea. Some Ops canceled on their own and some turned back after just a few hundred yards. I know last Nov. that timid harbor master closed the place with just a ripple. No way could that same guy let the boats out last week.

Anyway to answer you and what you want:
Blue angel hotel -- small comfy hotel on the water, pool, mini fridge, small sandwich shop, 15 min. walk to town, all rooms face the water.
Several dive ops pick up there or just a $5 cab to the Marina.
On site op is Blue Angel with rinse tank and place to let wetsuit hang. you take care of your gear. They have a few boats. but no guaranty unskilled divers not with you or on small boat. All depends on how many divers they have. they will not send out many boats if they can fill up just one.
Dive Op options. for guaranty small group (6-8) max several ops with the small fast boats
.
Living Underwater and Liquid Blue used the steel tanks, only one boat so 8 max. These ops tend to have more experience divers due to cost.
Bottom time Divers, Dive with Alison, Tres Pelicaninos, Scuba Tony, Bluextsea, Dive with Martin all have the 6-8 max boats use AL80's nitrox available and give good service. Some will take all your gear rinse and dry for next day, some will not take the wet suit but they will take the rest.

No one can guaranty you that they will only have good divers on the boat as economics also play a part. Some ops will require you all to end the dive when first diver to reach 700psi and surface as a group. Others will either adjust the buddy system with like psi divers underwater or Some masters will take you up for the safety stop then they return to the group and continue until the last diver reaches 700. If you are good on air these are the questions you might want to ask the op.

Ops mentioned in my post will let you dive your air and computer. So you know, my op is Bottom Time, but I have been with all these ops over the last 5 years and they all are top shelf. Last week I dove with Bottom Time, Tony and Alison due to economics. These Ops can not go out with just one or sometimes 2 divers on the boat so they talk to each other and arrange something so you don't have to scramble to find an Op at the last

Is Blue Angel included in the Ops Mention?

 

[ggunn]

Is Blue Angel included in the Ops Mention?

I dive with Blue Angel. Yes, with them you dive your air and computer.

 

[shardison]

SCC may have large boats to dive from, but they are not run in the typical cattle boat fashion. They are very good about pairing similarly skilled divers together in groups of 8. That was one of my concerns as well the first time I went to Coz. I can tell you that I have never felt "held back" on any dive that I have done with SCC. We did Cathedral and Devil's throat on my last trip in 2014. And with a relatively low number of dives I can't think of a dive that you won't enjoy.... In fact you will probably be so please with your experience, that you'll be planning your next trip down while you are still on the plane heading home.... It's addictive!!!!