Any good OW dives in Cozumel?

[Pvs.A Diving]

Hey everybody,

Tried searching but really didn't get any solid answers just a lot of "...most dives are deeper than OW..."

I've got lots of dives in and have been AOW for years but my wife is only OW with about 5 dives...Are there any good OW dives in Cozumel or are we better off diving the Riviera?

Thanks in advance!

Bryce

 

[Karloss]

There is Columbia Shallows...

 

[ggunn]

Hey everybody,

Tried searching but really didn't get any solid answers just a lot of "...most dives are deeper than OW..."

I've got lots of dives in and have been AOW for years but my wife is only OW with about 5 dives...Are there any good OW dives in Cozumel or are we better off diving the Riviera?

Thanks in advance!

Bryce

Sure. My wife and I went diving Cozumel with zero OW dives. Our first "real" dive was at Tormentos. There are lots of beautiful but less challenging dives to be had in the waters around Cozumel; Colombia Shallows is perhaps the best example but there are plenty of others.

Ops in Cozumel are very familiar with new divers. One thing that is often suggested in such cases is to hire a private DM to escort the new diver on their first few dives; I believe that just about any op can set that up.

 

[Hawkwood]

...

Ops in Cozumel are very familiar with new divers. One thing that is often suggested in such cases is to hire a private DM to escort the new diver on their first few dives; I believe that just about any op can set that up.

That's what we did upon going to Cozumel after we were first certified. Smartest thing we did. Incredibly inexpensive and we learned a lot from him, about Cozumel underwater and about the island itself. Well worth doing.

 

[gopbroek]

The advice of getting a private DM is very good advice. Most dives in Cozumel can be done at 60' or less if you stay on the top of the reef. In addition to Columbia Shallows, Dahlia has a hard bottom above 60'.

 

[shardison]

The other way that I have seen, is that when you are on the first (deep) dive. When everyone is at say 80-90 ft. I've seen part of my group stay on top of the reef (if it was a wall dive) or they just stayed at the 60' depth for the length of the dive. In my opinion, most of the best stuff to see is in that 60-80 ft. range. There are a few sites where going deeper is beneficial, but there aren't that many. And to ease your mind a little bit. I had a 12 year old kid diving off my boat one year. he was doing his checkout dives for his OW certification or Jr. certification maybe. Anyway, there are a lot of new/green divers that go to Coz.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

My 12 year old daughter's first dive was in Cozumel, she was limited to 60 feet. It was amazing. Choose a good operator (Aldora, blue magic, dive with Martin, blue XTSea, and several more) and you will have no problems. Stay away from large boats with more than 6 divers, let the operator know your dive experience, and be prepared to be blown away by some incredible slow drift diving.

There are enough shallower diving opportunities that you can dive all week and not go deeper than 60 feet. Unless you are on an advanced boat, your first dives are usually around 80 feet. A private DM is an option but not necessary(some operators require it for new divers, most don't)

As long as your wife has reasonable buoyancy control, she should be fine. Depth is not the issue, injury is possible from relatively shallow depths if a diver bolts to the surface holding their breath. A panicked diver that spits their reg can drown in a few feet of water. Dive operations with multiple boats will be able to have a beginner boat for y'all. They will be shallower dives with DM's that deal with new divers on a daily basis.

This map has depths on it. cozumel dive sites map - Google Search

Safe travels,
Jay

 

[northernone]

Ton's to see above 60ft in cozumel.

Enjoy,
Cameron

 

[Dave Dillehay]

For the record, for the first day of diving with us we generally take all new divers to Palancar Gardens which, normally, has very low current and can be thoroughly enjoyed whether 40 feet or 60, while giving everyone a sense of the famous coral formations of Cozumel. Given that we have 8 six pack boats we usually have one going there everyday. Second dives are usually shallower. That would be a good practice for all dive ops.


Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[gr8jab]

Remember, 60ft is only a recommendation. If she is doing well and the DM/shop like what they see, you might venture deeper by the end of the week.