Beginner at CCV

[Damselfish]

Hi Doc, great post. Just was looking at CCV for a trip and my question was if the gear is stored by the boat dock how long a walk and how big a hassle is it to walk over to the other side of the resort with your gear. If I understand your post, you gear up at the dock and walk 90 steps across the property to the shore dive entry. That still seems longer than other shore diving places I have stayed at but your suggesting it is easy and can be easily done multiple times of day.

It would be nice if it was closer, but it's not undo-able for most people. If you are a fan of lightweight tropical booties as I was, it might be a good time to consider something with a heavier sole. Or wear good sandals for the walking part, and leave them on the shore for later. I killed my feet on that trip.

Oh, and I'm sure you didn't mean to, but you sounded quite like a curmudgeon in your post. We had a great time at CCV. We feel differently than you, and that's OK. But, I hope the OP hasn't had his excitement and enthusiasm thwarted. There's nothing more deflating than buying a new car, only to have someone tell you why it was a bad purchase. - I mean this in the most conversational and benign tone possible.

I saw someone expressing their opinions (some of which I share), not a curmudgeon. Other people interested in CCV will read this thread later and it's good for them to see different opinions, not just cheerleaders. I find more tiresome the predictable post that anyone who doesn't like it must be a somehow inferior diver who doesn't appreciate the right things.

CCV is a place some people think is awesome, and others less so. And there's nothing wrong with that. I do think it's a great place for a beginner to build up experience.

 

[Doc]

Thanks for clarifying.

Oh, and I'm sure you didn't mean to, but you sounded quite like ....

Looks as if Salvager went all ghost protocol.

The secretary disavows any knowledge of their existence.

@dee efff: Dunning Krueger effect.

 

[hdtran]

Chiming in late--I consider myself a novice, and my first trip to Cocoview was as a truly raw novice. I too had a few concerns (and I was diving solo).

No sweat with shedding weight as time goes by and with air consumption. You tell the DM ahead of time that you're likely to use more air; you signal the DM when your air pressure is whatever you're concerned with; he makes sure you see the boat. According to my notes, I went from about 30 minutes in a dive to 50 minutes on my first trip.

Drop off dives and shore dives are great ways to get more dives in, and get more comfortable with your buoyancy skills.

As the Doc states, it's not a race. Especially on the drop and the shore, hang out at a coral head. See how long you can stay at 5 ft depth (seriously!) without bobbing to the surface. See how many flounders you can see:


See if you can slow down enough and be still enough for the grass eels (as opposed to eel grass?) to come out (they're actually called garden eels, but I thought that was a good pun)


And dont' regain the weight that you lost as lead, as fat from the buffets. (It's not gourmet, but it's wholesome, and there are huge quantities).

 

[Rilelen]

Thanks all - it's getting so close! I've been in touch with Dockside, and it looks like we'll probably be doing a combo of things folks have suggested. I really appreciate all the comments and suggestions (and encouragement) everyone has given, and am sure we're going to have an amazing time. (And as doc mentioned, it turns out we'll be there at the same time!)

 

[Steve P]

Rilelen, My wife & I heading to CCV for 1st time week of May 27 so, if you're there that week, I'm sure we'll see you & your dad. We will have our "kids" in tow. They're 26 and were certified 8 yrs ago but they haven't done much diving since and that's one of the reasons we picked CCV. As you may be aware, Dockside offers a refresher dive and I've signed them up for that on our 1st day. Maybe something to consider for your dad? With regards to air consumption, it really comes down to how relaxed you are as a diver. Hard to be relaxed when you're struggling with buoyancy and hard to have good buoyancy control when you're carrying too much lead. Shore dives should be a great place for him to reduce weight & relax. Look forward to seeing you if you're still in CCV when we get there.

 

[Doc]

There's going to be 9 of us in total, so far.

Rilelen's 2, Steve P's 4 and my 3!

We'll all be there for the Full Moon, so the ware column will be pretty active!

Two weeks and counting down.....

 

[Sneeg]

I have an off-topic question but am hoping that someone can answer it. Do cell phones work at CCV? We stayed in the West End last September and had no problems but I am not sure if that is true at CCV. In a perfect world we would leave our phones turned off but we own a business and the only way we can get away is if we can get messages. Thanks for any help.

 

[Hoag]

I have an off-topic question but am hoping that someone can answer it. Do cell phones work at CCV? We stayed in the West End last September and had no problems but I am not sure if that is true at CCV. In a perfect world we would leave our phones turned off but we own a business and the only way we can get away is if we can get messages. Thanks for any help.

I can not say definitively if American ones will, but I had a friend who went there recently and texted me with a Canadian cell phone while they were at the resort.

 

[Doc]

Yes they do have good cell signal at CCV, I know nothing of the hoops you have to jump thru to use the Honduran carrier, but yep- you can ruin paradise digitally

CCV has good wifi, at least until the idiot next door downloads a movie.

 

[Silty Sam]

Just got back Saturday from my first visit to CCV. Awesome time!

Weather was great, allowing us to go to some less-visited sites. Jorge and Eddie were a great captain and dive guide and took care of setting up and swapping tanks. Plenty of the room on the boat. Gear locker was convenient. Cell phone worked fine (AT&T International package gave me my domestic data and phone plan seamlessly for $10 per day. The work from Front Yard to dive locker wasn't bad at all. Saw a tremendous amount and variety of sea life. Wall diving, the Prince Albert wreck. Plenty of good food.