First time to Cozumel -- how much is too much?

[JohnWoods]

Not to sound negative about Dressel at the Iberostar ( I've stayed there 5 times over 5 years) , they operate a fine tuned cattle drive every single day from what I've seen. By this , I am referring to large groups of divers parading to and from the boats ( also large). One in our group took Dressel's discover diving course and the rest of us signed up to join him for his dive. He had very good training , all morning and the dive was in the afternoon. The boat was busy to say the least with several groups and dive masters. Sitting there with all gear on waiting for our turn to enter the water was a challenge, finding a spot in the boat to feel comfortable gearing up and down was also a challenge. We were extremely glad this was not our choice for diving Cozumel for any of our trips there , not because they are a poor company to dive with , but because the cattle boat thing is not our vision of a relaxing enjoyable dive trip. There are many exceptional dive operations that's will pick you up at the Iberostar dock who have a max of 6-8 divers , I would strongly suggest that route.

 

[Ron Lee]

If not already suggested consider hiring a private divemaster your first dive or two. Learn the skills needed to drift dive confidently.

Maybe expand your depth comfort zone to a hundred feet. There are many things to learn such as dropping behind a coral head to get out of the current if you get ahead of the group. Tracking bubbles in open water and when the group goes into a swim through area and you stay above. Turning into the current and slowly finning to avoid getting too far ahead of the group. Practice a solo ascent, safety stop and surfacing (back to other diver with divemaster monitoring your technique.

 

[jonhall]

the cattle boat thing is not our vision of a relaxing enjoyable dive trip.

Not all cattle boats are created equal - but in general I agree. I only did 2 dives with Dressel in Coz and it was completely opposite what most everyone else who dove with them reported on SB - we only had 5 or 6 divers and did our surface interval in the boat.

I would think the majority of divers would prefer smaller 6 or 8 pack boats (I do), but as the OP is a newer diver, I think there is something to be said for getting experience on a cattle boat. The OP may wind up on one some other time because of no other choice or maybe by choice. On the East End of Grand Cayman is a dive op (Ocean Frontiers) considered to be one of the best, but it can be a cattle boat op also and is recommended often.

As Dressel generally has several divers in some type of training, they usually have their own instructor/DM and also usually have DM's for those not in training.

 

[ReefHound]

Not to sound negative about Dressel at the Iberostar ( I've stayed there 5 times over 5 years) , they operate a fine tuned cattle drive every single day from what I've seen. By this , I am referring to large groups of divers parading to and from the boats ( also large). One in our group took Dressel's discover diving course and the rest of us signed up to join him for his dive. He had very good training , all morning and the dive was in the afternoon. The boat was busy to say the least with several groups and dive masters. Sitting there with all gear on waiting for our turn to enter the water was a challenge, finding a spot in the boat to feel comfortable gearing up and down was also a challenge. We were extremely glad this was not our choice for diving Cozumel for any of our trips there , not because they are a poor company to dive with , but because the cattle boat thing is not our vision of a relaxing enjoyable dive trip. There are many exceptional dive operations that's will pick you up at the Iberostar dock who have a max of 6-8 divers , I would strongly suggest that route.

Was that not your own doing? Signing up for the group with discover divers so you could dive with your friend? Would you have even had that option with those outside ops?

 

[JohnWoods]

Was that not your own doing? Signing up for the group with discover divers so you could dive with your friend? Would you have even had that option with those outside ops?

Yes and yes