Need help putting together a dive package - so hard to do remotely!

[Mamiya-Sekor]

Hi all - my wife (OW) and I (AOW) are visiting Cozumel last week of January, staying at the Secrets Aura. This scuba board has been fantastic for my advance research - thank you so much!!!

That said, we are having some difficulty putting together a diving package, which might include, variously,

• multiple 2-tank reef or wall dives w/ gear rental
• Nitrox course for me
• excursion dives such as for bull sharks
• possibly other dives, e.g. twilight/night dives

It's very difficult to assemble a vacation diving package from 1650 miles away when

• we haven't been to Cozumel before (but many dives in PDC / Puerto Morelos so we hope to see something new or different)
• the dive shops offer different services (e.g. some don't do excursions, some don't include dives with the NITROX course)
• the dive shops websites vary in quality of info provided, and they don't always post their prices, or their rates can be confusing (some multi-dive package deals are for one person only; and do I really have to rent each piece of diving gear separately?! Are dive computers mandatory ( I have one but my wife does not - mus she rent?)
• dive shop locations vary and I want to avoid time-consuming and costly travel
• dive shops take days, even weeks to respond to my emails and then they rarely answer all my questions (e.g. are 2 dives included with the NITROX course or not?!); and they never ever answer the phones whenever I call! Not even once.
• The local weather may be bad with no diving possible, and I don't want credits for cancelled prepaid dives or excursions

Thinking Dressel for its size, reputation, online discount and free NITROX (drawback: they are 5 km away), or DivePalancar or Dive House because they are located near or at our AI (nothing beats walking down to the pier to go diving) but they do not appear to offer the same range of services which may be geared to different (read: hotel) clientele (i.e. visiting the same local reef and walls each outing)

At this point, it seems likely that we will go with two different dive shops, and prepay for basic dive package and then add other dives or services later.

January is high season and I want to finalize arrangements asap. I'm a little worried about:

• booking too late ("sorry we are full")
• being on crowded boats ("we can squeeze you two in")
• seeing the same dive sites
  
• prepaying if there is no discount or other incentives to do so

Appreciate any thoughts or advice on any of the above observations and comments!

Thanks!!!
Fred
Toronto, Canada

 

[Christi]

HI Fred,

It doesn't have to be complicated. But most shops don't have someone manning phones so e-mail is typically the best as reservation requests and details need to be in writing anyway so that things don't fall through the cracks.

There are many fabulous operations on the island without having to dive with a large, high volume resort op. Peruse these pages and you will see who the favorites are - and a word of wisdom, don't pay attention to trip advisor rankings - take them with a large grain of salt. Some of the top Cozumel ops are not even in the top 10 or 15 or 25.

Just send an e-mail(s) to a few different ops with exactly what you want - just the facts - and let them work their magic to put a custom package together for you.

Then relax and enjoy your trip!

 

[ReefHound]

• dive shops take days, even weeks to respond to my emails and then they rarely answer all my questions (e.g. are 2 dives included with the NITROX course or not?!); and they never ever answer the phones whenever I call! Not even once.

Anyone that doesn't return emails within a day can be eliminated. As for phones, I wouldn't be sure it is ringing on the other end. Whatsapp is popular, see if you can connect to them there. As for not answering ALL the questions, this seems to be an affliction affecting the planet. It seems no matter who I talk with, you ask three questions you'll get two answers. Make sure each question is numbered and separate and re-ask if it's not answered.

 

[yle]

Just my two cents...

1. "Excursions" might be rarer than you would think because Cozumel dive ops are generally in the business of taking people diving in Cozumel. Something like a bull shark dive would, I believe, require a trip back to the mainland. Sure it can be arranged... but if you want a dive from PDC to see bull sharks, why not contact a dive shop in PDC that does that kind of thing? Asking a Coz dive op to arrange it for you means they are basically making the call (or email) to another shop that you could do yourself.

2. Nitrox course: any dive op can set you up with the nitrox course, but dives should NOT be included in the course. Why not? Because there's really no additional instruction that would take place during the dives. Just take the course, which focuses on theory and procedures that you need to know, and get your nitrox cert. Make sure you know how to analyze your own tank and set your computer. And then go do your own nitrox dives whenever you want. Trying to include dives as part of the course just adds unnecessary complexity.

3. Dive package deals for one person only... yes. If you have more than one person, multiply the price by the number of people.

4. Not sure how costly and time-consuming your travel would be. But it looks like Secrets Aura is about 4 miles (dang, sorry... 6.4 km) south of the marina. If you find a dive op that leaves from the marina (many do...) the worst that happens is you grab a taxi for the 4 mile ride north and meet them at their boat. I'm guessing it would take less than 10 minutes. And the cost of the taxi? Heck, you're on vacation... just fold it into the cost of the diving. And remind yourself that Cozumel diving is a tremendous bargain regardless.

5. I've never prepaid dives at any dive op I've used on Coz. I've usually given a deposit for my group, and then usually at the end of the trip I pay off the remainder of the bill. Naturally there is always some deviance between what we originally planned (e.g. all divers in our group dive one trip each day) and what we end up doing (some divers sit out a day, some add a night dive...) but I've never had any problem with any dive op just rolling with it. Never had the occasion for a refund, and never had any shop suggest that a refund would be only given in "credit".

When you email to ask for information, keep it simple and straight to the point. It's always worked for me.

 

[divingjd]

Good advice above, so I won’t cover the same ground but will try to respond to some of your other questions. Yes, you will both want computers. On average, Cozumel diving tends to be a bit deeper than most other destinations, so the computer is really necessary to avoid very short dives. The op I dive with requires computers. If you don’t have one, they will lend it to you. It’s usually not very helpful to pay in advance for packages. Weather can turn bad, divers have ear problems, dives can be cancelled for any number of reasons. Pay for what you use. If someone is offering a discount for prepayment, they are making up the difference somewhere. Either the standard price was too high, they are counting on some dives going unused without a refund, or they just want 5he use of your money. The highly reputable operations charge a fair price (often not the lowest price, because they give good value) and treat you fairly. I haven’t rented gear in years, but when I look at a dive shop’s pricing, each item is usually listed separately. I am not sure why, but it seems to be the case. Many dive ops are willing to pick up at the piers of southern AIs, but the resorts often don’t make that easy, charging extra fees and imposing administrative burdens. I don’t know the current situation at Secrets.

When I took nitrox 20 years ago, I was surprised that the class did not include any dives. But my instructor pointed out, correctly, that air and nitrox breathe the same during the dive. Everything that’s different is in dive planning and preparation. Once you’ve planned the dive, analyzed your gas, and set your computer to the right mix, you’ve really done everything that’s different. Don’t get hung up on including the dives in the class. Complete the class at home before you go. By the way, I recommend both of you using nitrox if you are extending NDL. Otherwise, you are still diving an air profile and one of you may be getting an extra margin of safety.

 

[Mamiya-Sekor]

This is wonderful info! Thank you all so much!! My key takeaways:

• Stay local and skip the bull shark expedition until we return to PDC
  (it's also crazy expensive: $169 + cost of two dives + rentals pp = almost US$300 pp or CDN$800 total - whoa!)
• Do nitrox course online before we arrive
• Accept the taxi/travel costs
• Relax, enjoy and have fun!

Ok I think we are ready!

 

[DandyDon]

You're not asking for a package. You're planning a multifaceted trip. You got good advice. Glad you're accepting it. Have a good trip. Hope the nortes are kind.

 

[NDL_Diver]

In your case I would consider Dive with Martin because they offer free gear rental and should pick you up at Secrets dock(most will pick you upat your dock).They are also very economical, have many followers here and can offer Nitrox for a small fee.

That being said it is Mexico and you may be able to get free gear as part of a package with others (or at a reduced rate). Everything is negocable especially off holiday peak.

The fan favorites on this site are Aldora, Blue XT Sea, Dive with Martin, Living Underwater, Salty Endeavours, Tres Pelecanos just to name some of the ones. These dive ops run smaller, fast boats and limit dive size.

Dressel, dive Palancar, Dive Paradise run larger boats with lots of divers on board.

Whatever you decide you will have a good time.

 

[ColoDale]

Anyone that doesn't return emails within a day can be eliminated.

Bear in mind that there may be intermittant internet outages where emails cannot be replied to within a day. The one day rule may not work.

 

[Christi]

Yeh id say 48 hours is a more reasonable expectation here.