Any good OW dives in Cozumel?

[Coztick]

My first trip to Cozumel, I was a new ow diver with 5 yrs no diving.
I was given a refresher and cleared to dive all sites except Punta Sur Sur. (50 dives required)
So not sure how many op's would hold your wife to the 60' limit...
Dave?

 

[DjDiverDan]

As others have noted, there are a ton of very good Cozumel dives at 60' or less. Columbia Shallows, Palacar Gardens, Dahlia, Tormentos, Cedral, Chankanaab, and more. And some of those, especially Columbia Shallows and Palancar Gardens, are among my very favorite dives. And once your wife is comfortable in the water, after a day or two, don't be frightened to go a bit deeper. The great thing about Cozumel is the amazing visability - even at 85, 90 or 100 feet, there's a ton of light and great visability, so it doesn't have the feel of a deep dive. My very first open water ocean dives were in Cozumel, many many years ago (1989), and according to my log book, I was doing 80-85' dives from my second day.

 

[backprop]

I agree with Palancar Gardens. While most divers seem to like going through the deeper swimthroughs, I stay on top. It's one of the most colorful dives I've done. Totally easy to follow the bubbles with your buddy up top if the group splits up.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

My first trip to Cozumel, I was a new ow diver with 5 yrs no diving.
I was given a refresher and cleared to dive all sites except Punta Sur Sur. (50 dives required)
So not sure how many op's would hold your wife to the 60' limit...
Dave?

WE would not "hold" any OW diver to 60 ft if they were comfortable and agreeable. In practice most Palancar Gardens divers exceed 60 feet by a bit, but as we know, it can be enjoyed at about any depth there.


Dave Dillehay

Aldora Divers

 

[ggunn]

My first trip to Cozumel, I was a new ow diver with 5 yrs no diving.
I was given a refresher and cleared to dive all sites except Punta Sur Sur. (50 dives required)
So not sure how many op's would hold your wife to the 60' limit...
Dave?

On our first trip to Cozumel with the ink still wet on our cert cards, my wife's certifying agency had told her to stay above 60' (she thought, anyway) but mine hadn't. A disagreement ensued, at the end of which I somewhat grudgingly told her we would stay up above 60'. On the 5th or 6th dive I realized I hadn't seen her for a minute or so, and I was at 65'. I had a moment of that "Uh-oh, I'm in trouble" feeling as I looked around for her, but then I saw her blithely finning along about 10' below me. No more disagreements.

60' at Cozumel is a lot different from 60' in, say, Puget Sound.

 

[Sometimes]

My 5th dive ever was palancar gates where I hit a max depth of 102ft. Didn't even realize we had gone that deep till I checked my profile after the dive. It went fine.

 

[Altamira]

My 5th dive ever was palancar gates where I hit a max depth of 102ft. Didn't even realize we had gone that deep till I checked my profile after the dive. It went fine.

That is not a good thing. Being at 102' is one thing on dive 5. Not knowing you are there until checking your profile after your dive is quite another matter. Hopefully, and likely, you have worked on your situational awareness since that dive.

 

[Sometimes]

That is not a good thing. Being at 102' is one thing on dive 5. Not knowing you are there until checking your profile after your dive is quite another matter. I think you need to work on your situational awareness.

Oh, for sure! That was an important learning moment for me! Once I realized that after my dive, I've been much more attentive during subsequent dives.

On the same token, we were only that deep for a few seconds, looking at the profile again. It was at the very start of the dive and think we did one deep swim through, then climbed to ~80 pretty quickly.

 

[Scubagolf]

"60' at Cozumel is a lot different from 60' in, say, Puget Sound." So true. IMHO, OW doesn't simply mean 60' or shallower. The vast majority of dives in Cozumel are appropriate for OW divers, even if they are a bit deeper than 60'.

After a day or two of dives your wife will probably have her buoyancy dialed in and 75-80' will be a piece of cake. This is precisely what happened with my wife 10 years ago.

 

[kmurray719]

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.

She's 12, why would you suggest there is any reason for taking her deeper just because it's possible?