Big tanks in Cozumel?

[Moodiejeff]

My air consumption rate is extremely low - I am 5' 8" tall, weigh 140 pounds, and bicycle 150-200 miles a week. Roger, on the other hand, is well over six feet, well over 200 pounds, and works at a desk job. The difference in our lung volume alone, means Roger will use up his air twice as fast as I do. Bigger people need more air.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this point. I'm 6" 0", well over 200 lbs. and lead a pretty sedentary lifestyle. While I can't quite keep up with my wife (5' 4", 130 lbs.), I'm pretty close and usually can be within a couple hundred psi of her on any given dive... and she's a fish!

Practice, practice, practice!!! I can't believe that your friend actually needs twice as much air as you, despite the size difference.

 

[Christi]

ALDORA doesn't charge extra for larger tanks.

I'll respectfully disagree with you...the larger steel tanks are the primary reason they are significantly higher ($10 to $20 more) than shops that use the AL tanks.

The three shops that use the Steel tanks are all in line with each other and are above $85 for a two-tank dive.

 

[DandyDon]

I'm pretty sure that Blue Angle had a few 100s @ $5 extra per dive - but they're a good, no frills Op who charges $50 for a 2 tank trip as I recall. I try to pin an Op down on this at booking time as it's worth it to me to change plans to make sure I get 100s.

I don't know of any 100 cf Nitrox tanks there, tho? If I was plannng on back to back 80-100 ft dives, I'd want the second tank to be Nitrox if not both. But the whole boat would really need to be on Nitrox, as I don't think an Op would take an air diver to those depths twice on one trip. On a large boat, one just might be able to split up the groups - 8 Nitrox divers go deep again, 8 air divers stay on top of wall - but it just wouldn't work out that way. More possible if you have all 8 on a small boat on Nitrox - had it happen once in Coz and we did 2 deep dives on the same tirp ok. But 80 cf tanks just don't last me that long on deeper dives.

What usually happens on Coz is you do the deeper dive first and shallower dive second of a 2 tank trip, so I use the 100 on the deep dive, the 80 on the shallow dive, and don't mess with Nitrox unless I do a 3 or 4 tank day - in which case I'll use the Nitrox on the second or third dive, depending on how it all works out.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I'll respectfully disagree with you...the larger steel tanks are the primary reason they are significantly higher ($10 to $20 more) than shops that use the AL tanks.

The three shops that use the Steel tanks are all in line with each other and are above $85 for a two-tank dive.

I think he meant that there wasn't a per-tank surcharge, that the regular price, however high it may be, is what you pay.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this point. I'm 6" 0", well over 200 lbs. and lead a pretty sedentary lifestyle. While I can't quite keep up with my wife (5' 4", 130 lbs.), I'm pretty close and usually can be within a couple hundred psi of her on any given dive... and she's a fish!

Practice, practice, practice!!! I can't believe that your friend actually needs twice as much air as you, despite the size difference.

I agree. My regular dive buddy is a 6', 270 lbs beach bum and he can come within 5 or 10 minutes dive time of me.

 

[Christi]

I think he meant that there wasn't a per-tank surcharge, that the regular price, however high it may be, is what you pay.

Yes, I know what she meant...my point was that you are paying for the larger tank in the price. A surcharge doesn't apply when it's for a standard offering of goods/services.

The shops who charge a surcharge for the larger tanks do so because the 100's are not the standard service provided to everyone in the quoted prices.

Even the shops who charge a surcharge are less expensive that the steel tank ops. I'm not saying they aren't worth it, I think they ARE...because I believe that high quality service should have a higher price... otherwise, what's the point in offering a higher level of service than your competitors?

I'm just stating a fact that the "surcharge" is built in to the price. They can't charge a surcharge when the larger steel tanks are their standard tank and it's what is offered to everyone on the boat.

 

[Garrobo]

On one of my first trips to Coz just after being certified I dove with PapaHoggs. At the time I was a pretty decent air hog. They provided me with a couple AL100's the second day of diving since I was low on air pretty quickly the first couple of dives. One of the DM's gave me some instructions on how to breathe correctly and I didn't need them the next day but they were available in case I thought I needed them. Just let the OP know a day ahead of time.

 

[divematt]

A little work on proper weighting, streamlining, and proper breathing can go a long way with air consumption. I can see the desire for larger tanks if the operator will allow you to stay down to use all of your air and come up in pairs. I tried one of these operators (that use steel 120's) and although we did more 70 and 80 minute dives, we also came up a few times when I had over 1000 psi in the tank because we had hit 80 minutes or so. So you may not really get to "use it all" But if you are an "air hog" for now, you might consider just using the Al 100's available from the usual Al 80 dive OP's if you're happy with about 60 minute dives.

On our last trip with Christy even breaking 100' 4 times our bottom times easily averaged 60 minutes with Aluminum 80's. Two of us had these times and there's a 50 lb. weight difference between the two of us.


Playa del Carmen “Tortugas” (72 ft. 55 minutes)
Villa Blanca Wall (81 ft. 64 minutes)
Palancar Caves (93 ft. 62 minutes)
San Francisco (82 ft. 62 minutes)
Las Palmas (91 ft. 58 minutes)
Punta Sur – Cathedral (105 ft. 50 minutes)
Palancar Gardens (79 ft. 55 minutes)
Punta Dalila (73 ft. 71 minutes)
Palancar Bricks (92 ft. 57 minutes)
Tormentos (69 ft. 60 minutes)
Colombia Deep (123 ft. 56 minutes)
La Francesa (67 ft. 69 minutes)
Santa Rosa Wall (82 ft. 64 minutes)
Maracaibo Shallows (77 ft. 58 minutes)
Cedral Wall (76 ft. 65 minutes)
Chankanaab Bolones (70 ft. 66 minutes)
Barracuda (103 ft. 47 minutes)
San Juan (67 ft. 60 minutes)
Punta Sur Devil’s Throat (128 ft. 51 minutes)
Punta Tunich (85 ft. 64 minutes)

 

[Christi]

Hey stranger! Where have you been???

Looks like you moved! Please give my best to your better half

And my thoughts exactly on air management Although I love the buoyancy characteristics of steel tanks, they are very maintenance intensive in this climate when being used daily...another reason for the higher prices for steel tank ops.

A little work on proper weighting, streamlining, and proper breathing can go a long way with air consumption.

 

[scubawife]

I'll respectfully disagree with you...the larger steel tanks are the primary reason they are significantly higher ($10 to $20 more) than shops that use the AL tanks.

The three shops that use the Steel tanks are all in line with each other and are above $85 for a two-tank dive.

I dive with Living Underwater and we pay $85 for a 2 tank trip (and $10 extra per tank for nitrox, which seems to be standard with any shop, regardless of the type of tanks they use).

I don't need the extra air, but I do find the LP steel 95's more comfortable then an AL80. On either tank I generally come up with the same amount. If Living Underwater switched to aluminum tanks I would still dive with them and still feel that the service was worth the price. I have used another steel tank operator in Cozumel and did not feel that their service, "extras" or the overall experience I had was worth their higher price (which was more then $85). I wouldn't dive with a shop just because of the type of tanks they use. And if you're an air-hog then going with these shops may not be your best bet. Everyone is diving the bigger tanks so you are still going to have a shorter dive then the group. You'd be better off to go with a regular shop and use a bigger tank then the group. That will even things out for you.

One of the great things about Cozumel is that there is lots of variety in dive operators so you can pick the one that best suits you and your budget.

 

[cicopo]

Personally I like the larger tank offering (at the surcharge) when taking my camera down. I do OK with an 80 on a standard dive but know that if I take a camera down I am going to spend more time fighting the current of simply swimming back up current to drift back over whatever I am trying to shoot. I am also far more likely to swim back up current to see what the others are looking at if I have a camera, but without it I just wait behind a coral head for them to catch up again. If I intend to shoot I want more air, and am willing to pay for it.