Big tanks in Cozumel?

[ronski101]

Will Cozumel dive operators let divers with different tank sizes and the subsequent wide bottom times dive togeather? I thought that due to the drift situation, everyone went up off the bottom to start the safety stop based upon the person with the lowest amount of air?

 

[Wiilldd1]

They do at Scuba Club. You and your buddy will surface together and have the boat pick you up. This allows the other buddy teams to keep diving until the same happens for them or the DM says it is time to surface. The DM's are pretty good about monitoring peoples air consumption when they first start diving with them so they know what to expect the rest of the week. They also try to keep the experience levels together.

They have been very accomodating to the people with gills!

 

[ggunn]

Will Cozumel dive operators let divers with different tank sizes and the subsequent wide bottom times dive together? I thought that due to the drift situation, everyone went up off the bottom to start the safety stop based upon the person with the lowest amount of air?

I have heard that some ops do that, but in my experience those divers that run low on air first ascend first. I would guess that the "cattle boat" dives are more prone to bring everyone up at once.

 

[DandyDon]

I don't think I've ever had the group-ascent problem. Seems like they've always let me go up alone when I'm first to run low. :lol2:

I generally pass my buddy off to a pair who will accept him/her so that s/he doesn't have to ascend when I do. Not really the preferred way to go, as buddies should ascend together, many accidents happen on the surface, but I never insist.

 

[cicopo]

Having dove with several dive ops in Cozumel I can pretty much say that there is no set policy re surfacing alone or in pairs so my experience has taught me to verify the policy on the first day before any diving is done. Some DM's will allow a lone diver to surface after running up the flag, some will insist on pairs, some will allow a lone diver to go to the 20 foot mark & follow the deeper divers while awaiting them to also need to come up, but they also send up the marker flag (sausage really) to alert boats to stay clear.
In most cases if not all it truely comes down to the DM having assessed your skills & trusting that you know what you are doing enough to think you can make a proper safety stop and are more than likely to surface ONLY after properly checking for boats plus have been able to stay close to his marker buoy's line etc.
Exceptions are the cattle boat trips which in general have a majority of relatively new divers but even then I have seen them send up buddy pairs while others continued the dive. It's just another thing to find out the policy that usually is followed before buying a discounted package of X number of dives. This is just a personal thought here but the visability in Coz makes it much easier for DM's to keep an eye on the divers and in general the boat captains have a very good idea of where the divers are even without the buoy being sent up. Both of those can be added to the abilities demonstrated by a seasoned diver.

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

Since your trying to find a source for big tanks maybe someone can help me find out about small ones. I am looking for a source for aluminum 40's for sling tanks. My dive op is caribbean divers but they have yet to return any of my emails even from a month ago. The dives were booked with a hotel package sooo. but anyway does anyone know of a reliable source for a 40 or even a 19 would work but prefer 40's. Thanks

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Since your trying to find a source for big tanks maybe someone can help me find out about small ones. I am looking for a source for aluminum 40's for sling tanks. My dive op is caribbean divers but they have yet to return any of my emails even from a month ago. The dives were booked with a hotel package sooo. but anyway does anyone know of a reliable source for a 40 or even a 19 would work but prefer 40's. Thanks

Dive Cozumel has them. (Dive Cozumel - The Premiere Scuba Dive Shop in Cozumel) Email them at dmanfish@divecozumel.net or call Roly at one of the phone numbers on the website. He has at least 20 40s. Most if not all have DIN valves, and are already rigged for slinging. He also has 1 yoke valve 30.

There's another guy, German, who runs Yucatech. Yucatech Expeditions. Cozumel, Mexico. Cenote, Cave, Cavern and Technical Diving Courses and Tours. He could probably hook you up as well.

 

[Ron Brandt]

Our bottom times average 60 to 70 minutes - although all last week our divers were logging 80 to 90 minutes

Doesn't anyone get cold ?
After 70min I have to pull the plug regardless...unless I'm in deco....

Ronnie

 

[diveborg]

Doesn't anyone get cold ?
After 70min I have to pull the plug regardless...unless I'm in deco....

Ronnie

Perhaps you aren't wearing enough thermal protection?

 

[cicopo]

Ronnie, you're getting soft like Troy did. You need to spend a bit more time working outside in the winter to toughen you up. I never get cold in the waters of Cozumel, and I dive bare. Larry