Cozumel Palace Resort re Aqua Safari

[diverken374]

I stand corrected as well on the names and no wonder the Aquatic sports website looked different this morning - I should probably finish the first cup of coffee before replying!
Checking just now Sergio's site is however the one I emailed repeatedly with no response.

If you need to contact them an are having difficulties I would be glad to help.
Ken

 

[Dave Dillehay]

For those poor folks locked into Cozumel Palace, Thank God that Aqua World is no longer there.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[stronj1]

Yes, we did one of the free dives with Aqua World and "free" was too much!

 

[diverokc]

Have never dove with them or stayed at the palace, but Angel who is one of the managers at the shop is one of the nicest guys on the island. He will bend over backwards to accomadate and always with a smile. Miss him from DP.

 

[Mossman]

For those poor folks locked into Cozumel Palace, Thank God that Aqua World is no longer there.

Cozumel Palace is so wonderful, I wouldn't mind being locked in and never allowed to leave. However, based on their room rates, I doubt you'll find too many poor people there.

As for the onsite dive op, there's no restriction on diving with one of the excellent smaller ops on the island, such as Living Underwater. One can simply use one's credits for something else or, as another poster suggested, use Aqua Safari for afternoon dives and do the morning dives with one of the many dive ops that pick up at the Cozumel Palace dock.

 

[eab]

Checking just now Sergio's site is however the one I emailed repeatedly with no response.

Best bet to reach either Sergio is to call. From the US their numbers are.....
Sergio Sr.: +011 52 1 987 872 0640
Sergio Jr.: +011 52 1 987 111 1172

 

[jmz]

For those poor folks locked into Cozumel Palace, Thank God that Aqua World is no longer there.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Aqua World was GREAT and the DM's were very professional! I'm not here to BASH Aqua Safari. However, Its soo fustrating to hear that Cozumel Palace would purchase a dive shop with employees that are unprofessional and pack their dive boats to make a quick BUCK!

 

[Mossman]

Aqua World was GREAT and the DM's were very professional! I'm not here to BASH Aqua Safari. However, Its soo fustrating to hear that Cozumel Palace would purchase a dive shop with employees that are unprofessional and pack their dive boats to make a quick BUCK!

Notwithstanding your possible confusion, as common knowledge has it that Aqua Safari is far superior to Aqua World, but how is the Palace making a quick buck if the diving is free for guests using the hotel credits? Sure, it's a promotional tool and probably built in to the room rate, but a guest IMO gets far more bang for the buck using credits for diving than for the other options (massage, wine list wine, "romantic dinner"). At least the diving using credits is appropriately priced. Using credits to buy wine means you spend $80 in credits for a cheap wine that would otherwise be a rip off on a wine list at $20 even if triple marked up. And the $250 (credits) romantic dinner, given that one has already paid for dinner in one of the restaurants? Should be a $100 markup at most, but even that would be double what it's worth.

 

[jchance]

Stayed at Cozumel Palace in September and dove each day with Aldora (Hi Dave) except the day we we went to the mainland to dive the cenotes. Forget the on-site vendor! Go with a primo outfit and use the credits for something else. For the most part, the credits are a large scam anyway!!

 

[diverken374]

Don't know the source of this information -- I was very surprised by it! Aqua Safari's boats have capacity for 8 - 18 divers depending on the boat and there is no room to fit tanks for more. Aqua Safari has been operating in Cozumel since 1966 -- many of us at SB and many of the dive pros on the island -- trained there. The DM's and instructors have been with the company for years -- they are pros who love diving, care about their customers, and share their knowledge of marine life. I've heard of no changes in the dive program, boats or protocols since the op was sold to Palace. Nor have I heard any complaints about the operation. What'd I miss?!

I once again refer to the above quote by someone that lives in Cozumel and knows the dive operation well. I was introduced to diving and did most of my training with Aqua Safari. There is a reason that they have operated in Cozumel as long as they have. They are no longer my primary dive op however I continue to stop in and say Hola and dive with them at least a day on each of my trips which are frequent. When I was there in March I was told that it was business as usual despite the change in ownership. To see a post that refers to "what I was told" or one bad review on TripAdvisor does not cut it for me! There is no dive operation/hotel or restaurant in Cozumel that would pass the TripAdvisor "acid test". This is their dive schedule as always. http://aquasafari.com/trips.html