Cozumel Trip Report, Hotel Cozumel and Aldora in July 2014

[AZjohn]

Will try to be brief with a general overview of my 1^st dive trip I took to Cozumel this July. Probably pointing out what I found a little different than what I have been use to prior to diving Cozumel (we all have our own experiences).


A little about myself:
Have somewhere north of 250 dives and various shinny plastic cert cards. Most my dives are warm water with some Southern Cal sites in between. Consider myself just an average diver who likes more the shock and awe viewing (big bright colorful stuff) rather than hunting down tinny critters.


Purpose of solo trip:
All my diving buddies keep talking about doing another liveaboard but, for some reason they have all been “financial challenged” this year. Got tired of waiting and decided to do a solo trip to Coz over the 4^th of July, kind of a hit and run trip (4 days), and see what it is like diving here.


Hotel Cozumel:
Overall, it’s an average Mexican hotel with mattresses on cement blocks (every hotel I stayed at in Mexico has this for some reason). Room was fine for me but probably wouldn’t be for wife as there were a few small ants crawling around bathroom sink and a little mold here and there (again, not a big deal to me). I got the AI package and thought the food/drinks were OK. Best was the omelets in the morning and worse were the hamburgers by the pool (seriously, stay far away from the hamburgers). I would have no problem returning back to Hotel Cozumel again for another short stay but not for a longer one.


Aldora:
OK, overall I think Aldora is good diving op but have a little different way of doing things from what I had personally experienced before (all ops seem to do things a little different).


Here are a few examples:

• · Steel 120 tanks. Loved the volume but this is the first I dove with them which resulted in having difficulty getting my buoyancy, trim, and maneuvering going without using more air than I wanted. I personally felt like I was driving a ’67 Impala Station Wagon around with low tire pressure. After the 3^rd day I was getting better but this wasn’t a “one dive I got this mastered” kind of thing for me. I need (want) more practice!

• · Drift Diving. OK, the drift dives I did prior to Coz were done much differently. My experience before is that you and your dive buddy rode the current as much or as little as you wanted and when one of us got low on air the two of us, not the group, would deploy a SMB and wait for our turn to get picked up by the boat (there would be a string of divers at the surface easy to find). Aldora and the group I was with all had to stay together, and oh by the way, I never experienced this strong of current before on the first 2 dive days. I mean I thought with this strong of a current we would just ride it out but, this was not the case. I seem to always be floating ahead of the group and then watch them all stop (or slow down) to check something out and I had to try and slow down or stop to wait for them. This is fine but, this resulted in me sucking a ton of air trying to stay with the group which of course related to being the first one low on air (something I have not been use to for a long time). But I quickly realized the group I was with were very advanced divers who dove here many times and in these conditions and were good at it, and I was not.

• · SI at a Beach Club: Now I am spoiled. I loved the idea of getting off the boat for the SI and grab a cold drink and munchies and sit at a table in the shade and talk to the other divers. Never had this before.

• · But, this translated in no munchies or juice/coke on board, but they did supply plenty of H2O which I guess is better for you but I still like a diet coke or two while on board. Not a big deal at all and not complaining as I could have brought my own, just different to me.

Overall Diving:

As explained above, I spent way too much energy getting use to fast currents (up/down/all around), staying with the group, buoyancy/trim with steel 120’s to actually enjoy the first two days of diving in Cozumel. I mean when I could relax it was really nice, but that didn’t happen on a long term basis until my 3^rd and last day, but man that was a great day of diving!


It was also great to meet Don on the boat (aka: divingdj from scubaboard) and he helped me with some of my initial issues.


Sometimes it’s good to dive outside my comfort zone and the repetitive dive sites I visit to humble myself, to know I still need to practice things I haven’t done before. Another thing that reminds me of is I need to practice different fin strokes for the swim thru in Coz. The swim thru’s I have done prior are child’s play compared to some I got to experience there (like Devils Throat).



Needless to say, I need to come back and do it again. Can’t get better at it if I don’t continue to practice and there is way too much awesome diving in Cozumel to experience.


Cheers,
John

 

[PeterNBiddle]

Great report! Thanks for posting.

Now that I'm used to the HP 120s I hate going back to Al80s. I love those big clunky suckers. But I get what you mean about the adjustment.

I've had some wicked currents in coz. You'll figure them out.

 

[lionfish-eater]

And another coz-aholic is born.

 

[jlyle]

Time to make reservations for your return trip. You know you want to!

 

[jake11]

Great trip report!

 

[Mike]

Interesting about the steel tanks giving you trouble. I've always liked them, the ability to dive with no weights at all has always been a plus for me when diving with the big tanks. I've always thought about there are some issues above water with the additional weight, but never thought about any issues once under water with them. Sometimes I have a dive that I feel 'off' or out of it on, just can't get into the grove or the flow, sounds like you might have had an unfortunate string of them.

 

[Mossman]

There are tricks to drift diving. Body position has a lot to do with how you catch the currents and there are usually "hiding places" where you can duck out of the current to let the group catch up.

There is at least one shop on the island that offers both 120s and sodas in the ice chest. But I'd guess that Aldora would let you bring a couple diet cokes to stash in their cooler if you wanted. Ask them.

No reason to stay at Hotel Cozumel again if you didn't like it. Just like dive ops, there are plenty of hotel options in all price ranges. Rather than stick with the same old as many here do, mix it up a little, try different ops and hotels until you find the perfect combination for you.

I learned my "modified frog kick" style from a DM the first time I dove the cenotes. It's served me well in all sorts of situations. In tighter swim-thrus, sometimes it best to hardly kick at all, simply pull yourself through using fingers in the sand.

 

[deeper thoughts]

thnx for posting

 

[DjDiverDan]

Thanks for the report. As a long, LONG time fan of Cozumel, I love the drift diving there - the easiest, most relaxing diving I've ever done. There are some basic rules for drift diving, however, and it does take a bit of get used to. I'd like to know which sites you dove, as the currents can be very different in different sites and at different times of year. Most of the time, the current is really pretty gentle at most of the Southern sites, although different sites can fool you. I've had days where the current at someplace like Palancar Caves or Palancar Bricks was very tame, then second dive on Tormentos was just ripping. The Northern sites, like Barracuda (which a lot of Dive Ops won't even go to --Aldora is an exception) often have much faster currents, sometimes to the point of just flying across the reef.

I love the big Steel tanks (though the HP Steel 120 is really much bigger than an AL 100), especially the weight and buoyancy characteristics, but I'm a big guy, and I need 19-21 lbs of lead to descend with an AL 80, so the extra weight of the tank really helps me. To each his own.

i was a bit surprised by your take on Hotel Cozumel. I've only stayed there once, but my take was the rooms were very comfortable and big, good AC, comfortable beds (though I really like a firm mattress), and great pool area, but the food, with the exception of breakfast, was TERRIBLE. I'm a bit of a food snob, but I would never again do the AI option at Hotel Cozumel. Breakfast was OK (though the coffee was swill), lunch and dinner almost inedible.

 

[divingjd]

Just to put John's report in perspective, the currents his first two days were a little on the wild side. Our first day at Columbia Deep, the currents were changing constantly and the water was fairly murky. On other dives, like Cedral the second day, the currents were consistent, but strong. John's feeling that he was outside his comfort zone was not just a result of a first visit to Coz, but a reflection of some fairly difficult conditions.

Good to meet you, John. Hope to see you here again.


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