Few questions about Mid-March Trip to Fiesta Americana

[PaulVS]

1. Is a cab the best way to get to FA from the airport?

2. Dive with Martin seems to be recommended a lot as a dive op. My former boss dives with Dive House 2x a year and loves them. Either one better/cheaper?

3. What's the going rate for 2-tank dives?

4. I've been diving in Coz & Cancun in cooler months (oct/nov) as well as in June with just a swimsuit with no problem (down to about 60 feet) I do own both a full Oceanic 3/2 and Oceanic shorty wetsuit... but prefer wearing the shorty by far. Any problem with that in March?

5. I typically run out of air about 10 minutes before my wife does. Is it tough to get larger than 80 cu.ft. tanks?

Thanks for any help... or other advice we might need.

 

[BigHarryDiver]

Paul

We did COZ in March of this year. Water temp was 80F on each and every dive from top to bottom down to 100 feet.

There is a bus service that runs to all the hotels/resorts and that might your best bet for transport to FA. We stay at Blue Angel which is not so far north of FA.

Can't help you with dive ops because we stay and dive with BA.

Enjoy!
Harry

 

[Mike]

1. Is a cab the best way to get to FA from the airport?

2. Dive with Martin seems to be recommended a lot as a dive op. My former boss dives with Dive House 2x a year and loves them. Either one better/cheaper?

3. What's the going rate for 2-tank dives?

4. I've been diving in Coz & Cancun in cooler months (oct/nov) as well as in June with just a swimsuit with no problem (down to about 60 feet) I do own both a full Oceanic 3/2 and Oceanic shorty wetsuit... but prefer wearing the shorty by far. Any problem with that in March?

5. I typically run out of air about 10 minutes before my wife does. Is it tough to get larger than 80 cu.ft. tanks?

Thanks for any help... or other advice we might need.

I can't help you if you're fixated on cheaper. Cheaper is the last criteria I use in choosing a dive operation, and you surely aren't going to find a premium service such as larger tanks with a cheap dive op.

You can google both of those dive ops and get their rates for diving if price is such a big deal. But if I was you, I'd focus on the reviews on each on this forum instead and make your decision based on value, which equates to which one gives you what you want most for the money.

For example, if you're a diver who wants bottom time and one of them only does timed dives, what difference does it make if they are cheaper then the other one?

Same thing with your question about is a cab the best way down to FA? If you're fixated on cheapest price then a cab won't give you what you want. If you're focused on getting to FA as fast as possible in the most comfort, then a cab is your best choice. If you don't mind hanging at the airport sitting in a hot van waiting for it to fill up so it can leave, wondering if your bags have made it on the van or are going to be left on the curb, if you don't mind stopping at a dozen other resorts before you get to yours, then the van is best for you cause it will be cheaper.

 

[cvchief]

5. I typically run out of air about 10 minutes before my wife does. Is it tough to get larger than 80 cu.ft. tanks?

If the timed dive is NOT limiting factor, there are 100cf air tanks readily available at the tank places. You should be able to ask your chosen op for them. Then don't tell anyone on the boat and let them marvel at your air consumption rates....

And Fin, the vans aren't THAT bad. On my first trip to Coz, I learned a lot talking to divers in the van on the way to where we were staying. (ok in fairness, I did walk off the airport and grabbed a cab last time we flew into CZM.....)

 

[PaulVS]

As far as hotel transport goes... I'd like the "easiest"... I hate waiting for cattle van hotel transports that feel they have to overfill the van/bus before they leave the airport. (But obviously don't want to spend $100 each way either.) I guess my real question is if it is difficult to get a cab from the airport and what it costs. (The one time I was dving in Coz we ferried over from Playa.)

For dive ops, time limited dives aren't a big issue since I'm an air-hog anyway and am typically done in 45-55 minutes. It seems a lot of people can do 90 minutes +, and that's not me or my wife for sure. Also, we haven't been diving for a couple years, so we're thinking of getting re-acclimated here at our local dive shop that has a pool, and maybe just do a shore dive the first day in Cozumel for weight & gear checks.

So the dive op that would be best for us is one that doesn't only cater to ultra-pro divers.

Thanks for the input so far.

 

[Ron Lee]

Paul, contact Aldora (aldora.com)

Read this info:

How do I arrange transportation to my hotel? - Cozumel Forum - TripAdvisor

 

[cvchief]

As far as hotel transport goes... I'd like the "easiest"... I hate waiting for cattle van hotel transports that feel they have to overfill the van/bus before they leave the airport. (But obviously don't want to spend $100 each way either.) I guess my real question is if it is difficult to get a cab from the airport and what it costs. (The one time I was dving in Coz we ferried over from Playa.)

For dive ops, time limited dives aren't a big issue since I'm an air-hog anyway and am typically done in 45-55 minutes. It seems a lot of people can do 90 minutes +, and that's not me or my wife for sure. Also, we haven't been diving for a couple years, so we're thinking of getting re-acclimated here at our local dive shop that has a pool, and maybe just do a shore dive the first day in Cozumel for weight & gear checks.

So the dive op that would be best for us is one that doesn't only cater to ultra-pro divers.

Thanks for the input so far.

I have never heard any of the popular dive ops described as for the 'ultrapro.' I think most all of them deal with ordinary vacation divers regularly and well. We use Scuba Dive Cozumel | ScubaWithAlison Alison owns one converted sportfishing boat. It is one of the fastest out there, but not small like most of the faster boats. For me it is comfortable. It is not the cheapest and certainly not the most expensive. Others have really big slow boats that people like because they can wonder around and chat and sunbathe underway. With Alison, you dive your complete tank or computer, so the wife does go 100 minutes on a shallow dive. If you go up in 45, then maybe an op the has a 45 minute timed dive with everyone coming up would still be fine for you. Aldora and some others will give you a 120 tank which will keep you down longer, but you will probably pay more total, but as they say you cost per minute underwater may be lower. These are some of the kinds of thing you might want to think about and post your desires and we can tell you who has what is important to you.

 

[PaulVS]

Paul, contact Aldora (aldora.com)

Read this info:

How do I arrange transportation to my hotel? - Cozumel Forum - TripAdvisor

Thanks! Great info. It looks like a van is the better way to go instead of hauling luggage off-site of the airport to get a cab.

These are some of the kinds of thing you might want to think about and post your desires and we can tell you who has what is important to you.

Since neither my wife or I have advanced open water certification, and haven't been diving in awhile... I guess the main thing is to avoid anything that might get on a trip that is "over-challenging" in terms of depth or current... at least on our first day of real diving.

I have no problem paying extra for a 100 or 120 tank.... it sucks being one of the first ones to run low on air when I was a near-olympic quality swimmer some 36-odd years ago.

 

[Mike]

You should probably take the van from the airport to your hotel and take a taxi from the hotel back to the airport. That's going to be the 'easiest' scenario for you, because taxis don't que up at the front of the Cozumel airport, but the vans do.

If you're diving 80 aluminum tanks, 45-55 minute dives doesn't label you an air hog, unless all of those times are based on really shallow dives. In Cozumel you'll be doing a lot of 80-90ft dives and if you can do 45-55 minutes that puts you right there with the best divers, nobody is going to be getting 90 minutes out of an aluminum 80 on a typical dive profile in Cozumel.

If you want the most bang for your buck you should book with a premium dive op who can offer you large steel 120 tanks, giving you the most potential on all your dives. Most people don't think like the following : consider your total cost of your trip divided by the minutes underwater. If you book with a cheap op and do 10 forty minute dives and your trip cost you $2000, that's $2000/400 minutes = it cost you $5.00 for every minute you were diving. If you book with a premium dive op and add $500 in extra diving cost, but you now get 13 fifty-five minute dives that means $2500/715 minutes = $3.50 for every minute you were diving.

It costs a lot to get there and stay there, eat, drink etc... paying a bit more for longer dives is the cheapest thing you'll spend your money on for the biggest return. Based on the fact that you're going to spend time before your trip at home getting warmed up and doing a self-imposed check out dive, that tells me that diving and being a good diver is important to you. I'd recommend you look at the best dive ops on the island, you sound like the type who will get the most out of them, and I think you are discounting that you'll get the most from an outfit that actually does cater to better divers, because it will make you a better diver at the end of your trip, but you'll have to get over the hurdle of laying out the extra money up front and concentrate on the experience you'll be getting.

 

[cvchief]

Since neither my wife or I have advanced open water certification, and haven't been diving in awhile... I guess the main thing is to avoid anything that might get on a trip that is "over-challenging" in terms of depth or current... at least on our first day of real diving.

Again, none of the popular Ops would do that to you either. On Alison's boat we dive to the lowest comfort level as I am sure many others do. Bigger ops will stick you on the newbie boat. (if that sounds bad, how about grouped for skill?) If you pick one of the popular ops you do not need to worry about this either. Just tell them exactly how you feel and they will take care of you. So try again for something that is different between ops....