First Cozumel Trip

[Morgan_5]

How long will you be in Coz? You will definitely want to get at least one night dive in.

We're staying for a week! I'll definitely look into one!

 

[Morgan_5]

We stayed at Sunscape Sabor in March and watch the Dovehouse boats load and unload. They were absolute cattle boats packed to the limit with divers. Definately not for me. We dive with Aldora 2-3 times a year and usually average 80-90 minute dives with their steel 120 tanks and usually 6 divers or less per boat.


Safe travels,
Jay

I'm going to look into Aldora, 3Ps and Blue XT Sea. I'm not really one that enjoys being crammed in on a boat so 6 divers sounds amazing.

 

[gopbroek]

Mid August thru October is the 'hurricane' season, rarely is the weather an actual problem but the vacation bookings are low because many folks need to plan their vacation a year in advance and juggle multiple Job / school schedules. Just the possibility of weather dampens demand. Because of this typically the loads on the boats that do go out are low and 'cramming' is not typically a problem. With the lite loads and warm water temps it is one of my favorite times of the year to dive.
One caution, if the occupancy of your AI is low, keep an eye on the buffets. I have heard many stories of items being recycled multiple times on the AI resort buffets until they get eaten during the slow months.

 

[Snoweman]

We're staying for a week! I'll definitely look into one!

When I go back to Coz, I will be trying Living Underwater. They have large tanks, and let you dive your air (not everyone needing to go up at the same time). I have been a fan of 3P, but I was a little put off on my last visit.

 

[Carlos Danger]

How do you all only get 80-90 minutes when with AL 80's with the op I use we do 75-80 minutes easy regularly and usually end due to cold? Why lug a 120 around for 5-10 more minutes lol?

It is not so much about the extra capacity, but rather the near ideal buoyancy characteristics of the HP Steel 120. This, combined with having more gas, should in theory provide for extended bottom times.

My all-time record in Coz is 128 minutes using an HP Steel 120 on EAN 36. Doubtful I would ever get that kind of performance out of an AL80.

 

[JamesBon92007]

Drift diving is a piece of cake; no navigation skills required. Bring your surface marker in case you get separated from your group though. Wear only as much weight as you really, really need, otherwise you'll have to add air to your BC and you'll move along in the water faster. Also, look for little spots in the reef to duck into and escape the current if you DO find yourself ahead of the rest of your group (which you really, really don't want to be). You'll have a great time. Are other ops allowed to pic up at Secrets?

Just to reiterate what MMM said: you can duck behind the reef/rock if you are drifting faster than the group. I have no idea why but I seem to nearly always drift faster than everyone else. Other than that, it's kinda like a ride

The three dive ops that Ghosty mentioned are probably the three most often referred to here on SB. Of the three I've only dived with Blue XT Sea so far and they are AOK 100%. Above and beyond, actually. I would not hesitate to dive with the other two mentioned. Others that I might recommend are resort-specific but the resort-based dive shops I've been to will also take divers who are not staying at the resort.

 

[Brules]

Well, some of us weren’t born with gills, that’s why.

Haha I DEFINITELY don't have gills lol! I actually only got better when I started diving with Pedro from Blue XT Sea - I specifically asked him to help me breathe better and following his tips etc have def helped. I used to be first out, I am now regularly surfacing with him - but not with 1k LBS like he does lol!!!!!!

 

[Snoweman]

Haha I DEFINITELY don't have gills lol! I actually only got better when I started diving with Pedro from Blue XT Sea - I specifically asked him to help me breathe better and following his tips etc have def helped. I used to be first out, I am now regularly surfacing with him - but not with 1k LBS like he does lol!!!!!!

I've gotten lots of tips. The only thing that improves my breathing is more diving. But, I will always be a Hoover. I couldn't even play hide 'n seek as a kid because my breathing would give me away.

 

[wgw04024]

Great experience with Blue XT as well.

 

[scrane]

I'm going to look into Aldora, 3Ps and Blue XT Sea. I'm not really one that enjoys being crammed in on a boat so 6 divers sounds amazing.

The slow boats are considerably larger than the fast boats and even though there are more people you have much more room to spread out. You can hang out on the bow, or lay out and get burned on the roof. If you are in a rush, by all means take the fast boats. Most experienced divers like them, so you tend to get longer, deeper dives on them. Also less babysitting. But I kind of enjoy the slow, leisurely trip on the bigger boats. Again, when you're in the water you will be in a group of 8 at the most.