Getting a pier pick up, north side of downtown??

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noj3333

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Location
Albany, New York
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I've been reading about different operators, but before I reach out to each shop independently I was hoping to get some guidance from the experts here...

I'll be on Cozumel from January 2nd to January 18th, in 2020...

I'l be staying a stones throw from the Coral Reefs Monument (right by the Playa Del Carmen Ferry Pier), at the Hotel Plaza Cozumel.

From my reading, and relying on the SB recommendations, I'd like to contact Aldora, 3P, Blue XT, and maybe Salty Endeavors.

It seems like Aldora keeps their boats north of Downtown, and they head south past Downtown to the southern dive sites? Do they offer pick-up's along the way, or would I have to go to Villa Aldora to get on the boat?? If they do make a pick up, what would be the best pickup location for me?

Along the same lines... it seems like Blue XT will pick up at a downtown location for $5. The $$ isn't an issue, but where I would be picked up could be. Does anyone have experience with their pickups from the north side of downtown?

With 3P, I've read they'll cover taxi fare, or pick you up in a car? Is this correct of did I misread something? Where do they dock their boats?

With my last operator, Salty Endeavors, how do they handle dives in my situation?

Lastly, just to avoid the hassle of dragging my wet gear around, are all the above operators 'valet' operators, where they store your gear between dives (excluding the wetsuit, I can handle that without issue)?
 
Aldora picks up downtown at a pier known as the Aldora pier. Aldora doesn’t own it (not anymore, anyway) and other operators use it, too. It’s a very short walk from where you are staying. Aldora is a valet op and will take care of your gear other than your wetsuit. I haven’t been diving with the others, so I can’t answer you questions based on my own knowledge. But what you’ve said seems consistent with what’s been posted here before.
 
3P will either take you in their trucks or pay for taxis to and from their downtown office to the marina. You would need to be at their office 20 or 30 minutes prior to the scheduled dive time. 3P will rinse and store all of your gear including wetsuit between dives, and they carry it on and off of the boats for you.
 
Aldora will pick you up at Villa Aldora or the Aldora pier. The Aldora pier is about a 5-7 minute walk from your hotel (much closer to you than the Villas).

If you dive with 3P, you'd need to get to their shop first, which is about a 10 minute walk from your hotel, then a 10 minute taxi/truck ride from their shop to the marina.
 
If you're staying at the Hotel Plaza Cozumel, you are only 4 blocks north of 3P's shop so about a 10 minute walk from there to the shop. Everyone who stays in town and dives with 3P's (many stay much further than you will be staying) generally walk to the shop and get there at 7:40AM for their courtesy transport from the shop down to the SOUTHERN marina and back in either taxis or one of their trucks heading down (usually a combination of both most of the time I've been there). You're generally getting back to the shop from morning dives around 12:30PM. The reality is the best sites are south so the time you spend being transported to the southern marina is less time than would be spent on a boat that picks up in town and is heading to the southern dive sites. Anyway, as I say, diving with 3P's is like having 2 vacations for the price of one, a dive vaca and a topside vaca because you are back in town around 12:30 usually (sometimes sooner & sometimes later).

Aldora apparently picks up at a pier in town so they should be on your list (especially if you want or need large steel 120 tanks) but, in my opinion, they charge too much and I've run my own numbers based on actual bottom times reported with Aldora... For me who can stretch an AL 80 tank a long time, I get more bottom time for my dive dollar with 3P's than I would get with Aldora but everyone is different and Aldora certainly resides among Cozumel's best dive ops. Both offer to take care of your gear if you wish so once you drop it off you never haul it or rinse it again until the day you pick it up to depart the island with one exception - Aldora apparently doesn't take care of your neoprene (suits, hoods, beanies, boots, etc.) so you have to haul and rinse that yourself... I prefer not to do that if I don't have to and, quite frankly, when I used to do that myself it smelled far worse after a week or 2 weeks of diving than it did when 3P's deal with all of it.

If 3P's interests you, I say contact Jeanie through their website and ask everything and everything you can think of... She'll get back to you almost immediately (not in island time) with all answers in no time.

There are many great dive ops on the island and you'll generally find out are among the best reading through this forum and the responses. You have plenty of time but time starts to fly by faster and faster. I remember last year we booked flights in May I believe and it seemed like no time summer and fall had passed and Coz was staring us in the face again.
 
Sometimes running a search here for Roll Call can be helpful as it shows where lots of members stayed and who they chose to dive with. Here's the final December 2018 roll call from when we were last down...

ay and Cheryl. Nov 7 - Dec 12 - Villa Las Anclas - Tres Pelicanos
@Basscat Nov27- Dec 6, staying at Hotel Plaza Cozumel/ Blue XT Sea.
Ozarkjim,wife and 8 more. Nov. 28 to Dec. 8. Occidental Cozumel/ Challenge Diving.
Scubabun and Brewingdiver - Nov 30 - Dec 9. Casa Mexicana Tres Pelicanos.
DiverN2H2O will arrive with DW Dec2 -March 15 staying at Villas Faro diving will be with mixed operators.
@v&j Dec 5-15th, staying at Villas Las Anclas, diving with 3Ps
GAFUN and wife , Dec 7-14 Scuba Club,
Deepsea21+1 Dec 8 - 24 / Casa Mexicana / Tres Pelicanos /
Icer and wife Dec. 9th-16th, Aldora Villas - Aldora
TsuDave Dec. 9th-19th Park Royal/Blue XTSea
Mnaylo3 and wife Dec12-18th Hotel Cozumel/Tres Pelicanos
LCTX plus brother. Dec 15 - 21. Aldora Villa/Aldora
RMSSETC and (non-diving) spouse. Dec 15-Jan 2. Mi Casa en Cozumel, Aldora
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Guitarcrazy+wife+2adult kids+gf Dec 16-23 Grand Park Royal Salty Endeavors
MMM Dec 18 -? Mi Casa Living Underwater
Alan P +1 Dec 20th-27 staying at Hotel Cozumel/ Tres Pelicanos
Trailboss123 +2 Dec 21-30 @ Suites Colonial/ Blue XT Sea
mstevens Dec 21 Jan 05 at Casa Suzana diving with Deep Blue
Shadling + wife & son Dec 22-Jan 6 /Sabor/Aldora/
@unregistered19 + girlfriend. Dec 22-29 Casa Mexicana, Tres Pelicanos
Mikeycanuk, wife and teenage son Dec24-Jan4 Residencias Reef/Aldora
mgreider + wife Dec 24-Jan2, Residencias Reef, Liquid Blue
JD- Myself, my son (diver) and my wife (snorkel only) Dec. 24-29 Occidental- Pro Dive or Aldora
Bryan G (GlockPerfection) -- Dec 25 - Jan1 -- Hotel Cozumel and Resort -- Dive Paradise
dMoore19 Dec 29-Jan9 Motel Mary Carmen Liquid blue
 
With 3P, I've read they'll cover taxi fare, or pick you up in a car? Is this correct of did I misread something? Where do they dock their boats?
They dock at the south marina, while their shop is Calle 5 Sur. As others mentioned, be there by 7:40am for a ride. Google maps says it's 700 meters or a 9 minute walk for people who walk faster than me.

With my last operator, Salty Endeavors, how do they handle dives in my situation?
They dock at the north marina and stop at needed piers on the way south. Be at the Aqua Safari pier at the end of Calle 5 on Melgar (front street) by 8:05am, which google says is 650 meters or an 8 minute hike from your hotel. I always like to get there before 8am, put on my jumpsuit while sitting on the concrete benches on the street, then later change back into my shorts & dry T-shirt there. Once in two trips I was asked to pay a buck, so keep a couple of dollars handy.

Henry picks up gear from your hotel the day you arrive, then rinses it and stores it for you. I would never ask anyone to rinse my pissy jumpsuit (I wear a one mil in summer), but I had to add a 3 mil shorty I took last month. I carried it in a cloth bag I found in a thrift store to the pier the second day of diving, stored it in the bag after diving, and asked them to bring it on the boat each day. It may have gotten rank after a few days, but I didn't notice. I washed it and the bag when I got home and used the bag to haul groceries today.

While your staying at that hotel, consider lunch at La cucina italiana on Calle 6 Norte 500 meters away, open 1-5 weekdays. I had the best fettuccine alfredo of my life there last month. With lobster, soup, and salad, it was 230 pesos ($12 USD) I think.

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Thanks for the guidance and advice! I booked with Blue XT, and look forward to the trip!
 
January 2020? Little early to plan this part lol? :)
 
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