Open Water Certification in Cozumel!?!?

[divingbarberwv]

Hello Divers,
First time posting on scuba board and i'm sure you guys have answered this question before maybe even a few times, my girlfriend and I will be traveling to Cozumel in June and we are looking to get our open water certification while there we will be staying at the Grand Park Royal Resort. We will be completing the PADI e-learning portion at home before arrival, my question is what dive op would any of you recommend for brand new divers? I understand the importance of good fundamental training and I want to ensure that we are able to take it all in with out being rushed in and out of the water and given a piece of paper so to speak.

 

[RTC'83]

My daughter did her e-learning and pool work at our Local Dive Shop. She got a referral and did her open water in Cozumel. After she completed her dives, she joined the rest of the family diving.
I am glad she did the pool work at home.
I used www.we-b-divin-cozumel.com/ owner lives and teaches in North Texas, has a great boat and super staff. Loved the personalize service, they will cater to your needs, not the other way around.

 

[Oldbear]

If you have time do both the e-Learning and the Confined Water (pool) portions before you leave home. In the Confined Water is where you will learn to dive NOT the oceans of Cozumel. This is were the instructor can spend additional time with each of you if you need the extra time to master a concept or skill. Only after you have master all the skills will your local instructor refer to you a Cozumel Instructor.

The Coz Instructor is only going to ask you to demonstrate a few skills each dive that you already know then take you on a local exploration of the dive site. This is the super fun portion of the course.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

You asked about dive ops, there are numerous threads on the same topic if you want to do a search. Here is the short answer- We dive with Aldora for lots of reasons, convenience, big tanks, and long dives are just a few. I have also dove with Dive With Martin and Blue Magic and would dive with either again without hesitation. Christi with Blue XTSea is a member of this board and runs as top notch operation and Tres Pelicanos has a huge following here as well.

That being said, I would get certified at home and arrive in Coz as newly certified divers. Instead of class and checkout dives, your diving for fun. Choose your dive op, hire a private dive master at least for the first day or two until you get the "feel" for diving, and enjoy everything the island has to offer.

Welcome to the addiction, all that money won't just spend itself.

Jay

 

[CowMan]

Cozumel Marine World can get you taken care of and they are very close to Park Royal, out the front door, turn right on the sidewalk and 3 minutes if your walking slow. Keep in mind you can save vacation time by getting your certification done at home before going on vacation.

 

[gopbroek]

Just about any shop will have an in house or primary associate Instructor available and there are many very fine instructors on the island. Just about any can finish your training. Many use the beach area just to the north of Park Royal to do the skills and first two dives and then will finish the training from a boat. I have been trying to get my sister to get certified one of these days and my short list of instructors I know and trust without question would be:
Oswaldo from Tres Pelicanos (Magic Jack #) 314 499-3534
Servando Ramiriz (facebook) /servando.Ramirez.146 (or contact through Scuba Mau)
Juan (Shrek) Lara, Blue project dive shop, Cell / WhatsApp 01 55-1-987 113 7944
Matt (Matteo) Moran, Blue Angel dive shop or evenings at Ohana's (he is the proprietor) , Cell / WhatsApp01 52-1-987 105 5154

 

[ColoDale]

I recently had a friend and his daughter (16) get certified in Cozumel. They did all the work here (no e-learning in the US). They used my Dive OP, Bottom Time Divers with the associated instructor, Joaquin. I have dived with him as a DM also with the same Dive OP. Before you start signing up for e-learning, check with whichever dive op you choose and check prices. If you do the initial work in the States, you'll have more time to dive in Cozumel after certification. They did do their in water training in the shallows around Villablanca then a boat dive to complete things.

 

[peeweediver]

Another strong suggestion to finish the confined water portion of the class at home. If any problems with mask clearing or ear sensitivity crop up, you and your girlfriend won't feel pressured to "fix' the issue during the short vacation period. I watched a friend deal with his girlfriend's mask clearing issues in the pool of Scuba Club Cozumel for the first 4 days of the trip. She was bonkers trying to get it right so she could do her open water dives before the week ended. It wasn't a pretty experience. I teach in the Chicago area so half the year requires open water diving somewhere else. I stress to my students the benefits of getting all the "kinks" out during confined water in the pool then do the open water dives somewhere warm. If one of you has issues, both the one with issues and the one without will wish you both had worked through all the skills in a pool in your hometown rather than dealing with the stress of trying to pass a particularly difficult aspect of a skill while the feeling time pressure of the trip. The two LDS's I teach with use Blue Angel and Del Mar Aquatics.

Rob

 

[deepsea21]

Welcome Josh from TA - You've found the right forum!

 

[DjDiverDan]

Let me join the chorus and strongly encourage you to finish the in-water work at home before going on vacation - you’ll basically have everything done except for the open water dives, and get a referral from your local instructor to almost any Cozumel Dive Instructor to finish up. You can get comfortable with the equipment, breathing underwater, and get the basic skills, like equalizing, mask-clearing, regulator recovery, etc., down pat without taking up vacation time, and finishing up the certification will take only one day, a short session to test your skills and two certification dives. Then you can spend the rest of your vacation enjoying yourselves. The small additional cost will be well it.