Palancar Pier Access

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Just got home from a week of diving. Saw zero to one boat on the pier each day.
I did notice that Christi and Daves boats were anchored at the beach club everyday. So much for supporting the owner and pier development plans.....

What do you think the divers want? A barren place to sit and get sunburned or a place with shade, chairs, food, restroom?

I want the latter.
 
Just got home from a week of diving. Saw zero to one boat on the pier each day.
I did notice that Christi and Daves boats were anchored at the beach club everyday. So much for supporting the owner and pier development plans.....

Pretty huge assumption with no foundation other than an uninformed observation over a few days.

Some days we dock at the pier and other days we anchor at the beach and other days we go somewhere else entirely different. My two boats also don’t necessarily do SIs together. This is/was regardless of whether they are charging for use of the pier or not and is completely separate of any plans for the beach/pier improvements.
 
Just my thoughts...

The owner has a right to charge for use of his pier and dive ops have a right to not dock there. Dive ops also have the right to want to see all these "amenities" in place before paying for them. Or to wonder if it is 100 pesos to dock there now, how much will it be later once developed.

To each his own, but SI on the boat is the norm for many parts of the world and I can't believe divers can be such weenies, considering this is a sport where you are in the elements in the first place and get back on the boat with stringy hair and snot on your face. I find it quite relaxing to tak a nap while rocking on the boat away from "civilization".
 
I enjoy SIs at the pier. It's fun to meet/greet other divers and see other boats. The undeveloped nature of the pier always felt rather... "Coz." If it changes, so be it. To me "going with the flow" is just part of the adventure of dive travel. Something else will be right around the corner. :) All IMHO, YMMV.
 
The first question I ask when considering an Op I am not unfamiliar with is "...where do you guys do your service intervals?" I am definitely not a fan of doing SIs on a boat!

In Coz I stay in town, so getting in my "beach-time" during the SI is an essential part of the dive-day experience for me personally. I look forward to a few hours in the sun and sand almost as much as the diving. This is truly when the stresses of my life drift away and are replaced with appreciation for how fortunate I am.
 
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Concur with Christi. Blaming them for not supporting a stop with no facilities is silly. I made clear that I enjoy spending time at a beach club between dives. That is now part of my selection process for a dive op on Cozumel. Actually I normally dive with Aldora but if they were full I would still use that as part of my decision process for a backup dive op. If the pier in question is walking distance south of Palancar beach club, then I did stop there once years ago. Unknown dive op (or bad memory).

The reason posted by Carlos above is also why I like the beach club stop.
 
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I enjoy SIs at the pier. It's fun to meet/greet other divers and see other boats. The undeveloped nature of the pier always felt rather... "Coz." If it changes, so be it. To me "going with the flow" is just part of the adventure of dive travel. Something else will be right around the corner. :) All IMHO, YMMV.

EXACTLY - go with the flow, relx - enjoy your trip!

My quote of the day:
"The number of times I struggle today is directly related to the number of outcomes I try to force or control"
 
Just got home from a week of diving. Saw zero to one boat on the pier each day.
I did notice that Christi and Daves boats were anchored at the beach club everyday. So much for supporting the owner and pier development plans.....


Until we can get some chairs, tables, hammocks and a useful restroom it would be nuts to land people there for a long SI. One day we hope to do so but it will not happen until a lot of things fall in place (like the owners agreement)! And even then we will let the divers decide what they want .

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers
 
Just my thoughts...

The owner has a right to charge for use of his pier and dive ops have a right to not dock there. Dive ops also have the right to want to see all these "amenities" in place before paying for them. Or to wonder if it is 100 pesos to dock there now, how much will it be later once developed.

To each his own, but SI on the boat is the norm for many parts of the world and I can't believe divers can be such weenies, considering this is a sport where you are in the elements in the first place and get back on the boat with stringy hair and snot on your face. I find it quite relaxing to tak a nap while rocking on the boat away from "civilization".

I 100% agree with you on your first paragraph, but completely disagree with you on the second one. Stringy hair and snot are not what deters me from a boat basted SI. I am terribly prone to sea sickness. Some days it is never an issue, other days it is miserable. Having a land based SI and terra firma makes a big difference. My husband on the other hand has never suffered from motion sickness. He likes the land based SI's over boat based ones for many other reasons. An hour in close corridors with a stand up urinator, the chain smoker, the guy who never shuts up about his dive history etc. etc. can be miserable. We don't need a beach club or even a pier. Just a beach and sun to warm up. While ideal, having a drink and snack at a beach club with a fun crew is the icing on the cake, having a plan B of taking a tranquil walk on the beach is another advantage.
 
I also understand that the owner has a right to develop his land but over the last few days I have seen very few boats tied to the pier and not many more anchored at the beach club. Most of the boats that previously used the pier seem to be doing a floating SI's now. It kinda sad but what was once a very pleasant social interaction between multiple dive operations is no longer. Perhaps some will come back with time but I doubt most will, time marches on. If this plan does work out financially I am confident another plan will be tried to recoup the owners investment.
 

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