shallower reefs

[ggunn]

[Tormentos] Can be advanced when the current is really ripping there....3-4kts and it can be pretty crazy lol.

True enough, but the same could be said of virtually every Cozumel dive site.

 

[gopbroek]

The OP's desire to do shallow dives with 120's and Dive their computer's makes for a, IMHO unrealistic expectations for anything other than a charter. I am assuming from the profile that they are pretty advanced divers with decent air consumption. Given that I have seen Columbia shallows regularly be dragged past 90 minutes with decent air reserves on AL80's, look at the time required to shallow 'Dive our computers' with 120's. I would expect at or near 4 hours bottom time plus SI for two tanks and that is going to pretty much consume the entire day for the boat and DM. IMO this is a bit much to ask for a scheduled boat instead of a charter.

 

[Reelman1]

Thanks for all the replies...I really didn't mean for my questions to be so complicated...no depth limits, no problem with the deeper dives, we love them as much as anyone...all we thought was wouldn't it be cool to spend more time getting to know the shallower ( I know, shallow is relative) reefs better...you know, the sites that you motor over on the way to the south end... anyway, from what I can tell, our options are...A. charter a boat to ourselves... B. stick with the larger boats and do "45 minute and out" dives on the "beginner" reefs...C. talk the other divers on the boat into two longer shallower dives rather than the "normal" one deep, one shallow trip...we've gotten to know the southernmost sites pretty well, just interested in getting to know the rest of the place a bit better... and two 90 minute plus dives sounds like a bunch of fun...that's all...Cozumel will always be one of our very favorite places, and I totally understand the reasons behind the way the operators there do what they do...again thank you for all your input...

 

[Brules]

With Blue XT Sea, Pedro the DM likes shallower long dives. We did 70+ minutes on most dives and I did 84 on Tormentos. You can fully dive your comp/air - Pedro likes to stay in as long as anyone else and never once cut us short to make the old "45 and out" like some other ops I have had over the years. As an example we dove: Palancar caves/Tormentos - Santa Rosa/Tormentos - Tunich/Delila - Palancar Gardens/San Francisco - Columbia (not deep) - Delila. Not one of those was over 90', majority are the shallower dives, and not one was 45 & out.

I like the OP like my long shallower dives - and for me BXTSea "nailed it".....I may have lucked out the week I was there, but Pedro def likes his time in water and will stay in as long as anyone wants.

 

[Zman96]

I, like Brules, regularly dives with BlueXT. Many trips I never go below 80-85 even if the rest of the group heads down to 100. I prefer long dives as well and will only go deep if there is something interesting to go see. I will take my 75-80 minutes on almost all dives rather than just going for depth. Pedro is awesome to dive with.
FWIW, when are you going?

 

[Brules]

I might add that I was puling 70-80 mins on a AL80 and Nitrox on all 2nd tanks and I am 6' 285lbs......Pedro goes that slow.... With an AL100 I would be in deco every dive lol.

 

[divingjd]

Reelman1, I think you got it in your post today. It's going to be tough to get the dive schedule you want unless you charter the boat or can be very persuasive with the other divers on the boat. For even more fun, go do Columbia Shallows on a 120. My last two dives there have been about two hours and I've been on the boat with over 1000 psi. I totally get the appeal of really long, shallow dives. One of these days, I hope to convince everybody else to let me do 2.5 hours on Columbia Shallows.

 

[MMM]

Funny, people tout Colombia Shallows but it is far from my favourite shallower reef. For instance, I like the top of Santa Rosa, Gardens etc. plus all the "2nd" dive sites.

For the OP, I think about the only way you will get to do the dives you actually want to do (mid-range to shallow on your air/computer) will be to either charter your own boat or go with "beginner" divers with an assurance from the dive op that once they ascend, the dive will continue. There are ops that will do this, to a point (80-90 minutes). Whether they will let you do a 120 is another question...depends on how good you are on air, I suppose. I don't need a 120 to pull long times as I generally outlast all the divers with them. How long do you generally get on a 120 at, say, 50 feet, average?

I say this because in my experience, divers who like (and can do) long bottom times in lieu of depth are relatively few and far between. Dive ops need to cater to the majority. Either their divers want advanced, deep dives or they are air-sucking newbies. Middle-ground doesn't seem to be enough to fill a boat all the time.

 

[AdivingBel]

I don't mean to be argumentative...really, I don't ....but I guess I don't get it. There are plenty of places to go for long shallow dives...plenty of places to go for deep walls and deep pinnacles... places to go for drift diving etc.. I get wanting the one off dive during a trip. I enjoy Columbia Shallows myself as a change of pace...shallow and many times out of the current (almost like a Keys reef dive). But, why go someplace and want to spend the whole trip doing dives that are not what a location is geared/known for...IMHO that is like drift diving into the current.

 

[Ron Lee]

First you only have a few 120 cu ft tank dive ops. I believe that the original dive op using those tanks regularly is Aldora.

I dive with Aldora and there are southern dive sites that can be dove deep and relatively shallow. I usually go deepish for a short period at the beginning of a dive then work my way up. I am often 20-30 feet above the group.

However, if you are trying to milk out a two hour dive doing that then it may be an issue....even if you have a dedicated divemaster. Should others doing a 75 minute dive have to wait on the boat 45 minutes for you to finish your dive?