Staying south at the Allegro

[Mossman]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

This off topic discussion has been split off from this thread http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/471618-corporate-foreign-diving-ousts-dive-palancar.html so that searchers may more easily find it. Marg, SB Senior Moderator

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Oh boy....it seems I have come too late, but i'm going to give my $0.02 anyways, her it goes. I returned from Rivera Maya on Nov 4th from a week stay at the occidental grand in Playa and was diving with prodive there, also on Cozumel from the allegro, and i must say, i had some great dives with them. I've been to Coz and playa a number of times and have seen little more then coral, morays and parrot fish, not that i'm complaining about it, I reside in the north Atlantic..... but Prodive delivered for me, i seen just about everything on my Rivera bucket list this past trip, sharks, turtles, rays, scorpion fish and the list goes on and on. I won't argue on the nationalities on some of the staff as it is no different then any other dive op in other countries that i have dove with so far, but to say that they are a bad op in my opinion is just not true. I'm returning to the Allegro in Coz in May, and will probably go with another op, mainly because the don't go to the northern reefs. Prodive required me to do a free refresher in the pool with one of their instructors, before going out with them, and also required me to go on a shallow afternoon dive before i could join them on the early deep dive. I must say i was a little mad at first as I've never had that requested of me before, but in retrospect, it was very professional and i am thankful that they did to ensure that I was ready for the more challenging stuff.

I doubt you'll find any other dive op that will pick up at the Allegro and head to the northern reefs. Only option would be a taxi (or rental car) and that would get a little pricey. Why stay in the south if you want to dive the north?

For that matter, what's so exciting up north, especially in May? I now have 75 dives in Coz, still haven't made it north. I will make it a priority the next time I get there in the winter months when the eagle rays are swarming, but then I'll stay in town.

 

[Ron Lee]

For that matter, what's so exciting up north, especially in May? I now have 75 dives in Coz, still haven't made it north. I will make it a priority the next time I get there in the winter months when the eagle rays are swarming, but then I'll stay in town.

You have never been to Barracuda or San Juan? Give it a try.

 

[CJ76]

I'm not looking for a dive op to go out of there way to cater to me. I have no problem catching a cab to the pier in town....after all, i just spent allot of $ to come, what's a few more $ to see the sites that interest me.

 

[Mossman]

I'm not looking for a dive op to go out of there way to cater to me. I have no problem catching a cab to the pier in town....after all, i just spent allot of $ to come, what's a few more $ to see the sites that interest me.

OK, sure. So going back to my first question, why stay in the south if you want to dive the north? What makes the Allegro so special?

I know others don't think as I do. I try to book a hotel convenient to my diving. Others like to, for example, stay in the north and taxi to the Caleta each day to dive. To me, it seems like a big waste of time and money, not to mention a hassle. So I get it. Whatever floats your boat. Still, is there something so special about the Allegro that I'm somehow missing?

 

[Ron Lee]

Why the concern about staying at Allegro? It is close to many common dive sites.

If he has to take a taxi to town to make the Barracuda dive, that would be ONE day. However, he might need to be diving with a dive op that starts closer to town for that to work. Would the Allegro dive op go to Barracuda/San Juan?

 

[CJ76]

Nothing special at all about the Allegro for me. It was the place that caught my wifes eye the last time in Cozumel. we did a dive/snorkel excursion from there and she said she thought it was a lovely place, who am i to judge.....as long as i get back to the island for some great diving Tbh, i'd sleep in a tent on the beach to breath in more of that cozumel air and get to see more of the beautiful reefs.

---------- Post added December 11th, 2013 at 08:30 PM ----------

Not seeking out any northern site in particular, I just wish to have a vote on what reef we go to TBH. If ProDive is that much of a lousy dive op, oh boy....i can't wait to try out others, as I feel they did a fantastic job, but that it of course only in my opinion with my limited experience on the island.

 

[Mossman]

Not seeking out any northern site in particular, I just wish to have a vote on what reef we go to TBH. If ProDive is that much of a lousy dive op, oh boy....i can't wait to try out others, as I feel they did a fantastic job, but that it of course only in my opinion with my limited experience on the island.

In my experience, there are lots of great dive ops in Cozumel. After all, it's a pretty competitive industry. The real slackers won't (or at least shouldn't) survive.

I only question you because you're staying at a southern resort which happens to be very convenient to the southern reefs which, with the exception of a couple advanced sites north of town, are where most of the action is. I can see taxiing into town and going with a different dive op for a day to try something different, but it just seemed a bit odd to me to want to stay a 5-10 minute boat ride from the majority of Cozumel dive sites, yet take a 20+ minute $15 taxi each way every day just to dive the couple of northern sites.

 

[redacted]

Oh boy....it seems I have come too late, but i'm going to give my $0.02 anyways, her it goes. I returned from Rivera Maya on Nov 4th from a week stay at the occidental grand in Playa and was diving with prodive there, also on Cozumel from the allegro, and i must say, i had some great dives with them. I've been to Coz and playa a number of times and have seen little more then coral, morays and parrot fish, not that i'm complaining about it, I reside in the north Atlantic..... but Prodive delivered for me, i seen just about everything on my Rivera bucket list this past trip, sharks, turtles, rays, scorpion fish and the list goes on and on. I won't argue on the nationalities on some of the staff as it is no different then any other dive op in other countries that i have dove with so far, but to say that they are a bad op in my opinion is just not true. I'm returning to the Allegro in Coz in May, and will probably go with another op, mainly because the don't go to the northern reefs. Prodive required me to do a free refresher in the pool with one of their instructors, before going out with them, and also required me to go on a shallow afternoon dive before i could join them on the early deep dive. I must say i was a little mad at first as I've never had that requested of me before, but in retrospect, it was very professional and i am thankful that they did to ensure that I was ready for the more challenging stuff.

Ouch!! You went in the pool at the Allegro??? Did you ever notice anybody leaving the swim-up bar (or pool for that matter) and come back a few minutes later?? Ewwww:shocked2:

 

[CJ76]

Yikes!!!!, didn't go in the pool, it was empty when we were there for reno's, not even water in it. I believe it was the first day open after being closed for some time for reno's. Same as all the all inclusives though...swim-up bar pool... prob not the best place to swim. That being said though, i will be diving with ProDive for at least 1 dive, as they owe me that. I was put on a repeat dive to "mama vina wreck" and i was guaranteed different dives all week, Just so happened that the port was closed and the wreck dive was booked by a group of other divers. I Certainly won't complain about it, as it was a great dive the second time around, and it good of them to give me a dive on the house to make up for it. I'm not trying to come across as a :cheerleader: for them as my experience on the island is limited, but i hate to see them get a bad rep for what i feel might be just hard feelings, but i will be trying out one or more of the other shops on the island, there's just so many cool people/shops i want to meet and experience.

 

[DandyDon]

I do hope that idea to cage a whale shark has died. I don't think I could stomach that. It's bad enough that the caged dolphin owners stick them in Hotel Coz's pool instead of releasing them in hurricanes like others do. Those generally come back anyway, some pregnant.