The ultimate Cozumel dive ops thread

[DandyDon]

But, we are going to talk about your prices, policies, and what deals you gave us in the past. Business 101.

:lol:


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understood Don, but scuba dive ops live in the same business universe as everyone else, and I suspect you're one of the best 'deal diggers' out there anyway.

I can be with internet shopping, yeah - but if they don't post prices and such on their site, I usually skip.

 

[mediumone]

I agree with the spreadsheet with less, not more info, with a link to the ops website.

An op is such a personal choice --- what is an outstanding op for you, might be a mediocre choice, at best, for me, for so many different reasons that it would take days for us to list. It is essential in my opinion, that in order fo find a match, or the best match, that some direct communication needs to take place ---- coupled with a thorough reading of the ops website to gather the nuances --- which ARE there. If someone doesn't make the time (don't tell me that you don't HAVE the time --- BS), then tough apples kiddo, as they say.

Have to agree with DandyDon about pricing on the website ----- Don't want to disclose pricing?? Bye Bye.


Also have to agree with Christi ----John Public has no business in filling in some of the blanks on the original template.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

The underlying problem that has not been revealed here, is that there are about 92 dive ops in Cozumel and new ones pop up every month or two, and old ones fold just as often. Some just change names when their rep, gets hit, some move operations, some sell boats, some buy boats, and personnel change. Creating a spread sheet might be the easy part---keeping it up to date would be entirely impractical.


Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[ggunn]

I try to be nice about prices as I know that I am cheap by nature, but I hate it when the Op tries to overcharge me to see if he can get away with it.

When has that happened to you? There are so many dive op alternatives on Cozumel that if an op tries to "overcharge" you, all you need to do is go next door. What is "overcharging", anyway? If you dive in Hawaii, your basic two tank trip is going to cost you twice what the same sort of trip would cost you on Cozumel. Are the ops there overcharging?

As with anything else, it behooves one to do his homework as to prices, policies, and amenities in order to make an informed decision about which op to dive with. It's not that hard, and anyone who plans a dive trip should spend a few minutes researching the subject just as they do for airline tix, hotels, etc. IMO, any thread that is oriented toward "helping" people make that choice needs to be moderated and vetted by an impartial party, not left open to anyone who wants to promote an op or who has an ax to grind.

 

[cvchief]

IMO, any thread that is oriented toward "helping" people make that choice needs to be moderated and vetted by an impartial party, not left open to anyone who wants to promote an op or who has an ax to grind.

Er... Isnt that what happens here ALL THE TIME, except the impartial part. Someone promotes an OP or grinds an axe? All those posts are vetted by partial parties who also want to promote an OP or have an axe to grind?

Who would be the impartial vetting party? Don't you figure every op has both someone for and against them that might have some valid points? That sort of unfiltered exchange is good I think, rather than one sanitized by a 'big brother.'

 

[DandyDon]

When has that happened to you? There are so many dive op alternatives on Cozumel that if an op tries to "overcharge" you, all you need to do is go next door. What is "overcharging", anyway? If you dive in Hawaii, your basic two tank trip is going to cost you twice what the same sort of trip would cost you on Cozumel. Are the ops there overcharging?

Oh, I don't know that it ever has - or if it did, it worked and I didn't know. More likely with the taxis. :laughing: My statement was not meant as any accusations tho; more of a explanation of my nature, problems included.

As with anything else, it behooves one to do his homework as to prices, policies, and amenities in order to make an informed decision about which op to dive with. It's not that hard, and anyone who plans a dive trip should spend a few minutes researching the subject just as they do for airline tix, hotels, etc. IMO, any thread that is oriented toward "helping" people make that choice needs to be moderated and vetted by an impartial party, not left open to anyone who wants to promote an op or who has an ax to grind.

Doing the homework is great, hence my stated preferences for the original info on websites. It'd be nice to have a list of all 92 Ops here with links to their sites at least. I certainly don't know of many of them for example. It'd be nice if those sites had the info too, so one didn't have to ask.

I am not saying this will work. Too big of a task. Nice idea tho.

 

[ggunn]

Er... Isnt that what happens here ALL THE TIME, except the impartial part. Someone promotes an OP or grinds an axe? All those posts are vetted by partial parties who also want to promote an OP or have an axe to grind?

Who would be the impartial vetting party? Don't you figure every op has both someone for and against them that might have some valid points? That sort of unfiltered exchange is good I think, rather than one sanitized by a 'big brother.'

That's precisely my point. Informal unfiltered exchange is good, and IMO much preferable to an official-looking sticky article that attempts to rank and rate dive ops.

 

[annlaur]

That's precisely my point. Informal unfiltered exchange is good, and IMO much preferable to an official-looking sticky article that attempts to rank and rate dive ops.

FYI, I never said / intended to "rank and rate" dive ops and don't see where anyone supported such an idea in this thread. And no, it doesn't take "a few minutes" to research, choose and book a dive trip on Cozumel, unless you already know what the different options are.

Again, to be clear, I don't suggest a "bench-test" or a "who's the best dive op" list, more a directory of the ops we know about with useful, factual info about them (website, contact info, where they usually operate from, the types of boats and tanks they use). The only way this could be done in a partial way is by a) outright lying about those facts or b) not listing all 90+ dive ops on the island (which unfortunately is probably bound to happen, unless someone has the full list of Cozumel dive ops available – but then again, considering we rarely see more than 15 ops recommanded by the different posters in any thread in the Coz forum, I don't see how that would be less impartial than what it is today).

To answer some of the other posters (sorry, just got off work, too lazy to multi-quote).
Presentation itself isn't an issue, there's a very basic table tool on the board. Would make for narrow colums though, so not much room for headings. But it could be done as a list.

Again, after Christi made her point about pricing policies, I agree with her and others that rates should be left out. Besides the "special deals" aspect, dive shops have different formulas (some include equipment, others don't, some charge extra for fast boat, others don't, some offer multiday packages, others don't…) so way too complicated to deal with.

The flexibility of the dive ops could be accounted for by a simple warning note at the beginning of the list, stating for example "Dive ops will do their best to ensure you have a great experience with them. If you don't see one that seems to fit your needs on the list, or have a specific request, don't hesitate to contact different shops. Cozumel dive ops can sometimes be very flexible."

Anyhow, thanks for everyone's input/feedback so far. It seems to me there isn't much positive interest for such a thread on the board, so I'll probably just drop the idea.

 

[iluvcozumel]

The underlying problem that has not been revealed here, is that there are about 92 dive ops in Cozumel and new ones pop up every month or two, and old ones fold just as often. Some just change names when their rep, gets hit, some move operations, some sell boats, some buy boats, and personnel change. Creating a spread sheet might be the easy part---keeping it up to date would be entirely impractical.


Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Exactly!!!

 

[driftin' by]

Damn! Last week, I wanted to take pictures of the phone book for all the dive shops listed to post just for this reason.

This idea won't fly and never does here. Nevertheless, even if Christi and Dave were to consent to it, none of the other 90 shop owner have agreed to have their information (mis)represented here.

And if its an attempt to coallate this information into a sticky in hopes that it will lessen the frequency we see the weekly new post titled "Who should I dive with?", it won't. Much like the all too often "What is the water temp?" or "I'm worried! The weather forcast is calling for rain." threads we see all the time when that information can be found the Christi's ever useful thread. People come here looking for the dialogue, if for nothing else, to tell other people about their big plans. If they kick around a few days they'll stumble upon the search capability and eventually find the New Thread button and the cheer-leading ensues. I don't think it's something we can fix.

No offense Ann. Not all that long ago, I think I attempted to champion such an idea because personally, I'm a organizer and love data. For that reason, I'm in favor of a very simple list of dive op names, websites and links to reviews here on SB to be made as a sticky. That way if a new bewildered traveler does post a new thread, they can be redirected before the cheer-leading ensues. But still, like Dave said, a slight maintenance headache but much more manageable and a springboard for enquirers to begin their search. YMMV.