I used this forum on SB to select my dive operator for my last dive trip and I thought that posting my trip report will be a bit of return to the community for the awesome info shared on this board. Same report has been posted on TripAdvisor as I used their resources as well.
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As I was planning another visit to Cozumel, I had the usual debate which dive operation to use. This is not my first time on the island but most often I would come with a group of divers and we will have a boat and DM to ourselves. Having this as a family vacation with only my son and I as divers, I knew the experience will be different as we will be much dependent on the other insta members of the dive group for each day that we will meet on the boat. Having done it in the past (with two different operators), I knew well that it can be quite frustrating experience as you have no idea whom you will end up diving and what their abilities are underwater.
Both my kid and I have decent experience and I was looking for an operator that will not fill the boat with inexperienced and non frequently diving folks that will mess up the bottom underwater, have their hands everywhere and will limit dive time with their gas consumption. I did not put high on my list high capacity tanks as with our SAC (<0.4 in warm water), we can get ~75 minutes on a dive averaging 40 feet on AL80 tank and that is enough time for me for a single dive.
Scanning Cozumel forum on Scubaboard and checking reviews on TripAdvisor, I ended up selecting Tres Pelicanos. Being fairly new operation on Cozumel diving landscape, they had good reviews from many divers that I felt had similar experience level as mine. I also like small fast boats and their boat has that profile although it provides better experience than traditional panga six pack. After a quick call, talking to Jeanie, I confirmed they can pick us at hotel's pier and early enough pickup time pretty much eliminated possibility for cruise people on board.
The dive boat, Skinny Shark, looks and rides like a six pack BUT it is bigger and most importantly it is wider so it is ROOMY (something I always missed on six packs). The crew was knowledgeable and helpful where appropriate since I setup and wash my gear myself; therefore I can't comment on their valet service which I know they provide. Most importantly, sites were selected as a combination of customers preferences and actual visibility at the preferred site. If the viz was not good enough, we moved on to an alternative location. Having my camera, I was grateful for this as we had some bad weather that did decrease viz quite a bit at some sites. They do run to southern spots at no additional charge and we did nice dives at Punta Sur and Colombia deep.
The DM, Servando, did excellent job to give us space and let us dive at our pace while finding stuff on the way. Most importantly, he would plan the dives in a way that we could "jump" from one reef to another, not letting us to explore sandy bottom after first 30 minutes when we ran out of reef on the first site. As en example we would start at Paso del Cedral, than jump over and end up doing nice piece of Santa Rosa wall.
It happened that the shop owner, Steve, was on the boat for few dives. Aside of being very nice fellow who cares about customers' experience, I liked the fact that he did not interfere with crew's operation and in that regard he was just another diver, letting the crew to make all diving related decisions.
I have to say that I had one of the best diving experiences in Cozumel with Tres. Will it remain? Time will tell but their heart seems to be in a right place and they do care a lot about their customers. I know there are plenty of good operators on the island but for now Tres Pelicanos will be my number one shop to call next time I plan to come over.
Although written from a point of view of a more experienced diver, I am sure Tres Pelicanos will do a great job to more novice divers as well, as they can run two boats grouping divers by their abilities and optimizing the service for each group. I know they had two boats at least couple of days when we were there.
Hope you (the reader) will find this review useful and whoever you choose to dive with, enjoy and dive safe.
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As I was planning another visit to Cozumel, I had the usual debate which dive operation to use. This is not my first time on the island but most often I would come with a group of divers and we will have a boat and DM to ourselves. Having this as a family vacation with only my son and I as divers, I knew the experience will be different as we will be much dependent on the other insta members of the dive group for each day that we will meet on the boat. Having done it in the past (with two different operators), I knew well that it can be quite frustrating experience as you have no idea whom you will end up diving and what their abilities are underwater.
Both my kid and I have decent experience and I was looking for an operator that will not fill the boat with inexperienced and non frequently diving folks that will mess up the bottom underwater, have their hands everywhere and will limit dive time with their gas consumption. I did not put high on my list high capacity tanks as with our SAC (<0.4 in warm water), we can get ~75 minutes on a dive averaging 40 feet on AL80 tank and that is enough time for me for a single dive.
Scanning Cozumel forum on Scubaboard and checking reviews on TripAdvisor, I ended up selecting Tres Pelicanos. Being fairly new operation on Cozumel diving landscape, they had good reviews from many divers that I felt had similar experience level as mine. I also like small fast boats and their boat has that profile although it provides better experience than traditional panga six pack. After a quick call, talking to Jeanie, I confirmed they can pick us at hotel's pier and early enough pickup time pretty much eliminated possibility for cruise people on board.
The dive boat, Skinny Shark, looks and rides like a six pack BUT it is bigger and most importantly it is wider so it is ROOMY (something I always missed on six packs). The crew was knowledgeable and helpful where appropriate since I setup and wash my gear myself; therefore I can't comment on their valet service which I know they provide. Most importantly, sites were selected as a combination of customers preferences and actual visibility at the preferred site. If the viz was not good enough, we moved on to an alternative location. Having my camera, I was grateful for this as we had some bad weather that did decrease viz quite a bit at some sites. They do run to southern spots at no additional charge and we did nice dives at Punta Sur and Colombia deep.
The DM, Servando, did excellent job to give us space and let us dive at our pace while finding stuff on the way. Most importantly, he would plan the dives in a way that we could "jump" from one reef to another, not letting us to explore sandy bottom after first 30 minutes when we ran out of reef on the first site. As en example we would start at Paso del Cedral, than jump over and end up doing nice piece of Santa Rosa wall.
It happened that the shop owner, Steve, was on the boat for few dives. Aside of being very nice fellow who cares about customers' experience, I liked the fact that he did not interfere with crew's operation and in that regard he was just another diver, letting the crew to make all diving related decisions.
I have to say that I had one of the best diving experiences in Cozumel with Tres. Will it remain? Time will tell but their heart seems to be in a right place and they do care a lot about their customers. I know there are plenty of good operators on the island but for now Tres Pelicanos will be my number one shop to call next time I plan to come over.
Although written from a point of view of a more experienced diver, I am sure Tres Pelicanos will do a great job to more novice divers as well, as they can run two boats grouping divers by their abilities and optimizing the service for each group. I know they had two boats at least couple of days when we were there.
Hope you (the reader) will find this review useful and whoever you choose to dive with, enjoy and dive safe.
