This is my first trip in many years trying a different dive operator. A few months back I posted on the forum and received some excellent recommendations. What complicated this trip a bit was that one diver and her husband were staying somewhere different than the other two divers. Tres Pelicanos worked it out perfectly!!!!
TLDR Version:
My 1st time with Tres Pelicanos and would definitely use them again. 12th time at the Casa Mexicana - clearly will use them again. Diving was the last few days of February and first few days of March. Saw several eagle rays
, sharks, turtles, ocean rays, barracuda, green morays out swimming, etc. I will say that there are definitely not as many big grouper as in years back Only saw 3 the entire trip. Visibility was way down, often less than half of normal. We usually pick the first week of March to avoid the Norte's and once again no dives missed. There was something brewing on our departure day...I hope everyone was able to dive. Being the naïve person I am, our trip landed entirely over all 3 days of Carnaval (Sat,Sun,Fat Tuesday). I had experienced single day before. But wow, 3 full days. Excellent trip.
….more detailed review....
My Experience
Diving every year in Cozumel since 2004 (probably around 20 trips) plus several other Caribbean trips. I like to dive with a camera and this year I downsized from a big DSLR to a Gopro setup...I survived LOL!
Timing Of The Trip
It seems like every time I joined a dive trip in late January or Feburary we'd get Norte'd out. So for the last 5 years I have always planned the first week of March. This year we arrived at the end of February and just one week stay. By shifting to early March I feel like I see less Eagle Rays and some pretty crazy currents but also I don't recall having any dives days lost yet (fingers crossed) due to wx.
NOTE: I booked the hotel prior to the dive operator. If there is any combo deal that could save me money I will definitely try that next time
Casa Mexicana = Ultra Clean + Super Soft Beds + Best Breakfast On The Island + Location
What can I say, been going here for years. I knew something was different this time when I was given a room in the back (city side). In all the years of going I have always been given rooms on the south side or up front. I grumbled a bit but whatever. Well my dumb arse unknowingly booked a scuba trip over the entirety Carnaval duhh.
It turns out the only think I don't like about the rear rooms are they are 2 twin beds vs that nice perfect huge king bed. But they were just as soft and awesome as the king beds. If you are staying at hotels in mexico with hard beds....just try the Casa Mexicana once...you will never leave. Plus the rear rooms have a advantage: Lots of sun from Morning to mid afternoon AND wind! So my gear really dried out fast.
I think its actually illegal in Mexico to not mention the Casa Mexicana breakfast. Santa and her crew had everything to perfection...again. Anything made to order plus everything else. My standard breakfast was a 2 egg omlette with ham & cheese, 3 excellent sausage links (not the hot dogs) and a bunch of pineapple and fresh squeezed OJ. We were down every morning at 7am and finished up by 720pm. Plenty of time to head back to the room, grab stuff and walk around the corner to Tres Pelicano's.
Tres Pelicanos = Super Nice People + Awesome DM's + Great Fast Boats + Great Dive Times
From a scuba board recommendation and prior knowledge that Julio was now working with Tres Pelicanos I decided to switch from the other dive op. Jeanie was super helpful on getting all the booking taken care of, deposits, etc. We had zero doubt that when we arrived everything would be good to go. Deposits are US$50 paid via PayPal. Final payments are cash, Master Card or Visa (not AMEX or PayPal).
On the arrival day I walked down to the shop...literally around the corner and just past the chamber/hospital. We figured out how things worked, especially when to be there and how we get us and our other diver from the Hotel Cozumel to the boats. After that I walked right back, got my gear and handed them everything but my camera. This is a valet style shop and even on the first day everything was there with one exception for a BCD rental for our fellow diver...they had a BCD but it was too small (more on this later). So nice to be able to spend the rest of the arrival evening relaxing, dinner, etc.
Dives days went like this:
6:15am Get up / shower / batteries into the camera and lights
7:00am Breakfast
7:30pm Walk down to the shop (2 minutes)
7:45am Hop in a taxi (they cover it) or their vehicle
7:55am Arrive at the new Marina and walk out to the boat
8:40am Boat is leaving the marina
12:15pm Boat arrives back at the marina
12:45pm We arrive back at the dive shop or they dropped us off a bit earlier (usually taxi).
For our diver at the Hotel Cozumel:
7:45am She needed to be standing outside the Hotel Cozumel on the ocean side of the road
7:55am She was either there before us or right after us.
12:40pm She was dropped back off at her hotel.
The Boats
They have Skinny Shark (which is wider) and Loan Shark. I believe we dove on both boats but mainly the Loan Shark. On the really busy Carnaval day I think they used a 3rd boat but I get the impression we were kept on their main boats as we dove with them several days before. These boats are nice and fast. They are covered. Entry is back roll. They have a nice strong tall ladder to get back on. The boat is big enough that if you climb the ladder with all your gear it won't rock hardly at all. There are no heads. However, between all dives we either raced over to a calm spot or tied up a pier so people could jump in or go up on land and use a bathroom. The Capitano's were awesome.
The Dive Masters = Jorge, Jose, Edwardo, Julio
First off I hope I got all the names right??? I hate to pick a favorite as they were all great. But I think I just connected with Jorge the most...he dares to poke lots of fun (which I do too) and just seems to have this knack for finding cool stuff underwater. And after missing diving with Julio last year I was able to dive with him again and requested him for our night dive. These guys are great. I should mention I always tip US$15 for every 2-tank boat dive...am I a cheapskate...gosh I hope not but I figured its time to finally ask in case I am short changing these guys.
Dive Sites
Okay, I am terrible at this...especially after all these years. I just know we went farther south than the previous big/slow boat operator and the sites didn't disappoint. Palancar Bricks, San Franciso, Paso De Cedral, Columbia this and that. But my all time favorite of this trip: we dropped in on a site between Maracaibo and Punta Sur. But I wasn't even paying attention how far south we were. I drop down to the sand and check my gauge and usually the sand is around 40-50ft...and I am at 102. I see this cool big arch (Cathedral?). Jorge is helping a few others get down. So I point and Sarah joins me. We swim thru. Sarah immediately points. A Black (or maybe white) Tip reef shark just hovering in the current Unfortunately the visibility was really down so the gopro video was not great. Then Sarah points at another one!!! Same distance. Okay this cool. I'm on EAN32 so I'm watching my depth. Later in the dive Jorge makes this devil symbol...I have no clue. Later he says we just drifted on the Devil's throat. This was my shortest dive of the trip at 41min...and that is on a AL100 with EAN32. When they asked about a second dive I was like "Lets do that one again!" We needed to move on
Night Dive With Julio
There were 2 of us and 3 or 4 others joined for a total of 6 I think. It was great. I had requested Julio to get in some fun dive time with him. The currents were very weird. Do we start closer to the Cruise Ships and drift south or vice versa? Julio's brief was perfection! I love that about him. Safety first and he's clear about it but not like in way that is threating or freaks anyone out. Confident. I noticed one really cool thing. As we arrived. there were 3 boats in the same area and the sun was just dropping. Who was the first into the water to check...Julio. And it wasn't to get done faster. He comes up. Says its wrong and Capitano moves the boat. He jumps back in comes up again. Wrong. We move again. Its go time. None of the other boats put in a DM. I think they were waiting for us. Pretty awesome actually. For me it was the most current I had on a night dive in my memory - not bad or dangerous, but also not calm. We saw some awesome stuff. A few camera divers blopped into each other for all the fun stuff but no big deal, no hard feelings. Came up to a billion stars in the sky.
Dive Times & Tanks
I am sorta into using Nitrox on one trip and skip it on another trip. When I said I would give it a shot they mentioned that Nitrox is +$12/tank but that is for AL100's. Okay, awesome! I am a big guy but I have always tried to dive well, not be an air hog and just do AL80's like everyone else. So this was my first time ever with a slightly larger tank. Awesome. With the exception of that southern dive I think I was always the last one out of the water. I could outlast our female diver who easily outlasts me on a AL80. And on a few dives at about 1hr and going on 1hr10min I would just call it and go up last with the DM. But there were so many times that these last 5-10 minutes had "just one more critter". I would say at least 4 dives ended with seeing an Eagle Ray, large Southern Ray or Nurse Sharks out swimming. Will I dive these tanks again...maybe, sure was nice. But I am reluctant to get too used to it.
TLDR Version:
My 1st time with Tres Pelicanos and would definitely use them again. 12th time at the Casa Mexicana - clearly will use them again. Diving was the last few days of February and first few days of March. Saw several eagle rays
, sharks, turtles, ocean rays, barracuda, green morays out swimming, etc. I will say that there are definitely not as many big grouper as in years back Only saw 3 the entire trip. Visibility was way down, often less than half of normal. We usually pick the first week of March to avoid the Norte's and once again no dives missed. There was something brewing on our departure day...I hope everyone was able to dive. Being the naïve person I am, our trip landed entirely over all 3 days of Carnaval (Sat,Sun,Fat Tuesday). I had experienced single day before. But wow, 3 full days. Excellent trip.….more detailed review....
My Experience
Diving every year in Cozumel since 2004 (probably around 20 trips) plus several other Caribbean trips. I like to dive with a camera and this year I downsized from a big DSLR to a Gopro setup...I survived LOL!
Timing Of The Trip
It seems like every time I joined a dive trip in late January or Feburary we'd get Norte'd out. So for the last 5 years I have always planned the first week of March. This year we arrived at the end of February and just one week stay. By shifting to early March I feel like I see less Eagle Rays and some pretty crazy currents but also I don't recall having any dives days lost yet (fingers crossed) due to wx.
NOTE: I booked the hotel prior to the dive operator. If there is any combo deal that could save me money I will definitely try that next time
Casa Mexicana = Ultra Clean + Super Soft Beds + Best Breakfast On The Island + Location
What can I say, been going here for years. I knew something was different this time when I was given a room in the back (city side). In all the years of going I have always been given rooms on the south side or up front. I grumbled a bit but whatever. Well my dumb arse unknowingly booked a scuba trip over the entirety Carnaval duhh.
It turns out the only think I don't like about the rear rooms are they are 2 twin beds vs that nice perfect huge king bed. But they were just as soft and awesome as the king beds. If you are staying at hotels in mexico with hard beds....just try the Casa Mexicana once...you will never leave. Plus the rear rooms have a advantage: Lots of sun from Morning to mid afternoon AND wind! So my gear really dried out fast.
I think its actually illegal in Mexico to not mention the Casa Mexicana breakfast. Santa and her crew had everything to perfection...again. Anything made to order plus everything else. My standard breakfast was a 2 egg omlette with ham & cheese, 3 excellent sausage links (not the hot dogs) and a bunch of pineapple and fresh squeezed OJ. We were down every morning at 7am and finished up by 720pm. Plenty of time to head back to the room, grab stuff and walk around the corner to Tres Pelicano's.
Tres Pelicanos = Super Nice People + Awesome DM's + Great Fast Boats + Great Dive Times
From a scuba board recommendation and prior knowledge that Julio was now working with Tres Pelicanos I decided to switch from the other dive op. Jeanie was super helpful on getting all the booking taken care of, deposits, etc. We had zero doubt that when we arrived everything would be good to go. Deposits are US$50 paid via PayPal. Final payments are cash, Master Card or Visa (not AMEX or PayPal).
On the arrival day I walked down to the shop...literally around the corner and just past the chamber/hospital. We figured out how things worked, especially when to be there and how we get us and our other diver from the Hotel Cozumel to the boats. After that I walked right back, got my gear and handed them everything but my camera. This is a valet style shop and even on the first day everything was there with one exception for a BCD rental for our fellow diver...they had a BCD but it was too small (more on this later). So nice to be able to spend the rest of the arrival evening relaxing, dinner, etc.
Dives days went like this:
6:15am Get up / shower / batteries into the camera and lights
7:00am Breakfast
7:30pm Walk down to the shop (2 minutes)
7:45am Hop in a taxi (they cover it) or their vehicle
7:55am Arrive at the new Marina and walk out to the boat
8:40am Boat is leaving the marina
12:15pm Boat arrives back at the marina
12:45pm We arrive back at the dive shop or they dropped us off a bit earlier (usually taxi).
For our diver at the Hotel Cozumel:
7:45am She needed to be standing outside the Hotel Cozumel on the ocean side of the road
7:55am She was either there before us or right after us.
12:40pm She was dropped back off at her hotel.
The Boats
They have Skinny Shark (which is wider) and Loan Shark. I believe we dove on both boats but mainly the Loan Shark. On the really busy Carnaval day I think they used a 3rd boat but I get the impression we were kept on their main boats as we dove with them several days before. These boats are nice and fast. They are covered. Entry is back roll. They have a nice strong tall ladder to get back on. The boat is big enough that if you climb the ladder with all your gear it won't rock hardly at all. There are no heads. However, between all dives we either raced over to a calm spot or tied up a pier so people could jump in or go up on land and use a bathroom. The Capitano's were awesome.
The Dive Masters = Jorge, Jose, Edwardo, Julio
First off I hope I got all the names right??? I hate to pick a favorite as they were all great. But I think I just connected with Jorge the most...he dares to poke lots of fun (which I do too) and just seems to have this knack for finding cool stuff underwater. And after missing diving with Julio last year I was able to dive with him again and requested him for our night dive. These guys are great. I should mention I always tip US$15 for every 2-tank boat dive...am I a cheapskate...gosh I hope not but I figured its time to finally ask in case I am short changing these guys.
Dive Sites
Okay, I am terrible at this...especially after all these years. I just know we went farther south than the previous big/slow boat operator and the sites didn't disappoint. Palancar Bricks, San Franciso, Paso De Cedral, Columbia this and that. But my all time favorite of this trip: we dropped in on a site between Maracaibo and Punta Sur. But I wasn't even paying attention how far south we were. I drop down to the sand and check my gauge and usually the sand is around 40-50ft...and I am at 102. I see this cool big arch (Cathedral?). Jorge is helping a few others get down. So I point and Sarah joins me. We swim thru. Sarah immediately points. A Black (or maybe white) Tip reef shark just hovering in the current
Unfortunately the visibility was really down so the gopro video was not great. Then Sarah points at another one!!! Same distance. Okay this cool. I'm on EAN32 so I'm watching my depth. Later in the dive Jorge makes this devil symbol...I have no clue. Later he says we just drifted on the Devil's throat. This was my shortest dive of the trip at 41min...and that is on a AL100 with EAN32. When they asked about a second dive I was like "Lets do that one again!" We needed to move on Night Dive With Julio
There were 2 of us and 3 or 4 others joined for a total of 6 I think. It was great. I had requested Julio to get in some fun dive time with him. The currents were very weird. Do we start closer to the Cruise Ships and drift south or vice versa? Julio's brief was perfection! I love that about him. Safety first and he's clear about it but not like in way that is threating or freaks anyone out. Confident. I noticed one really cool thing. As we arrived. there were 3 boats in the same area and the sun was just dropping. Who was the first into the water to check...Julio. And it wasn't to get done faster. He comes up. Says its wrong and Capitano moves the boat. He jumps back in comes up again. Wrong. We move again. Its go time. None of the other boats put in a DM. I think they were waiting for us. Pretty awesome actually. For me it was the most current I had on a night dive in my memory - not bad or dangerous, but also not calm. We saw some awesome stuff. A few camera divers blopped into each other for all the fun stuff but no big deal, no hard feelings. Came up to a billion stars in the sky.
Dive Times & Tanks
I am sorta into using Nitrox on one trip and skip it on another trip. When I said I would give it a shot they mentioned that Nitrox is +$12/tank but that is for AL100's. Okay, awesome! I am a big guy but I have always tried to dive well, not be an air hog and just do AL80's like everyone else. So this was my first time ever with a slightly larger tank. Awesome. With the exception of that southern dive I think I was always the last one out of the water. I could outlast our female diver who easily outlasts me on a AL80. And on a few dives at about 1hr and going on 1hr10min I would just call it and go up last with the DM. But there were so many times that these last 5-10 minutes had "just one more critter". I would say at least 4 dives ended with seeing an Eagle Ray, large Southern Ray or Nurse Sharks out swimming. Will I dive these tanks again...maybe, sure was nice. But I am reluctant to get too used to it.
