Which dive op to use in Cozumel?

[timetraveler]

In the past we've dived with Blue XTSea, but this time we're arriving by ship and won't dock until 8AM. There's no way we could get to the harbor on time. We sail again at 4PM, so afternoon dives are not possible. Our ship, the Rotterdam, is supposed to dock at Punta Langosta. I already contacted Aldora Divers and was told that our ship's schedule prevents them from taking us out. We've had some bad experiences on cruise ship dives and would rather avoid them.
Can you recommend a Cozumel dive operation whose schedule might work with our ship's - preferably one that picks up in town?

 

[Trailboss123]

Cozumel Diving, Cozumel Scuba Diving, Cozumel Diving Packages, Lessons, Snorkeling, Blue Magic Scuba
They tend to leave from their downtown shop and drive their clients to the marina and past the cruise ships en route and can likely accommodate you.

 

[yle]

Check out Deep Blue. Their shop is in town, just a few blocks inland from Punta Langosta, and their dive boats leave from the small pier that's a couple blocks north of PL.

 

[Saniflush]

Check out Deep Blue. Their shop is in town, just a few blocks inland from Punta Langosta, and their dive boats leave from the small pier that's a couple blocks north of PL.

This is who we are planning to use in January as well.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

How many divers? If you can put together 4 divers, most ops will charter a boat for a 2 tank morning dive for right at $400. We dive with Aldora now for the steel 120 tanks and 90 minute dives, but if that won't work, we have dove with Blue Magic and loved them. When we cruised, we dove with Dive With Martin and chartered our own boat. They include rental equipment in the price and we walked to the shop from the International port, got on the boat that was waiting for us, and went diving. The average rate for a 2 tank morning dive is around $80, plus tax, and park fee. Ask for a cash discount. Chartering your own boat is a little more, but worth it when cruising because of the scheduling. If you can find a total of 6 divers, it would actuallly be cheaper than standard rates, and scheduling is not an issue.

I don't blame you for avoiding the cruise line dive op. More than likely there will be 20 or more divers on the boat, crappy equipment, and very very basic dives.

If you don't have 4 divers, you might check out some of the cruising forums and see if you can find enough to make a charter reasonable.

Good luck, safe travels, drink a Bohemia Obscura for me!!
Jay

 

[robint]

I just did the cruise ship dive op, SandDollar, a few months ago on our stop in Cozumel.
Were they the best dive op? No. Were they the worst? No.
We had 10 people divided between 2 DMs. Dives were Santa Rosa and Yocab.
Vis was a bit yuck and both sites, but it sounds like they had rain several days in a row before our arrival. Also, it was cloudy/overcast for the dives so underwater color wasn't great. Current was CRAZY on Santa rosa.
Dive times were only about 40 minutes, but then that is about what you expect on any cruise ship dive....they have a schedule to meet, and get you back in time.

The biggest thing to me is that most of the divers from cruise ships are divers who only dive once or twice a year, maybe two ports per cruise. They are using rental equipment and not familiar with it. Some thing they are Rambo underwater and run out of air earlier than the rest of group. This was true for our cruise...same guy at Roatan and Cozumel both. Never looked at his equipment once until DM asked him. Everyone else seemed to be more competent and comfortable underwater.

We had similar port times on our cruise, so we knew that it was just best to use the cruise dive op. Worked out fine. No complaints. Would we use them again...yes, we would if times didn't jibe with local dive ops.

my video:

Sorry for the mediocre video but my old GoPro2 was on its last leg, and died part way through the second dive. I have since bought a GoPro5 for our dive trip in Oct. Land trip this time, not cruise.

robin

 

[timetraveler]

Robin, Love your video. Thanks for posting. And thanks for the information about your recent cruise ship excursion dive. I'm pleasantly surprised at the small groups. What ship were you on? My most memorable cruise ship dive was when a diver dropped his weights underwater in a non-emergency situation. They came very close to hitting my buddy's head.
Trailboss123, yle, saniflush, and jay, thank you for your recommendations. I've emailed some inquiries.

 

[islandboysrule]

Deep exposure

 

[robint]

timetraveler - that is my ship on the video, the Carnival Freedom. The Carnival Glory was at the same ports as us all 3 days, so the divers were the same group each day. So only a few from each ship.... 12 divers in Roatan, 10 divers in Cozumel, and we didn't dive Belize but were told by the others that they were the same people minus us.

 

[gopbroek]

I personally like Tres Pelicanos but like you mentioned , like most other OP's, they leave at 8AM. As previouly mentioned if you can get about 4 divers together you could get a charter from most operators. Another option might be Blue Angel, they advertise a 10AM 2 tank boat. I am not sure if it is every day or only with a minimum number of divers.