Aldora Divers

[Bookworm11]

In retrospect, my dive trip with Aldora was not all that I hoped it would be. I came specifically to prep to in Raja Ampat. This means lots of current diving. However, I dove 10 days with Aldora. All but 2 of those days, I was put in a group with someone on air, someone with 20 or less dives (once 8, once 10), and/someone who never dove in Cozumel before. Many times it was combinations of these. Obviously the boat isn't going to a reef with lots of current with beginner divers. 15 of of my 24 dives were less than 70 minutes. I never did Tunich until the last day and it was moderate current, and not it's kick butt normal.
Considering Aldora states they guarantee 70 minute dives or more, and I came up at 1000-1600 psi, and I only had 9 over 70 minutes, that isn't too great.

I don't mind the lack of underwater time as much as being stuck doing less difficult reefs. I'm left feeling the short term diver doing 3-6 dives had their needs met more than me with my 25. And if I hadn't specifically come down to prep for Raja, I wouldn't be upset.But
Aldora says they sort divers by ability, and they certainly didn't in my case. Someone with 200 dives shouldn't be diving with someone with 8 who tells the DM she is afraid of swimthrus, so that day we did none.

Am I better than when I came? Yes. But am I as improved as I could have been? No.

 

[rmssetc]

In retrospect, my dive trip with Aldora was not all that I hoped it would be. I came specifically to prep to in Raja Ampat. This means lots of current diving. However, I dove 10 days with Aldora. All but 2 of those days, I was put in a group with someone on air, someone with 20 or less dives (once 8, once 10), and/someone who never dove in Cozumel before.

Had you dove with Aldora before this trip?

Did you let them know that this trip was training for you for Raja Ampat and that you wanted higher current?

Did you talk to the shop staff or your DM about your dissatisfaction with the dive times and locations, and indicate that you wanted to be with a different group?

In my experience diving with them, they aren't perfect, but have been very good about taking that kind of feedback and changing dive groups, if possible.

Here are some of my notes from diving Palancar Bricks on 9 November with Aldora:

Crazy current -- bubbles horizontal, down, etc. High exertion, very low viz for CZM (30~50' max).

Glad everyone made it back to the boat!

Omar tried to keep us together, but it was difficult. Used swimthrus to get out of current, but entrance/exit were difficult. Current eased up after about 25 min,

Quite likely the shortest dive (55 min) and highest gas consumption I've ever had with them.

 

[Bookworm11]

Yes, I dove with them in April for 6 private dives. Yes, they knew the purpose and the particular DM I came to dive with knew that. I told him my unhappiness several times.I thought he would fix the problem. He didnt and never mentioned it to anyone. I only spoke to Memo the day before I left. I emailed them numerous times and spoke to them daily, and they were well aware that I came to get better for Raja.

Even without that, do you think matching divers on air with divers on nitrox appropriate when they state they fit divers with gases together? I had divers with air every day but the last. I never said anything because I kept thinking it was a one day thing. Do you think putting a diver with 8 dives who won't do swim thrus fits with me, who's come to Cozumel 5 times? I ended up diving Cedral 6 times and Yucab 5times. Do you think fitting divers with 20 or less dives appropriate with someone who has 190?

The whole point of diving with Aldora is to get longer diving times and to get to pick the dive sites. I didn't get that. I paid a premium price for what I could have had at Dressel. And my groups were almost the same size as Dressel as well. No groups of 4. Divers so beginner I got kicked all the time so I stayed at the back. So I missed anything the DM pointed out, and all the swim thrus had low visibility. One diver even passed me in a swim thru! One diver with a go pro in her hand was swimming up vertically (I was horizontal) and kicked me really hard in the mouth with my regulator. I never had a chance to see her as she came from my blind spot.

In retrospect, I should have spoke to Memo right away. I naively assumed every day the shop would stop putting beginner divers in my group. They didnt. Once one set of beginner divers finished, they put another set in. I should not have locked myself into one DM (even though I've known him since the beginning, and he fixes my diving). And I should have booked a couple of days of private diving with him. We talked before I came, and while I was there, and he said it wouldn't be necessary. It was. But they shouldn't be advertising they match divers by ability and gas, and me paying a premium for that if they aren't doing that. By no stretch of the imagination is any OW diver with 20 dives or less who has never dove Cozumel equivalent to someone with 190 dives and has dove Cozumel 5 times with at least 80 or more dives here.

In speaking to one of the shop employees, I gathered the impression that once somebody starts diving with a DM, they keep them diving with them. So I was doomed. My group became the beginner group de facto, but no one bothered to let me know! The beginners were diving short term, so as one group finished, their spot opened up, and they kept filling it over and over. When I spoke to her,she said I should have hired the DM privately.

I feel very disappointed. I know Aldora should be, but that wasn't what I got. I got hints of it, but not the real deal like in April. I'm not sure I will go back, as I know I didn't get what I came to do, and what they knew I wanted to do. I strongly feel they cared much more about their short term customer than me, their long term customer.

 

[Ukmc]

Yes, I dove with them in April for 6 private dives. Yes, they knew the purpose and the particular DM I came to dive with knew that. I told him my unhappiness several times.I thought he would fix the problem. He didnt and never mentioned it to anyone. I only spoke to Memo the day before I left. I emailed them numerous times and spoke to them daily, and they were well aware that I came to get better for Raja.

Even without that, do you think matching divers on air with divers on nitrox appropriate when they state they fit divers with gases together? I had divers with air every day but the last. I never said anything because I kept thinking it was a one day thing. Do you think putting a diver with 8 dives who won't do swim thrus fits with me, who's come to Cozumel 5 times? I ended up diving Cedral 6 times and Yucab 5times. Do you think fitting divers with 20 or less dives appropriate with someone who has 190?

The whole point of diving with Aldora is to get longer diving times and to get to pick the dive sites. I didn't get that. I paid a premium price for what I could have had at Dressel. And my groups were almost the same size as Dressel as well. No groups of 4. Divers so beginner I got kicked all the time so I stayed at the back. So I missed anything the DM pointed out, and all the swim thrus had low visibility. One diver even passed me in a swim thru! One diver with a go pro in her hand was swimming up vertically (I was horizontal) and kicked me really hard in the mouth with my regulator. I never had a chance to see her as she came from my blind spot.

In retrospect, I should have spoke to Memo right away. I naively assumed every day the shop would stop putting beginner divers in my group. They didnt. Once one set of beginner divers finished, they put another set in. I should not have locked myself into one DM (even though I've known him since the beginning, and he fixes my diving). And I should have booked a couple of days of private diving with him. We talked before I came, and while I was there, and he said it wouldn't be necessary. It was. But they shouldn't be advertising they match divers by ability and gas, and me paying a premium for that if they aren't doing that. By no stretch of the imagination is any OW diver with 20 dives or less who has never dove Cozumel equivalent to someone with 190 dives and has dove Cozumel 5 times with at least 80 or more dives here.

In speaking to one of the shop employees, I gathered the impression that once somebody starts diving with a DM, they keep them diving with them. So I was doomed. My group became the beginner group de facto, but no one bothered to let me know! The beginners were diving short term, so as one group finished, their spot opened up, and they kept filling it over and over. When I spoke to her,she said I should have hired the DM privately.

I feel very disappointed. I know Aldora should be, but that wasn't what I got. I got hints of it, but not the real deal like in April. I'm not sure I will go back, as I know I didn't get what I came to do, and what they knew I wanted to do. I strongly feel they cared much more about their short term customer than me, their long term customer.

I understand your frustration. There was a period in my diving carrier when I felt exactly like you did. Anymore, my expectation is that I will have a mixed bag of divers in the group. My expectation is that someone will try to to kick me in the face, reg or mask or crowd me and I learned to watch out for that. All of these experiences and learning how to deal with it and who to watch out for are a part of you growing as a diver. I would say that this learning is just as valuable as you learning on how to accommodate currents. The remedy of course, is getting your private DM.
We all have been new divers at some point. I always appreciated being in the mixed group and learning from seasoned divers. Thus, I try to be gracious to new divers. I don’t do well with divers damaging underwater marine environment- if DM doesn’t bring it up, I try to talk to them, and if no help, then elevate the issue with dive manager/owner. It doesn’t sound that was a problem.
I don’t see an issue with mixing air and Nitrox divers together. Why are you having such a problem with that??? As long as everyone stays within their NDLs it should not effect you any. Are you worried about them having slightly longer surface intervals ? I don’t see the group needing to have consecutive dives so close together that you need complain about the air divers. Air consumption is a different issue.
I see you figured out about staying at the back… I like that position as well.
I am sorry you had a perceived negative experience.
The last dive trip I was on, I got randomly placed with very experienced divers. They were so good, I actually had worry about my own air consumption - that had not happened in a while
Which brings up another point - you want to be placed with experienced divers group, but do they want you? If you are not willing to be tolerant to new divers , what makes you think that others wouldn’t feel that same way about you in their group?
Anyhow, I have never dove with Aldora, but they sound like a solid outfit. I know exactly how your feel, and I feel bad that they have not met your expectations.

 

[ggunn]

Yes, I dove with them in April for 6 private dives. Yes, they knew the purpose and the particular DM I came to dive with knew that. I told him my unhappiness several times.

As I and others have pointed out, an op's decision of who goes on which boat on a particular day is in large part dependent on who has shown up to dive that day. An op like Aldora who has several boats has more ability to group divers with common experience and expectations than smaller ops do, but it is still a factor for them. Another is that Aldora has an established customer base that they necessarily cater to. Their "regulars" are going to get more of a voice in such matters than will someone who books an occasional dive with them.

I hasten to add that I don't have any special inside knowledge of Aldora's operation; you can substitute "any dive op" for "Aldora" in what I have said.

 

[Bookworm11]

Had I not come to dive for one specific point, to get more experience diving in currents, I would have no issue at all. I only came to practice diving MORE IN CURRENT! It was a training trip, not a recreational trip. Its the only time I've come on a training trip. So I didn't dive the reefs with more current because of the beginners. I booked this trip in April when I was in Costume because I realized I needed more current experience.
I am going to Raja Ampat, a place with loads of current. I wanted to be the best prepared I could be. I would not have come otherwise. I would have stayed home and worked. I am concerned about the current there.

And in this case, the occasional divers got more of a vote than me. None of these people dove with Aldora before. I was the long term customer. They advertise matching divers of like ability and dives of 70 minutes or more and same gas.

I don't have an issue diving with beginners. I do have an issue when the shop knew my purpose before coming, knew my purpose during my trip, I told the DM several times during the trip and nothing got solved.

I remember being a beginner. It took me longer to advance out of beginner skills than most all people. I understand having to share dives with divers of mixed skills, and I have many, many times. That's what I did with Dressel and places I dove in other parts of the world. I happily share knowledge.

And I find it ironic that everyone mentions the benefit of diving with smaller companies is that you get to pick dive sites and what you want to see. And I only got that twice with Aldora because they went to more beginner friendly sites.

 

[ggunn]

... I find it ironic that everyone mentions the benefit of diving with smaller companies is that you get to pick dive sites and what you want to see. And I only got that twice with Aldora because they went to more beginner friendly sites.

I don't know what else to tell you. Your specific goals for your dives with Aldora did not align with what the majority of the divers aboard wanted to do and/or could do, so you did not get your way. All of us who have dived Cozumel are familiar with the experience. Them's the breaks.

I will just add that intentionally seeking high current dives is a bit of an unusual goal for most Cozumel divers.

 

[Umuntu]

Had I not come to dive for one specific point, to get more experience diving in currents, I would have no issue at all. I only came to practice diving MORE IN CURRENT! It was a training trip, not a recreational trip. Its the only time I've come on a training trip. So I didn't dive the reefs with more current because of the beginners. I booked this trip in April when I was in Costume because I realized I needed more current experience.
I am going to Raja Ampat, a place with loads of current. I wanted to be the best prepared I could be. I would not have come otherwise. I would have stayed home and worked. I am concerned about the current there.

And in this case, the occasional divers got more of a vote than me. None of these people dove with Aldora before. I was the long term customer. They advertise matching divers of like ability and dives of 70 minutes or more and same gas.

I don't have an issue diving with beginners. I do have an issue when the shop knew my purpose before coming, knew my purpose during my trip, I told the DM several times during the trip and nothing got solved.

I remember being a beginner. It took me longer to advance out of beginner skills than most all people. I understand having to share dives with divers of mixed skills, and I have many, many times. That's what I did with Dressel and places I dove in other parts of the world. I happily share knowledge.

And I find it ironic that everyone mentions the benefit of diving with smaller companies is that you get to pick dive sites and what you want to see. And I only got that twice with Aldora because they went to more beginner friendly sites.

Sorry about your experience !

Hopefully @Memo Mendoza sees your posts and reaches out to you.

Strong currents can be fun.
Just relax and go with the flow.

Take the biggest DSMB you can find with you, to inflate only on the surface, so your boat can find you on pickup if you get separated from the group. Relax and Have fun !

 

[Snoweman]

From everything I have read about Aldora, I am surprised at your experience. Is it still the slow season, where they just didn't have the variety of divers to break them up into more specific groups?

I probably would have recommended Tres Pelicanos, even though I don't dive with them anymore.

 

[ReefHound]

You came to Cozumel with a specific mission in mind. Did you share with the dive op that mission?