Cozumel an inherently dangerous place?

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My husband and I were in Coz last June, (we had taken a cruise ship for our honeymoon and only had a day there to dive) My biggest fear was being cattle hearded onto a tiny boat and pushed into the water reguardless to the weather to ensure the dive op would get their $$$.. It couldn't have turned out more differently. We got onto a fairly large boat and had plenty of room, the DMs went around and checked everyones c-cards and asked their exp. level. They paired everyone up (5-6 to each group) and dropped us off at Torpeado Reef. The current was wicked but not unbareable and it did take a little more effort, we dove with a couple and when the older lady signaled she was getting tired, the DM immediately called the dive. The boat came and got us, we did our SI, and went to check out the currents on a wall (I can't remember the name) which turned out to be to strong. No one (staff) on the boat would budge with the descion not to do the dive, they apologized and took us to Tormendos (might not be spelled right). Over-all I'd say the dive-op acted responsible.
The biggest danger I found to be was that "dang" :) taxi ride back to the port.. I figure if you can survive that, your doing pretty good. (I can't even imagine what their auto accident report stats would look like....lol... )
 
<<when the older lady signaled she was getting tired>>

I didn't know you could get tired diving at Cozumel. Flop off the boat, float around, wait to get picked up. I work harder carrying my gear to the boat. Barcalounger easy. Now jetty diving with currents, surge, breaking waves, no vis....
 
bertschb:
<<when the older lady signaled she was getting tired>>

I didn't know you could get tired diving at Cozumel. Flop off the boat, float around, wait to get picked up. I work harder carrying my gear to the boat. Barcalounger easy. Now jetty diving with currents, surge, breaking waves, no vis....

That was my thought as well, I figured she'd drift the current with us, I think she burned to much energy trying to fight it. (she was taking pictures)
 
ggunn:
Torpeado Reef? That's a new one on me. Anybody?
I wish I could help out a little more on where this site was, all I know is it was about a 30 minute boat ride from Sand Dollar Dive shop, max depth of 50 feet.
 
baitedstorm:
I wish I could help out a little more on where this site was, all I know is it was about a 30 minute boat ride from Sand Dollar Dive shop, max depth of 50 feet.
Wow 30 minutes from Sand Dollar? Thats either a sloooow boat or you were diving WAY north/south...
 
James Goddard:
Wow 30 minutes from Sand Dollar? Thats either a sloooow boat or you were diving WAY north/south...

or maybe I'm just crazy...... lol !!!! :wink:
 
getwet2:
Not to say that I agree with everything the DM did but why didn't you descend with your less experienced buddy? If you had descended with your buddy and did a gear check once you were down you would have noticed that your gauage was not functioning properly sooner. What if your less experienced buddy had problems with her gear and didn't realize it? Also the DM is there more as a guide and not a baby sitter, if the two from Calgary happened to be very experienced divers and were using their own gear maybe they have been diving with this guide before in this same site and he doesn't worry about them too much. You didn't say if they were using rental gear or not but you did say they were together which is the most important thing. It is also up to the Calgary guys to pay attention to where everyone else in the group is. You also stated that they were waiting for you up ahead so that leads me to believe that they have been to this site before and probably knew what they were doing. As for back on the dock, you should tell the DM what you think and if he doesn't deserve a tip in your opinion that's fine too, a tip is based on what you think the level of service was like, it's not automatic.
i am one of those unfortunate divers who really have a hard time clearing my ears on my descents, i don't have the luxury of paying much attention to anything else but getting rid of the pinch on the way down.as stated earlier i thought my buddy and dm were going to still come down to me so we could proceed to 100ft as discussed in the dive plan.you are right the calgary guys could have made other arrangements with the dm i was just concerned at the depth they were at+ how fast they were zooming out of sight!!! i thought they might be going to visit elvis in davey jones locker!!!!!!
 
I just recently went diving with SCUBA STAFF DIVERS in Cozumel. What a joke for a dive operation. There was no oxygen or radio on board the boat. The boat was a small crowed outboard that made my wife sick from the exhaust. The dive master let everyone run down to 3 to 5 hundred pounds at 90ft. One of the regulators of another diver was leaking (rental) and the dive master told the diver not to worry about it. No back up equipment on the boat. Then for the second dive we had to go back and get tanks for the second dive that took 45 minutes. Then they took for the second dive that was right in front of the marina with boats buzzing overhead at all times. The dive master mentioned that the guy that owned the place was selling it, I wonder why.
 
I just recently went diving with SCUBA STAFF DIVERS in Cozumel. What a joke for a dive operation. There was no oxygen or radio on board the boat. The boat was a small crowed outboard that made my wife sick from the exhaust. The dive master let everyone run down to 3 to 5 hundred pounds at 90ft. One of the regulators of another diver was leaking (rental) and the dive master told the diver not to worry about it. No back up equipment on the boat. Then for the second dive we had to go back and get tanks for the second dive that took 45 minutes. Then they took for the second dive that was right in front of the marina with boats buzzing overhead at all times. The dive master mentioned that the guy that owned the place was selling it, I wonder why.
 
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