Cozumel Advice For New Solo Diver

[gopbroek]

I can't agree enough with everyone else’s suggestion of initially hiring a private DM, it’s actually pretty cheap, most operators have extra DM’s or an on-call preferred list of DM’s that are in sync with the OP. Communicate with your Op prior to arriving and arrange, initially, for 100 CF or larger bottles, it’s normal to initially have high air consumption and the nervousness of solo diving in a strange place makes it worse, there may be a nominal charge but the bottom time is worth it. The Private DM can help work with your buoyancy and help you learn how much weight you will need for the larger bottle and subsequently for the standard AL80’s most ops use plus help with air consumption. Once you get your air consumption down you will probably get close to an hour on a multi-level drift dive with an AL80, it’s about drifting and observing, not working. You stated you want to dive as much as possible which may lead to an op with shore diving. Get a SMB (It need not be fancy) and have your DM work with you on learning the correct way to deploy it, it is simple but if done incorrectly it gets ugly fast. Don’t do like I did, for the first few dives don’t take a camera, it just distracts from the dive, once you are comfortable then take pictures and video. Cozumel is a great, safe, island, avoid the AI’s and actually discover the town and people, they are wonderful.

 

[Mike]

One potential issue with a new diver buddying with the DM is that the new diver is likely to go through air quickly. What happens then? The DM can't surface with the new diver and continue to lead the other divers.

If he chooses a certain dive operation, he likely will be put on a dive boat in a group of divers with similar experiences level, skills and air usage from the start.

 

[Ron Lee]

If he chooses a certain dive operation, he likely will be put on a dive boat in a group of divers with similar experiences level, skills and air usage from the start.

Exactly. If a dive op has more than one boat, isn't it better to group people of reasonably comparable experience levels? If you don't then the group of experienced divers with one person with four dives or so is surely not going to go to Maracaibo, Barracuda, etc.

 

[captnpat1982]

Marybeth,

I have been where you are.

My wife and I had been to Coz several times. One trip (2009), we tried the resort dive and loved it. Unfortunately my wife, due to ear problems, could not take up the sport.

I did and on our next trip (2010), I did my 1st Coz dive as a certified OW diver.

I asked many friends and got recommendations from others on cozumelmycozumel.com . I contacted Allisons (I think) dive op to make reservations and she replied that they were going to be closed the week we would be there. She referred me to Chucho. He had worked for them at one time. So with all of these recommendations I felt comfortable making reservations with him. He responds well to his e-mail generally within a day or two.

I dove with Chucho Nunez (Chucho Underwater - Dive in Cozumel) . First dive he matched me up with another novice diver and Chucho watched over us closely. The next few dives, I was the only solo, so I paired up with him. He watched over the group while showing me the ropes. I have dove with him on 2 more trips to Coz and have always had great service.

Since that time I have dove with him 3 other times and always have been taken care of and I felt very safe.



On my next trip I plan on contacting Blue Project ( Cozumel Diving | Welcome | Blue Project Cozumel ) for a refresher and to work on my still very novice skills. They are a concierge service. I observed Blanca work with a married couple doing an advanced certification for 3 days while I was diving with Chucho. I was very impressed with her knowledge, attention to her customers and teaching skills.

That's my $0.02

 

[loudives]

Hello divers,

I just finished my open water certification and am planning a vacation with my family to Cozumel in a few months. Though nobody else dives, I plan on spending as much of my time as I can in the water.
Any suggestions for good places to dive with? I'm a little nervous diving with a group of strangers since I'm a beginner, don't have a buddy with me, and have no ocean diving experience. It seems like most people who dive travel with friends or partners so they automatically have a buddy and I'm feeling a little intimidated that this is not my situation.

Also, I know it's all about personal preference, but anyone dove with just a lavacore full body suit in February? Do you think that will be enough warmth?

Thanks ahead for any of your responses.

I sent you a Private message. I live in Chicago NWburbs

 

[LWB]

I was just in Cozumel this past Monday and on my boat was a couple from the UK. They had 15 dives each and had never dove in an Ocean before. Both of our dives averaged about 50 minutes as a group. The UK couple was always the first ones out of the water and I'd venture a guess that they lasted about 25 minutes each dive. To me they looked comfortable in the water, but I suppose they were overly excited and/or perhaps fighting the current. In any case, their SAC was way up.

I'd normally tell you to just jump in with both feet after you let the DM and Captain know you were a newb. However, the currents that I saw while in Cozumel certainly aren't for the inexperienced solo diver. I would certainly talk to the dive shop way in advance and if they could not at least pair you up with somebody, I'd look at hiring a professional. In any case, get yourself a safety sausage and know how to use it. BTW, you're going to be excited when you see that first turtle, shark, barracuda, or any other number of cool things, you're going to use even more air. It might be worth finding a shop that will rent you 100s. That might at least level the playing field with the other divers on 80s.

BTW, the shop owners will hound you. They will follow you down the street trying to get you into their shop. When you say you're going to lunch, they will then take you to their buddy's cafe. Just getting to the water is going to be the hardest part about diving Cozumel.

 

[DjDiverDan]

Just a follow on to what LWB posted. I've seen both newbie divers and experienced divers who are new to drift diving suck up air trying to fight currents in Cozumel. I LOVE drift diving - I'm old, fat and not in great shape, and drift diving is the most relaxing, easiest diving there is. There's just one secret - if you can call it that. DON'T FIGHT the current. It's your friend; it's going to do all of the work that, on other dives, you'd have to do for yourself with fins. There's just a few simple rules. (1) Stay behind (up current) of the DM; when he stops, you stop. If you let yourself drift 20 or 30 yards past the DM, it's hard work swimming against the current to get back to him, and exertion makes you breathe hard and use up air. (2) Stay at the same depth as the group. Currents often travel at different speeds at different depths. A difference of 5 or 10 feet won't make much if any difference, but if you tend to helicopter 20 feet above the group, hoping to reduce air consumption, you are likely to find yourself drifting faster or slower than the group, requiring more exertion to stick with them, and defeating any benefit you think you are getting from maintaining a higher depth. (3) Learn and use the tricks of getting out of the current or minimizing its impact. Staying nearly perfectly horizontal and facing either into the current or down current, you present a smaller cross-section to the current; if you get vertical, you are a sail that catches the current. If the DM stops to show the group something, get close to the bottom (the current is typically weaker there), get behind a coral head to shield you from the current, or get as close to horizontal as possible to minimize your exposure to the current. Once you get used to it, drift diving is really the most relaxing diving you'll ever do.

 

[Mossman]

BTW, the shop owners will hound you. They will follow you down the street trying to get you into their shop. When you say you're going to lunch, they will then take you to their buddy's cafe. Just getting to the water is going to be the hardest part about diving Cozumel.

That's only if you stay in (or visit) town. There are lots of options in Cozumel where the only aggressive sales people to avoid are in the airport when you first arrive.

 

[DjDiverDan]

Aggressive shop owners are not as big a concern as some make them out to be. Most will back off with a simple "No, Gracias." Even the most persistent will stop when they see you are just going to ignore them. And the timeshare hawkers at the airport are really the worst you'll see. I have stayed downtown on many trips, and visited downtown on every trip to Cozumel. Yes, I've had many shop owners, bar hawkers, Cuban Cigar vendors, and timeshare hucksters plead with me to enter their shops, buy some Cubans, or get a free jeep just for attending a 4-hour presentation (Yeah, they CLAIM it's only 90 minutes, but it's 4 hours if you keep saying no to the pitch!). Just say "No, Gracias" and move on. And if they follow you, ignore them and don't look back. No biggie.

 

[gopbroek]

BTW, the shop owners will hound you. They will follow you down the street trying to get you into their shop. When you say you're going to lunch, they will then take you to their buddy's cafe. Just getting to the water is going to be the hardest part about diving Cozumel.

A band on your wrist will generate a lot of interest from the shop keepers, but if you ignore them they will not hound you. My wife's totally innocent and naive expression is like blood in the water, in any tourist area, anywhere in the world. She can draw salesman from blocks away