My wife and I stayed at Villa Aldora from July 5-13, 2015 and made 15 dives with Aldora Diving. First, the Villa.
Upon arrival from the airport we were greeted by Brent, the caretaker of V.A. He was very warm and welcoming. We received a room upgrade without asking, he had beer and wine available if we wanted and once we were settled in our room, he drove us to the supermarket so we could stock up on supplies. He had all of the paper work ready for our diving so we did not need to visit the dive shop. Throughout our visit, Brent had our back. He made numerous suggestions about where to eat, what to see, etc. and is advice was 100% accurate. On our last day (non-diving) he gave us use of a vehicle to tour the island. Later that day he also escorted us to the northern part where we feed a close relative of the raccoon. These animals were wild and in the natural setting, but were very tame and very cute. The rooms were very clean and everything worked as it should. The master bed was extremely comfortable, somewhere between firm and soft. We slept very well. The common areas are up kept and clean. A natural salt water pool is available and bicycles are available for use. A terrier named Murphy is commonly seen around, following Brent and is very friendly. I highly recommend Villa Aldora and will definitely stay there again if we visit Cozumel.
Aldora Diving
The boat picked us up every day at the Villa with our gear already on the boat and ready to go. A.D. uses steel 120s so you get a loner bottom time. They also supply Nitrox (32%, 36%) if wanted. We got Nitrox certified with them and are well worth it when diving with them; 75 minute bottom times were common compared to my usual 50 minutes. All the dive masters were very willing to go where ever we asked, conditions pending of course. A.D. uses smaller boats and we never dove with more than 4 other divers + the DM. All DMs seemed very passionate about the wildlife and reefs. A special mention to Dario, who went above and beyond making sure we saw whatever we wanted, and took very good care of us. He grew up on Cozumel and is vested in its good health.
A.D. has what it calls an adventure dive that visits the northern waters. The dive sites are about 6 nautical miles north of the island and are open water dives. You must be nitrox certified to go on the 3 dive trip. It is billed as a trip to the sleeping shark caves, although Mother Nature did not comply and we saw no sharks. What we did see was a different Cozumel. Being in the open water, the fauna was different and the reef landscape changed from the preserve in the south. Lionfish hunting is encouraged everywhere and they are in plentiful supply at these sites. Both my wife and I speared our first lionfish on these dives. One surface interval is on the boat, the other is back on the mainland where you are taken to visit an old Mayan structure described as an ancient light house of sorts. You are also served a fresh ceviche made from fresh lionfish, lobster, snapper, and conch.
Aldora Divers is a very good operation and on par with most of my other diving experiences elsewhere. I would recommend them because of their service, steel 120s and they are the only place that will dive in the north as well on the east side (conditions permitting).
Upon arrival from the airport we were greeted by Brent, the caretaker of V.A. He was very warm and welcoming. We received a room upgrade without asking, he had beer and wine available if we wanted and once we were settled in our room, he drove us to the supermarket so we could stock up on supplies. He had all of the paper work ready for our diving so we did not need to visit the dive shop. Throughout our visit, Brent had our back. He made numerous suggestions about where to eat, what to see, etc. and is advice was 100% accurate. On our last day (non-diving) he gave us use of a vehicle to tour the island. Later that day he also escorted us to the northern part where we feed a close relative of the raccoon. These animals were wild and in the natural setting, but were very tame and very cute. The rooms were very clean and everything worked as it should. The master bed was extremely comfortable, somewhere between firm and soft. We slept very well. The common areas are up kept and clean. A natural salt water pool is available and bicycles are available for use. A terrier named Murphy is commonly seen around, following Brent and is very friendly. I highly recommend Villa Aldora and will definitely stay there again if we visit Cozumel.
Aldora Diving
The boat picked us up every day at the Villa with our gear already on the boat and ready to go. A.D. uses steel 120s so you get a loner bottom time. They also supply Nitrox (32%, 36%) if wanted. We got Nitrox certified with them and are well worth it when diving with them; 75 minute bottom times were common compared to my usual 50 minutes. All the dive masters were very willing to go where ever we asked, conditions pending of course. A.D. uses smaller boats and we never dove with more than 4 other divers + the DM. All DMs seemed very passionate about the wildlife and reefs. A special mention to Dario, who went above and beyond making sure we saw whatever we wanted, and took very good care of us. He grew up on Cozumel and is vested in its good health.
A.D. has what it calls an adventure dive that visits the northern waters. The dive sites are about 6 nautical miles north of the island and are open water dives. You must be nitrox certified to go on the 3 dive trip. It is billed as a trip to the sleeping shark caves, although Mother Nature did not comply and we saw no sharks. What we did see was a different Cozumel. Being in the open water, the fauna was different and the reef landscape changed from the preserve in the south. Lionfish hunting is encouraged everywhere and they are in plentiful supply at these sites. Both my wife and I speared our first lionfish on these dives. One surface interval is on the boat, the other is back on the mainland where you are taken to visit an old Mayan structure described as an ancient light house of sorts. You are also served a fresh ceviche made from fresh lionfish, lobster, snapper, and conch.
Aldora Divers is a very good operation and on par with most of my other diving experiences elsewhere. I would recommend them because of their service, steel 120s and they are the only place that will dive in the north as well on the east side (conditions permitting).
. The only reason to need a vehicle is to transport groceries, if you are going to buy a lot, or heavy stuff.
