First time to Cozumel help needed!

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Thanks everyone for your input! Many are mentioning that Aldora uses bigger tanks, so longer dives. I have only ever dived in Bonaire, and have no idea what size and type their tanks are (was diving Nitrox). It seems like a 90 minute dive is really long, though even with a full wetsuit I start to get cold after an hour.

I am leaning towards the Scuba Club, because of its proximity to town (but not right in the middle of town) and because I will be solo, the opportunity to meet other divers, and shore dive all I want. I am sure that when I return (hopefully with my non-diving partner) we will stay somewhere else and do more exploring.
You were using 80 cf aluminum tanks in Bonaire, the standard around the world. Aldora's (and Living Underwater's) 120 cf steel tanks provide 50% more air so dives can last 50% longer, at least theoretically. If you start to get cold after an hour, maybe an hour is enough for you. Or you need a thicker wetsuit :wink:

But there's a difference between most Cozumel and Bonaire diving. In Bonaire, many of the shore dives start really shallow, in 5-10 feet of water there's already plenty of growth. They proceed to a wall that maxes out in most cases at 80-140 feet. (Two sets of walls in the southern sites if you swim out that far.) In Cozumel, on the other hand, the walls start out much further, hence the need for boats to get you there, and they start out deeper. The average depth of your average Cozumel dives will undoubtedly be deeper than the average depth of your average Bonaire dives, hence your air will not last as long. And, when boat diving, you're paying much more per dive than a Bonaire shore dive. So some of us like to pay a little more for bigger tanks that can allow us dives over an hour when we'd otherwise be limited to 45 minutes or so on an 80 cf tank because we're not the best with air consumption (my, cough, excuse is that I take macro photography and hence swim against the current more than non-macro divers to get my shots) or we like to dive deep (cough, no excuse). Others have perfectly wonderful air consumption, easily get 90 minutes on an 80 cf tank with plenty of room to spare, and love to brag about it while putting the rest of us down for something not doing something right. Those people suck :)

Oh yeah, forgot my point in my ramble. Yep, probably a good decision. Not that there are other decisions you could make that wouldn't be equally as good. Fact is, there are probably an unlimited combination of decisions that would all be good. Yes, you'll meet divers at Scubaclub and be able to socialize with them after hours. Or you could just meet people on any other dive boat and maybe end up hanging out after dives or hanging out at the bar or pool and meeting people, whatever. But I agree that Scubaclub would be a better guarantee of sociability. I've done a few solo trips there and it's hit or miss. Definitely miss if you stay at a hotel like the Bahia Suites where you have almost no venue for contact, definitely mostly-miss if you stay at a couples resort like Secrets where everyone else is part of a couple and you only socialize when they take pity on you being along, more of a hit at the Occidental Grand where there are groups of drunks willing and ready to adopt you as long as you drink just as much. But a dedicated dive resort like Scubaclub is the next best thing to doing a group trip, or maybe better since you're never obligated to stay with the group if you want some down time alone.

Since it's your first time there and you're only used to diving 80 cf tanks in Bonaire with shallower walls and little to no current, the group experience and larger boats of Scubaclub would also be a bonus to you, I suspect. And, going back to the theme of being solo, hopefully the dining will be more convivial, assuming they don't seat solo travelers at solo tables. When I travel solo, dining can often be the loneliest part of the trip, except for the sleeping alone part of course.

And going back to the theme of being a good decision, it's just that. There are combinations of decisions you could make that would almost ensure a lousy trip even for the most optimistic, especially as you're a first-timer there. At Scubaclub, you'll be guaranteed a decent dive op and decent companionship and supposedly the food is decent too. You could do far worse and it's not a certainty you could do much better, so your decision gets my thumbs up in case that means anything!
 
Scuba Club may be a perfect choice for you for your first trip. It's nice to have a built in group of folks you can dive and hang out with. Be sure to get into town for dinner at least one night. Unlike many of the posters here, I am not a big fan of 120 tanks. I always feel very overweighted with just the tank and no weight and start to get cold after an hour. I can easily get a 60 minute dive from an Al80. Makes me happy! Enjoy your trip!
 
Thanks Judy and Mossman. I am not a very big person either, so perhaps those large tanks would not be too comfortable. This will be an experiment, and probably not the last time I will be in Cozumel. I have only ever done 2 boat dives (with 60 or so total dives) so even that will be interesting. Just breakfast and lunch are included with Scuba club, which is great for the opportunity for local dinners in town.

Mossman, thanks for that description of the diving differences in both places. I got certified in Bonaire and loved it so much I just kept returning, so that is all I know. It will be cool to see what drift diving is like. Yes, bragging about low air consumption is just ridiculous!

I really only started this idea of Cozumel in August because of the whale sharks. Usually I would never be tempted to leave the weather we wait all year for in upstate NY!

Last question-would I still need to bring my giant scuba fins, or would smaller snorkel fins be sufficient, since it sounds like there will not be much swimming against currents. Those really take up space in a suitcase!
 
You were using 80 cf aluminum tanks in Bonaire, the standard around the world. Aldora's (and Living Underwater's) 120 cf steel tanks provide 50% more air so dives can last 50% longer, at least theoretically. If you start to get cold after an hour, maybe an hour is enough for you. Or you need a thicker wetsuit :wink:
You must decide for yourself if the 120CF tanks are a deciding point for you; for one thing, the ops that use them are significantly more expensive. For me the extra air is not worth it, all things considered, but as I said, it's an individual preference.
 
Count me among those that LOVE the HP Steel 120 tanks. Yes, I could probably stand to improve my SAC rate; but I could also stand to lose weight and get more exercise. Because I am large, fat and buoyant, I need a lot of lead to descend - usually 19 pounds with an AL 80 tank, 17 pounds with an AL 100 tank, but 12-13 pounds is enough with a Steel 120. And I love the fact that the Steel tanks don't go positively buoyant when they get down to 700 psi, like aluminum tanks do - I hate having to either overweight at the beginning of a dive or having to fight to keep submerged on a safety stop at the end. Also, long dives don't bother me (at least in Cozumel, with water temps at 80-82 degrees), in part because I carry a lot of my own insulation along with me - yeah, that fat makes me buoyant, but it also keeps me warm. To each his own.

Let me make one suggestion - I understand that Scuba Club offers a "Lite Plan", breakfast and lunch only. Do that, and spend dinners exploring the many great restaurants that Cozumel has to offer. You can probably find some SCC people to join you on the evening expeditions to dine out and explore the town, and, if you keep a watch out on the Cozumel Forum here, you might find that you can join a ScubaBoard dinner/drinking party (well, mostly a drinking party) at El Moro when you are there.
 
Thanks Judy and Mossman. I am not a very big person either, so perhaps those large tanks would not be too comfortable. This will be an experiment, and probably not the last time I will be in Cozumel. I have only ever done 2 boat dives (with 60 or so total dives) so even that will be interesting. Just breakfast and lunch are included with Scuba club, which is great for the opportunity for local dinners in town.
{snip}
Last question-would I still need to bring my giant scuba fins, or would smaller snorkel fins be sufficient, since it sounds like there will not be much swimming against currents. Those really take up space in a suitcase!
Good call on the meal plan if you don't mind dining alone. The food in Cozumel has come a long way since I first started visiting IMO and there are some excellent restaurants to try, make sure to eavesdrop on your neighboring diners to see if any mucketymucks have bad things to say about Scubaboard :)

Only problem with the dining there is you actually have to pick and choose where to eat among all the amazing choices. Almost easier to give up and just eat all-inclusive every night. "Fine" dining is relatively inexpensive compared to U.S. restaurants. Kinta and Kondessa are amazing, Guidos, Le Chef tambien, and apparently I really need to try Buccano's on my next visit. Plus the other 25-30 excellent places I haven't tried yet, make sure to read recent restaurant reviews to see what's hot and what's not.

Yes, bring your giant scuba fins. Cozumel really does have currents and there are times when you need to swim against it rather than drift. It's possible you might have a swim to the edge of the wall after you drop from the boat, for example. Often the boats will drop divers in the shallower sandy area to regroup, then swim over the wall and because currents often wash up and over the wall, you may have to kick a bit. Other reasons to have to kick against current: splendid toadfish, and any other critters you might want to take a gander at even if you can't duck behind a coral head to block your drift.
 
I have been here the past few weeks. Water has consistently been 85 degrees and the currents have been on the slow side. I love having my own dive gear. I would scuba fins. If you had room. The other choice would be to rent. If you were renting all your equipment, I don't think adding fins to an entire set would add to your cost.
 
When you start looking into restaurants that you want to try, let me suggest that, in addition to the restaurant threads on this Forum, you check out CozumelMyCozumel.com, a very helpful blog hosted by an American ExPat living in Cozumel. It has a lot of very good info on dining options, shopping, other things to do on Cozumel, etc., and I trust the reviews on that site. You can check the reviews on TripAdvisor, but personally I'd take those with some skepticism - TripAdvisor's ratings can be gamed, and I don't trust them much.
 
@bethie I think your leaning to SCC for your first trip is a good plan. Be sure to do a night dive and get the DM to buddy with you. My buddy/wife and I did the Night specialty at SCC just to get more night dives in. Seems like we saw five Octopus at Paradise Reef on our first night dive in Cozumel (great night dive) and a lobster the size of a dachshund. It should be very easy for you to find some buddies to do shore dives with at SCC (night dives are easy there too).

Aldora Divers is a great outfit and the Villa is as they say "The best kept secret in Cozumel". Perhaps they would be your next trip. You will return to Cozumel it is addictive.

In fact Cozumel is packed with good to excellent dive shops: HAVE a great time.
 
And where to stay? I have looked into Scuba Club and Allegro Cozumel(which has really low prices-$96 a night all inclusive and looks to be on a beautiful beach-closer to dive sites, right?). Prodivers is the on site company there. Are they OK?

Knew you would get great advice on this thread. It always surprises me that I don't see people recommending anything about ProDive which is the dive op at Allegro. I dove with them a few years back because they were the only op, of all that I called (from recommendations on SB) that set up transportation for me from where I was staying. The only thing that many would have a problem with was the number of divers they take on the boat (more than 6-8), but they had a nice big, clean boat with several dive masters for smaller dive groups, with surface intervals back at their pier. Thought everything was run very well.

The Allegro is one of the places I will be staying in the future (through my timeshare), because as you stated, it not only looks to be on a beautiful beach...it is! Can't speak to anything about the Allegro, other than the resort is beautiful, great beach, and ProDive has a pier right there where great dive sites are a short boat ride away. It is located toward the south side of the island so a taxi is necessary to go into town, but if you are doing any sightseeing, there are attractions farther south also. Taxis are usually parked across the street from Allegro. Reviews for the all-inclusive are like most, some good and some bad.

You mentioned seeing the whale sharks. In researching some dive ops for a trip to Mexico I'm going on in October, I came across Dressel Divers, located in Coz, and saw they do whale shark excursions. There are probably others

Have a great trip!
 

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