BigDaddyGlad
Contributor
I'm just back from Cozumel. We stayed at the Iberostar, and dove with Dressel. There was no charge for the AOW course, but the PADI online materials (and the card!) were $140 USD. We also did our Nitrox certs, for which Dressel charged $230, but they did not charge extra for 15L Nitrox tanks, so we dove Nitrox all week.
IMO, it was a no-brainer for really only $140 to get the AOW certification. If you're in Cozumel for a week, you're going to naturally do most of the dives required for the cert, so why not get it? The divemasters at Dressel were excellent -- I was particularly impressed with Eva, when she noticed my buddy and I waiting at the bottom for our DM who was challenged with a couple novices, she just picked us up and ran us through the Navigation and Peak Buoyancy skills.
There are some really great dives in Cozumel at around 20-26m!
IMO, it was a no-brainer for really only $140 to get the AOW certification. If you're in Cozumel for a week, you're going to naturally do most of the dives required for the cert, so why not get it? The divemasters at Dressel were excellent -- I was particularly impressed with Eva, when she noticed my buddy and I waiting at the bottom for our DM who was challenged with a couple novices, she just picked us up and ran us through the Navigation and Peak Buoyancy skills.
There are some really great dives in Cozumel at around 20-26m!