Cornbread O'Malley
Contributor
I returned from a trip where I split time in Cozumel diving with Aldora and Blue Angel resort and mainland Mexico diving with ProTec in Tulum for cenotes.
Week 1: Aldora Divers
I dived with Aldora for the first time in December 2023, and they impressed me with their operation. Memo the owner is a great guy, and the Aldora staff is excellent. I returned in 2024 for another go with them. This time they provided Faber steel 117 cylinders and not the steel 120 cylinders I used a year ago. I liked the 117s as they were shorter in length and did not throw my trim out of whack as much as the 120s.
For dives, I mostly did the 2-dive day charters in the marine park. I jumped on the opportunity for the 3-dive adventure because sea and wind conditions permitted. I enjoyed the 3-dive the most because the charter went to the northern part of the island where few Cozumel dive operators go. The area up north is more pristine than the marine park and the marine life more numerous and grand. The 3-dive included a lionfish hunt, sleeping shark cavern dive, and a shallow reef dive.
During the lionfish hunt, we went to a site called Ledges and descended to 120 feet to find the lionfish. Of the seven divers in our group, four opted to hunt; we used Hawaiian slings with shafts four feet long. I speared three of the seven lionfish scores that day and incurred a 5-minute decompression commitment because of the depth and length of time spent there. No problems because the 117s provided more than enough gas to deal with the circumstances. The divers who did not hunt hung around 80-90 feet to observe all the action below.
On the second dive to the shark cavern, known as Tiburcio, the nurse sharks were not present. However, we did enjoy a grand show of a group of seven spotted eagle rays that kept swimming in circles around us. Maybe they were checking us out? During the surface interval between dives two and three, we all enjoyed a lunch of lionfish ceviche freshly prepared by the boat captain.
I experienced a let down with the blackwater dive. Five minutes after departing the pier the divemaster determined the lights needed to attract all the critters did not function. The blackwater dive instead turned into a night dive at Villa Aldora Wall with lots of octopus running around. Memo did not charge the group for the night dive because of the screw up with the lights.
I enjoyed 10 dives over four days with Aldora, and the average run time for my dives was 70 minutes. I had one dive of 61 minutes at Punta Sur because of hard kicking against the fast current to maneuver to more sheltered areas of the reef. The shark cavern dive ran 66 minutes. My other eight dives ran 70 minutes or more.
I did observe during my dives that Aldora did pier pick-up and drop-off of customers at Villa Aldora, Cozumel Palace, and Intercontinental Presidente hotels.
I noted some downsides with diving with Aldora. First, the start of the day is very early at 730AM meetup and departure from Aqua Safari pier in town. The day is relatively long as return to Aqua Safari pier is around 1-2PM. This may not be a big issue for divers getting picked up and dropped off at their hotels. Second, Aldora's cancellation policy is rather strict so educate yourself to avoid unpleasant situations. Third, downside with the valet service with gear. You hand your gear to them at the dive shop, and the staff brings the gear to and from the boat for you. They also setup your gear on the boat, and after dives, the staff rinses your gear and places the items back into a bag tagged with your name. This all works great until staff forgets a piece of gear. For divers departing from Aqua Safari pier, catching this mistake is easy. But for the divers getting picked up at their hotel, a mistake like this costs time. It costs more time if the diver does not check the gear and discovers the mistake when well underway to the dive site. The situation I saw on my boat involved an unintended switcheroo resulting in a diver with the wrong regulator. He also did not check until 10 minutes after getting picked up. The spare regulator on the boat did not work because of incompatibility with the diver's ScubaPro Air2 system on the BC.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed diving with Aldora Divers and plan to dive with them again soon.
For accommodations I stayed at Caribo Cozumel about eight blocks east of the Ultramar/Winjet ferries. I like Caribo Cozumel because of its rate, which costs significantly less compared to other accommodations in town. Hotel location is very close to the excellent restaurants along Avenue 30. I have a good selection of grocery stores in the area also. I cook my own breakfast in the community kitchen each morning before walking 20 minutes to the Aqua Safari pier.
I tried some new restaurants and bars during my week. I finally made it to Kooben Laab and must report that the restaurant is as good as people say. I opted for the lasagna to try something familiar and was highly satisfied with the quality. I also sampled beer from two craft breweries in town: Cerveceria Punta Sur and KUSAM Brewery and Tacos. At Cerveceria Punta Sur, I drank the amber ale and the IPA while at KUSAM I drank the stout. Both good craft breweries to add some variation to the beer scene in town.
Attached are some pics from the lionfish hunt.
Week 1: Aldora Divers
I dived with Aldora for the first time in December 2023, and they impressed me with their operation. Memo the owner is a great guy, and the Aldora staff is excellent. I returned in 2024 for another go with them. This time they provided Faber steel 117 cylinders and not the steel 120 cylinders I used a year ago. I liked the 117s as they were shorter in length and did not throw my trim out of whack as much as the 120s.
For dives, I mostly did the 2-dive day charters in the marine park. I jumped on the opportunity for the 3-dive adventure because sea and wind conditions permitted. I enjoyed the 3-dive the most because the charter went to the northern part of the island where few Cozumel dive operators go. The area up north is more pristine than the marine park and the marine life more numerous and grand. The 3-dive included a lionfish hunt, sleeping shark cavern dive, and a shallow reef dive.
During the lionfish hunt, we went to a site called Ledges and descended to 120 feet to find the lionfish. Of the seven divers in our group, four opted to hunt; we used Hawaiian slings with shafts four feet long. I speared three of the seven lionfish scores that day and incurred a 5-minute decompression commitment because of the depth and length of time spent there. No problems because the 117s provided more than enough gas to deal with the circumstances. The divers who did not hunt hung around 80-90 feet to observe all the action below.
On the second dive to the shark cavern, known as Tiburcio, the nurse sharks were not present. However, we did enjoy a grand show of a group of seven spotted eagle rays that kept swimming in circles around us. Maybe they were checking us out? During the surface interval between dives two and three, we all enjoyed a lunch of lionfish ceviche freshly prepared by the boat captain.
I experienced a let down with the blackwater dive. Five minutes after departing the pier the divemaster determined the lights needed to attract all the critters did not function. The blackwater dive instead turned into a night dive at Villa Aldora Wall with lots of octopus running around. Memo did not charge the group for the night dive because of the screw up with the lights.
I enjoyed 10 dives over four days with Aldora, and the average run time for my dives was 70 minutes. I had one dive of 61 minutes at Punta Sur because of hard kicking against the fast current to maneuver to more sheltered areas of the reef. The shark cavern dive ran 66 minutes. My other eight dives ran 70 minutes or more.
I did observe during my dives that Aldora did pier pick-up and drop-off of customers at Villa Aldora, Cozumel Palace, and Intercontinental Presidente hotels.
I noted some downsides with diving with Aldora. First, the start of the day is very early at 730AM meetup and departure from Aqua Safari pier in town. The day is relatively long as return to Aqua Safari pier is around 1-2PM. This may not be a big issue for divers getting picked up and dropped off at their hotels. Second, Aldora's cancellation policy is rather strict so educate yourself to avoid unpleasant situations. Third, downside with the valet service with gear. You hand your gear to them at the dive shop, and the staff brings the gear to and from the boat for you. They also setup your gear on the boat, and after dives, the staff rinses your gear and places the items back into a bag tagged with your name. This all works great until staff forgets a piece of gear. For divers departing from Aqua Safari pier, catching this mistake is easy. But for the divers getting picked up at their hotel, a mistake like this costs time. It costs more time if the diver does not check the gear and discovers the mistake when well underway to the dive site. The situation I saw on my boat involved an unintended switcheroo resulting in a diver with the wrong regulator. He also did not check until 10 minutes after getting picked up. The spare regulator on the boat did not work because of incompatibility with the diver's ScubaPro Air2 system on the BC.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed diving with Aldora Divers and plan to dive with them again soon.
For accommodations I stayed at Caribo Cozumel about eight blocks east of the Ultramar/Winjet ferries. I like Caribo Cozumel because of its rate, which costs significantly less compared to other accommodations in town. Hotel location is very close to the excellent restaurants along Avenue 30. I have a good selection of grocery stores in the area also. I cook my own breakfast in the community kitchen each morning before walking 20 minutes to the Aqua Safari pier.
I tried some new restaurants and bars during my week. I finally made it to Kooben Laab and must report that the restaurant is as good as people say. I opted for the lasagna to try something familiar and was highly satisfied with the quality. I also sampled beer from two craft breweries in town: Cerveceria Punta Sur and KUSAM Brewery and Tacos. At Cerveceria Punta Sur, I drank the amber ale and the IPA while at KUSAM I drank the stout. Both good craft breweries to add some variation to the beer scene in town.
Attached are some pics from the lionfish hunt.
