Yeah, but that would mean you'd have to dive in Roatan. Yuck.
I see that Amigos del Mar in Belize, for example, charges $75 for a 2-tank trip. That's $75 for 160 cf of air. My preferred Cozumel dive op charges $85 for 240 cf of air. $10 more for 50% more air. All my gear is valeted, including wetsuit. And I get picked up right at my hotel dock.
Besides the price working out cheaper in Cozumel even with the full-service dive ops, there's also not much comparison in dive quality. I know my visits to Roatan and Ambergris Caye weren't timed well for optimal conditions, but I doubt they can reach the water clarity of Cozumel even on their best days. Cozumel is like diving the Belize atolls, yet far more interesting IMO. The only place in my limited Caribbean experience that I prefer over Cozumel is Bonaire, but that's because of the do-it-yourself shore diving there, not the quality of the dives. Admittedly I haven't dove Cayman Brac/Little Cayman, Saba, Dominica, three locales that are rumored to have excellent diving, as well as a million other places which may or may not have good diving, but that's because they're all a PITA to get to. Cozumel is easy on United - some days even have two flights in/out - and no mini planes with all their luggage hassles to deal with.
And if you've ever dove in Hawaii or Palau, you'd think the highest Cozumel prices to be a bargain!
---------- Post added April 25th, 2013 at 07:18 AM ----------
I like to walk off breakfast. I already pay my preferred dive up to handle my wetsuit, so that's a non-issue for me.
A camera sherpa would be an excellent idea, but they'd have to post a bond first in case they dropped it. Wakatobi was the only resort I've stayed at that provided that level of service and I'm pretty sure the camera carriers had been told that they were carrying gear worth more than their annual salaries.
I guess it all depends on how much work one wants to do when they're on vacation. I pretty much stopped doing local diving because gear cleaning was such a chore, so why would I want to do that on vacation? But others don't mind cooking for themselves or cleaning for themselves and they stay in a rental apartment, shop for food, make their own drinks, and rent a car so they can drive themselves around. Good for them. But that's not me. Too old for all that crap. When I'm on vacation, people cook for me, people clean for me, and people store my wetsuit. I carry the camera because I'm the only one allowed to drop it, but I'm hardly as paranoid about my wetsuit being mishandled.
