Coz on a budget: 2tank Dive Hostel? Best bang for buck dive ops?

[Trailboss123]

Concur with @Streydog and @deepsea21 regarding the accommodations. Here is the link to the Suites Colonial. I will be staying there myself over Xmas and New Year.
Suites Colonial Cozumel

I think someone mentioned it already, but Blue XT Sea has very good pricing on diving, they run 6 pack boats with no more than 6 divers and one divemaster. Their boat leaves at 8am from the small dock (known as the Aldora dock/pier) directly across the street from the breakfast at Casa Mexicana. Very convenient and gives you a little more time for breakfast or to sleep in. Blue XT~Sea Diving - Cozumel Scuba Diving - Blue XT~Sea Diving

 

[Zman96]

Vista del Mar can be had for a very cheap price, 35-40 per night with a city view. Location is great, right across from Aqua Safari pier and a couple of blocks from Aldora Pier. Rooms are huge and they give you a little continental breakfast delivered right to your room. The pool in back is never busy and the location is so close to tons of places to eat.

 

[Trailboss123]

Another budget hotel that hasn't been mentioned yet is Hotel Plaza Cozumel. They have an outstanding breakfast included. A rooftop swimming pool. Right downtown near the plaza- short walk to the aforementioned Aldora Pier for Blue XT Sea or Aldora pick ups. Hotel Plaza Cozumel - Cozumel - Mexico
Aircon works extremely well, but can be noisy in some rooms. Very clean place.

 

[deepsea21]

Here's a map snip that shows the Casa Mexicana, Suites Bahia, Suites Colonial, Vista Del Mar, Tres Pelicanos, and more - all are really very close to each other and, of course, right in town.

 

[Snoweman]

When I go back to CZM next spring, I plan to stay at Casa Mexicana and diving with 3P. I made the mistake of staying at Hotel B on my last visit. I wanted something just a little nicer than in town because my wife decided to join me. Here's my review on TA (hopefully it takes you to the correct review): Won't "B" back - Review of Hotel B Cozumel, Cozumel, Mexico - TripAdvisor

 

[oreocookie]

Thanks for the responses so far guys. Definitely some more research to be done, but looks like Aldora is the current front runner for diving, as they seems to offer more dives per day...

 

[deepsea21]

Thanks for the responses so far guys. Definitely some more research to be done, but looks like Aldora is the current front runner for diving, as they seems to offer more dives per day...

For "Coz on a budget", Aldora's shop is just a few yards down the street from 3P's but at $95 for a 2-tank dive compared to 3P's $76 (before 16% taxes and park fees get added to both) Aldora doesn't fit within a budget trip profile in my book. Pretty much all the reputable, busy dive ops offer 2-tank AM and 2-tank PM dive trips plus night dives if there is enough interest.

Aldora does use HP steel tanks so you have to weigh your bottom time into the equation as well but remember, with Aldora, you're bottom time is still going to be limited to the air consumption of the group's air hog as Aldora's owner (Dave) is a stickler that all divers in a group terminate their dives together and has stood fast in that belief amidst many comments on other threads here about that practice. That's not my style as I can stretch an AL80 a long, long way - far longer than an air hog diving with a HP steel tank will see.

Quite frankly, as some others have done, maybe book a day of diving with 3P's and a day with Aldora - whichever one fits your taste better you can then book the rest of your trip with them. When we found 3P's I told Jeanie we could only commit to 1 day of diving as we were "looking" and if the experience was to our liking we'd book the rest of our 2-weeks if availability allowed. She said no problem and we ended up booking the rest of the trip while still getting the maximum multi-dive discount applied to all of our dives. I assume Aldora would do the same.

 

[Streydog]

I would not count on more dives a day with Aldora, the two AM dives for sure but they do not always have afternoon dives, depends on the demand, they do let you shore dive at their Villa though. They also guarantee night dives on Wed and Sat.

As far as their policy on surfacing as a group, yes they have that. From my understanding 3 P's has a 70 minute dive limit. I have 32 dives with Aldora this year, 15 were over 80 minutes. Only 8 were below 70 minutes and most were due to depth. Only 1 dive was below 60 minutes and that was 59 minutes at Barracuda where used more air than any of my other dives. They do a pretty good job putting you on boats with divers of similar air use.

 

[Trailboss123]

Another affordable option if you are looking for morning and afternoon dives is Blue Magic. They are also located downtown and they shuttle you from their shop to their boats and back. They definitely and consistently do 2 tank AM and 2 tank PM dives and are one of the most affordable ops on the island with a 5 day x 2 tank offering of $370 (taxes included) and all diving in addition to that comes at the package reduced rate of $37 per dive. Cozumel Diving, Cozumel Scuba Diving, Cozumel Diving Packages, Lessons, Snorkeling, Blue Magic Scuba - I have done many a dive with them.
They are a block and half from the Hotel Plaza Cozumel that I mentioned earlier.

 

[diver0008]

Thanks for the responses so far guys. Definitely some more research to be done, but looks like Aldora is the current front runner for diving, as they seems to offer more dives per day...

Not necessarily. Everyone goes out for a morning 2-tank, but most ops need a minimum, usually 3 or 4 divers, to go out for an afternoon 2-tank. Aldora's difference from most others is their use of bigger tanks for longer dives. In any event, you won't go wrong with any of the ops suggested in this thread; It's Cozumel, and the sheer volume of the industry and competition has made for an abundance of good quality services, so you may want to take into consideration other factors that make for a pleasant experience like how much, if any, schlepping of your gear is required, and how far or easy it is to get from your hotel to where you meet up for the dives.