Hotel Cozumel / Dive Paradise Questions

[wsr523]

My wife and I are headed out to Cozumel next Saturday and we are staying at Hotel Cozumel and diving with Dive Paradise. This is the 1st time with HC and DP. I have some questions about the gear lockers.

1) Do you need to bring your own lock?
2) How much gear will they hold?
3) Will each diver get their own locker?
4) How secure are they, do you leave stuff in them overnight?
5) How do you veteran HC and DP divers who bring all their gear manage it?

We have been spoiled by the valet diving where they take and clean your gear for you. We have done the take care of all your gear yourself but would like to know what works best for HC and DP. Any info would be appreciated.

 

[divezonescuba]

Last time we were there, in case no one else answers.

1) Do you need to bring your own lock?

They had built in locks. Some you had to push and turn at the same time to work properly.

2) How much gear will they hold?

One set if you were careful. I think they are small.

3) Will each diver get their own locker?

Not necessarily. They always claimed they did not have enough lockers to do that.

4) How secure are they, do you leave stuff in them overnight?

Somewhat secure, but I would not leave my regset or computer in the lockers.

People leave their gear all over the place there. Sometimes people accidentally or on purpose take other peoples gear. I know of one instance in particular where a couple had to pay for new BCDs because they tried to return someone else’s back to the diveshop they rented them from. They were the same model, but the wrong sizes.

People can come right of the street and take your stuff if it is not locked up.

5) How do you veteran HC and DP divers who bring all their gear manage it?

Use the lockers for your heavy cheap gear. Take your regset, computer, mask back to your room. BCD and fins in the locker. If you leave your wetsuit in there it will be nasty the next day.

Next time consider using a better hotel and dive company. They are pretty low end. If you like valet type diving you may be disappointed. We got smart and started going elsewhere.

 

[wsr523]

Thanks for the info divezonescuba!

 

[divezonescuba]

One other thing.

if you are doing a dive package, DP is extremely inflexible. If you want to do something other than their routine dive, they give you almost no credit toward the other dive. Some of their guides are not qualified for the better dives. We had one guide who couldn’t find the dive site. Turns out he had never dove there. Their dive package dives can be repetitive. On one trip, some people ended up going to the same place several times in a row.

 

[rick00001967]

My wife and I are headed out to Cozumel next Saturday and we are staying at Hotel Cozumel and diving with Dive Paradise. This is the 1st time with HC and DP. I have some questions about the gear lockers.

1) Do you need to bring your own lock?
2) How much gear will they hold?
3) Will each diver get their own locker?
4) How secure are they, do you leave stuff in them overnight?
5) How do you veteran HC and DP divers who bring all their gear manage it?

We have been spoiled by the valet diving where they take and clean your gear for you. We have done the take care of all your gear yourself but would like to know what works best for HC and DP. Any info would be appreciated.

1 - no. you can get a key for a locker from the hotels front desk.
2 - they are small. we only use them to put stuff in that we don't take with us in the water. like our clothes, sandals, maybe a towel, etc. do not leave any valuables in them.
3 - no necessarily. we never go in high season. never been a problem for us.
4 - we never leave anything in them over night.
5 - we carry our stuff back and forth from the room. not a big deal. many leave their gear hanging up by the rinse tanks (they have two nice tanks and a shower). i won't even leave my stuff at the dive shop i work at, so i sure a hell ain't leavin it out there. haha

be sure to do some night dives along shore. you can see lots of cool stuff. enjoy !!

 

[cicopo]

I have no trouble getting all my stuff into the lockers BUT don't wear a wet suit which may be why. I have everything in a mesh bag including a Zeagle Tech BCD & never have had a problem. Re getting 2 lockers I suspect you could thanks to them only being allowed 60% or so occupancy. Just check at the front desk on check in & don't be afraid to try again later if they say no.

 

[Big Tank 58]

We stay at Hotel Cozumel but never use DP we, use Deep Blue, they pick us up at the pier and return us to the pier. Most of the dive shops do this and many will rinse and dry your gear and bring all ready for you the next day. I don't use the gear service that Deep Blue offers, though. I rinse my gear in the tanks hang it up on the provided hooks. Get a bite of lunch and then take my gear up to the room. I have dove with a few others but I keep coming back to Deep Blue

 

[Oldbear]

I dove with DP after I got my OW about 15 years ago. This was when Apple still ran the business. Knowing what I now know, the dive operation was well suited for a new diver. The sites they chose were “easy”, yet still enjoyable. It very well could be that they evaluated me and my skill sets and just assigned me to the inexperience diver boat. If so I never knew it. I just had one bad experience with a Divemaster, but the next day I had an awesome one.

Since Apple’s passing, I have not been back, so I don’t know anything about their current operations.

I don’t know if HC was owned by Apple too or just a business partnership. But DP and HC use to work quite a bite together. Like I said I have not been there for a while. But it was a nice hotel. I didn’t trust my gear in the lockers...to easy access from the street. So if you get a room a HC, get a 2nd or 3rd story room. You can use the balcony to dry you gear.

The thing that sticks out in my mind are a hard beds...but these are typical throughout Mexico and the Caribbean. I have even traveled with a Walmart Memory Foam Pad and then just leave it. We are looking into some of the modern camping pads.

The other thing is dinner. The last time we were there we bought breakfast and lunch thru HC, but went to different local restaurants for dinner. Great variety and awesome foods.

Good luck...

Michael

 

[jonhall]

Just a suggestion for questions 1,2, and 3. Besides asking on SB to get any info I can, I also like to email (or call if it's free) who I'm diving with and ask them my questions. When I get an email reply, I print it and take it with me - not so much for questions about lockers but for diving costs - just in case they tell me something different once I arrive.

 

[kelemvor]

Here are photos of the actual lockers at Hotel Cozumel.

I always leave my computer, mask, fins, etc.. basically anything other than wetsuit and BCD in the locker. The lockers are concrete covered with ceramic tile inside so there's no airflow to dry whatever is inside. If you put wet stuff in there it gets gross in a hurry. I take the BCD, regulator, wetsuit (if any) up to my room for a good rinse in the shower. When I went in 2015, we brought a bunch of "damp-rid" chemical dehumidifiers and turned our room closet into a drying area. Worked perfect. In 2017, I just hang stuff on the edge of our patio (only safe if you're NOT on the ground floor of course).

I've seen plenty of gear, including computers, get left out in the open by mistake and still be there the next morning. Obviously that's a roll of the dice depending on who is staying there at the time. I think the lockers are fine. None of them are damaged as they would be if they had been forced open.