Craig66
Contributor
I had the opportunity to do a very quick 3 day trip to Cozumel a couple of weeks ago and was planning to have 2 and a half days of diving. I thought that at the very least I would be able to get in 6 tanks and a night dive and that if there was anyone interested in afternoon dives might be able to pick up a couple of additional dives. I decided to book with Aldora for two reasons - after trying a couple of other dive shops in the past (and having been very happy with them), it was time to try the Aldora experience. Secondly I was also hoping that in the unlikely event that a Norte came through that I would get to dive a tank or two on the Wild Side.
I settled in for my trip and arrived in Cozumel on a Wed afternoon. I stopped off at Aldora and got to meet Julian and Memo who were both very friendly and helpful. I was told that it looked like a Norte was coming in but we would need to see how it played itself out. Next morning as I was enjoying my amazing breakfast at Casa Mexicana I got the dreaded call - Port was closed !!!. Unfortunately I was to get the same call for the next two mornings. Bieng alone and not bieng one that can easily relax doing nothing I was bummed as I came here to dive and it looked like there was no diving to be had.
However with the help of Memo and Aldora I managed to get 5 dives over the three days of the Norte (all on the East side). Memo knew that I was not in for a week or two and that I only had the three days to play with and so he made it a point to get me as many dives as possible. He really delivered on what he promised. Diving with Aldora was great and I had an amazing time. We would meet each day at the shop and a cab would take us to the east side - a 20 min ride. Once there the boats would be waiting for us and we would wade in and climb aboard. The ride out was a little choppy as it is not the glassy smooth waters of the protected reef and because of the winds we had to go fairly south and so the rides were on the order of 30 mins or so. We hopped in for the first dive. Although there are shallow reefs on the wild side, the winds forced us south to the deeper reefs and so for the first two days we were limited mostly to 60-65 min dives based on DECO and not air (and this was even with Nitrox 32%). Because of nitrogen we were unable to max our air as it is not really easy to multilevel on those deeper reefs. I can definately seee the attraction of the bigger tanks especially when on a regular Coz reef where mutilevel diving is more feasable. The only issue I had with the tanks is that with a BP/W setup even with no added weight I was still on the heavy side but otherwise I can see how they would be a delight. Because of the rocks and how south we were SI's were on the boat but this was not really an issue. They did ask if any of us were prone to be seasick as if that was the case they wouldtravel all the way north again for the SI but none of us were and so we stayed put. The DM's and instructors on Aldora were great and very friendly and very safety conscious. They also amazingly provided lunch with delicious fish and shrimp sandwhich's which was totally unexpected and so very appreciated.
The reefs on the wildside are beautiful and pristine with beautiful corals and fans. Unfortunately because of over fishing there was not very much sea life and I can only imagine what an amazing set of dives it would be if this was a protected area as it is in the maribe park. There were a lot of lion fish and I was very impressed that the DM's asked me if I had issues with them catching the fish. I did not have any issues and so they went ahead and made a dent in the LF population.
While the Wild side will never be a major draw it was nice, after 8 trips to Coz, to get a chance to see and dive it. I have to thank Memo and his amazing crew for turning what would have been a really dissapointing trip into a great one with 5 tanks in 3 days. There is no doubt that diving the other side adds a lot of effort and expense to the diveop but you would never have believed that based on the friendliness and helpfulness of the Op.
Thanks Guys
Craig
I settled in for my trip and arrived in Cozumel on a Wed afternoon. I stopped off at Aldora and got to meet Julian and Memo who were both very friendly and helpful. I was told that it looked like a Norte was coming in but we would need to see how it played itself out. Next morning as I was enjoying my amazing breakfast at Casa Mexicana I got the dreaded call - Port was closed !!!. Unfortunately I was to get the same call for the next two mornings. Bieng alone and not bieng one that can easily relax doing nothing I was bummed as I came here to dive and it looked like there was no diving to be had.
However with the help of Memo and Aldora I managed to get 5 dives over the three days of the Norte (all on the East side). Memo knew that I was not in for a week or two and that I only had the three days to play with and so he made it a point to get me as many dives as possible. He really delivered on what he promised. Diving with Aldora was great and I had an amazing time. We would meet each day at the shop and a cab would take us to the east side - a 20 min ride. Once there the boats would be waiting for us and we would wade in and climb aboard. The ride out was a little choppy as it is not the glassy smooth waters of the protected reef and because of the winds we had to go fairly south and so the rides were on the order of 30 mins or so. We hopped in for the first dive. Although there are shallow reefs on the wild side, the winds forced us south to the deeper reefs and so for the first two days we were limited mostly to 60-65 min dives based on DECO and not air (and this was even with Nitrox 32%). Because of nitrogen we were unable to max our air as it is not really easy to multilevel on those deeper reefs. I can definately seee the attraction of the bigger tanks especially when on a regular Coz reef where mutilevel diving is more feasable. The only issue I had with the tanks is that with a BP/W setup even with no added weight I was still on the heavy side but otherwise I can see how they would be a delight. Because of the rocks and how south we were SI's were on the boat but this was not really an issue. They did ask if any of us were prone to be seasick as if that was the case they wouldtravel all the way north again for the SI but none of us were and so we stayed put. The DM's and instructors on Aldora were great and very friendly and very safety conscious. They also amazingly provided lunch with delicious fish and shrimp sandwhich's which was totally unexpected and so very appreciated.
The reefs on the wildside are beautiful and pristine with beautiful corals and fans. Unfortunately because of over fishing there was not very much sea life and I can only imagine what an amazing set of dives it would be if this was a protected area as it is in the maribe park. There were a lot of lion fish and I was very impressed that the DM's asked me if I had issues with them catching the fish. I did not have any issues and so they went ahead and made a dent in the LF population.
While the Wild side will never be a major draw it was nice, after 8 trips to Coz, to get a chance to see and dive it. I have to thank Memo and his amazing crew for turning what would have been a really dissapointing trip into a great one with 5 tanks in 3 days. There is no doubt that diving the other side adds a lot of effort and expense to the diveop but you would never have believed that based on the friendliness and helpfulness of the Op.
Thanks Guys
Craig
