Catt99
Registered
Last Sep / Oct I spent my first week in Cozumel. After scouring scubaboard for opinions on dive ops, I looked more closely at several and settled on Aldora, at least for the first few dives. Before going to Cozumel I had dived Belize (twice) and Roatan, in addition to areas far away from the western Caribbean. I was traveling alone and stayed in a rented cabana I found through airbnb just outside central San Miguel.
I checked in with Aldora the day I arrived to drop off equipment, show cert cards, try on a wetsuit (since I forgot mine), and talk generally about the diving options. I flirted with the idea of doing a weight check, but decided against making my way with equipment to the resort Aldora manages, and figured I'd do so during / after the first dive.
I dove with Aldora six days, with DMs Adriana, Rachel, Rachel (again), Ricardo, Dario, and Dario again the last day. The dive sites we hit were: Palancar Bricks, San Francisco, Columbia Deep, Cedral, Maricaipo (aborted) then Punta Sur, Yucab, Columbia Deep, Santa Rosa, Punta Sur, Cedral, Maracaibo, and Dalila.
I dove Nitrox every dive, and enjoyed diving with steel 120s. (I own steel 100s but sadly don't dive at home as much as I feel I should). Weight check after my first dive confirmed that I could dive without weight thereafter (after starting with 4 lbs to be conservative).
It was an approx 12 minute walk for me from my home base to the dock Aldora uses, and I was there around 7:30 every AM. We left in small boats with 4 - 6 divers (4 a few days, 5 or 6 a few others). I was buddied up with another single diver whose vacation stay was the exact length as mine, and who was also in Coz for the first time - and we got along quite well and enjoyed diving and hanging out together after (hi Jay!) We were back dockside around 1:30 most days. I didn't do any afternoon dives (despite the great deals Aldora was offering) simply due to other desires and commitments.
I can't say enough about my experience with Aldora. The DMs were universally good - sometimes great. Dario in particular was exceptional. My fellow divers were generally of equivalent skill and comfort in the water, and there was no drama or challenge in that regard at all. I was thrilled with the dive times using big steel tanks. First dives often got past 75 mins (even with max depths hitting 100+ feet), and I enjoyed second dives of 90 - 95 minutes. My equipment was well-cared for, and my experience on the boats, on surface intervals, and post-dive were universally positive.
I'm embarrassed that I didn't do this trip report while memories were still fresh. Suffice it to say that I found the diving exceptional. I think Coz is now my first choice among locales that I have dived before, among them Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Roatan, Maldives, and Sipidan.
A few specific notes on a couple of dives. Our first attempt at Maricaibo we descended to about 75 feet and Rachel determined that the current was opposite of what we expected. She pulled us up and we went to another site on Punta Sur. Our later trip to Maracaibo the current again was in the atypical direction. Dario went with it and led us on a very entertaining dive. Our second dive at Punta Sur was Devil's Throat "lite" in that we did a typical Devil's Throat dive with the various swim-throughs but didn't drop down the throat itself, instead passing by it (max depth was about 110' instead of 130' - 140' for doing the throat; the entire group was a little cautious about doing so on Nitrox).
Some of the micro life pointed out by our DMs would have been missed for sure without their guidance. I was impressed and quite happy with the experience.
There are undoubtedly a number (maybe a big number!) of excellent dive ops available in Cozumel. I was very pleased with my experience with Aldora, and will go back without hesitation.
And big props to my friends and fellow posters on scubaboard! Not only did I find a dive op I was thrilled with, but your restaurant and dining recommendations served me very well when I was there (don't miss La Candela!)
We're off to PDC as a family in April where I hope my kids will all get certified. I lobbied for Cozumel as a destination, but for a variety of (reasonably good) reasons, my wife and I settled on PDC. I hope to have a great time and not spend too much time gazing longingly across the channel towards Coz and Aldora. Cheers.
I checked in with Aldora the day I arrived to drop off equipment, show cert cards, try on a wetsuit (since I forgot mine), and talk generally about the diving options. I flirted with the idea of doing a weight check, but decided against making my way with equipment to the resort Aldora manages, and figured I'd do so during / after the first dive.
I dove with Aldora six days, with DMs Adriana, Rachel, Rachel (again), Ricardo, Dario, and Dario again the last day. The dive sites we hit were: Palancar Bricks, San Francisco, Columbia Deep, Cedral, Maricaipo (aborted) then Punta Sur, Yucab, Columbia Deep, Santa Rosa, Punta Sur, Cedral, Maracaibo, and Dalila.
I dove Nitrox every dive, and enjoyed diving with steel 120s. (I own steel 100s but sadly don't dive at home as much as I feel I should). Weight check after my first dive confirmed that I could dive without weight thereafter (after starting with 4 lbs to be conservative).
It was an approx 12 minute walk for me from my home base to the dock Aldora uses, and I was there around 7:30 every AM. We left in small boats with 4 - 6 divers (4 a few days, 5 or 6 a few others). I was buddied up with another single diver whose vacation stay was the exact length as mine, and who was also in Coz for the first time - and we got along quite well and enjoyed diving and hanging out together after (hi Jay!) We were back dockside around 1:30 most days. I didn't do any afternoon dives (despite the great deals Aldora was offering) simply due to other desires and commitments.
I can't say enough about my experience with Aldora. The DMs were universally good - sometimes great. Dario in particular was exceptional. My fellow divers were generally of equivalent skill and comfort in the water, and there was no drama or challenge in that regard at all. I was thrilled with the dive times using big steel tanks. First dives often got past 75 mins (even with max depths hitting 100+ feet), and I enjoyed second dives of 90 - 95 minutes. My equipment was well-cared for, and my experience on the boats, on surface intervals, and post-dive were universally positive.
I'm embarrassed that I didn't do this trip report while memories were still fresh. Suffice it to say that I found the diving exceptional. I think Coz is now my first choice among locales that I have dived before, among them Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Roatan, Maldives, and Sipidan.
A few specific notes on a couple of dives. Our first attempt at Maricaibo we descended to about 75 feet and Rachel determined that the current was opposite of what we expected. She pulled us up and we went to another site on Punta Sur. Our later trip to Maracaibo the current again was in the atypical direction. Dario went with it and led us on a very entertaining dive. Our second dive at Punta Sur was Devil's Throat "lite" in that we did a typical Devil's Throat dive with the various swim-throughs but didn't drop down the throat itself, instead passing by it (max depth was about 110' instead of 130' - 140' for doing the throat; the entire group was a little cautious about doing so on Nitrox).
Some of the micro life pointed out by our DMs would have been missed for sure without their guidance. I was impressed and quite happy with the experience.
There are undoubtedly a number (maybe a big number!) of excellent dive ops available in Cozumel. I was very pleased with my experience with Aldora, and will go back without hesitation.
And big props to my friends and fellow posters on scubaboard! Not only did I find a dive op I was thrilled with, but your restaurant and dining recommendations served me very well when I was there (don't miss La Candela!)
We're off to PDC as a family in April where I hope my kids will all get certified. I lobbied for Cozumel as a destination, but for a variety of (reasonably good) reasons, my wife and I settled on PDC. I hope to have a great time and not spend too much time gazing longingly across the channel towards Coz and Aldora. Cheers.
