Advanced Diver - first time to Cozumel

[vanderark1]

Hi all - I am looking for some experienced advice for a first time trip to Coz. I will be there over Christmas staying in a private home, just north of town. I will be going thru all the old posts here, but thought I'd ask for some help, too.

I am interested in more advanced diving. I am a divemaster with just under 1000 dives all over the carib and US, including wreck, deep, cold, etc. But, I've never been to Cozumel.

I will be diving alone as my family doesn't dive much (while I have lots of solo dives - I certainly have no problem being buddied up).

We have been going to Bonaire for the past 10 Christmas seasons. It's perfect for us, as I can dive solo and dive whenever I want. My family can tag along if they want and snorkel almost anywhere. However, we want to try Cozumel and as it's getting SO hard to get to Bonaire from the Great Lakes, we thought we'd do it this year.

Any recommendations for small operators that specialize in advanced diving? Suggestions on "can't miss" dives? Suggestions on snorkeling areas for my family? Any shore dives worth doing? Obviously, I'd prefer to dive my computer, buddy with fairly experienced divers, etc.

Also, my house has "great snorkeling and diving" right of it's pier. I'm sure this means mediocre diving, but hey - I'll get wet! Can you rent tanks for use on your own?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[SoCalOffshore]

we used Blue XT Sea and they were very good. But, not sure about advanced dives only as you are on a 6 pack. When you are diving in Coz, your family will be left behind wondering when you will get back. There is very little shore diving in Coz. Although, there are nice beach parks in Coz, i think the snorkeling is limited. Maybe someone else can chime in an offer suggestions.

 

[scubabob1234]

I got back from Coz on 7-28 the better southern sites are covered with sand and that limits your dives to the northern sites, not the best but still fun
I dove with Blue Paradise and after getting to know Anthony in their shop near the Barracuda Hotel I was able to dive with advanced divers and into more tunnels and pass throughs than in prior trips
The old timers say it will take a year for the sites to be back to norm
Have you dived in Belize or Honduras? I am looking to go this fall and want to dive with experienced dive ops.

 

[Christi]

I got back from Coz on 7-28 the better southern sites are covered with sand and that limits your dives to the northern sites, not the best but still fun
I dove with Blue Paradise and after getting to know Anthony in their shop near the Barracuda Hotel I was able to dive with advanced divers and into more tunnels and pass throughs than in prior trips
The old timers say it will take a year for the sites to be back to norm
Have you dived in Belize or Honduras? I am looking to go this fall and want to dive with experienced dive ops.

Hi Scubabob,

Not sure who Blue Paradise is, but we have been diving Palancar and even Maracaibo since a few days after Emily and there are no sites that are "covered" with sand. Yes, there are some sand deposits here and there, but ths certainly does not limit dive sites to those in the north. I'm curious as to where you dove when you went through "more tunnels and pass throughs"...most of these are actually at the southern reefs.

 

[sharky60]

Most dive ops will put you on a boat with people who have similar experience as you have, this keeps the novice from being overwhelmed by deep dives and the advanced diver from being bored.

Dive with Martin www.divewithmartin.com has what is called a 'king diver' package this is designed for advaced and technical divers. We have used him for several years and have been very impressed with the operation. My wife isn't as advanced as I am so we haven't been on the 'king diver' dives, but I know they will take very good care of you.

If it's your first trip to Coz, really any of the dive sites that they hit with this package are great, there really isn't a 'bad' dive site down there, some are just more shallow or less 'advanced' if you will.

One warning, staying north of town may be a bit of a hassle, most dive ops don't go north of town for pickups because most of the diving is south and it's not worth motoring up there to pick people up. you may have to take a cab to town to catch a boat.

There are some private for hire dive ops I think Alison http://www.scubawithalison.com/ falls into this catagory. she has gotten some very good reviews here on the board.

Of course there is also Blue XT Sea http://www.bluextseadivers.com/ Christi runs a top notch operation and is very highly thought of by many divers here. I haven't personally dove with her, yet, but she has been highly recommended by people that I respect and they are VERY advanced/professional divers.

There are several good shore dives on the island, most of them are off hotel beaches, Caribe Blue & Scuba Club in particular have good dives from what I've heard, but I'm not sure how you go about diving them if your not staying there.

Whatever dive op you choose should be able to rent you tanks for shore dives or if you venture up to one of the hotels, and they have their own dive op, I'm sure the would have no problem renting to you, everyone are (is?) extreamly accomodating on the island, if they can make your trip better they will.

 

[loudives]

Most dive operations have at least 6 diver boats. It is possible that there might be some divers that are not as advanced as you. Unless you charter an entire boat you are at the mercy of the majority. All the good operators will not take you to the most advaced sites unless they first see your capabilities. Most of the advanced sites are not a challenge of caves or wrecks but more so of depth and current. Many of the sites with great swimthroughs are found between 70-100' and most divers in Coz seem to have no trouble with these. Many walls can have divers at multiple depths so a novice can be at 65-80 while advance can be deeper, but the wall is basically the same so no need to go to deep.
I have found that smaller boats 6-8 divers are more likely to have experence divers on them than the large boats.

You better thing of booking with an operator soon as Xmas is a busy time and small boats fill fast. I've been diving Coz for 12 years and have found 3 excellent operators that can work with you and try to please ASAP.

www.bottomtimedivers.net Raul Platas owner/operator/divemaster
www.liquidbluediving.com Roberto and Michealla owner/operator/divemaster
www.bluextseadiving.com Christi owner/operator/sometimes divemaster

You will be happy with any of those three.
Lou

 

[5615mike]

http://www.divecozumel.net/ http://www.divecozumel.net/technical.html

If you want Advanced diving, IMO this is the operator of choice. Nothing against those mentioned above. They are all fine operators. But, if your truely looking for advanced diving, including deep, Rolli is the man. You did not specify if you want to dive doubles or mix so I included the page from the website.

Now, if you just looking for more advanced sites and the like, those above are fine operators.

Have a great time. You will love Cozumel and you will go back!!!

 

[scubacoz22]

Try Aldora divers their web site is www.aldora.com They cater to all their divers. They also have a Villa north of town that you can stay in if they are not booked. and they pick you up right at the villa, We are headed that way on Sunday for some great dives and relaxation. Kathy in Texas

 

[viejo]

Hi all - I am looking for some experienced advice for a first time trip to Coz. I will be there over Christmas staying in a private home, just north of town. I will be going thru all the old posts here, but thought I'd ask for some help, too.

I am interested in more advanced diving. I am a divemaster with just under 1000 dives all over the carib and US, including wreck, deep, cold, etc. But, I've never been to Cozumel.

I will be diving alone as my family doesn't dive much (while I have lots of solo dives - I certainly have no problem being buddied up).

We have been going to Bonaire for the past 10 Christmas seasons. It's perfect for us, as I can dive solo and dive whenever I want. My family can tag along if they want and snorkel almost anywhere. However, we want to try Cozumel and as it's getting SO hard to get to Bonaire from the Great Lakes, we thought we'd do it this year.

Any recommendations for small operators that specialize in advanced diving? Suggestions on "can't miss" dives? Suggestions on snorkeling areas for my family? Any shore dives worth doing? Obviously, I'd prefer to dive my computer, buddy with fairly experienced divers, etc.

Also, my house has "great snorkeling and diving" right of it's pier. I'm sure this means mediocre diving, but hey - I'll get wet! Can you rent tanks for use on your own?

Thanks in advance!!

Blue XT Sea does a good job of matching divers. If I were in your shoes though, I'd find a way to go to the east side. My wife is a pretty good diver but has no interest in technical diving so we didn't try it. While we were exploring who to dive with, I ran across a dive shop that was putting together exploratory dives to the east side. Nobody ever goes there (rolling seas, 2 hr. boat ride, dangerous, etc.) but it's the same reef system that extends down to Belize and it virtually a virgin reef. Unfortunately I can't remember who it was and there are over 100 dive operations on the island. If I remember I'll send a private msg.

 

[scubawife]

We were really happy with Living Underwater (www.living-underwater.com) for our first trip to Coz in April. I've booked with them again for our December trip. Max of 6 divers, very comfortable and fast boat with all the little extras in service that just add to the comfort, dive sites determined by what the group wants to see and do, steel 95's and 120's for nice long dives and spending more time on deeper dives, etc. Jeremy is very knowledgable and experienced with Cozumel diving, amazing and finding even the smallest of critters, and completely dedicated to providing you with the best possible diving experience. Living Underwater doesn't get mentioned here that often but it's a top-notch operation and worth checking out.