Aldora and 3 P's Reviews

[AdivingBel]

Who's Magda?

Magda & David have a small B&B, Villa Escondida, in town. Uncfnp and I have both stayed there in the past and have enjoyed Magda's culinary creations. My wife and I are going to be there again this spring and I was wondering if much had changed since our last visit. Plus I like giving their B&B a plug when possible because they are nice hosts and have a nice place. They are just a couple of blocks from 3P's shop and it makes a nice stay & dive. Sorry to derail....

 

[uncfnp]

Who's Magda?

She and her husband David are owners of Villa Escondida. A Bed and Breakfast about 3 blocks from the Tres Pelicanos shop and 4 to Aldora. She is Mexican and he is Canadian so it is an interesting mix of conversations. Gracias eh.

Oops. ^^^ We were posting at the same time!

 

[Lorenzoid]

Not a derail at all, as I see it. If you're going to compare, might as well mention lodging options. On our last trip we gave Villa Aldora a try and loved the convenience, but while shopping for provisions and making our own breakfasts gave us flexibility, it's nice to know there are B&B options as well. We're not into buffet breakfasts such as Casa Mexicana.

 

[morecowbells]

One man? How does that work? You need a captain on the boat at all times and you need a DM guide in the marine park.

Yikes! Let me clarify since my previous post was composed before morning coffee. The dive op I mentioned is one boat, one DM and one captain. Works great for personalized and consistent dives, not so great if he gets booked or goes on vacation when I am on the island.

As for the group ascending together, that is somewhat of a deal breaker for me. If I get a good 50-60 minutes of diving and we need to ascend as a group, I can live with that; however, I had one dive op require a group ascend after 35 minutes when a diver was at 700 psi.

 

[MMM]

he is Canadian so it is an interesting mix of conversations.

And in the "it's a small world" category, he went to elementary and high school with one of my brothers...I was astonished that he remembered so much about my family when I met him!

 

[uncfnp]

And in the "it's a small world" category, he went to elementary and high school with one of my brothers...I was astonished that he remembered so much about my family when I met him!

Sitting at breakfast one morning another couple said they were diving with Living Underwater and I mentioned your name but that we had never meet. They had indeed met you and that you were very nice. David overheard and told us that he knew you too. I had forgotten that until your post.

 

[AdivingBel]

I met Pjhansman & Rae while staying at Villa Escondida and they were big fans of Jeremy & Living Underwater. This is turning into an excellent game of Six degrees of Kevin Bacon...

 

[Gdog]

Very interesting report on an important issue; which of what lately seem to be the 'big two' forum favorites amongst the Cozumel dive op.s (could be different next month) might one want to book with? The answer will vary with the customer, but you raise an issue I've wondered about...is it better to do fewer, longer 120 tank-enabled dives, or more, shorter 80 or 100 tank-based dives (presumably hitting more sites, but requiring more work as you haul out & get in & our of gear more often)?

One question that lingers; if you dove Aldora and the 3P's the same # of days, what would your total dive time be under each for that time frame? With more dives, you do more 3 minute safety stops, so it's not entirely an apples-to-apples comparison, but...

Sounds like 3P's is a small group operator; wonder just how large a group Aldora can accommodate, for those people who book group trips?

Richard.

Rich, you wont necessarily be doing more dives all things being equal. If you want to do 3-4 dives, either op will suffice. Ive dove for many years in Coz, with a handful of ops on the island, using AL80s. The last 2 trips we have used Aldora because of the larger tanks, for longer bottom time. This last trip was with a group of 6 divers, 5 of which were photogs. For myself, and Im sure also probably because this same group dives weekly up here in the Puget Sound and we all use large HP tanks, I will stay with Aldora. If longer bottom time isn't that important to you, then of course there are the good other options such as 3P. But again, the shorter dives don't mean necessarily more dives same day.

 

[uncfnp]

Rich, you wont necessarily be doing more dives all things being equal. If you want to do 3-4 dives, either op will suffice. Ive dove for many years in Coz, with a handful of ops on the island, using AL80s. The last 2 trips we have used Aldora because of the larger tanks, for longer bottom time. This last trip was with a group of 6 divers, 5 of which were photogs. For myself, and Im sure also probably because this same group dives weekly up here in the Puget Sound and we all use large HP tanks, I will stay with Aldora. If longer bottom time isn't that important to you, then of course there are the good other options such as 3P. But again, the shorter dives don't mean necessarily more dives same day.

I have to disagree. The logistics of added dives with Aldora are just too difficulty to do repetitively, at least from town. With the boat ride, dive time, a SI between 1.5 to 2 hours and the long ride back, it was 3 pm on average by the time we were back in town, and very hungry. Twice we hoped to do their twilight dives but just couldn't manage the turn around time between dives plus the next day's am dives too. It just wasn't pratical. Perhaps if staying south with the last on first off advantage, mulitdays of multiple dives might be a more practical option.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I have to disagree. The logistics of added dives with Aldora are just too difficulty to do repetitively, at least from town. With the boat ride, dive time, a SI between 1.5 to 2 hours and the long ride back, it was 3 pm on average by the time we were back in town, and very hungry.

We enjoyed this routine on our last trip. After two long dives, 3 pm felt like the right time for a lazy Mexican meal. We would make the afternoon meal our main meal, take a siesta, and then just have a few tacos in the evening to ward off late-night hunger.