Hi all, so we are looking at booking this place soon for our diving holiday. We are both trained self-reliant divers, and part of the appeal was the promise of unlimited shore diving. Does anyone know if they allow solo shore dives, assuming the correct certifications are presented? Thank you!
Aldora Divers - Villa Aldora?
- Thread starter kirisetta
- Start date
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Unlimited shore diving from the Villa Aldora will likely turn out to be one dive, and a short one at that. It's not the best dive site in the world. I did a few instructional dives there years ago, and that was more than enough for me.
I was just diving with them two weeks ago, and unlimited shore diving would have had limited appeal for me. I did 6 days of 2-tank dives, averaging 81 minutes per dive. The longest dive was 95 minutes. By the time I was back each day, I was more than happy to spend the rest of the day relaxing with my non-diving wife.
In general, shore diving around Cozumel is very non-spectacular compared to what you can experience on a boat dive, but hey, it's still diving in warm clear water the likes of which is not accessible near where I live. I have never been diving around Villa Aldora but I have done a lot over the years behind Blue Angel, and as an adjunct to boat diving, I enjoy it a lot. YMMV.
While I wouldn't say Cozumel shore diving is as good or better than boat diving, in many aspects it is.
Schedule flexibility. I'm not bound to the boat departure time. If I want to sleep in I can shore dive at 10am. I can decide spontaneously, no need to book ahead.
Schedule brevity. A boat trip is typically two tanks, being at the dock 15-30 minutes before departure, a 30 minute boat ride, two 60 minute dives with an hour surface interval, then a 30 minute ride back. All said and done, you're looking at 4-5 hours. If you start feeling ill or can't clear and have to call your dive after ten minutes, you're still sitting on the boat another 4 hours until everyone else is done. With shore diving I could wake up at 9am and be under water by 9:30am. I could end my dive at 3pm and be relaxing in a hammock with a beer by 3:30pm.
No group separation. If I want to park and watch a curious damsel for an hour I can do that shore diving. Some of my most interesting video has come from shore dives. You also have better color at shallow depth.
No group intrusion. If I spot an octopus I have it all to myself (and maybe wife). Nobody pushing in to have a look. No need to back away after a minute to let others have a turn.
Bottom time. At 20-25' I can stay for 2 hours on an AL80.
Free. That's $100-120 dollars still in my pocket. Even if I have to rent tanks it's less than the tip to the DM.
Schedule flexibility. I'm not bound to the boat departure time. If I want to sleep in I can shore dive at 10am. I can decide spontaneously, no need to book ahead.
Schedule brevity. A boat trip is typically two tanks, being at the dock 15-30 minutes before departure, a 30 minute boat ride, two 60 minute dives with an hour surface interval, then a 30 minute ride back. All said and done, you're looking at 4-5 hours. If you start feeling ill or can't clear and have to call your dive after ten minutes, you're still sitting on the boat another 4 hours until everyone else is done. With shore diving I could wake up at 9am and be under water by 9:30am. I could end my dive at 3pm and be relaxing in a hammock with a beer by 3:30pm.
No group separation. If I want to park and watch a curious damsel for an hour I can do that shore diving. Some of my most interesting video has come from shore dives. You also have better color at shallow depth.
No group intrusion. If I spot an octopus I have it all to myself (and maybe wife). Nobody pushing in to have a look. No need to back away after a minute to let others have a turn.
Bottom time. At 20-25' I can stay for 2 hours on an AL80.
Free. That's $100-120 dollars still in my pocket. Even if I have to rent tanks it's less than the tip to the DM.
I dive with Aldora and stay at the Villa once or twice a year. I often, but not always, take advantage of the shore diving. They don’t really monitor it at all. Tanks are set out to use, pick one up and go diving. I often go alone. You’re diving in 10-15 feet of water along the ironshore, basically a little wall. There’s not much of a reef, but there are corals and sponges, along with lots of little critters, often juveniles. A friend had an octopus crawl up her arm one night. There are also sea horses out in the grass. At 15 feet, you can stay forever on a steel 80. It’s a very relaxing dive and good at night. You’re not going to see turtles, groupers, and nurse sharks, but if you are into little critters and have some patience, it’s worthwhile.
MarkH
Contributor
I stayed there in 2023 and did one dive there. We snorkeled there every day and I thought it was great. We did see a turtle one day, lots of sting rays, moray eels, fish, etc. As mentioned, the wall is only 10' deep so scuba might be overkill unless you want the novelty of breathing underwater. I dove solo as always (and have been for 25 years or so). I don't have any kind of "solo cert" and no one asked. There are free tanks and weights near the pool that you can use whenever you want. Here are some photos from the dive: villaaldoradiving
And from snorkeling:
The snorkeling video:
And from snorkeling:
The snorkeling video:
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