Aldora Divers

[Gdog]

Thx Dave! And so glad it's Memo at the DS. All a first class operation.

 

[ggunn]

To set the record straight, I know Aldora to be an excellent and well respected dive op. If anyone (yes, I mean you, Dave) interpreted my remarks to be dissing Aldora, you misinterpreted what I was saying. Sorry about that.

 

[OregonDM]

We arrive tomorrow. Diving with Alodra for 5 days starting Sunday. My 13 year old son got certified last year when he was 12. We have done a couple local lake dives but this will be his first real open water experience. Might be a mistake to spoil him with Cozumel diving but hey I'll take that chance! Looking forward to diving with the best operation on the island. @Dave Dillehay thanks for sharing the history of Aldora, very cool.

 

[divingjd]

I am sorry but I disagree with that assesment. Timed dives vs dive your tank dives, good safety minded DMs vs cowboys, AL80 vs 100s vs steel tanks, beach or boat surface intervals, dive locations. Their are many differences between ops besides the boat.

I agree! Some other differences include things like dive sites. I first dove with Aldora to get a chance to see Punta Sur, Maracaibo, Barracuda, and other more distant and advanced sites. I remember diving with a shop once that had a set schedule. The “if it’s Tuesday, this must be Palancar Gardens” kind of thing. Decent dive shop, but I wanted something more. And I have heard of others that do the same thing. I know Aldora isn’t the only shop that goes to those sites, but we only see a few other dive shops when we go to Punta Sur Sur. As I see it, there are many shops that offer an OK experience, and only a few that offer a better experience. If you hang out around here much, you should know who they are.

 

[ReefHound]

I am sorry but I disagree with that assesment. Timed dives vs dive your tank dives, good safety minded DMs vs cowboys, AL80 vs 100s vs steel tanks, beach or boat surface intervals, dive locations. Their are many differences between ops besides the boat.

Good safety-minded divers don't depend on the DM for their safety. They depend on the captain, though.

 

[JFS]

I GUESS I NEED TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT WITH A LITTLE HISTORY.

I retired in the early 1990s and was certified by the, then, best shop in Cozumel, Scuba Du/Presidente. But even there you could not get what is now called valet diving. I chose to private charter from them as that was the only way to get to the fabled Devil's Throat. As part of the private charter I tipped some people to take care of my gear. Finding Devil's Throat at that time was only a guess from landmarks.
Because of current and poor drops it took me 5 trips to get there, and because of 80cf tanks I came out on the wall with just 500psi. But what a sight to see with a narc going on! Memo Mendoza was my dive master then and still. I then realized that there should be some way for the general dive public to experience this and not spend a fortune to do so. But Memo and I knew that several innovations were needed to make that possible. The biggest hurdle was the air supply and that in our estimation, alum 80 cf tanks would make the dive potential dangerous for the average diver. Fortunately High Capacity steel 120s were just becoming available and we went from there. So you could kinda say, THE DEVIL'S THROAT WAS THE REASON FOR THERE BEING AN ALDORA DIVERS.

With reasonable funds from my retirement, we decided to try to bring that experience to everyone. First off we took delivery of HP 120 tanks, rented a boat from the old Blue Angel and Pam Litton, and instituted care of our divers gear (cleaned in Memo's apartment), and required the use of the recent innovation of dive computers. Also by then I had gotten GPS coordinates for the Devils Throat to make the drops perfect and safe. After we received our first boat Aldora I (still in use) there were lots of other problems to overcome but we did. Our whole goal was to safely replicate the experience a millionaire on private charter.
Part of that was to limit our boats to just six divers of similar experience, and you all may know the rest.

By the turn of the century we were looking for lodging commensurate with the the quality expected of Aldora. I was close to purchasing the La Perla/now Blue Angel, but the road noise and constricted rooms make me look elsewhere. In 2003 I did buy the VILLA ALDORA, which was an abandoned wreck but with great possibilities. I more than doubled the purchase price in renovation and upgrading but the result was what some of you now know to be a beautiful waterfront property, and dive resort in the serene near north of Cozumel. We also put in docks so that our Aldora Boats could pick up guests there. Last year we celebrated our 20th year of operation there. Each of those years we have continued to upgrade every aspect of the service and beauty of the Villa and for our long term guests, I am sure they can say it is a more wonderful experience ever.

As I write this I am celebrating my 78th birthday today and that could explain why I am no longer in charge of Aldora Divers. But my dear friend Memo still is and we coordinate on issues of Aldora Divers and the Villa Aldora. For instance, just last month we worked out a deal to provide free Nitrox to those staying at the Villa. And having given my dear Grandmother's name , she who raised me, I will be doing all in my power and influence to make sure that the dive shop continues to honor here name.

One more thought. I do live in Galveston County south of Houston most of the time (mainly for the access to health care for us old folks) but I do stay at the Villa once a month to check in on the dive shop and Villa. As some others do, I also get great discounts on rooms!

If anyone would like to communicate with me, my email is dave@aldora.com or 830 460-0667

Dave Dillehay

Happy belated birthday Dave.

 

[boulderjohn]

Differences between dive ops are mostly about the boat ride. Aldora and a couple of others use larger tanks.

I am going to disagree as well.

Cozumel was where I did 90% of my diving for my first few years, and I progressed from a raw beginner to a decent diver during that time. I started with the small (2 boat) operation headquartered where we were staying, and it was just fine the first couple of years. As my skill grew, I became less happy. It seemed like every time the DM asked where we wanted to dive, someone would say, "Well, I just got certified last week, and....:" If I wanted to do some of the more challenging sites, I needed to use another operator. I specifically wanted to do Barracuda Reef, but when I checked shops, I was usually told, "Nope. we don't do it. Too dangerous."

I started using a very big operation with lots of boats. They promised to get divers of similar ability on the boats, but they often screwed it up. They made other mistakes, too. They gave me a full refund for dives that they screwed up (without my asking) three different times. That's nice, but I don't go on a dive vacation in the hope of getting refunds; I go with the hope of getting good dives. They also had what they called an experienced diver program that would put people together to do the sites like Barracuda, Maracaibo, etc. Those dives would cost extra, but it didn't matter. It never happened. They never got such a boat together for me.

Then I went with Aldora, and on one of my first dives (with Memo), we started at Punta Sur Cathedral and ended with Devil's Throat--one dive! That week I did Barracuda and Maracaibo as well. No extra charge for any of those dives. I was pleased as punch, and I used them for a couple of years. What I liked best back then was almost all the boats took their surface intervals at the same place, and Memo would go around asking people what they wanted to do. This allowed him to set up the boats the day before the dives. We got to go to the sites we wanted to see, and we knew it the day before we dived.

Then I ran into a problem trying to plan a combination of recreational and technical diving, and I tried someone else for the recreational part of the trip. This one was highly recommended by a ScubaBoard veteran. I had misgivings because it was a single boat, but I was only doing two days, so I risked it. The first day was fine--the only other diver was very good, and we enjoyed ourselves. The second day we were joined by another couple, and the wife was hopeless. The DM literally held her hand for both dives. No swim-throughs, etc. Basic OW certification dive level of fun.

I came back to Cozumel a couple years ago after being away for a long time. I went with Aldora again, and I was not disappointed. My friends and I were on a boat with other experienced divers for the entire week, and we did some really interesting sites, including a couple I had never heard of. We only saw other divers on a couple of dives.

So I think there very much is a difference in operators.

 

[ReefHound]

I am going to disagree as well.

Cozumel was where I did 90% of my diving for my first few years, and I progressed from a raw beginner to a decent diver during that time. I started with the small (2 boat) operation headquartered where we were staying, and it was just fine the first couple of years. As my skill grew, I became less happy. It seemed like every time the DM asked where we wanted to dive, someone would say, "Well, I just got certified last week, and....:" If I wanted to do some of the more challenging sites, I needed to use another operator. I specifically wanted to do Barracuda Reef, but when I checked shops, I was usually told, "Nope. we don't do it. Too dangerous."

I was like that in dives 500 - 1000 where I felt "accomplished" and "experienced" and sought out "challenging". Now I'm at the point where I don't care where we dive. When the DN asks that question I defer to others. If they want an "easy" sight that's just fine with me. I don't think the fish choose which sites to hang out based on grade for diver difficulty.

 

[ggunn]

I am going to disagree as well.

And it's totally fine that you and I are looking for different Cozumel diving experiences. Some features that some ops (no names) offer don't make any difference to me. DSFDF and YMMV.

 

[jonhall]

I’ve been diving with Aldora since 2009 and staying at the Villa since 2011. As of last March, it was as good as ever, maybe better.

So glad to hear this, as well as what others have said. We have booked Aldora Villa for 2 different times next year (we've only used our timeshare for previous stays in Cozumel.) Will be my first time diving with Aldora also. Can't wait!!