Aldora Divers

[ggunn]

Gordon…why can't you just butt out. This thread has nothing to do with your Blue Angel.

Dave Dillehay

Dave, what are you on about? What you quoted me saying had nothing whatsoever to do with Blue Angel. It had to do with a DM who was less than proficient at his job, it wasn't I who opened the topic, and it was in no way critical of Aldora. What are you so sensitive about? I have not said a single thing badmouthing Aldora; they are an excellent dive op and their customers obviously love them.

Blue Angel is an excellent dive op as well, but they are just another of the many that serve Cozumel. I dive with them because they operate out of the hotel I have been staying at since the mid 1980's. I dove with Alejandra when she was there, and if Aldora were to move into that space I would probably dive with them.

The DM I described was NOT an Aldora DM; is that what you thought I was saying? I honestly do not remember which op it was, and even if I did I wouldn't mention their name since it was 20+ years ago. Give it a rest, willya?

 

[Brodydog]

I feel like I’m reading scripts from Walther Matthau and Jack Lemmon.

 

[ggunn]

I feel like I’m reading scripts from Walther Matthau and Jack Lemmon.

Very new cheese or very old meat.

 

[mike_bayer]

I started diving in Cozumel a little over 25 years ago and have been diving/staying with close to a dozen shops and hotels. Darwin Zapata was my instructor in 97 prior to him starting Cozumel Equalizers.

Last month I returned for the first time in many years.

For me it was not a difficult decision to stay and dive with Villa Aldora / Aldora Divers.

When you calculate the cost per minute they are actually more competitive, especially now that Nitrox is included for Villa Aldora guests. I'm loving the new smaller and more comfortable 117HP steel tanks. 80 plus min dives no issues. They even gave my recently certified girlfriend her own instructor so she could see the amazing formations at Punta Sur. Hard to beat the thoughtful personal service.

Betsy at the Villa was a pleasure to deal with and Memo and his team very professional. My thanks to everyone for a wonderful experience.

 

[divingjd]

I started diving in Cozumel a little over 25 years ago and have been diving/staying with close to a dozen shops and hotels. Darwin Zapata was my instructor in 97 prior to him starting Cozumel Equalizers.

Last month I returned for the first time in many years.

For me it was not a difficult decision to stay and dive with Villa Aldora / Aldora Divers.

When you calculate the cost per minute they are actually more competitive, especially now that Nitrox is included for Villa Aldora guests. I'm loving the new smaller and more comfortable 117HP steel tanks. 80 plus min dives no issues. They even gave my recently certified girlfriend her own instructor so she could dive Punta Sur. Hard to beat the thoughtful personal service.

Betsy at the Villa was a pleasure to deal with and Memo and his team very professional. My thanks to everyone for a wonderful experience.

I also like the 117s. Much easier to deal with than the 120s. I have also had good experiences with Betsy. I am looking forward to the free nitrox, which will save me at least enough for a good dinner.

 

[ggunn]

I started diving in Cozumel a little over 25 years ago and have been diving/staying with close to a dozen shops and hotels. Darwin Zapata was my instructor in 97 prior to him starting Cozumel Equalizers.

When we started diving in 1992, Darwin was who we dove with as well. I’m pretty sure Coz Eq (Don’t Pressure Us! was their motto) started before 1997; I remember their office downstairs in the building with Hotel Flores.

Darwin was a great guy; whatever happened to him?

 

[Memo Mendoza]

Darwin

When we started diving in 1992, Darwin was who we dove with as well. I’m pretty sure Coz Eq (Don’t Pressure Us! was their motto) started before 1997; I remember their office downstairs in the building with Hotel Flores.

Darwin was a great guy; whatever happened to him?

Darwin lives in Playa del Carmen and is a distributor for lawerence Factor products , I buy from him parts for our filling station , compressors etc. he is doing fine

 

[Steelyeyes]

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

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

Good hear. My wife and I just booked two weeks in July/August. Hopefully we can get some good shots of Splendid Toadfish.

 

[Brad J]

We just got back from Cozumel this week. We stayed at Iberostar. We dove one day (2 tanks) with onsite Dressels, one day with Salty Endeavors (2 tanks) and two days (4 tanks) with Aldora.

Aldora was the winner, hands down. They pick you up right at the dock (other offsite operators will too). Valet service on the boat. Boat staff was excellent. Online booking was super easy. First time using larger tanks, game changer for sure. Shortest dive was Columbia Deep at 75 minutes. Longest was 95 minutes. They will buddy dive the first person low on air so the group can stay down longer. Our DM was Lucas both days, he was awesome. Great with gear, weight suggestions. Great in the water. Overall great operation. We'll use them every time for all future trips.

Salty Endeavors was good overall also. The Iberostar dock was closed due to high waves so we had to drive north to a marina. Only complaint on them is they max at 60 minutes, regardless of tank size (even though we had 100s). But their dive guide in the water was great (Freddy), pointed out sea life, valet service on the boat, etc. Very good operation as well.

I won't even go into Dressels. We personally won't use them ever again unless we have no option. If you have experience diving and understand the differences of large, full resort boats vs smaller groups, then stay away.

 

[Jake 10]

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

Thank you Dave. Looking forward to meet you in MX