Anyone dive with Scuba Du?

[glimmerel]

I'm staying at El Presidente the first week in March and thought it would be convenient to dive with Scuba Du but am willing to dive with another operator if they are not good. Any reviews/comments/suggestions?

 

[docmartin]

i stayed there 2 years ago. nice hotel. scuba du is not bad. the boat is large but a little slow for my taste. my big issue was that they did not take people to the more advanced sites e.g. maracaibo, barracuda, etc. any operation will pick you up at their dock. there is lots of info on operators in coz on the board. but again, scuba du is okay if you don't want to stray from the more popular sites.

 

[Sooner1]

The actual beach isn't that bad but you really can't get in the water without booties on. The bottom is rocky, hard and shallow for about 50 yards out.
I don't ever recall seeing anybody in the water at the beach while we were there. If you don't care about that and just want to lay in a chair and look at the water it's fine. However, I like to wade out and float around and enjoy the water when I'm on a beach. You really can't do that at the Iberostar. We stayed at the Allegro about 4 years ago and I'd recommend the beach but not the resort.

 

[5615mike]

i stayed there 2 years ago. nice hotel. scuba du is not bad. the boat is large but a little slow for my taste. my big issue was that they did not take people to the more advanced sites e.g. maracaibo, barracuda, etc. any operation will pick you up at their dock. there is lots of info on operators in coz on the board. but again, scuba du is okay if you don't want to stray from the more popular sites.

Agreed. Also, SD has pre-determined sites for the days of the week. They do not change. If you dive with them for more than 4 days you will continue to dive the same sites. For the same price you can find a more versitle DO no question.

 

[glimmerel]

Agreed. Also, SD has pre-determined sites for the days of the week. They do not change. If you dive with them for more than 4 days you will continue to dive the same sites. For the same price you can find a more versitle DO no question.

Thanks for the response. I'll let you know how they are if I end up diving with Scuba Du.

 

[scubajim]

Check out Dive Paradise web site. They have fast boats or cattle boats and go divers choice on reefs. They do pickups at all the hotels. Me and my dive buddies will be in Coz Mar 2-9. Staying at Hacienda San Miquel and diving with Dive Paradise... have a great time

 

[JeffMandell]

Agreed. Also, SD has pre-determined sites for the days of the week. They do not change. If you dive with them for more than 4 days you will continue to dive the same sites. For the same price you can find a more versitle DO no question.

That's not quite right. I was just there over Christmas week. It's true they have set schedules for each day of the week, but they do not repeat unless you stay beyond a full week. I found it restful to know there would be no repeats and we'd go to the best sites.
They have 5 boats, not one. There's only one big one and you can easily request not to be on it. I did; no problem. Several of the other boats are very nice indeed: fast, stable and hold about 10 divers. Also, they send another divemaster for every 7 divers, so you never dive in a large group.

It is true that they don't go to the more advanced sites unless at least 4 people want to go. If that's important to you, why not dive with SD on the popular sites and use another Dive Op for the biggies if SD doesn't have enough folks signed on to go?

I quite liked the combo of staying there and diving SD and you can't beat being back in plenty of time for lunch.

 

[Aquaman40]

That's not quite right. I was just there over Christmas week. It's true they have set schedules for each day of the week, but they do not repeat unless you stay beyond a full week. I found it restful to know there would be no repeats and we'd go to the best sites.
They have 5 boats, not one. There's only one big one and you can easily request not to be on it. I did; no problem. Several of the other boats are very nice indeed: fast, stable and hold about 10 divers. Also, they send another divemaster for every 7 divers, so you never dive in a large group.

It is true that they don't go to the more advanced sites unless at least 4 people want to go. If that's important to you, why not dive with SD on the popular sites and use another Dive Op for the biggies if SD doesn't have enough folks signed on to go?

I quite liked the combo of staying there and diving SD and you can't beat being back in plenty of time for lunch.

Hi Jeff, My wife and I, Along with my 8 year old son will be going to Cozumel on August 15 to 22nd. And will be staying at the El Cozumeleno resort on the north end of the Island. Scuba Du is the operator that services the resort. I think at this point I am going to use them just because of the convienance of the pick up right at the pier in front of our hotel. All other operators require that you meet them somewhere in town thus gaining a taxi bill. My questions if you don't mind: Are there usually enough people signed up to go on the advanced dive sites, is it a hassle to request a smaller, less crowed boat, and are they usually on time. The email I got from Antonio, Manager of Ocean Tours, the cousin of the Scuba Du owner,sounded like they were fairly strict on their dive profiles, ie 80 foot max first dive, 60 foot max second dive. Do They stick to this to the tee. Any other information would be helpful. I am about " dive reviewed " out. Thanks for your consideration.
Mike schmidt
aquaman40@adelphia.net

 

[Charlie99]

Scuba Du is a safe operator. Excellent rental gear and well maintained boats.

Like many operators working out of luxury resort hotels, they are geared to customers that only dive occasionally. They provide those customers a safe, enjoyable experience.