Nice review. My wife and I made a trip to cozumel in 2010 and would difinitely use Dive Paradise again. Dive Paradise takes care to give you and your group a great dive experience. The diving and viz was awsome. A good place for dinner is the "Mission House".
Article: Diving in Cozumel with Dive Paradise
- Thread starter Muggsy
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
i started diving coz in 1974 and have seen all of the changes both good and bad; we will be returning for our second trip this year in november; i have been and will continue to dive with jeremy anschel of Living Underwater; i have been diving with practically every operation on the island - most are good; some are quite good; a few are exceptional; imo, dive paradise is a "good" safe operation; but occasionally staff seems less than enamored with the customer service side of the operation; living underwater is a small operation and if there is an operator/dm more committed to serving your every need on any dive trip than jeremy, i'd like to know who it is. having said that, i assure you that i routinely talk with divers at wet wendy's that are just as dedicated to their dive operators as i am to mine;
I have dove with Paradise Dive twice in the last three years. At the recommendation of a friend/dive instructor, Barry Holloway out of Atlanta, I book an all-inclusive trip at Hotel Coz and Paradise Dive. I dove for three days. On the first day and the first dive I had a regulator mal-function. As the group was in the water the DM lost his patience with me and acted very unprofessional (won't say anymore). Dive Paradise repaired my regulator and I dove with another DM the rest of the trip. I had an incredible time and the differnce between DMs was night and day. I would not let one bad apple spoil my trip. I really liked the Hotel Coz and its juxiposition to the pier/pick up point. This is a great set-up and one I plan to use again and bring my family and friends. On my second dive trip I stayed at the Barracuda Hotel and dove again with Paradise Dive. Great set up again...but you are getting a much older hotel. Had facility issues (no running water) the first few days and the hotel staff work diligently to correct the matter (older hotel). However, the big difference is Hotel Coz is down the street about 3/4 mile from the main activities of the town, whereas the Barracuda is right there near the main bars (the Barracuda is also a little bit cheaper). Dive Paradise dive boats will pick you up at either spot and have hotel-dive deals for both. Hotel Coz is a newer and nicer place, especially if you are looking for a quieter or a family type hotel. I have heard that it has the largest swimming pool in Cozumel. The Barracuda is right there in the thick of things. Also the staff from the cruise ships like to hang out there durning the day so it can become quite crowded from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. The Barracuda is also across the street from the town's largest market (simular to a small Walmart). Great place to get soda pops, munchies, beer, etc. I did get food poisoning from the local market's Guac on my "no-fly day". 
But that is always a change you take eating in a foreign country that you do not have resistents built up for. For me personally, I will be going back to Hotel Coz, rent a Jeep at the Hotel, and keep diving with Paradise (but I might try the other two recommeded operators just to see a different operation). BTW the reef is a great place to dive; there is enough diversity to keep you busy for a week's worth of diving and something for all skill levels. The review was very well writen...whether it was by a staff memeber or a fan. Go to Cozumel and enjoy the diving...just stay away from the guac at the local market 
But that is always a change you take eating in a foreign country that you do not have resistents built up for. For me personally, I will be going back to Hotel Coz, rent a Jeep at the Hotel, and keep diving with Paradise (but I might try the other two recommeded operators just to see a different operation). BTW the reef is a great place to dive; there is enough diversity to keep you busy for a week's worth of diving and something for all skill levels. The review was very well writen...whether it was by a staff memeber or a fan. Go to Cozumel and enjoy the diving...just stay away from the guac at the local market JANYVIC
New
what is hjeffrey talking about when he warns about " bad air" with carbon monoxide in it? Last i knew, just about every compressor on the island is electric. Who's still using gas compressors?
I just returned last week from a dive trip to Cozumel, had a wonderful time! We dove with Dive with Martin,
so I can't say anything about Paradise. But the initial posting on this thread has parts that were taken directly
from the brochure that the hotel leaves in the room. The brochure describes what to do in Coz, talks all about the cruise ships, etc. I thought the posting sounded familiar, so I checked the little paper that I brought home, and yep, it's verbatim!
Now that is fine, it's easier to rip something from a brochure than write it yourself, but come on, you should credit the source. Maybe your experience with Paradise was so positive that you gave an honest review. But the credibility of your words suffer when you plagiarize and then expect me to trust your honesty. Just my thoughts.
Shasta_man
Contributor
Turns out some of it is from a brochure?! Too hilarious.
OP
Hi janecee, and welcome to scubaboard. I see by this, your first post, that you have come here to attempt to discredit my experience at Dive Paradise? Do you work for some competitor? I find it extremely interesting that your first post is here to discredit me?
I don't find that using generic statistics about Cozumel's tourism and cruise ship statistics, from either the Cozumel dept of tourism or as it turns out, the same statistics are in the brochure (which I was given permission to use, and whoops my bad for not citing the pamphlet for a few statistics on Cozumel). Either way. This does not diminish my experience, as I was merely offering suggestions of things to do while in Cozumel.
If you don't believe my honest review of the premise, that's fine, you should be able to notice the difference in the parts of the article where I use the word "I" to relay my personal experience, but apparently you have to go over and above and try to discredit the entire piece because of some generic tourism statistics. Wow.
Once again... I'm so glad you broke the ice on ScubaBoard with your first post.
HJeffreyM
Contributor
Ok Muggsy...I originally posted here several weeks ago to say that your "trip report" is a fraud. Now we find out that, in fact, most of it is ripped off from the tourist brouchure found in the rooms there. And you originally said you wrote the whole thing. Shame on you. Now, you are fiercely defending your work. Why? Doesn't the hotel pay you for the write-up anyway? That's how this paid vacation review scam works. It's happening all over Trip Advisor, and now here on SB. One thing is clear. Even if you did like DP, this "review" is fake. You didn't write any or most of it.Nice try, Muggsy. 
OP
Ok Muggsy...I originally posted here several weeks ago to say that your "trip report" is a fraud. Now we find out that, in fact, most of it is ripped off from the tourist brouchure found in the rooms there. And you originally said you wrote the whole thing. Shame on you. Now, you are fiercely defending your work. Why? Doesn't the hotel pay you for the write-up anyway? That's how this paid vacation review scam works. It's happening all over Trip Advisor, and now here on SB. One thing is clear. Even if you did like DP, this "review" is fake. You didn't write any or most of it.Nice try, Muggsy.
Nice try for what?
I had fun. I wrote an article. I wrote this article not because Dive Paradise asked me to, but because ScubaBoard's new portal came out, and I was asked to write something. This is my first travel article for SB, and there will be others by other authors as well. I am sure people like you will try to find fault with every article? It's the nature of the beast.
I mentioned generic statistics.
I use the word "I" to describe my experience.
Out of the 5000+ reads of the article, and more than 20 comments, only you and one other person seems to try to find fault?
Either way... The article is my original composition. Yes, I used statistics on tourism to make the article more enthralling, and not just like a regular post on the forum. I am sorry that you and a small handful of others must try to smear me, scubaboard, and the place I visited because you may not have had a good time? Maybe you never have fun? How would I know?
The review is NOT fake. It is MY experience. I paid for my own vacation (not that it's any of your business) So I say "whatever" to you. There will always be haters. Life is full of em.
Thanks for sharing.
Shasta_man
Contributor
What these "articles" are meant to be is confusing. Is it just a trip report written by another member, or is it a kind of "reporter for SB" professional type of "article"? If it's the latter then arguing with responders and making comments outside of "this is a legit review and your accusations aren't supported by fact" isn't the way to do it. This is the Internet, so dissent is a requirement and there will be comments you don't agree with. If this is a pro type article then respond as such. Otherwise, flame on.
Similar threads
