Best dive operators for still photography?

[MMM]

while it's great that @Christi volunteers her time here as moderator

That is incorrect. There are four ScubaBoard mods who spend a lot of time in Cozumel but Christi is not one of them. She does, however, spend a lot of time in Cozumel. You may get to know myself and the other three mods who hang out here (@northernone @RayfromTX @scubadada ) after some time on the island. Who are you diving with now?

 

[Christi]

It's BlueXTSea, and while it's great that @Christi volunteers her time here as moderator and is a great source of local knowledge, she advertises her business model as "democratic" - they go where the majority of divers on the boat want to go on any given day (within limits). So I while Pedro may be great at spotting photo ops *IF* they are going slow, that's not much of a guarantee that the dive site will be good for still photography, and one doesn't know until everyone's already on the boat.

No, I am not a moderator nor have I ever held myself out to be one. I am happy to provide helpful and accurate information about the island.

AS far as the dive site selection, I don't know any operation that does it much differently unless you are chartering a private boat. Otherwise no shop can guarantee dive sites to one specific diver. I would love to be able to do that - but it's not a realistic expectation. But what happens very often, is some divers simply don't care where they go so if there's a specific place one or two people have their heart set on going - then that's where they go. It's about flexibility really. The only other thing I could think of to guarantee a dive site is to go with an operation who has a set dive schedule who lists where they dive each day and choose the days you dive based on where they are going.

@MMM - I am confused by your statement that I "spend a lot of time in Cozumel?" Just to clarify, I am and have been a full time resident and home owner on the island for 18 years, a business owner on the island for 17 years and actually a Mexican Citizen for 2 years now.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

Good point, and more generically, hiring a private DM with any op would probably suffice. An expensive option, though?

I guess it depends on how you look at it. Going rate on a private DM is around $60 a day. If you have a normal dive buddy to split that with, it's $30 each to have a guide to devote all their time and energy helping you find what you want to see. Whether it's $30 or $60, it seems like money well spent to find what you are looking for without worrying about becoming separated from the group while waiting for the little guy to pop back out of the sand.

As far as diving slow is concerned...often Cozumel has her own idea about that!

Sounds like you have time to try lots of ops, lets us know what you find.

Dive safe, have fun! Good luck with the perfect pic!!!
Jay

 

[MMM]

I was making a joke.

@MMM - I am confused by your statement that I "spend a lot of time in Cozumel?" Just to clarify, I am and have been a full time resident and home owner on the island for 18 years, a business owner on the island for 17 years and actually a Mexican Citizen for 2 years now.

 

[Stoo]

We moved to Cozumel (signed a one-year lease) in August, so yeah, I'm set on Cozumel at least for now.

Geez, and here I was feeling sorry for you. I'll just go fire up my snowblower now...

 

[JohnnyC]

Martin at Blue XT Sea has a fantastic eye. I swear that dude has over the horizon radar for critters.

 

[Christi]

I was making a joke.

OK - haha - thank you for that clarification

 

[cicopo]

I'm not sure who the DM's at Blue Angel are these days but Jose was another DM that went slow & carried a magnifying glass to see the itsy bitsy stuff.

 

[deepsea21]

To the OP.. I think the best dive op for the single photographer is a dive op that offers experienced divers / UW photographers the freedom they want. By freedom I mean a dive op that doesn't require all divers to stay in a compact group with the DM but allows experienced divers to head off on their own while keeping the group in sight. We've been diving Cozumel for 15 years and have been diving with Tres Pelicanos the past 4 years. My wife and I prefer to dive a shallower profile for photography as there is more light, more color, more sea life, and more time to be had diving such a profile. We don't dive with the highest end cameras and lights that require a 2nd mortgage on the house so AM dives when the sun is lower in the sky dictates that we dive shallower for the best pics in the AM in December. Afternoon dives offer far more light when the sun is high but we enjoy both an UW vacation and a topside vacation at the same time so AM dives work best for us. If you are an experienced solo diver you deserve the freedom to dive your own profile while keeping the group in sight or following their bubbles as they navigate a swim through below while you are on the top of the reef looking for photo ops. We've often found other photographers on the boat who do the same as us and end up hanging together shallower for photography as we watch the DM down in the dank deep take those who for some reason or another think there is more to see at 80' than at 50' or shallower.

 

[WetInPortland]

No, I am not a moderator nor have I ever held myself out to be one. I am happy to provide helpful and accurate information about the island.

My mistake (my assumption was based on you being the original author of the only two pinned posts and for your frequent and detailed knowledge of the island).