booked for Cozumel with Dive paradise

[Miami_Diver]

just booked for Cozumel , Ill be there from August 1 through the 9th.
Staying in the Barracuda Hotel and diving with Dive Paradise. just wanted a report if anyone has dived with them before, do they limit bottom time? do they have nitrox? etc.

thanks!!!

 

[Jcsgt]

I have dived with DP and absolutely loved them!

They had nitrox at the time, but as I recall, it was quite expensive ($15 a tank, I think?). I didn't use nitrox on that trip.

I don't recall limited bottom time, only that we watched our air. The DM's, during briefings, would tell us our turn around pressure. Once we reached that point, each buddy pair would advise the DM, then begin a slow ascent. The boat would then pick up the pair on the surface. Just because one pair ascended did not mean the entire group did.

If you dive with Victor, please tell him "hello" from Chantal and Pat!

Have a great time, you picked a good dive op.

 

[sasscuba]

just booked for Cozumel , Ill be there from August 1 through the 9th.
Staying in the Barracuda Hotel and diving with Dive Paradise. just wanted a report if anyone has dove with them before, do they limit bottom time? do they have nitrox? etc.

thanks!!!

Dive Paradise was great!!!!!! Have dove with them many times. Hotel Barracuda is ok....only stayed there once, small pool and small rooms with so-so beds.

 

[ReefHound]

just booked for Cozumel , Ill be there from August 1 through the 9th.
Staying in the Barracuda Hotel and diving with Dive Paradise. just wanted a report if anyone has dived with them before, do they limit bottom time? do they have nitrox? etc.

thanks!!!

I'll be diving with them when I stay at Hotel Cozumel Aug 2-7, so maybe I'll see you on the boat. Look for a CHUM dive club shirt.

If you check out their website you'll see they have several different types of trips oriented to different levels of divers.

 

[love2fishfork]

Dove with them in March and they were great. DM's were very helpful and went out of their way to find and point out things underwater. The Barracuda is OK. DP has a shop right at the hotel and the boat picks you up right at the dock behind the hotel. Only problem is the "No Name Bar" attracts a lot of non guests that hang out around the pool.

 

[mndiver05]

We dove with DP twice -- December 2004 and again in February 2006. Both times, they limited bottom time. They planned the dives per the PADI dive tables and to the lowest common denominator. They very much wanted to get back to the dock on time. We frequently came up with half a tank of air and plenty of no-deco time available. Granted, we were diving on their large boats and there were usually newer divers on them. I believe they may be less strict about bottom times on the smaller fast boats where everyone is diving a computer.

The DMs were generally very good and, as noted previously, went out of their way to find and ID fish. They were generally friendly during the SIT, offering soft drinks and fruit or sandwiches. On second dives, they sometimes tried to rush the SIT. When we commented that we still needed to wait, though, they didn't push us.

Nitrox was $10-$12 per tank (I don't remember exactly). BE SURE TO ANALYZE YOUR GAS. We would order EAN32 and get EAN36 frequently on both trips. They didn't seem to think this was any kind of a problem. We brought our own analyzer this last trip -- it wasn't till the 4th day on the last trip that anyone offered us an analyzer. On the first trip (we didn't have our own analyzer), we once waited nearly an hour at the dock while someone tracked down the analyzer that we insisted we needed. We got some looks implying it shouldn't be any big deal to just dive with the tank without verifying what was in it.

 

[marcus8]

I have dove with Dive Paradise 6 times now. We like them and their divemasters have mostly been quite good. But be forewarned that the large boats are SLOW SLOW SLOW and take forever to get to the better, more southern sites. I'm talking about a full hour boat ride. So we switched a while back to their smaller faster boats. These boats only take 6 divers so the reef isn't as crowded while you are diving it. And they get you to the best spots much more quickly. They will charge you extra if you want to go to Maracaibo or Punta Sur, even on the fast boats. Overall, I have enjoyed Dive Paradise.

The Barracuda is a pit from hell and yes, I am very biased about it. Stayed there 4 times, 3 without much incident. The last time, their staff stole money from my brother twice in once week, directly out of the hotel safe. Rudely refused to do anything about it until we contacted their business partners (Dive Paradise, Bay Adventures, Tony Rome, etc....) and they finally returned $200 to my brother the day we left after a big stink. I will say that the place is well located to town and the Chedraui (big supermarket) which is convenient. And it's nice to stay on the water and get picked up right there at their pier. Their rooms are bare bones to say the least but we didn't mind all that until this theft issue. I wrote up a report on them in Tripadvisors at http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUser...4828-Barracuda-Cozumel_Yucatan_Peninsula.html if you'd like to read it. 3 people have contacted me since after reading it saying they experienced theft at the Barracuda as well. Be VERY careful at this place and for goodness sake, don't put your valuables in the hotel safe at the very least.

Just be careful and I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself.

Mark

 

[Miami_Diver]

I read your report on the theft, dont they have a safe inside the room? when I travel I look around the room Im staying to find a well hidden place in the room and no money on the hotel safe. dont trust them.

from reading their website I think they have a dive charter for advance divers in the afternoon, but I dont know if they will be included in the package I pre paid for. I prepaid for 2 am dives and 1 afternoon single tank dive. well, I guess I'll be paying out of my pocket to go in the advance dives.

 

[marcus8]

No safes in the rooms as of April '05, when we were last there. You should be fine, just use common sense. We surmised that it might have been better to put our cash in a dry box in our dive lockers as we've never seen nor heard of any issues with those at any of the resorts. Over New Years, we stayed at Hotel Cozumel down the road which was fine. Safes in the room and no trouble. We won't be back at the Barracuda.

Mark

 

[Eagle-scuba]

Kathy and the Dm of DiveParadise are a great group to dive with, I have dived with them on several occasions, I try to plan my own trips to Cozumel, and they are the first I contact...She is usually more than willing to accomodate individual diving plans...they also have a great shop location across from the Hotel Cozumel, where you can do walk in diving, and it`s a good spot for an additional shore dive if you just want to get that extra dive in ,...good for night diving also...see ya` under