Banon
Contributor
For our last few trips to Cozumel (July, August, and September) my wife and I have been diving with BottomTimeDivers (www.bottomtimedivers.net) which is a new operation run by Raul Plautas.
Many of you may remember Raul from Blue Bubble where he worked for MANY years. Blue Bubble was always our favorite (and yes we tried several others) because of their great service and dive masters, mainly Raul and Pedro Pablo. After the original Blue Bubble owners sold and moved to Colorado, things started to change at Blue Bubble. Raul went independent for a while, but along with a couple of financial backers he recently established BottomTimeDivers with his own covered 6 diver boat. I think the boat is rated for another diver or 2, but 6 + divemaster is pretty comfortable.
Raul provides THE best dive service Ive experienced in Cozumel.
1. He picks you up at the hotel dock (south of town only like most of the operations) for your first dive, paperwork in hand. No need to make a separate trip to a dive shop in town.
2. Gear rinse and locker service are included. Theres not much better on a dive trip than carrying your gear down to the dock for the first dive, having it waiting for you on the boat for every diving day after, and not having to carry it back up to the hotel until the last dive of the trip!
3. There is always an ice chest fully stocked with water and juice, along with fresh fruit and cookies for snacks.
4. Big dry towels are provided for all the divers. VERY nice for drying off and covering up.
5. Rauls policy is to allow divers to dive to their air and bottom time limits, not cut the dive short after 30 or 45 minutes. This assumes computers and follows the Cozumel standard of starting the gradual move up to a safety stop at 700psi. I dont think my wife and I had a dive under an hour this last trip. When you figure that this might mean an extra 15 to 30 minutes on every dive of the trip, this is a HUGE difference!!!
6. Perhaps the best part is that Raul customizes his dive to the group. When we have had people who needed a little extra attention, Raul was immediately there to provide what was needed. When less attention was required, Raul immediately changed to guide mode and actively located marine life. Raul is one of the few people in Cozumel that has been able to somewhat regularly find seahorses for me! Not the little pipefish or the little leafy seahorses that live in the grass, but 8 to 10 inch yellows, reds, and blacks. (Im a sucker for seahorses.)
Speaking of marine life, I have to share 2 things from this last trip that Id never seen before. The first was when Raul lured a splendid toadfish out of his hole with a toy on a string. The toadfish wanted to eat the toy, and Raul just gradually pulled it further and further back until we could see the entire body of the fish. They are BEAUTIFIL creatures. Once the toadfish realized he wasnt getting anything to eat he turned tail and darted back to his hole.
The second thing was a spotted eagle ray eating a conch on the last day of the trip. We saw this guy hanging out in the current at about 40 feet as we started our ascent. He was chewing on the conch, mouth opening and closing, jaws crunching shell, as we approached to within 10 feet. Every couple of seconds he would spit out a piece of shell. For such graceful creatures they sure have strong jaws and teeth!!! Once he finished with that conch he looped around and started searching the sandy bottom under us for another one. What a way to end a dive trip!
Take care and enjoy your Cozumel trips... and give Raul a try if you are looking for great custom dives on a fast boat with a small group of people!
Banon
Edit: I had a chance to edit the pic of the eagle ray down to a smaller size. You can see his mouth open while he chews.
Many of you may remember Raul from Blue Bubble where he worked for MANY years. Blue Bubble was always our favorite (and yes we tried several others) because of their great service and dive masters, mainly Raul and Pedro Pablo. After the original Blue Bubble owners sold and moved to Colorado, things started to change at Blue Bubble. Raul went independent for a while, but along with a couple of financial backers he recently established BottomTimeDivers with his own covered 6 diver boat. I think the boat is rated for another diver or 2, but 6 + divemaster is pretty comfortable.
Raul provides THE best dive service Ive experienced in Cozumel.
1. He picks you up at the hotel dock (south of town only like most of the operations) for your first dive, paperwork in hand. No need to make a separate trip to a dive shop in town.
2. Gear rinse and locker service are included. Theres not much better on a dive trip than carrying your gear down to the dock for the first dive, having it waiting for you on the boat for every diving day after, and not having to carry it back up to the hotel until the last dive of the trip!
3. There is always an ice chest fully stocked with water and juice, along with fresh fruit and cookies for snacks.
4. Big dry towels are provided for all the divers. VERY nice for drying off and covering up.
5. Rauls policy is to allow divers to dive to their air and bottom time limits, not cut the dive short after 30 or 45 minutes. This assumes computers and follows the Cozumel standard of starting the gradual move up to a safety stop at 700psi. I dont think my wife and I had a dive under an hour this last trip. When you figure that this might mean an extra 15 to 30 minutes on every dive of the trip, this is a HUGE difference!!!
6. Perhaps the best part is that Raul customizes his dive to the group. When we have had people who needed a little extra attention, Raul was immediately there to provide what was needed. When less attention was required, Raul immediately changed to guide mode and actively located marine life. Raul is one of the few people in Cozumel that has been able to somewhat regularly find seahorses for me! Not the little pipefish or the little leafy seahorses that live in the grass, but 8 to 10 inch yellows, reds, and blacks. (Im a sucker for seahorses.)
Speaking of marine life, I have to share 2 things from this last trip that Id never seen before. The first was when Raul lured a splendid toadfish out of his hole with a toy on a string. The toadfish wanted to eat the toy, and Raul just gradually pulled it further and further back until we could see the entire body of the fish. They are BEAUTIFIL creatures. Once the toadfish realized he wasnt getting anything to eat he turned tail and darted back to his hole.
The second thing was a spotted eagle ray eating a conch on the last day of the trip. We saw this guy hanging out in the current at about 40 feet as we started our ascent. He was chewing on the conch, mouth opening and closing, jaws crunching shell, as we approached to within 10 feet. Every couple of seconds he would spit out a piece of shell. For such graceful creatures they sure have strong jaws and teeth!!! Once he finished with that conch he looped around and started searching the sandy bottom under us for another one. What a way to end a dive trip!
Take care and enjoy your Cozumel trips... and give Raul a try if you are looking for great custom dives on a fast boat with a small group of people!
Banon
Edit: I had a chance to edit the pic of the eagle ray down to a smaller size. You can see his mouth open while he chews.
