Caribe Blu / Blue Angel -short review

[Hemlon]

Nice report, Turk!

 

[driftin' by]

I'm glad you are thinking about getting "real" gauges; the idea of depending solely on a computer for depth and tank pressure gives me the willies.

Oh no, when I said backup, I meant an analog console with a hose attached so that I can just replace my computer if it bonks. Of course that does nothing for me mid-dive but I have no problem scrubbing a dive in the event my computer dies... there will be plenty of opportunities to dive later. The possibility of it happening far outweighs the benefits of having, what I consider, a simple and streamlined set-up. YMMV and obviously it does. On the other hand, I can get comfortable with the idea of going hose-less but I'm sure that will change in time.

 

[ggunn]

Oh no, when I said backup, I meant an analog console with a hose attached so that I can just replace my computer if it bonks. Of course that does nothing for me mid-dive but I have no problem scrubbing a dive in the event my computer dies... there will be plenty of opportunities to dive later. The possibility of it happening far outweighs the benefits of having, what I consider, a simple and streamlined set-up. YMMV and obviously it does. On the other hand, I can get comfortable with the idea of going hose-less but I'm sure that will change in time.

Yeah, I'm a bit old school, I guess, but the idea of having to depend on a computer (electronic sensors, D/A convertors, microprocessors, LCD displays, batteries...) as the sole way to monitor my depth and tank pressure makes me very nervous. That's either in spite of or because of the fact that I work in the computer biz. ;^)

 

[Hinalo]

I remember being a little uncomfortable when, in prep for my last two checkout dives for my OW, my rental setup had a console with only a Cobra and a compass. a few weeks earlier when I'd done my first two dives I'd had an analog spg and depth gauge.

My nervousness was simply that I didn't want to depend on an electronic device to monitor my air; depth was less of a worry since I would be with other divers and we weren't going very deep anyway.

Since then I've accumulated my own gear and now have an AI computer on my wrist, and a backup computer on my console along with a redundant analog SPG and compass. This setup has already paid off for me since a few weeks ago when I couldn't get my AI computer to pair with its transmitter and ended up using the analog SPG on that dive.

Others more experienced might not need the reduncancy, but for me it greatly adds to my ability to relax.

 

[sealskin98]

I guess using just a computer, or even two computers, to monitor your dive info. is just personal preference. Out of the last 12 years of diving I have been using a computer for only about a year. I had been thinking about taking my depth gauge off of my console, but....last week in Coz. the computer low battery icon started flashing one evening. As usual with my pre-planning, I hadn't brought a spare battery. Since we had already been to town for dinner I didn't want to spend $12 round trip taxi fare to town for a $3 battery, and the dive shop didn't have any.

I did have some fun with the DM the next day though. I'd been diving with him all week and he knew I was using an analog spg, depth gauge, and watch along with my non-AI wrist computer. We had suited up for our first dive that day and were getting ready to back roll in when I told him "Pedro, I can't do this dive! My computer battery is dead!"

He looked at me kinda funny for a few seconds, then grinned and said "Leave the stinkin' computer on the boat and Vamoose!"

 

[driftin' by]

That's either in spite of or because of the fact that I work in the computer biz. ;^)

I also work in the computer biz (software) but I bet it has more to do with when you were born. No offense Gordon, or to you Hinalo or sealskin98. In my meager existence, I don't know of a world without VCR's, color TV's, Microwave ovens or cable TV. I tend to embrace technology but that's not to say that I blindly put faith into these products. I have no problem scrubbing a dive if my AI computer boinks. The benefits of a simplified (relatively speaking) and streamlined setup, far outweighs the hassle of a redundant setup. YMMV, and obviously it absolutely will.

 

[ggunn]

I also work in the computer biz (software) but I bet it has more to do with when you were born. No offense Gordon, or to you Hinalo or sealskin98. I

None taken, but I suspect it does have something to do with my job. I work in the (hardware) Failure Analysis department of a semiconductor manufacturer. ;^)

 

[SBP Studios]

Turk9- glad you had a great experience there. Can you tell us more about your Dive experience? You dont seem to post too much.

Personally my experience with Blue Angel andCaribe Blue was the exact opposite as yours. We were not impressed at all.

 

[sealskin98]

Sorry you didn't have a good experience. I used a dive shop one time for one 2-tank trip that has gotten great reviews here (I won't say which shop except that it wasn't Chriti's Blue XT Sea) and had a very, very, very not good experience.

I chalked it up to the DM we had that day and what his circumstances had been for a few days, along with some other issues the shop was having at that time. As good as other reviews of the shop have been I'd be willing to give them another try sometime.

I really liked Caribe Blu/Blue Angel. Here's a link to some pics. and a little trip report from last year.

http://www.allenhost.com/gallery/v/Coz_+trip/?g2_page=1

 

[Turk9]

Turk9- glad you had a great experience there. Can you tell us more about your Dive experience? You dont seem to post too much.

Personally my experience with Blue Angel andCaribe Blue was the exact opposite as yours. We were not impressed at all.

SPB Studios,
I'm sure you are now aware of the natural beauty of the reefs of Cozumel and any words I could use to describe there splendor would fall short. What I can describe is my experience with the dive shop manager, DMs, and the boat captains that brought and lead me to them. The shop manager, Opal, was very pleasant and accommodating. She answered all my questions, tried to fill all my requests, and was very pleasant to deal with. I found the boat captains to be very helpful with setting up equipment and being where they should be when we surfaced. The DMs I had the pleasure to follow were all quite helpful, very experienced, some were humorous at times, all were courtious, and those I dove with the most were receptive to our requests for dive locations. I also found them to be watchful of the group and yet allow those they had experience diving with before to be somewhat adventuresome. Overall, they made the dive experience a positive one.

I'm sorry that your experience with CB/BA was somewhat different than mine. Believe me, after reading your review just days before I went on vacation had me checking every corner of my room looking for bugs. However, I think part of the reason for our differing experiences was that the dive shop was going through a bit of a change while you were there. The shop manager, Victor, had left, and Opal had not started yet. I also believe that since I had been there one time before, that my expectations of CB/BA were different than yours. And, some of the things that you found to be bad, like the clanging of scuba tanks at 5AM, I find to be a wonderful wakeup call. Please don't let your first experience with CB/BA keep you from going back to Coz. Try another hotel and dive shop if you want. I still get goose bumps thinking back to diving the Cathedrals at the south of Punta Sur. Just Spectacular. Huge coral towers with many swim throughs and a couple of black tip reef sharks as a bonus. I can't wait to go back in November.