Caution about Cozumel

[ggunn]

That's funny. Har har. :11: After some of the diving I did in the Sea of Cortez and Costa Rica, Cozumel is like diving in a swimming pool with a current jet. They had no problems with putting us on a fast boat a year later.

It could have been any of a number of things. Maybe DP had only one slot available on the fast boat and you were part of a couple, so they put the single girl into it. Maybe she batted her eyelashes at a male DM and scored a special favor. Maybe she was a repeat customer or the daughter of someone of importance to DP. Maybe DP didn't think you were the diver that you think you are, for some reason.

But above and beyond all that, if you book a package on the cheap, you shouldn't be surprised when you don't get the "A list" treatment. If you had booked your diving day to day rather than paying for it all up front, you would have had some leverage. There are tons of good dive ops on Cozumel; finding one who offers the kind of experience that you want is usually not a prob.

 

[RP Diver]

My guess is they put you on the fast boats your second trip because of the letter you previuosly wrote to them. Dive Ops have no way of knowing what experience you have other than what you tell them. How many people do you think walk into their shop each day and others and want to dive Devil's Throat, Maracaibo, Barracuda and San Juan and don't have the skills or eperience to dive these sites? If they took everyone who asked there would be a lot more accidents or deaths in Cozumel.

When they ask for a c-card and one of us shows a Master Instructor card and the other shows a DM card, both with effective dates more than 10 years earlier, they ought to get a slight hint that we aren’t new divers.

I’m not going to argue the point any more. In 25 years of combined experience, neither of us had ever before been jacked around like we were by DP, and we learned from that experience. I would imagine that we aren’t the first to take an operator at face value and get the short end of the stick because of it…. Nor will we be the last.

 

[lawofgravity]

When they ask for a c-card and one of us shows a Master Instructor card and the other shows a DM card, both with effective dates more than 10 years earlier, they ought to get a slight hint that we aren’t new divers.

I’m not going to argue the point any more. In 25 years of combined experience, neither of us had ever before been jacked around like we were by DP, and we learned from that experience. I would imagine that we aren’t the first to take an operator at face value and get the short end of the stick because of it…. Nor will we be the last.

Rick, sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with DP. I know you had specifically requested to be put in the advance boat, but with such a large op, I imagine they must have quite a few divers making the same request and it's quite possible they couldn't accomodate everyone.

Did you ever bother to check SB to get an idea of what their reputation was? When I did my research, all I heard about DP was large, cattle boat operation, and that was enough for me to cross them off list of my list regardless of what promises they could make. I went with another op and we never had more that 8 divers/boat. On four days of diving, we never dove the same site twice and we had the time of our lives. I imagine in your case, a little research in picking out a dive op that suited your needs would have made your trip a lot more enjoyable.

 

[-hh]

I’m not going to argue the point any more. In 25 years of combined experience, neither of us had ever before been jacked around like we were by DP, and we learned from that experience. I would imagine that we aren’t the first to take an operator at face value and get the short end of the stick because of it…. Nor will we be the last.

I hear ya.

There will nevertheless be the apologists who will try to make it entirely your own fault. Doesn't matter if we're talking about shortcomings in Cozumel, Bonaire, or the Florida Keys...


-hh

 

[pilot fish]

When they ask for a c-card and one of us shows a Master Instructor card and the other shows a DM card, both with effective dates more than 10 years earlier, they ought to get a slight hint that we aren’t new divers.

I’m not going to argue the point any more. In 25 years of combined experience, neither of us had ever before been jacked around like we were by DP, and we learned from that experience. I would imagine that we aren’t the first to take an operator at face value and get the short end of the stick because of it…. Nor will we be the last.

Since I had the same experience you did, diving with them on two seperate occasions a few years apart, I see it as systemic, not just a fluke that happens once in a while. After you produced that level of cert you'd think they would have been able to offer you a dive commeserate with your wife's and your qualifications? How many times can one dive Villa Blanca and Paradise Gardens? zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Rick, I felt your pain

 

[ggunn]

I hear ya.

There will nevertheless be the apologists who will try to make it entirely your own fault. Doesn't matter if we're talking about shortcomings in Cozumel, Bonaire, or the Florida Keys...


-hh

Well, he did book his diving with a dive op who is well known to be a budget, cattle-boat, high volume - lowest common denominator type of operation (not that there's anything at all wrong with that; they are perfectly suited to some divers), and apparently he was not unhappy enough at the time to take his business elsewhere. He certainly deserves some of the responsibility for what happened to him.

Personally, I think that DP showed a lot of class by comping him a week's diving on their fast boat as a remedy for a problem for which they were not entirely to blame.

 

[Kat]

I've used a few different dive ops in Coz. The last one was Dive Paradise, which I was also unhappy with. I will not use them again. Some people love DP & some don't. Not sure why it should be an issue. You can do all the research in the world, there is no gaurantee you'll be happy. Even if 1000 people before you were happy. The only thing that really matters is your own opinion.
I do not agree with RP Divers opinion on Coz. I love it there. So what. The bottom line is it's not for him. I am pretty sure that there is nothing we can say to make him change his opinion. He has other favorite places.
It's interesting to see everyone defend Cozumels honor, but I don't think his opinion is going to hurt tourism in Cozumel.

 

[scubamate]

My wife and I went to Cozumel for the first time a few years ago, after we were already very experienced divers (she's a PADI instructor and I'm a DM).

The level of certification does not necessasarily prove experience. There are a lot of Instructors and Divemasters that I won't dive with due to how they got their certs. Carry your log book to show proof of experience not a C-card.

I'm leaving in 2 weeks for my 4th trip to Coz. I've dove with Albatros Charters every year except the first. That was with DP and I got what I paid for.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Well, he did book his diving with a dive op who is well known to be a budget, cattle-boat, high volume - lowest common denominator type of operation (not that there's anything at all wrong with that; they are perfectly suited to some divers), and apparently he was not unhappy enough at the time to take his business elsewhere. He certainly deserves some of the responsibility for what happened to him.

Personally, I think that DP showed a lot of class by comping him a week's diving on their fast boat as a remedy for a problem for which they were not entirely to blame.

Well said.

 

[sharky60]

Just out of curiosity, I'd like to know what are "better" places to dive, and what are you basing your comments on. I think there are a lot of reasons to call a place a better. For instance, I learned to dive on Midway Island 24 years ago, I could say it's a better place to dive because if I could somehow get out there, I'd be pretty much by myself, and it's Hawaiian waters so 1/3 of the fish species would be endimic to the region, but I'm not sure that makes it "better" than Cozumel, just different. I've been a diver so long that I feel if I get wet...it's a good dive spot.
Cozumel is still rated by many dive and travel professionals as the #2 dive destination in the world next to the Great Barrier Reef.
Sure Coz is getting over crowded with cruise ships, and becomming more commercial all the time and every dive op is not perfect, but, it is still one of the best dives in the world. The people are wonderful, the foods good, the cerveza's cold and the price is right!! Makes this 'ol parrot head a happy camper!!
If you chose not to go back for what ever reason, that's fine. more space for the rest of us that do have dive ops that we love and still enjoy the island with all it's faults. I'd just like to know some dive destinations that you might think are better so I can try them in the future, if I haven't already and form my own opinon.
thankx