Coz Dive Operator Recommendation - April 06

[leadweight]

The Mermaid and I are heading down to Coz in a bit over 2 weeks. Your recommendations for dive operators are solicited.

They must pick up in town, or very close to it (with no guff from the dock owner). We prefer hour long (or more) bottom times, and neither of us need big steel tanks to do that. Good service is also appreciated.

Anyone?

 

[sarbfar]

We have been to Cozumel diving 4-5 times and have gone with several operators there, can’t remember all of the names but the one that we ended up sticking with is Dive Paradise, maybe the biggest. We actually did our open water certs with Dive Paradise. We really like their fast boats (they have big slow boats too), they are the smaller boats that go faster and hold only 6-8 divers and it is easy to decide where you all want to dive, and you can usually get divers with more experience on these smaller boats because they are a slight bit more expensive, I think. But well worth the small expense. They are really flexible with where you want to go and picking you up etc. We really liked diving with a guy named Martin Matu. He was a lot of fun, pointed out some really neat things. So if he is available, I would request him, for the whole time you are staying, but it doesn’t really matter they are all really fun guys & gals. We night dive with them as well, this is always on one of the bigger boats but they divide the groups pretty well. They will pick up wherever there is a dock, another reason to take the small boat…less groups to pick up. Also they have proved to be very organized, compared to other dive operators that we have dealt with. Any other questions about places to eat, stay etc? http://www.diveparadise.com/ -Sarah

 

[Jcsgt]

We have also used Dive Paradise while down there. They have a great package with Hotel Cozumel, right across the street from their shop. There's a tunnel that runs under the street between the hotel and the shop to make getting from point A to point B a bit easier with dive gear. We have enjoyed all DP's dive masters, but were especially impressed with Victor. We went out one day with a small group and Victor found a pipe horse in the sea grass. Unfortunately, my dive buddy and I were a bit behind (I'm a photographer), and missed the little guy. The next day, Victor specifically took us back to the same site and found the pipe horse, again, to be sure we saw it. Now that's service!

DP's larger boats are very stable and comfortable and we never felt crowded or like we were on a cattle boat.

 

[Jcsgt]

By the way, if you want somebody to make the travel arrangements for you, my dive buddy happens to be a travel agent (a great plus for me) and can work to get you the best package available. Let me know and I can get you her contact info.

I last dived in Coz, last December. I was disappointed that some of the reefs were coated with sand, but was impressed that some, like Paradise (Paraiso) reef still looked good and healthy.

Have a great trip!

 

[master_diver_UJ]

My dive buddy and our families dove Cozumel last Wednesday, the 29th of March with Sand Dollar Sports. We dove Chankanaab / Bolones 1st, and second location was Paso Del-Cedral. Both dives were great - water temperatures were warm & vis was 100' +.

We rented equipment from Sand Dollar Sports, and everything fit well & worked well. The dive boat we were on, the Sand Dollar Explorer, was roomy & well equipped. The onboard bathroom was somewhat marginal, but that's what I've come to expect in the Caribbean.

We used Dive with Martin last year, and they were great as well.

My $0.02.

Enjoy!

John

 

[Martha]

The Mermaid and I are heading down to Coz in a bit over 2 weeks. Your recommendations for dive operators are solicited.

They must pick up in town, or very close to it (with no guff from the dock owner). We prefer hour long (or more) bottom times, and neither of us need big steel tanks to do that. Good service is also appreciated.

Anyone?

You might want to do a search on the Cozumel sub forum. There's a lot of information on dive operator options. My operator of choice is Blue XT~Sea, which would fulfill the requirements you mentioned above. Their website is: bluextseadiving.com
Whatever dive operator you decide to go with, I hope you have a great time!