Coz dive shops......give me the good the bad and the ugly??

[augie]

I know I'm a bit late to this thread, but I couldn't resist putting my two cents in, and perhaps getting a cent or two back!

First off, I've only been to Cozumel, to this point, as a passenger on a, I hate to say it, well you know, one of those ultra-cattle barges! The first time we went my wife was newly certified, and we I made arrangements over the internet for the two of us to dive with Dive Paradise. I normally like to do the early am dives, but we weren't in port early enough to do that, so when we got to town we went to Dive Paradise to fill out our paperwork and leave our gear and received instructions to meet them on a pier at 1:00PM.

We forgot that ship's time and local time were an hour apart, so we got to the pier around 11:45 or so, in time to watch the morning boats return and drop divers off. We kind od assumed that we would be going out on the same boats.....

When it was finally the time we were supposed to be there, a little fishing boat motored up to the pier with a couple of guys in it, and our gear!!!

The look on Leslie's face was priceless! One other gentleman showed up, so three divers, the "captain" and divemaster motored off. At this point Leslie had maybe 8 dives under her belt, including her OW and AOW checkout dives, all from "big" boats. When Enrique explained that we would be doing a backwards roll entry I saw that look on her face again. When he asked if there were any questions, she told him that she'd never done a back roll and didn't know what to do. The answer was comical in its simplicity - "you sit on the rail of the boat, and roll off of it backwards into the water".

This boat wasn't what I had envisioned a "six-pack" to be, but we had great dives, and the memory of Leslie's first backwards roll entry is priceless!

So....do your odds of getting on a small boat increase if you dive in the afternoon rather than the morning?

I want to try and go to Cozumel for a week in November (I'd like to go now, but that will be the first chance I'll have). I will be checking out some of the dive operators that I've seen mentioned on this thread, as well as Dive Paradise. Another one I've heard some good things about that I'd like to hear feedback from this board on is Eagle Ray Divers - do any of you scubaboarders have any experience using them?

 

[Joeyandashley]

Augie........ we were in Coz last December on one of those nasty carnival ships. (NEVER AGAIN) We had the pleasure of doing a 2 tank dive with Eagle Ray divers. They were very professional and took good care of us. There were about 8 divers on the boat which they broke up into 2 groups. The boat was not a cattle boat, but was big enough to be comfortable. There was a head on the boat, as well as cold water and beer for after the dive. We will be back in Coz for a week this time in June and have already booked our dives with Eagle Ray. I'll be back June 8th so I'll post another report about our trip.

 

[ednedfred]

For what it's worth, I use Blue Angel. Small boats (6) and great staff. Relatively inexpensive too!

 

[mcmpw]

Want to dive with the elite and best dive opp in cozumel, check out Aldora Divers. Steel 120's, furnished dive computers in you don't have one. A little more expensive (very little), but when you break your dive down to a per minute basis, probably half the price of about all others.

You will limit your bottom time, not your dm.

by the way, which should go without saying, these are small six-pack boats with the best and most attentive divemasters on the island.

Leaving Sunday to go back and dive. Bye.

 

[jgreenwo]

I just got back from my second trip to Cozumel. I went with Del Mar Aquatics. They have large boats that some of you call "cattle" boats, but the diving was great in my opinion. One day we had about 15 people on the boat, so the dive masters split the group up into two separate dive groups. There were seven of us with one dive master, and we had no problems at all. We went on our dive, and had a pretty long bottom time, and when we were done we got back on the boat and waited for the other group to surface and climb aboard. Plenty of room, and the boats are fast. Every day, our first dives were somewhere near the south end of the island (Punta Sur, Columbia, Palancar, Santa Rosa) and then our second dives were usually close to our hotel (paraiso, tormentos, chankanaab, paso del cedral, yucab) and we were usually done at about noon each day. A very good experience overall.

 

[curtissqd]

Hi,

I am talking to the following - all of which I like from my discussions, but would like your thoughts (btw, I hate cattle boats - prefer less than 6 people max if possible).

No particular order:
1. Blue Angel
2. DivewithMartin
3. PapaHogs

All seem to be very good people.

BTW, Blue Angel now owns Hotel Lorena (Reina)

Thanks
Curtis

 

[ALS7657]

We just got back on the 6th and used Dive Paradise. Our first time with them but several others on the trip had used them for years. They did a great job, had all sorts of snacks on the boat between dives, changed your gear and had you ready to go. If a tank didn't have at least 3K they found one that did ! They picked us up every morning at the Plaza Las Glorias and were right on time every day.........no complaints with this group.

ALS

 

[curtissqd]

Hi,

I just came back from Belize - where I dove with many operators (all of whom I checked out first).

Unfortunately in Palcencia, the dive operator I was going with cancelled the trip and they sent me to another op.

Now the fun begins - I tried to pick out decent equipment but should have pre-tested.

BCD inflator hose leaked badly - but manageable - besides was 2 hours out by boat.

However during the 1st dive both divemasters swam away with another diver and I asked them not to do this.

2nd dive - I was behind a corral head, did not notice they swam off again and my first stage failed. When I looked for them they were 70' away and going strong - so no choice but to ascend - was I pissed - not at them but at myself - my gut told me it was wrong but I still went in the water so....

Do your homework and trust your gut - and also if you don't take your own equipment - be sure to pre-test everything before you go out.

Happy diving
Curtis:doctor:

 

[DocVikingo]

Actually, Blue Angel doesn't really own the Reina just yet, but they're gaining on it.

Have fun.

DocVikingo

 

[amandasdaddy]

Dive Paradise is all I know. My buddy used Blue Bubble and loved it. he liked the small fast boats. I like to sit on top of the bigger boats, get some sun and talk to the people I'm diving with.


Dive Paradise seems very personable to me. The shop manager gets to know you the week your there and seems to really take pride in getting everyone satisified. I stay at PLG and leave from their dock. The boats are usually on time and fairly clean. The part I enjoy - is the fruit snacks between dives. It's very refreshing. However - Dive Paradise doesn't use fast boats. They are big and slow. Not too bad unless your going out to the Deeps or Maricaibo.

Again I like DP because of the DM's that I've gotten to know over the years as well as getting time to chat with a lot of people on the boat over the years. I'd try another dive company, expect I know Chino (the DM) will be there when I go back and It's easy for me as I know what to expect.

I think there are better shops most likely. Better only equals different to me. Do I need a 120 tank? I don't know. I am happy with 80's. Sometimes a longer dive doesn't necessarily mean a better dive. You usually end up hovering over sand at the end of the dives anyway, right? So it's nice to get a couple hours under water and then get back to land for food and drink.

For my dollar, I prefer Dive Paradise... but again, they are all I know on CZM.