Cozumel Advice for newbie

[JPG]

My girlfriend and I just went to Coz for the first time in May. She completed her checkout dives and then caught up with me for the rest of the trip. All our diving was done through "Dive with Martin" which I set up ahead o0f time. Those guys were great. There wasn't a single day that we weren't first on site. We were laughing the entire time on the boat and really enjoyed the DMs. Cross your fingers and you may get to dive with Tiger. He's a trip.
Anyway, stayed at Fiesta Americana and took cabs into the city almost every night. Dove 2 days 2tank and 3 days 3 tank. She rented from DWM and I had my gear with me. I can't give a strong enough rec for this dive op.

Have fun! We'll be going back before the year is out. (I considered cancling my Palau trip and using the money for multiple Coz trips! Not sure yet.

JPG

 

[Canucklehead]

Going to Coz for the first time can be very frustrating, as any Cozumelholic can tell you. So...I have devised a 12 step plan.

1. Look through posts in this forum and pick a few hotels that sound good to you.
2. Go to your travel agent and find an air/hotel package that fits your budget. (If you don't care for package flights go directly to step 3.)
3. Book air and hotel.
4. Fly to Coz.
5. Choose one of the dive ops. from perusing the posts on this site and book dives....

Just a word to the wise... you may want to book your first few dives BEFORE you get there. We did that this year, and arrived on the Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend. The on-site dive op and the dive-op we had booked with were both sold out with all of the folks who had come in from the U.S. for the weekend.

If we hadn't booked ahead, it would have been Tuesday before we would have got in the water with either of them. I'm sure we could have called around and found someone (with a cattle boat probably) that could have fit us in, but it wouldn't have been our first (or second) choice...

Anyway, just be careful if you plan on arriving during a U.S. long weekend or holiday.

YMMV

 

[divenut2001]

My girlfriend and I just went to Coz for the first time in May. She completed her checkout dives and then caught up with me for the rest of the trip. All our diving was done through "Dive with Martin" which I set up ahead o0f time. Those guys were great. There wasn't a single day that we weren't first on site. We were laughing the entire time on the boat and really enjoyed the DMs. Cross your fingers and you may get to dive with Tiger. He's a trip.
Anyway, stayed at Fiesta Americana and took cabs into the city almost every night. Dove 2 days 2tank and 3 days 3 tank. She rented from DWM and I had my gear with me. I can't give a strong enough rec for this dive op.

Have fun! We'll be going back before the year is out. (I considered cancling my Palau trip and using the money for multiple Coz trips! Not sure yet.

JPG

JMHO but it would be a "BIG" mistake to cancel the Palau trip if you haven't been there yet. I will have life long memories of that place. A visit to Yap when you're there should also be included. When I talk with other divers and we share where we've been I always see a little look of envy when I tell them I've been to Palau)

 

[tgrapent]

I am leaving next week for my 4th trip to Cozumel. If you like to dive, this place is awesome! My opinion on gear is I like to bring my own because I know it fits right and I know how it has been treated and serviced. I don't like to play aroung when it comes to life support gear you know? Depending on your budget. The Intercontinental is the best place on the island but, extremely expensive. I choose to go to all-inclusives. I have stayed at the Iberostar and both Occidentals(Allegro and Grand) All three of these are right near Palancar Reef so the boat rides are very short. The Allegro has the nicest beach. Food is pretty much the same at all three. I liked the dive services as well. I have not been to Hawaii, I hope to. Remember Mexico is not the US. Tip well and you will be treated like a king. The diving is OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You will not be dissapointed with Cozumel.

TG

Hello everyone,

My girlfriend and I was certified last summer in Maui. We are planning a trip to Cozumel and need some advice on places to dive, dive shop, hotels, and whether to purchase, rent equipment here or there. Bascially, everything about Cozumel. We may still consider going back to Hawaii if members here recommend not going to Cozumel. Thanks in advance.

Marshall

 

[sharky60]

i agree with the others you won't be disappointed with El Presidente, it's the only 5 star resort on the island, i've never dove with Alyson but have heard good things, we ususally use Blue Bubble and have had great safe dives with them also Dive with Martin is an excellent op.
you will really enjoy Cozumel diving, after all it isn't the #2 dive destination in the world for nothing!!!!! my wife also got certified in Maui and we are both Hawaii nuts, but after her first dive in Coz she came up and said "Wow! it's being in a National Geographic Magazine!!, I can't belive the colors!!"
hope you have a great trip,
the shark

 

[my911]

I am trying to choose a dive op. I've read all the post and there are so many that come highly recommended. It seems like we will be taking the AOW course and dive an additional 3 days after. The choices are Scuba with Alison, BlueXt Sea, Deep Blue, Dive with Martin. Not in any meaningful order. I was told to make sure that on the AOW course to ask for an instructor that will actually teach you something and not just take you diving. The reason why we want to take the AOW is to further our diving education. Have any of you guys taken any courses with any of these mentioned dive operators?

 

[halocline]

my911;

I would add Scubashack to your list. AKA Roberta's Eco-dive Cozumel. It's a small op run by really high quality people, lots of personal attention, excellent dive masters and small (6 person) fast boats. It's likely that if you take the AOW with them, it will be a private class.

 

[donooo]

Onsite or Offsite ? Good question. Lots of convience with going onsite. Walk off the dock, rinse your gear, have lunch. But , may be larger boats or groups or less individual attention or rotating DM.

Diving with someone like Allison is pretty special. May cost a little more (?) Also a better chance of diving at your skill level.

With the onsite guys, there's a couple of dives that I'am pretty tired of.

Offsite, better chance that your vote counts.

If you are going AI, then you are probably a convience sort of person. Of course an offsite op can pick you up and drop you off at the same dock.

So, I'am no help. I stay in an apartment off the beach, have been to Cozumel twice, first time 11 weeks, second time 15 weeks. Three months this coming winter.

Cruising for dive ops is like a giant smorgasboarg.

adios

 

[DrDuktayp]

A small group of us are heading to Cozumel Mid September. We are all cold water divers (dry) and my wife and I have never dove in warm water. Would just a lycra skin suit be enough protection?

Oh, we booked at Scuba Club, anyone been there or know of it?

Thanks,
DrDuktayp

 

[originaljonathan]

Water temps will be 80-81 dF, plus or minus a couple. If you do a lot of diving (3 tanks/day or more for several days), you will lose some core temp by the end of 3-4 days with no thermal protection. Scuba Cozumel only has al80s, so at 2 tanks a day (the typical menu at SC) you won't suffer much. If you add night dives or shore dives, better plan on a 3 mil full suit.

As for diving with Scuba Club, I have dived with them (before the name change from Galapago Inn) 8-10 times, ending in 1998. A lot of the guys I used to dive with are still there, for example, William, who is the dive op manager, and Pancho (Francisco Maruffo), and Ariel. They are good people and good divers, but Tim, the owner and manager of SC, compels them to run a very conservative operation.

Expect to dive rigid and square profiles with everybody going down together and everybody coming up together, so try to get them to group more experienced divers separately from novices or other airhogs. I could never dive any of the north reefs (Baracuda, San Juan, Cantarel) or the more distant and demanding southern reefs (El Islote, Maracaibo) with SC, no matter how experienced the divers were on the boat (expect a full house, by the way), and it took me 4 years to get anyone to go to Punta Sur, and even then we were not shown any of the deep passageways or chimneys like Devil's Throat or Cathedral (and I am a PADI OWSI since 1977, though long since retired).

The boats are faster than in the old days, and the main boats are of a size that you may be able to secure the whole boat for your group (if you have 20+ divers, insist on it with Tim).

Also, the resort tells you to lump tips together for maids, waiters and divemasters/captains at about 10% of your per person package price, which is a tad cheesy. Don't even consider it! If you tip the DMS separately and daily, they will be much happier with you. $5/diver/tank is the base standard on the island. Tip more if they please you. They will split tips with the boat crews.

Scuba Cozumel is not a bad choice for a first trip, especially if no one has their heart on gonzo diving. The food is pretty consistently good, but you owe it to yourself to sample some of the terrific restaurants in town. The staff at SC is totally wonderful, so treat them kindly.

Have a fun trip!

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