Cozumel Dive Info requested

[drckw]

I am planning a trip to Cozumel over spring break and will be staying at the Fiesta Americana. Who are some good dive masters to go with? My son is a recently certified diver so I would like to have some fairly easy diving to see how he does.

I was in Cozumel in january and all I can say is that I would NOT recommend the PADI divers next to the Fiesta Americana. They were just going through the motions, didn't really seem to care if we spotted anything or not, just doing the routine they had to do to herd the troups through the dive. Not a lot of friendly interaction with the divers like I would usually expect. I think I'd be reluctant to take a new diver because of their lackadaisical attitude. Plus, be sure you don't get into a swift drift dive with a newbie; could be challenging if they're not used to it. When I was there, the currents were quite mild and manageable, but just a thought for a newbie.

 

[z28pwr]

There are alot of good operators in Cozumel. I like to go with Fernando from Mantarraya Divers since he is the owner and it's a small operation I get really good treatment. He has a small quick boat that takes up to 7 divers.

You can get more info at http://www.mantaraya.com/

 

[Dee]

Yes, smaller ops will give you more personalized attention BUT Scott is looking for advice on taking his newly certified son out. Punta Sur is not the place for new divers. I am sure we all know that as advanced divers we like the smaller boats and appreciate the level of divers that normally take the smaller boats. A larger boat will have more new divers on it and will go to dive sites that will be better suited for a new diver.

Good point, Deb, but I don't wholly agree. Just because a dive op uses smaller boats doesn't mean they can't or won't handle new divers. In fact I see just as many new divers on these small 6-8-pak boasts as I did on the cattle boats. As with any dive op, divers need to let the dive op know of their experience level. With the smaller boats, they are faster and can get to the dive sites quicker, leaving more time to dive. My last trip on a larger boat took 2 hours to get from LaCeiba Hotel to Columbia Shallows. We left the dock at 9am and got back at 4:30 and only did 2 dives all day. Sorry, that's a waste of my dive time, no matter what dive site you go to. and FYI, there were more experienced divers on that trip than newbies.

I agree, new diviers have no business on Punta Sur. Nor on Santa Rosa, Barracuda, Maracaibo or several others I could name. Caballitos and the others I named are some of the safest dive ops I've used and I wouldn't hesitate to send newly certified family members to them.

 

[Debraw]

My experience has always been that I took the small boats ( or fast boats) because it afforded me the opportunity to go to the further reefs, dive my computer and generally keep me away from the "cattle boats" and new divers who normally take those boats. I guess what I find hard to understand that if you do go with a really small operator like with one or two boats how do you get separated from the new divers? If you go with a larger operator who has more boats then the likely hood of you getting a smaller boat with divers in your experience level would be better. I want everyone to have a good time diving but when I only take one or two blue water trips a year then I pretty much want to be guaranteed a trip with experienced divers. I go with an operator in Cozumel that does EDP or Experienced Diver Profile diving. You must have at least 50 logged dives, (preferably a lot of blue water) , and a computer. They also have big boats and fast boats. So you get several different options.

 

[mardigrastexan]

Scott, my g/f and I went this past October and both of us were new to diving(10 or less dives.) And,we had no blue water diving experience. After a ton of research we decided to dive with "Scuba with Alison". We decided on her for several reasons, but the foremost reason was the care and attention she gives to newly certified divers. After diving with her, I can tell you from experience, she is the best we could have gone with. Not only does she know the reefs but she can find the critters. But, above all else,her attention to the safety of her customers is unparalleled. We haven't dived with the other OP's in Coz, but I know we wouldn't have found a better one....and we will not dive with anyone else when in Coz. I'd take a look at her OP and contact her with regards to your concerns.... www.scubawithalison.com and I'm not one to recommend anything without complete prior satisfaction.

 

[sealskin98]

Yes, smaller ops will give you more personalized attention BUT Scott is looking for advice on taking his newly certified son out. Punta Sur is not the place for new divers.

How did my mentioning the person who first took me to Punta Sur get transmorgified into me recommending a deep, overhead environment, decompression dive as one for a new diver? :heh_heh:

I also agree that fast boats can be good for a newbie, if they'll group ppl. by skill level, and you would get more individual attention when you're with 6 or 7 divers as opposed to 20. Cedral Pass is a good shallow dive if the currents aren't too strong, only about 60 fsw.

 

[Texass]

My Cozumel diving is very limited, but they were ALL drift dives. It was my 1st blue water experience diving, but I thought the current made the dives easier. It took me a couple of years to get my SAC rate as low as that 1st trip to Cozumel.

And yeah, Cedral Pass is a great shallow dive. I prefer it to the wall dives. It remindeds me of the inside cover of Zepplin's Houses of the Holy album. Colors everywhere!

 

[Dee]

My experience has always been that I took the small boats ( or fast boats) because it afforded me the opportunity to go to the further reefs, dive my computer and generally keep me away from the "cattle boats" and new divers who normally take those boats. I guess what I find hard to understand that if you do go with a really small operator like with one or two boats how do you get separated from the new divers? If you go with a larger operator who has more boats then the likely hood of you getting a smaller boat with divers in your experience level would be better. I want everyone to have a good time diving but when I only take one or two blue water trips a year then I pretty much want to be guaranteed a trip with experienced divers. I go with an operator in Cozumel that does EDP or Experienced Diver Profile diving. You must have at least 50 logged dives, (preferably a lot of blue water) , and a computer. They also have big boats and fast boats. So you get several different options.

I agree, that's the reason I like small boats. The ability to get away from new divers and do the more challenging dives is how I prefer to spend my limited dive trips. BUT if new divers will honestly tell the dive ops what their experience level is, the dive op can group like experiences levels together on the same boat. The 3 dive ops that I mentioned do that routinely, that's why I recommend them. These 3 dive ops have more than one small boat that goes out daily. The secret is that the diver has to communicate with the dive op beforehand, not just show up at the dock expecting a boat full of divers with the same experience level. Also, it's not hard to fill a boat with either your friends on the same trip or with other divers you have met who want the same type dives that you do.

It all boils down to what your like. Just don't paint all operators with small boats with the same brush, they are very different. Large boats aren't the only option for new divers.

 

[Debraw]

How did my mentioning the person who first took me to Punta Sur get transmorgified into me recommending a deep, overhead environment, decompression dive as one for a new diver? :heh_heh:"

Ahhhh!!!!! I didn't mean it that way! I should have prefaced my post with a " it has been my experience" . What I meant to say was that it has been my experience that divers who take small fast boats are normally looking for trips out to Punta Sur, Maracaibo, etc.

 

[Debraw]

After re-reading all of the posts, I have decided I have painted myself into a corner that I can not get out of. Back into lurk mode for me......