Cozumel dive ops with hp119s or hp120s?

[Dirty-Dog]

That's good to hear. Back when I tried Aldora in 2001, they would convert divers' regs to DIN for the duration of the trip.

So what changed? I thought that HP tanks' typical pressure of 3,500 was too much for yoke fittings to handle, hence the need for DIN. Are yokes getting better, is high pressure getting lower, or what?

I honestly don't know what changed. Like you, I was under the impression that my yokes would be converted while using their tanks. Not the case. Maybe Dave or someone with more knowledge will chime in and let us know what changed. 3500PSI is still 3500PSI though, that much I am sure of.

 

[andrewy]

If i were you , just grab an extra AL80 tank and rig it as a DIR stage bottle. you can even fill it up with 32% and do getto deco with it

As for large HPO tanks, it is a mixed bag.

Aldora has 120hps mine were filled to 3300 i.e. bit under. still i was a last guy out, as large tanks attrack Air hog crowd IMHO.
And that just messes up everything, 120HP in my book is 32% too big for air mix, as such it will be 10$ extra plus $25 extra for aldora boats to begin with.
(Mind you NOTHING is wrong with that, provided whole group is diving NItrox and are of similar abilities)

 

[divingjd]

I've used DIN and yoke regulators with Aldora. They use the convertible tank valves with the screw-in adapters to convert from DIN to yoke. Either way, the fill is in the 3200-3300 range. I might have seen as high as 3400, but not 3500. Modern yoke regulators can handle that. A 120 filled to 3300 PSI with 32% is great for deeper dives, which means long dives with a long time at 80-90 feet. With air, you obviously need a different profile. Aldora normally runs air boats and nitrox boats if at all possible. On my first trip with Aldora, I was the only air diver on a nitrox boat and ended spending a fair amount of time in mid-water, but it was one of the nitrox divers who ended up with an extended deco obligation. Now I dive nitrox with Aldora. In two weeks last year and a week this year, I was always with other nitrox divers. Aldora matched us up with other divers with similar skills and air consumption. The mix of divers they have on any given day may not allow a perfect match, but they go to more than a little effort to match divers well. Everybody is happier that way, which means better tips and more return customers. If the 120s attract air hogs, Aldora tries to keep the divers with better air consumption together. Simply finding an operation with bigger tanks may not be the solution. If they can't match divers with similar air consumption, the air hogs will still cut the dive short. My experience is that Aldora has enough divers on enough boats to be able to do a good job matching divers. As others have suggested, a heavier breather may have better results with an operation that generally uses AL 80s, but can make AL 100s available for heavier breathers.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

In about 2001 the gas industry changed the standards and allowed convertible din/yoke valves to be put on steel tanks rated at 3450 PSI. Most modern regs now have yoke fittings so rated. When we started Aldora Divers in 1992 we could only use DIN and did require conversion of the inlet fitting of those older regs. That was actually no big deal and having all possible adapters on hand it was a 5 minute operation, which we still occasionally, but rarely do.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

PS With multi level dives and air conservation techniques we promise an average of 1 hour 10 minutes per tank for all divers. Yes, there are rare instances in which one problem develops but I promise you that is the average of all of our dives. I know because I check our DMs computers myself.

 

[Mossman]

In about 2001 the gas industry changed the standards and allowed convertible din/yoke valves to be put on steel tanks rated at 3450 PSI. Most modern regs now have yoke fittings so rated. When we started Aldora Divers in 1992 we could only use DIN and did require conversion of the inlet fitting of those older regs. That was actually no big deal and having all possible adapters on hand it was a 5 minute operation, which we still occasionally, but rarely do.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

PS With multi level dives and air conservation techniques we promise an average of 1 hour 10 minutes per tank for all divers. Yes, there are rare instances in which one problem develops but I promise you that is the average of all of our dives. I know because I check our DMs computers myself.

Thanks for the info.

If you still have logs from March 2001, can you check the bottom times from my dives? March 24, 2001: first dive 47 min, second dive 57 min. March 25, 2001: first dive 45 min, second dive 29 min swimming over sand due to a bad drop and the DM unsuccessfully swimming us over sand the entire time against a strong current in a futile attempt to reach the wall before he aborted. Do I get my money back?

 

[boulderjohn]

According to their web site, Living Underwater uses LP tanks, not HP. That could make a significant difference, depending upon how much they are filled. Can anyone who has used that operator report on the customary level of the fills?

 

[scubafanatic]

Some dive shops (including one of those three with 120s) have a policy of having everyone ascend when the first diver in the group gets low on air. When I was diving a 120 with that one dive shop with that policy, I saw a woman go through a 120 in 45 min and that's how long our dive was. Glad I paid big bucks for a big tank on that trip.

Today (or at least when today comes around in April) I dive with Living Underwater too. Their 120s are less negative than the heavy tanks I've dove before, but being LP they don't require converting one's reg to DIN.

...is the unnamed dive op your're referencing Aldora ?

 

[boulderjohn]

...is the unnamed dive op your're referencing Aldora ?

Unless things have changed since I last dived with them, that was not their policy. When the first diver hit 1,000 PSI (meaning there is still a good amount of gas left), that diver would share air on the DM's 7 foot hose until the second diver hit 1,000 PSI. At that point the first diver went back on his/her gas and the ascent began.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Dear Mossman,

Yes, you can have your money back, or replacement diving. Just tell me which you prefer by PM.

As for a short dive fighting a current to get to the wall, that can happen when currents do strange things, and many times a DM can do nothing about it. And we have never claimed to be perfect, but I can tell you that we do try our best everyday, at least for the past 10 years.

As others on this board know, we had a 2 year stretch of time that Memo Mendoza and I were not on the island all the time and Jorge Marin was in charge. That ended ten years ago, and I can assure you that things have been much better since. Indeed, we now have our own compressors so don't have to rely on Meridiano, and we personally fill each tank to 3450 or more. We also have 8 boats (none are rental boats) and as you have seen above, we do a pretty good job of separating divers as to skill and interest. Plus, we do not charge extra for the big tanks as you surmised.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[Ms. Ann Thrope]

So do all of the big-tank operators require everyone come up at the same time, even with SMBs? I've only been diving with one of them, and that was 10 years ago. Back then, we had to ascend with the group, and it didn't suit us. We do just fine with 80s; I usually come up after no more than 70 minutes (assuming adequate no-deco time) just because I don't want to be rude, knowing it will mess up afternoon boat schedules if we press our time too much (and really, an hour is usually enough to make us happy). So, in regard to the big-tank ops, if a diver is with a group that can make good use of that much air (or Nitrox), does it mess up the boat schedule/unduly bore the divemaster if everyone wants to stay down, say, 90+ minutes? Or are those kinds of times built into the schedule?