Cozumel for Beginners?

[Danny-Louise]

Greetings from Colorado:

My husband and I are newly certified and are thinking of going to Cozumel in either October or December.

My husband has heard that the currents are too strong for inexperienced divers but he doesn't remember where he heard that from... I'm guessing his father who has a new "Dead Diver" story to tell us every time we talk to him (eyes-a-rolling)

Can anyone comment on this for me? I found a decent deal at the Allegro... can anyone tell me yay or nay for that hotel?

Thanks Bunches!
Louise

 

[tbuckalew]

Greetings from Colorado:

My husband and I are newly certified and are thinking of going to Cozumel in either October or December.

My husband has heard that the currents are too strong for inexperienced divers but he doesn't remember where he heard that from... I'm guessing his father who has a new "Dead Diver" story to tell us every time we talk to him (eyes-a-rolling)

Can anyone comment on this for me? I found a decent deal at the Allegro... can anyone tell me yay or nay for that hotel?

Thanks Bunches!
Louise

We used to take classes down their for their OW checkouts! The diving isn't bad and is mostly drift diving (boat follows you as you drift with the current, so the current is not an issue.

Check with your local dive shop (LDS) that does trips and see what they have. We used to run trips every other month or so, leave early Friday, first dive that afternoon, more diving on Saturday, more diving Sunday am and leave Monday pm.

We always stayed at the Barracuda (right on the beach, their own dock, car/scooter rentals onsite and only a 5 block walk to downtown.

But can't say anything about your hotel.

 

[ShakaZulu]

Lot of "Trust-Me-Dives" down there, where the DM will take you to new lows............ Very popular site for beginners and once-a-year divers. Think for yourself, and enjoy the dive.

 

[Viscya]

Coz is great for new divers. It was my first stop after certification. If you get a chance, work on your buoyancy before you go. Drift diving is more work with bad buoyancy.

Allegro is nice, we prefer Iberostar.

 

[redacted]

The Allegro use Dive Palancar for its dive op. It is a good, conservative op. Unlike most ops, they do 4 1-tank dives each day, two on deep walls where current can be more of a problem and 2 on shallow reefs where currents tend to be lighter and little problem. So you can just do shallow dives if you want. I found the Allegro to be a very adequate facility.

BTW, do you need any dead father-in-law jokes?

 

[ggunn]

Greetings from Colorado:

My husband and I are newly certified and are thinking of going to Cozumel in either October or December.

My husband has heard that the currents are too strong for inexperienced divers but he doesn't remember where he heard that from... I'm guessing his father who has a new "Dead Diver" story to tell us every time we talk to him (eyes-a-rolling)

I dove Coz as a novice, and it was fine. More than fine, it was incredible. The great thing about Cozumel is that there are tons of dives for divers of just about every experience level there.

Priority One should be to be absolutely sure that whatever dive operation you go out with knows that you guys are new to diving. Some folks tend to inflate their experience level when talking to a dive op; not a good idea.

The current, when you get the hang of it (and most folks acclimate to it quickly), is not that big a deal. Most of the time, you will just kick to steer and let the current do the work of propulsion. There's no need for navigation; the boat drifts with you and is waiting whenever you get ready to ascend. It's the most relaxed diving I have ever done.

You will love it.

 

[Danny-Louise]

BTW, do you need any dead father-in-law jokes?

Yea, Baby!

 

[Dan Kom]

You can check out reviews at this link to form your opinion on the Allegro

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re..._by_Occidental-Cozumel_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

 

[mardigrastexan]

We'll be there again in October. This will be our second trip to Coz...our first trip being last October. We were newly certified when we went last time and we had no problems what-so-ever. Don't worry about being newly certified, just enjoy the dives....and you will down there! We'll be staying at the Allegro for the first time, so our fingers are crossed on this....we stayed at the Presidente last year. We dive with Scuba with Alison....she's extremely safe and watches out for your well being. I HIGHLY recommend her, and we won't dive with anyone else when in Coz. Not that the others are bad, we just know she's fantastic! .... www.scubawithalison.com if you want to check her out. Maybe we'll see y'all there in October. Good luck!

 

[scubacoz22]

Cozumel is a great place to dive, we are going in November for a Cyber dive and will be diving with Aldora, They have a new staff accept for one guy who was always a great DM. Just dont let anyone talk you into diving deeper than you are comfortable. Also you could go to Chachanaub park and do a beach dive, the diving there is great for beginners and is very shallow. There is lots to see under the coral ledges (Lobsters) and there is a cave than you can swim through that is safe. You could spend a long time underwater depending on your air consumption. We have been down over 90 minutes and still have lots of air left but got out because we were getting cold. Have a great dive trip and have fun! Kathy