Cozumel in April?

[nanches]

We dove in Cozumel on this same day 3/15/25. Seeing this spiked my PTSD after getting left behind by the DM of Salt Endeavors in turbulent waters. The first dive was amazing and "Freddy" the DM was quite attentive, but my husband ruptured his ear drum at the end of the dive so couldn't go on the second dive. I decided to go without him after establishing that Freddy would be my "Buddy" on the second dive. The captain accidentally gave me my husband's BCD which had half the weight that I needed to descend. I couldn't descend below just a few feet and watched Freddy and the other 3 divers descend to the bottom (about 45 ft) and then swim off with the current without even once looking back to see if I was with them. By the time he noticed and came back looking for me, I had been back in the boat for several minutes. Luckily a DM from another company looked back and saw me waving as they were driving off, otherwise who knows what would have happened? No apologies from the crew of Salty Endeavors - just trying to cover up that they had given me the wrong BCD and then Freddy laughed about leaving me.

I’m sorry to hear that this happened to you. It sounds like it was scary and upsetting. It definitely sounds out of character for Freddy to swim off without a diver. I’ve dived with Freddy a lot of times and find him to be one of the best DMs I’ve dived with. It sounds like you also had a good experience with him on your first dive. I wonder if Freddy and the others did indeed swim off or of it was just that the current separated you from them. The current on the surface is frequently different from that at depth. I also think that if he did swim off without you, it’s hard to imagine how he would have been able to get back to the boat several minutes later with the way the currents run. On a dive with Freddy 2 days later, one of the divers in our group had trouble descending and Freddy went right to her and gave her more weight to help. I’ve also been in this situation and the DMs are right there to help. It sounds like that didn’t happen for you, so that must have been upsetting. I’m glad you didn’t get left behind by the captain or Freddy, as it sounds like they got you back on the boat and were watching you.
Do you and your husband have the exact same kit, or were you renting your gear? My daughter and I rent and Salty Endeavors labels our BCDs with our names. We also have some different colored gear that we clip to the BCDs that help distinguish our kits. My daughter uses about 6 fewer lbs of lead than I, so I wouldn’t be able to descend with her kit. It can get a bit crowded and hectic between dives on the 6-pack boats, and people sometimes switch seats, so I always check to make sure that I get my gear back and sit next to it for the second dive. I hope you were able to keep diving and enjoyed it after that unfortunate experience.

 

[ggunn]

I’m sorry to hear that this happened to you. It sounds like it was scary and upsetting. It definitely sounds out of character for Freddy to swim off without a diver. I’ve dived with Freddy a lot of times and find him to be one of the best DMs I’ve dived with. It sounds like you also had a good experience with him on your first dive. I wonder if Freddy and the others did indeed swim off or of it was just that the current separated you from them. The current on the surface is frequently different from that at depth. I also think that if he did swim off without you, it’s hard to imagine how he would have been able to get back to the boat several minutes later with the way the currents run. On a dive with Freddy 2 days later, one of the divers in our group had trouble descending and Freddy went right to her and gave her more weight to help. I’ve also been in this situation and the DMs are right there to help. It sounds like that didn’t happen for you, so that must have been upsetting. I’m glad you didn’t get left behind by the captain or Freddy, as it sounds like they got you back on the boat and were watching you.
Do you and your husband have the exact same kit, or were you renting your gear? My daughter and I rent and Salty Endeavors labels our BCDs with our names. We also have some different colored gear that we clip to the BCDs that help distinguish our kits. My daughter uses about 6 fewer lbs of lead than I, so I wouldn’t be able to descend with her kit. It can get a bit crowded and hectic between dives on the 6-pack boats, and people sometimes switch seats, so I always check to make sure that I get my gear back and sit next to it for the second dive. I hope you were able to keep diving and enjoyed it after that unfortunate experience.

The main takeaway I get from the story is that it is every diver's responsibility to be sure that they are diving with their own gear. It's unfortunate but this was a blown dive.

 

[divingwithdiane]

We dove in Cozumel on this same day 3/15/25. Seeing this spiked my PTSD after getting left behind by the DM of Salt Endeavors in turbulent waters. The first dive was amazing and "Freddy" the DM was quite attentive, but my husband ruptured his ear drum at the end of the dive so couldn't go on the second dive. I decided to go without him after establishing that Freddy would be my "Buddy" on the second dive. The captain accidentally gave me my husband's BCD which had half the weight that I needed to descend. I couldn't descend below just a few feet and watched Freddy and the other 3 divers descend to the bottom (about 45 ft) and then swim off with the current without even once looking back to see if I was with them. By the time he noticed and came back looking for me, I had been back in the boat for several minutes. Luckily a DM from another company looked back and saw me waving as they were driving off, otherwise who knows what would have happened? No apologies from the crew of Salty Endeavors - just trying to cover up that they had given me the wrong BCD and then Freddy laughed about leaving me.

That's really unfortunate. Definitely the first goal of a scuba guide is to make sure the group is with you at all times. Hope you still got to enjoy Cozumel!

 

[nldunn]

Hi,

I realize that your original post was from January, so this might be coming a bit too late for your planning needs, but I just saw this, today. I just want to share that my daughter and I stayed at Playa Azul the last 2 summers and dove while we were there. We love that area of Cozumel: it’s quiet, it’s nice to have a small beach, and the snorkeling is really great. In summer 2023, we dove with Salty Endeavors for 2 weeks. Unfortunately, Playa Azul wouldn’t let them pick us up at the hotel pier (they only allowed the house dive shop, Blue Dream, to use it). But we had already made reservations with SE so we just took a 5-minute taxi to and from the northern marina, where they depart from, each day. Salty Endeavors is a great op and, even though they are located at the northern Marina, their boats are really fast and got down to the southern sites and back very quickly. I highly recommend them if you are staying at Playa Azul. During our summer 2024 trip, we decided to dive with Blue Dream for the convenience of leaving from/returning to the hotel pier each day. The folks at Blue Dream are very nice and their captain and dive guide are great! There are a number of lesser known, shallow dive sites up north that Blue Dream mostly visits and they are great for beginners (not the ones mentioned above). They don’t often go to the sites further south that most dive ops go to. They asked for us to pay extra for fuel costs to visit the sites farthest south. Their boat is much slower, so if you go to any of the southern sites, it will be a longer journey. Halfway through our trip we decided to switch back to Salty Endeavors, in order to have a greater variety of sites to dive, and since we had already been to a lot of the southern sites the summer before, we kind of knew what we were missing. I do think, though, that Blue Dream could be a good option for you and your daughter. They can take you to the shallower sites to the north and can also take you to some of the shallower sites in the mid-island area - San Clemente, Yucab, Paradise, Villa Blanca reef. It might be perfect for your level of experience; it will be convenient since you are staying at Playa Azul; and they are a very good dive shop.
I hope that you and your daughter have a wonderful time!
(Also) Nancy

I just saw this!! Thank you for this info! We ended up going to Curacao, much tamer diving from the beaches, but my husband and I are going to go back to Playa Azul and will look into these dive companies.
Thanks, another Nancy!!