Cozumel recommendations for newbies?

[micknewton]

We (me, wife, friends) are going to be in the Cancun/Cozumel area in April and I'm looking for recommendations for dive shops and dive sites.

Since my wife and I were only certified a little over a year ago and we haven't dived since, I think we should start with something on the tame side. I would like to keep her anxiety level at a minimum and sort of ease her into diving again. I'm even considering a refresher course to help with that. Is that a good idea, or just a waste of money? She did great with her OW cert dives in Puerto Vallarta last year, but I can tell that she's getting a little nervous just thinking about diving in coz. On our first OW dive we ended up playing 'Open Water' when a strong current carried us away from the boat. I didn't have enough air left to submerge and work our way back. We had to drift with the current for about a half hour before the boat picked us up. Anyway, when I mentioned drift diving in coz her eyes suddenly got real big. :11:

Do I need to book dive trips in advance, or is it okay to just walk in and say, "I wanna go diving."

We will be staying on the mainland at the Grand Mayan Riviera Maya, so I guess we will have to ride the ferry to get to Cozumel. What is that like? Is it expensive? Does it carry cars?

 

[akbpilot]

Mick,
You might get better insight over on the Cozumel forum, but I'll throw my 2 psi in here in case no one else sees it.

The ferry runs pretty much on the hour, leaving Playa @ 6:00am, takes about 45mins or so, costs $10.00 or $11.00,(not exactly sure on the price, my wife bought the tickets the last time, while I got the bags moved), does not carry cars. The closest you can get to the ferry terminal on the Playa side is 2 or 3 blocks, you can hire a "tricycle guy" to haul your crap down to the terminal for 4 dollars. Buy you tickets before you get to the terminal at one of the kiosks.

Once on the Cozumel side, it's about a 1/2 block from the terminal to the street. cabs will be waiting there. It's usually a $3.00 or $4.00 cab ride to Blue Angel, who we dive with. I think the max is $4.00 from the square to the southern cruise ship pier area.

There are a ton of good dive ops on the island, and everyone has their favs, so I will only comment on the op we use, Blue Angel. I know Blue Angel has 8:30 am dives, 10:00 or 10:30 am dives, and some afternoon diving if they get enough people signed up. You can do some shore diving in front of the shop for a nominal fee, or do a refresher with one of the instructors from the shop, whatever you are most comfortable with. If you go to sign up for dives, tell Victor (@ the shop), or Jeannie (via e-mail) what your experience and comfort level is, and see if they can get you grouped up with people your own level. It will help to get lined up for your dives a day or two in advance.

As far as the diving on Cozumel, my wife and I are new divers, did our open water certs last year in Cozumel, and find the drift diving there to be enjoyable. The current is great, not too bad on most sites. Think of it as a free ride. It is live boat drift diving, so the boat follows along as you drift, never more then a few minutes after you surface till you are picked up. Buddy pairs are sent up when the first diver (usually me) hits their LOA limit, whatever that is for a particular dive. Take a safety sausage for marking yourself on the surface. If you are not comfortable alone, consider hiring a private divemaster to get you familiar, and show you the ins and outs. Heck, hire a divemaster for all your dives if that is where your comfort level is, no harm in that, as long as you are still actively planning and executing your dives, and not just blindly following along. Bouyancy control is important, as well as being able to comfortably ditch your gear alongside the boat before climbing aboard. Different ops do things differently, but we were comfortable doing things the way Blue Angel did them.

 

[dragonfly122556]

Hey from Louisiana,
I remember when I first went to Cozumel and my first experience was scary considering that I blew my eardrum out during certification but believe me Cozumel is the best for us right now. Vis is 100 to 120 ft. Go to www.livingunderwater.com. Jeremy is a good friend of mine and he caters to small groups, Not Cattleboats.(20 to 30 divers on boat. Jeremy goes very slow and caters to each divers needs. He is actually from the US, but moved there and just recently his wife had a little girl and they also have a son. His crew is great an actually is getting a new boat sometime in April. Jeremy is very informative and we dive with him every time we go. He uses steel tanks so bottom time is longer and uses computers. Cozumel is wonderful.

 

[micknewton]

We finally got booked with Blue XT~Sea Divers. We have a dive master scheduled to babysit us on our first dive too. Christi insisted on the DM after I told her of our limited diving experience. It's no problem. It should be worth the extra cash if it helps my wife relax a bit and enjoy her dive.

Thanks for the helpful replies folks!

Thanks also to Jim Baldwin for the recommendations.