Cozumel shore diving?

[ReefHound]

Any chance you could list them? Would like to try a few new ones after morning dives...

BTW, they have already been listed. This is a nearly 100 post thread and most of the shore dive locations were covered in the first page.

While you can stumble into the ocean pretty much anywhere and see fish, there are only a handful of places that I would qualify as a shore dive site for a tourist, having legal access, good entry/exit points, safe conditions, some sort of coral or artificial reef formation, and nearby access to tanks/weights.

 

[lowwall]

Yes, it is a great shore dive, especially at night in the habitat of my 4 destroyed docks. Easy in, easy out with stairs. We also keep very small HP80 tanks there at all times and anyone diving with Aldora, no matter where you are staying are welcome—free of course!

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Note that this thread is from 2017 and 2018.

I'm diving with Aldora this week. I had seen this thread and I found the idea of taking evening dives off the Villa's dock really appealing. So I e-mailed Memo about staying there, but they didn't have a 2BR place for me and my dive buddy. So I booked at Cantamar which is just a few doors down specifically so I could walk over to the Villa to do the occasional shore dive.

Unfortunately when I got here, Aldora told me that only those staying at the Villa can shore dive there. I mentioned this thread and he suggested I take it up with Dave directly. I sent him a note via scubaboard very early yesterday morning, but have not heard back.

I'm posting this in part to get Dave's attention, but also to warn people that this offer may no longer stand. And if you can't stay at the Villa, then you probably don't want to stay in the North side. It's more expensive than in town and a minor pain in the butt to get back and forth. Especially as they informed us today that there are no divers starting at the Villa tomorrow so we have to find a taxi at 7am to get to their downtown dock.

 

[NDL_Diver]

There is a big Norte comming.

Windguru - Mexico - Cozumel

Looks like the port will be closed Wed through Saturday.

Keep in touch with Memo since he may bring some boats to the East side. At that point the only ones diving will be Aldora.

Since Dave no longer owns Aldora Divers the old policies are confusing. They only pickup at villia if they have divers at Villa diving that day? I guess it is not busy at the villa this week.

What about the bike policy if you are not staying at the villa but diving with Aldora? Dave used to let you use the bikes if you dove with Aldora.

I guess we all need to know how this shakes out since many stay up North and load at the Villa and dive with Aldora for this option.

Good news it is only a 5 min ride to town and only 5 bucks.

 

[ChuckP]

Note that this thread is from 2017 and 2018.

I'm diving with Aldora this week. I had seen this thread and I found the idea of taking evening dives off the Villa's dock really appealing. So I e-mailed Memo about staying there, but they didn't have a 2BR place for me and my dive buddy. So I booked at Cantamar which is just a few doors down specifically so I could walk over to the Villa to do the occasional shore dive.

Unfortunately when I got here, Aldora told me that only those staying at the Villa can shore dive there. I mentioned this thread and he suggested I take it up with Dave directly. I sent him a note via scubaboard very early yesterday morning, but have not heard back.

I'm posting this in part to get Dave's attention, but also to warn people that this offer may no longer stand. And if you can't stay at the Villa, then you probably don't want to stay in the North side. It's more expensive than in town and a minor pain in the butt to get back and forth. Especially as they informed us today that there are no divers starting at the Villa tomorrow so we have to find a taxi at 7am to get to their downtown dock.

Search “taxis Cozumel “ on Facebook, you can message them - there’s loads of taxis out and about in the morning

 

[Rob9876]

Perhaps this is a dumb question, but if the port closes because of wind/waves are there any places on the west side that might still be o.k. to shore dive?

 

[sbk12rs]

Bummer , coming up after the first five to get the news of the closing. The sky looked dark but by no means did it seem like the weather to close the park ...

 

[mikeycanuk]

I found the Aldora villas to be nice but not worth the $ if I’m being honest. Staying right in town this year and can’t wait. I’ll take walking around town (no car)than driving from the south end with a car

 

[lowwall]

Perhaps this is a dumb question, but if the port closes because of wind/waves are there any places on the west side that might still be o.k. to shore dive?

Aldora called me earlier. They are going to do a single tank afternoon boat dive from the west side. I have no idea if they have any spots left, but maybe call them in the morning if the port is closed. Which seems likely, it's thunderstorming now.

 

[Rob9876]

Aldora called me earlier. They are going to do a single tank afternoon boat dive from the west side. I have no idea if they have any spots left, but maybe call them in the morning if the port is closed. Which seems likely, it's thunderstorming now.

I'm just asking in general -- I don't get there until Friday night, and am not booked through Aldora. I'm just wondering, when the port is closed due to wind/waves (like it may be early next week), if there is still a possibility of safely shore diving from anywhere on the west side (say, around Tikila, or somewhere else)? I'm a bit bummed looking at the weather from Saturday afternoon through early next week.

 

[k4kafka]

I'm just asking in general -- I don't get there until Friday night, and am not booked through Aldora. I'm just wondering, when the port is closed due to wind/waves (like it may be early next week), if there is still a possibility of safely shore diving from anywhere on the west side (say, around Tikila, or somewhere else)? I'm a bit bummed looking at the weather from Saturday afternoon through early next week.

I don’t think it is unreasonable for Aldora to restrict the use of their facilities to paying customers...The potential legal complications of opening their property to the public at large should be self-evident...