Distance to dive sites and surface interval

[NDL_Diver]

Options are limited if staying at more North hotel are:
1. Long Boat ride.
Most dive ops leave from Marina Fonatur. You have to meet there or be staying South to be picked up. A few dive ops pickup further north but that is even a longer ride.
Some dive ops SI at Playa Palancar. You can get off boat there for an hour. Several dive operations do this.
You can pick an dive OP that has a bigger fast boat like Dive with Christina. Her boat is bigger and fast. I don"t know where she SI though.
2. Drive down South to Iberostar and dive with Dressel (or Occidental dive op but don't know where they SI). You will have to make arrangements with Dressel to see if possible.

Sorry their is no other options I can think

 

[ChuckP]

Like they say, staying in the North makes for a long boat ride and taxi ride - easily adds almost two hours to each trip verses staying way south and getting picked up.

Small op with 6-10pax boats, and no staying in the North!!

 

[Doc Harry]

The most retarded thing to do is stay up near San Miguel and travel in the little fast boats. It's a pounding ride, you get sprayed the whole time, soaked when it's raining, burned to a crisp when it's sunny (no sun shade). Then during your surface interval you can rock back forth until you vomit, there's with no room to stretch out, and there's no toilet.

We've stayed at Scuba Club dozens of times. The large boats are slow, but if you're in a hurry please stay home. I stretch out on the roof with a dozen other people and sleep all the way to the dive site. During the surface interval the larger boats are stable. On the way back to the resort, I take a shower on the boat, stretch out, and sleep some more.

We stayed a Fiesta Americana many times. The trip to the southern reefs is quite short. But the beach side of FA was closed, don't know if it's re-opened.

 

[Saboteur]

In general do most Op’s pick up divers by van and transport to the marina (e.g. Grand Cayman)? Or is it up to the diver to find their own transport to the marina? Or the Op’s shop?

 

[Grateful head]

The most retarded thing to do is stay up near San Miguel and travel in the little fast boats. It's a pounding ride, you get sprayed the whole time, soaked when it's raining, burned to a crisp when it's sunny (no sun shade). Then during your surface interval you can rock back forth until you vomit, there's with no room to stretch out, and there's no toilet.

We've stayed at Scuba Club dozens of times. The large boats are slow, but if you're in a hurry please stay home. I stretch out on the roof with a dozen other people and sleep all the way to the dive site. During the surface interval the larger boats are stable. On the way back to the resort, I take a shower on the boat, stretch out, and sleep some more.

We stayed a Fiesta Americana many times. The trip to the southern reefs is quite short. But the beach side of FA was closed, don't know if it's re-opened.

Ugh…would have to strongly disagree with you. We have been staying north of town the last five times to Cozumel. We meet our dive op (salty endeavors) at the abrigo marina, are the first ones on the boat and quite enjoy the boat ride down south and back. In the roughly 25 times or more we have done this, we have never experienced rough, wet or bumpy seas. The boat ride is quite enjoyable and allows us to see the sea. We are usually back to the north marina by 1 pm and still have the rest of the day to do whatever.

 

[sefuchs]

The most retarded thing to do is stay up near San Miguel and travel in the little fast boats. It's a pounding ride, you get sprayed the whole time, soaked when it's raining, burned to a crisp when it's sunny (no sun shade). Then during your surface interval you can rock back forth until you vomit, there's with no room to stretch out, and there's no toilet.

We've stayed at Scuba Club dozens of times. The large boats are slow, but if you're in a hurry please stay home. I stretch out on the roof with a dozen other people and sleep all the way to the dive site. During the surface interval the larger boats are stable. On the way back to the resort, I take a shower on the boat, stretch out, and sleep some more.

I completely disagree with @DocHarry. I love the (fast) boat ride and his description of the ride is a complete exaggeration. True you can't easily 'sleep' on a 6-pack boat but I'd rather enjoy my boat time and siesta when I get to land. I'll take my chances with rain and wear boat coat if needed rather than dive on a cattle boat.

 

[Grateful head]

Who sleeps on dive boat anyway?

 

[mediumone]

I completely disagree with @DocHarry. I love the (fast) boat ride and his description of the ride is a complete exaggeration. True you can't easily 'sleep' on a 6-pack boat but I'd rather enjoy my boat time and siesta when I get to land. I'll take my chances with rain and wear boat coat if needed rather than dive on a cattle boat.

Complete!!

 

[ChuckP]

In general do most Op’s pick up divers by van and transport to the marina (e.g. Grand Cayman)? Or is it up to the diver to find their own transport to the marina? Or the Op’s shop?

The taxi union is strong here - some op's (3p's for instance) must have some kind of agreement or Steve just scares em off!!! For the most part, people taxi or drive to the marina, I see a few transporting but I don't think they heavily advertise that......

 

[morecowbells]

The most retarded thing to do is stay up near San Miguel and travel in the little fast boats. It's a pounding ride, you get sprayed the whole time, soaked when it's raining, burned to a crisp when it's sunny (no sun shade). Then during your surface interval you can rock back forth until you vomit, there's with no room to stretch out, and there's no toilet.

Ugh, I am not a PC person by any means, but cringe when the 'R' word is used. Sorry for my rant. I personally get far more seasick on the bigger boats. The fast, choppy waters of a small boat are better than the rocking/swaying motion of a larger boat. I would rather spend nap times on the beach or poolside than on a boat

During the warmer months, the longer boat rides are not a big deal. During the winter, the longer exposure to the wind and cooler water temps seem to suck my energy and take longer to rebound.