Dive Ops at Cozumel - the best for your money

[ZapDiver]

yes, yes, I know there are a lot of threads with this topic, but all the threads I've seen seems to dilute into a war of "The Op I Dived with is the better and don't dare to say it isn't so". I'm going to Cozumel soon, for the first time in a diving plan, so i really want to know whith whom to dive.

Please (and I know this may sound presumptuous) answer only if you've dived with more than one diferent Dive op in Cozumel, so there's really a good comparision point here, and don't start comparing with the dive op's others prefer. . Also, keep in mind that I'm not asking about which one is the cheapest, but which one gives you the best service for the money paid.

Thank you in advance.

PS since i don´t know which are all the operatos in Cosumel, i've only posted the ones i've read about in this board, if you have other option, please post it. Geetings

 

[ZapDiver]

Well, I tried to post this as a poll, but something went wrong with my browser.. so here are the options I thought about:

1. Aldora
2. Emerald Dolphin
3.- Dive House
4.- Pap Hogs
5.- Dive Paradise
6.- Blue Angel
7.- Other (please specify)

if you can, please say why do you liked best the operator of your choice..

Greetings from México.

 

[DocVikingo]

Coz has over 75 dive ops, most of them good, some very good & a few so-so.

Somehow you have selected 6 (leaving >70 that could potentially be written in under your "Other" category). However, I'm not sure how you chose these as several are just as different as they can be. For example, Aldora uses 120cf steel tanks with DIN fittings & serves small groups of mostly intermediate to advanced divers, while Papa Hog's uses only standard AL 80s & serves larger groups of novice to intermediate level divers. Ditto several of the others. Dive Paradise offers both cattle boats & an experienced diver's program for the qualified that uses small groups & fast boats [ditto Dive House], yet you have not specified which program you are interested in.

I'd suggest that you go back those discussions (I see very few "wars" among them) of ops and get a much better focus. Pulling out the old scuba blunderbuss and blindly blasting away at the long list of widely varying Coz ops well may not get you what you want.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[glbirch]

Zap, I have to agree with Doc on this one. (Doc, 2100 posts? Do you ever sleep?) Hard to tell from your post what you're looking for? Are you experienced or just starting to get wet? Looking for some nice dives to work the camera finger a little, or trying to get off the beaten track away from the crowds? Etc. etc. The more detail you provide in your question, the better the answer you will get.

Having said that, I've dived (dove?) with Dive Paradise, Aqua Safari, Papa Hoggs, and Dive with Martin, and have visited a number of the other operations on the island to see what they are like.

Dive Paradise was good and I had fun, but I was in a group and we chartered our own boat. I think if we hadn't I would have found it a little crowded.

Aqua Safari was a while ago and doesn't stand out in my memory as extremely good or extremely bad, but that could have gone either way in the last decade.

Papa Hoggs gets my recommendation, for experienced dive guides, smaller boats, and all around good service amongst other things.

Dive with Martin I would not recommend from personal experience.

Again, just remember that these are my opinions. I'm sure that a dozen other people would have a dozen different favorites of their own.

Best of luck.

 

[ZapDiver]

I'm a newbie diver, I've just finished the Advanced Open Water course, and I have only 15 logged dives, I know I lack experience and I can not consider myself as an experienced diver, but also, I don´t want to be doing only shallow dives (in case there are things worth to see in deep dives in Coz, I don´t know) and also, I love night dives, so I'd like to find some decent operator wich can give me all I want. Also as I lack experience, I still don't know how to choose a good operator, since I've only dived in one place, always with the same operator.

Also, an apologie, I´ve only looked at a few threads about diving operators in Coz and in those ones I saw only posts disqualifying or defendig certain operators, so I thought all the threads were the same (ok, I was rush and I was wrong), so that's why I started this thread. As Why did I choose those operator into te pseudo poll and leave all the others outside.. well those were the only ones I knew that existed in Coz.

and Finally... 2100 posts!!! no, I don't think he sleeps.. Greetings

 

[cxg31s]

ZapDiver, we were all once where you are, and I, for one, understand how completely overwhelming all the info is. Especially since everyone has an opinion and you know how THAT saying goes....ha ha

Here is my list of shops that I've dove with so far:
Sand Dollar Sports--did my open water referral dives with them. Safe, basic dives, good for beginners.

DIMI--The DM's were great--found lots of life, even when it was sparse. Safety-oriented but still knew how to have fun and make it fun for us. Large roomy boat, long dives and long surface intervals.

Careyitos (2 trips)--can't say enough good things about them. Large boat but generally small-ish groups. VERY long dives and long surface intervals--just the way I like it. Ricardo, Tony and Cielo are fantastic--all 3 go on every dive and will stay down until the last diver is low on air. Each diver can go up escorted by a DM when low on air--their buddy can go up too or stay down to continue the dive. This is a great system for buddies of varying air consumption levels....not to mention, they serve a great lunch!

Deep Blue--small 6-pack boats. Morning and/or afternoon trips if he has enough people. Matt, the owner, is a fantastic guy and his DM's and instructors are too. Quick and dirty diving, but never compromises safety. This op is great for getting in a lot of diving in a short vacation.

Blue XTSea--well what can I say about Christi--she ROCKS! Not only is she a very capable, efficient, VERY customer-service oriented, amenable, intelligent and organized gal, but she is now a great friend. I dove with her Thanksgiving and they were some of the best dives I've had to date! I will be diving with Papa Hogs during Carnival week in Feb but will also be doing some diving with Christi, too, when she has room. She consistently gets great reviews from even very experienced divers, such as our own Doc Vikingo, so who can argue with recommendations like that?

And like I said, I will be adding Papa Hogs to the list in Feb, who also gets high marks from a lot of people. Since you're a new diver and this is your first trip to Coz, it's pretty safe to say that you will be hard-pressed not to have a good diving experience. There are over 100 dive shops in Coz and I can tell you the competition is fierce--they don't last long if they continually get bad reviews. So basically what I'm saying is just pick one and go with it--if you don't like them after the first 2-tanker, you have 99+ others to pick from! Good luck!

 

[Augustus]

One thing to consider is developing a "long term" relationship with an operator. So on future trips you are not an unknown. Personally I think the small one boat operators are a better bet since you will always be dealing with the same operators and dive masters. Off hand I can recomend three one man shows. The Anita http://www.cozumel-diving.net/anita-divers/
Caryitos which the previous poster mentioned http://www.advanceddivers.com/
and last Charro and the Mayte (no web site contact by FAX 8721695)
These are all "slow boat" operators which means a nice long surface interval between dives. I mean who wants to be downtown with the cruise boat people. I have used all three by the way. They dive all the reefs on Cozumel from Barracuda to Maracibo. Charro also does east side trips.

 

[Wendigo]

www.divewithcristina.com

Zapdiver, I highly recommend diving with Cristina Roman for a more inexperienced diver. She has been training divers for a long time and is probably one of the most patient divemasters I have ever seen. My girlfriend had never dove in the ocean before and wont stop talking about diving with Cristina again.

Small groups, patience, reasonable prices, specialized attention all make her my top pick.

Plus she recently upgraded to a really nice new boat that isnt your typical 6-pack dive boat you see in Cozumel.

 

[ggunn]

www.divewithcristina.com

Zapdiver, I highly recommend diving with Cristina Roman ... she recently upgraded to a really nice new boat that isnt your typical 6-pack dive boat you see in Cozumel.

How is it different?

 

[Wendigo]

Well it is a large boat, I'd say it was probably a 40ft vessel. It has an overhead cockpit where the crew stays the majority of the time. It is an inboard drive so there are no outboard motors for those who dont like climbing onto a platform or ladder between props. There is a toilet on board as well. Everything is very clean and well maintained. I dont remember exactly, but I think they are licensed to take out 16 divers on this vessel. However she is a small group operation typically. When we were there last, it was only I and my girlfriend along with a very friendly guy from West Palm Beach.

I know the six pack boats are much faster, but with the amount of time we spent getting to some the dive sites that were far out, I enjoyed the comfort and convenience of this setup. It isnt a cattle boat if thats what anyone is thinking. Cristina doesnt typically do large volumes of divers.

Oh yeah, and when you go diving with her operation all day like we do, they provide a refreshing lunch and plenty of bottled water and cokes (real Coca-Cola).

Hope this is a detailed enough description.