Dos Ojos Cenote - Hidden Worlds - with them or 3rd party dive shop?

[ultimate.gringo]

To dive at Dos Ojos, Hidden Worlds, should you do the dive with the staff or book through a 3rd party dive shop that you are diving with already?

 

[Brown Mermaid]

I and my group dove with "Go Cenotes". They were great, very informative and less expensive. They have a website and an "800" number. Check it out.

To dive at Dos Ojos, Hidden Worlds, should you do the dive with the staff or book through a 3rd party dive shop that you are diving with already?

 

[dlndavid]

I went with Manta Divers who use a certified cave diver named Leif, he is a real kick in the pants.

 

[Dave W]

Does anyone know if the costs are different with outside dive operations? I looked into the the cost from Dressel Divers at the Iberostar. They quotes the excusion which included transportation, lunch, soda. The actual diving was extra. I was shocked. Another dive shop, which I think I will use, quoted reasonable prices, but I was wondering if the outside shops pay a fee to use the cenote. Wouldn't you think Hidden World would be less costly, since they are on properyt?

 

[Aeolus]

I jjust returned from a week at Akumal, MX. I made three dives in ceynotes (Garden of Eden, Dos Ojos and Bat Cave) with Diablo Divers (contact Dennis Weeks at dennis@diablodivers.com) I can't recommend them enough. Dennis Weeks is very thorough, methodical, safety concious, patient and an all around good sport. I was there with a small group and he did an excellent job with us as we had a variety of skill levels. His prices were much better than ANY of the other operators that we checked with and I feel as though he did an outstanding job, which I would find it hard to bellieve that any of the others could have done better. I am not comfortable quoting prices in an open forum, but if you send me an e-mail or PM, I will tell you what he charged us. He provided the dive lights, weights, and belts as well as some of the dive gear for a couple of our divers at VERY reasonable prices. Thanks.

DSDO

 

[ae3753]

Does anyone know if the costs are different with outside dive operations? . . . Wouldn't you think Hidden World would be less costly, since they are on properyt?

From what I was told, all dive ops pay a park usage fee. However, Hidden Worlds does own the exclusive right to use some of the entrances. For example, the Bat Cave entrance where you climb down is owned by Hidden Worlds. However, that doesn't mean that you can't dive the Bat Cave. You simply go in from one of the other entrances, and it connects to the Bat Cave system. This is what we did, and we had a great time.

There are cost differences between dive operations, and different levels of service. It's good that you are looking at all the details and trying to make a fair comparison.

Because of the strong recommendations of fellow scubaboard members, and the fact that Dennis is on this board, we chose to dive with Diablo Divers. I can easily say that he's the best dive operation that we have ever dove with. Here's our trip report. I'm a very frugal diver, and Dennis's prices are very reasonable. And after diving with him, we felt that we got a bargain.

 

[HammerNoMore]

I too just got back from Akumal. I spent a week trying to get a Cenote dive in with the shop I was diving with. I was alone and they had a 2 person minimum.

Finally I wen't directly to Hidden Worlds and dove with them. The cost was the same and I had a great time. I would recomend them anyday.

 

[KidK9]

Another vote for Diablo Divers. Best diving experience I ever had.

 

[ultimate.gringo]

We are booked with Dennis for this Friday for 2 dives at Dos Ojos, can't wait!

 

[KidK9]

Good choice. Did you search him on this board? Maybe you'll find the post I wrote up 5 months ago after diving with him for a week. It explains everything.