ax-man
Registered
I am a newbie and am going on a cruise. We will be in Cozumel from 6am-2pm. Any suggestions on who to dive with? Do you know if I can reach them ahead of time to set up the dive? Thanks for the help
Dvivng in Cozumel
- Thread starter ax-man
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scorpionfish
Guest
Hi!
Most dive ops on Cozumel do not start picking up before about 9:00 AM. And they usually pick up at docks near hotels. You will have no trouble getting to a dock on time for pickup in the Am. They tend to be back around noon to 1:00 and that could be a problem for you. Try these guys and see if they can accommodate--they are great:
http://www.cozumel-diving.net/alex-alex/
Another shop that is good is known by the unlikely name of Papa Hog's:
http://www.papahogs.com/noframes/instruction.htm
They run small boats and have a very good reputation.
Good luck--and, hopefully, you can enjoy some of the very best diving around!
Scorpionfish
Most dive ops on Cozumel do not start picking up before about 9:00 AM. And they usually pick up at docks near hotels. You will have no trouble getting to a dock on time for pickup in the Am. They tend to be back around noon to 1:00 and that could be a problem for you. Try these guys and see if they can accommodate--they are great:
http://www.cozumel-diving.net/alex-alex/
Another shop that is good is known by the unlikely name of Papa Hog's:
http://www.papahogs.com/noframes/instruction.htm
They run small boats and have a very good reputation.
Good luck--and, hopefully, you can enjoy some of the very best diving around!
Scorpionfish
bigz
Contributor
Check with your cruise line/travel agent/tour operator - often times you can book diving excursions through the ship you are on - this will take some of the worry out of missing the boat (pun intended). If you can pre-book the diving it makes getting your reservation that much easier - and it is guaranteed. Don't wait until the last minute.
I did a cruise a few years ago and dove 4 different Carribean Islands out of 7 days of the trip. It was awesome diving and relatively reasonable when compared to dive operator trip costs. If you can dive in Cozumel - YOU MUST! It is truly wonderful and possibly the best diving you may ever experience.
Have a great trip
I did a cruise a few years ago and dove 4 different Carribean Islands out of 7 days of the trip. It was awesome diving and relatively reasonable when compared to dive operator trip costs. If you can dive in Cozumel - YOU MUST! It is truly wonderful and possibly the best diving you may ever experience.
Have a great trip
Tim Ingersoll
Contributor
We cruised with Norwegian in April, 2002. I found the ship arranged diving to range from okay to scary. Grand Cayman was a cattle boat but the diving was pretty good (Red Sail Watersports). They only took us about 1/4 of a mile from the ship (Texas Wall dive site). Roatan was really good because they used Anthony Key Resort for the dive. Belize was really kind of scary. The cruise line used a dive op that shall remain nameless and we endured a one and a half hour boat ride one-way on a really crappy boat to relatively average diving. In Cozumel we chartered our own boat with Aldora Divers (Three divers). It was awesome. They accommodated the cruise ship schedule and our varying levels of expertise (one newbie, one with 20 dives and one with 75 dives). The divers on the cruise ship chosen dive operation ended up with a cattle boat and a real short and crappy dive. If you can arrange your own diving do it. Cayman and Cozumel may be the easiest to do it. If you need any other information let me know. Tim Ingersoll
bigz
Contributor
No argument there, Tim. While waiting for the "dive boats" in Grenada, the operator asked "who wants a drink?". This was before the dives, before noon, and sitting near the bar! Must have been a trick question right? Fortunately for us the diving was incredible. On all 4 trips we were not allowed below 70'. Good idea considering the level of experience we observed - especially the yutz I dragged back up from about 80'! Nice gear - no brains.
Ax-man: when are you in Cozumel? Our group is there from the 4th to the 11th of January '03. If you can't get a charter (not likely) there is the possibility of shore diving. Check with various Coz operators - available on the web. By the way - I didn't "learn" about tipping the dive crew until our last dive at St. Thomas; not part of the drill up here in the Great Lakes. Once again: ENJOY
Ax-man: when are you in Cozumel? Our group is there from the 4th to the 11th of January '03. If you can't get a charter (not likely) there is the possibility of shore diving. Check with various Coz operators - available on the web. By the way - I didn't "learn" about tipping the dive crew until our last dive at St. Thomas; not part of the drill up here in the Great Lakes. Once again: ENJOY
Tim Ingersoll
Contributor
You bring up a good point. The cruise ship chosen dive operators will be very conservative in their dive profiles. We were never allowed below 80 feet. The instructors in Cayman seemed particularly overworked and the groups were large (8-10 newbie divers per divemaster). I was diving with a newbie and in order to stay with him I was put in the newbie groups. It was at times scary and at times comical. I remember watching a girl who could not have weighed more than a hundred pounds dripping wet load up her weight belt with eighteen pounds of lead. I mentioned in passing that it might be a little much and got an ugly look. She was negatively bouyant with her BC fully inflated. Later her ascent resembled a submarine launched missile (Who needs a pesky safety stop anyway?). Another guy apparently forgot that you could put air in your BC and dropped like a stone due to an overwighted belt. The divemaster caught him at about 120 feet still going down. Dive at your own risk! Tim Ingersoll.
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