Correct, Aldora uses steel 100s and 120s and has its own fill station.
They may have smaller tanks for kidlets. Verify by contacting them if it is relevant to you.
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Correct, Aldora uses steel 100s and 120s and has its own fill station.
On the subject of Aldora Adventures, YES we are using an abundance of caution at this time since we have only been going there for 2 months. It is likely to be no more of a problem than Barracuda, but at this time we just don't know.
That said, open water dives in current occur all time in much more remote places than Cozumel. With a fleet of boats, helicopters, planes, etc. available for searching, it would be pretty darn hard to get lost. I'd guess that they wouldn't conduct these dives at night or in poor visibility weather.Dave, that would be good. However, my opinion (right or wrong) is that diving Barracuda does require stricter adherence to staying close together and coming up together due to multiple factors. Some of these are higher swells. Less boats if you get separated and less chance (maybe none) of a surface swim to shore in a bad scenario.
As far as other boats, I do not recall seeing another on the few trips I have made up north. I might be forgetting a case, but the point is the same...it is not as forgiving of problems as is a dive on Palancar.
That said, open water dives in current occur all time in much more remote places than Cozumel. With a fleet of boats, helicopters, planes, etc. available for searching, it would be pretty darn hard to get lost. I'd guess that they wouldn't conduct these dives at night or in poor visibility weather.
I dunno about being so cocky Greg. All those boats, planes and countries searching can't find a jetliner.
Assuming the boat has a radio, the search can start mobilizing immediately. First the dive boat, hopefully aided by other boats in the vicinity. The current is traveling in a known direction. Even at a 3 knot current, which is stronger than most in Coz, the boats would overtake that in minutes.All true. But imagine trying to find one person without an SMB for added visibility. How long would it take to mobilize assets to start the search?
I've been on a liveaboards where they strapped EPIRBs to us, mandated and/or supplied mirrors and/or whistlers and/or Dive Alerts. But those were all really remote. Not offshore from a crowded tourist island with its own naval base. Heck, in California, we dive the Cortes Banks which are about 50 miles away from the nearest land and known for very strong currents. I got certified out there.It seems prudent to take the additional measures that have been mentioned to greatly reduce the potential for a problem. Then if a separation does occur, the SMB and Nautilus Lifeline (radio/position reporting device) offers significant improvement in being found.
Yeah, well I already boycott Malaysia for other reasons. Indonesia loses a couple planes a year too, so that would be a lousy place to go adrift, yet they didn't even take such precautions on my Komodo liveaboard at some remote sites (e.g. Crystal Rock). AFAIK, Mexico hasn't lost any big jets recently so they're above the curve for the third world.I dunno about being so cocky Greg. All those boats, planes and countries searching can't find a jetliner.
Each diver must also have their
own SMB and means of deploying it while underwater