Just wanted to point out that Dive Paradise is out of Hotel Cozumel and they have big slow boats for their trips. We watched lots of very big unhealthy people getting in and out. Most boats had at least 12 to 14 in them. If it's you and your buddies and you all want to dive together I can understand why that would be fun but as a practice I must say that diving is risky and that's probably not the best way to maintain equipment when you have so many people packing into a boat.
Look, I know this is probably going to rub people the wrong way but the health of many American divers is really really poor these days. If you are in your forties and older and you are morbidly obese and the majority of Americans are such... and many are extremely morbidly obese... so much so that I watched a woman, who obviously loves to dive, is holding about a 100 pounds of extra weight on her frame and as such needed several people to get her and her husband in-and-out of the boat every day with this operation. Many of you are beautiful souls and I want to see you make more and more dives and bring that wonderful energy back to the reefs over and over. I want to dive with you folks in the future and all I could think of while people were boarding was "what do they do in an emergency at depth with that many people?". This isn't a lecture, just a suggestion with the CV pandemic, you are at grave risk with this weight and your age.
The OP has a great point about staying close to your buddy. I tell everyone on the boat I have a bright neon yellow/green octo with your name on it. I check it everytime I descend and I remember vividly at around dive 20...10 years ago when I was around 80' with a dive op in Roatan and struggled to pull air through their rental reg. I said, no more because when we got back to shore it was removed and a couple of days later was back in the mix with no change out of the apparatus (I marked the reg strategically once we got back to see if a joint was opened up to service it). It had not been done. I said never again and bought a reg as soon as I got home. I realize large ops are factory diver machines and it's about bodies, time, cash and boats. It's a biz, I know. I dove with a long time DM at DP who was now with another op. He said he had concerns about such a large outfit and their ability to take care of everyone underwater.
DP is probably 95% a perfect outfit and that's why it's such an economical choice in COZ. Many of the guests there knew all the staff and had dove for decades with them and it was great to see the hugs and conversations. No wonder people keep coming back but as an outside viewer all I see is potential for more experiences like what the OP had.
Look, I know this is probably going to rub people the wrong way but the health of many American divers is really really poor these days. If you are in your forties and older and you are morbidly obese and the majority of Americans are such... and many are extremely morbidly obese... so much so that I watched a woman, who obviously loves to dive, is holding about a 100 pounds of extra weight on her frame and as such needed several people to get her and her husband in-and-out of the boat every day with this operation. Many of you are beautiful souls and I want to see you make more and more dives and bring that wonderful energy back to the reefs over and over. I want to dive with you folks in the future and all I could think of while people were boarding was "what do they do in an emergency at depth with that many people?". This isn't a lecture, just a suggestion with the CV pandemic, you are at grave risk with this weight and your age.
The OP has a great point about staying close to your buddy. I tell everyone on the boat I have a bright neon yellow/green octo with your name on it. I check it everytime I descend and I remember vividly at around dive 20...10 years ago when I was around 80' with a dive op in Roatan and struggled to pull air through their rental reg. I said, no more because when we got back to shore it was removed and a couple of days later was back in the mix with no change out of the apparatus (I marked the reg strategically once we got back to see if a joint was opened up to service it). It had not been done. I said never again and bought a reg as soon as I got home. I realize large ops are factory diver machines and it's about bodies, time, cash and boats. It's a biz, I know. I dove with a long time DM at DP who was now with another op. He said he had concerns about such a large outfit and their ability to take care of everyone underwater.
DP is probably 95% a perfect outfit and that's why it's such an economical choice in COZ. Many of the guests there knew all the staff and had dove for decades with them and it was great to see the hugs and conversations. No wonder people keep coming back but as an outside viewer all I see is potential for more experiences like what the OP had.
