First time to Cozumel -- how much is too much?

[drrich2]

I'm a soft 50-year-old office worker who's embarking on something entirely new here!

I'm a soft 50 year old white collar worker, too. Went and tried Cozumel last year and loved it (was a spry young 49 then), and did 4-dives/day till 2 the last day, flew home the next.

I was pretty wiped out at the end of those 4-dive days. More so than doing 4 dives/day at Bonaire or from a live-aboard. I don't know exactly why, as service was quite good, but somehow, it took more of a toll on me.

When I'm blessed with a dive trip, I never know if I'll be back this way again, and I like to wring as much out of it as I can. But I'm not all that much into topside excursions or mingling with locals/culture, laying in a lounge chair sunning on the beach (I can read and sunburn back home), relaxing (ditto) or enjoying a resort (yes, yes, very pretty, and...?). But you may love those things.

Richard.

 

[Altamira]

Let your body be your guide, and pay attention to what it is telling you. I am about 20+ years older than you, and for me, tiredness is cumulative. Two or three dives a day sounds great on paper, but you will likely find that after a couple days of that routine, you are going to want a day off, or maybe just a one PM tank dive. If you are not in good physical shape, and used to a heavy schedule of diving, you can get yourself in trouble underwater, so be careful and conservative. You can always go back and dive Coz in the future.

 

[mcohen1021]

My girlfriend and I like to take our sweet time in the morning.

I had to re-read that, I thought you said "My girlfriend and I like our sweet time in the morning"[/QUOTE]

 

[maadJurguer]

YMMV, but I can't imagine NOT diving as much as possible while remaining safe and within acceptable limits - 4 dives a day is not too much for me, but may be for others. Having said that, one thing I don't see much talk of is the fact that you have roughly 4 months between now and your trip...why not put some time into supporting your new habit by working your cardio a bit - change that soft office body to something more supportive of your new hobby. You have plenty of time to build a solid base of cardio fitness that can ultimately benefit you under water and provide you with a better margin of safety.

 

[mcohen1021]

YMMV, but I can't imagine NOT diving as much as possible while remaining safe and within acceptable limits - 4 dives a day is not too much for me, but may be for others. Having said that, one thing I don't see much talk of is the fact that you have roughly 4 months between now and your trip...why not put some time into supporting your new habit by working your cardio a bit - change that soft office body to something more supportive of your new hobby. You have plenty of time to build a solid base of cardio fitness that can ultimately benefit you under water and provide you with a better margin of safety.

I like to relax on vacation… To me Cozumel is a lot more than a dive vacation. It’s the beach bars, restaurants, going to listen to live music… I could do 4 dives per day, but I find it a beat down land based. I also have probably 400 dives there, so how many times do I want to do the same dives again…

Regarding cardio – it definitely helps… After losing 34 lbs and getting in shape I can now keep up with my wife dive time wise.

 

[formernuke]

It is a personal choice as to what you want. My one Caribbean trip I did 4-5 dives every day and was I tired yes but not overly so. I dove nitrox which I think helped. If that is what you want go for it, if you also want to experience the local sites that's fine too.

 

[maj2]

Every diver is different...
I like to do three or four dives per day. My usual travel dive buddy is my daughter, and she rarely wants to do more than two dives in the morning, and then she likes to relax for the afternoon.
If this is your first time to Cozumel, do plan to take some time exploring the topside of the island. Take an afternoon to explore the town (or more to fully enjoy the restaurants, etc., and an afternoon to rent a car and explore the rest of the island.
Also... consider asking about a trip to the mainland for the ceynotes. You can do this in a separate trip back to Playa del Carmen, but Dressel can also set you up for a day trip to do a couple of ceynote dives one day. Makes for an interesting change of pace.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

As a cave diver I consume 12,000 LBS of 32% per day. When I go cave diving I like to get in as much as I can. Having said that, sometimes I will take and afternoon off and have a snooze, and then back at it the next day. You will know when you are tired and need some time off. After a nights sleep - you will likely be good for the morning dive and lunch time will decide if the afternoon is a go or not. You didn't mention if you have a dive computer? I would strongly suggest you have a quality computer if you don't own one already. If you have the funds available - then a Shearwater Petrel 2 (the model 2 has a built in compass) or the Perdix, they have the larger face. Or the Teric - if your eyes are very good and you are ok with the smaller face. Enjoy the diving!!

 

[cvchief]

I read the title and I thought I can tell you exactly how much tequila is too much.

We have gotten lazy and we come down all the time, so we are all about 2 dive,, lunch (this involved the tequila), nap and the next day off.

 

[Damselfish]

There's no one way to do it. You can have everything from casual divers doing a couple dives in a whole week, to the folks who do 5 or more a day (especially easy to do on a liveaboard.) When people are new at this I think they tend to tire out more easily and may want fewer. Also, sometimes newer divers don't seem to think they will want to do so many dives, until they try it. Unless you have a really inflexible op, or a really booked op, you might be able to change or add dives as you go. Ask the op how that works with them, make your best guess what you need to reserve up front, then go from there.

Your dive quota may change based not only on experience, but depending where you are diving. When someone has been to the same place a bunch of times, or there are other things they want to do, they may scale back in favor of more down time or whatever - as mentioned a lot on this thread. If it's a new place for them they may want more dives. If they've spent a fortune to travel around the globe to a new place with awesome diving they may try to get in as much diving as possible. And some people just want to be UW as much as possible even if it's their local mudhole.