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Marc Lieberman

Marc Lieberman

Registered
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20
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Location
Colorado Springs
# of dives
0 - 24
I am headed to Cozumel for the first time in April for 8 days. Only my second dive trip (the Keys were first). There is so much good info here for new divers, which is great, but also confusing:eek:. I am probably just over thinking everything, but I just want to be as prepared as possible so I can get the most out of my trip.
1. My hotel offers a free breakfast, which conflicts with many departure times
2. Is tax not included with any of the dive prices(16%, man I thought it was bad here)
3. I am staying walking distance to a couple well reviewed ops. Is it really worth the taxi ride to try someone else
4. I am not nitrox cert. Is this gonna be a huge problem?
5. Originally was gonna try and dive 5 days, but my wife doesn't dive and it is gonna be a little pricier than I thought at first.
6. Trying to decide if I should do a 3 or 5 day package, but then your committed to only them.
7. I realize times vary a lot, but what are most ops bottom times. I am thinking about using Aldora due to the larger tanks.
I am sure I will have a great time no matter what, thanks for any suggestions:cheers:
 
1. I skip breakfast or just eat a roll from Zermatt.
2. I think that is individual to the shops. The price I get it total. Some might add on the tax at the end?
3. There are so many good ops, you will probably love the one you pick, think it is the best and stay with them a long time!
4. No, unless you are really good on air. If you are typical at 2 dives a day, many people do that.
5. There are some ops that offer packages to get the price down on multi-day, but if you spend that money to come to a diving mecca, dive, right?
6. Unless everyone is booked, if you want to extend your op might have room, if not someone else does.
7. Dave will be along to discuss how Aldora and the 120s are the best thing since sliced bread and I have lot of friends that love them. They are more expensive (and Dave will tell you to divide by the minutes of BT and find they are cheaper by the minute.) I guess you might wonder if more days and more dive sites, might be an advantage of more low cost dives? I would look for an OP that lets you dive you tank and computer unless you are bad on air. If you go through a tank kinda quick, you might not mind a timed dive that some place use.

And yes you will love it. Seldom does anyone come on here and complain much about any op. If they suck, it is hard to last in the Coz market I think.

And everyone cheerleads for their op. (We are Scuba with Alison devotee) That says alot about most of ops!
 
Looking at your pic Marc I think if you mad dog them a bit they might just permanently change the breakfast time.
 
If your hotel is Casa Mexicana, it really does not conflict with Aldora's departure times. You don't want to eat a huge breakfast anyway before you dove....or at least I don't. The Casa Mexicana/Aldora combination works great for us since the pier is less than a 5 minute walk away.

Dive With Martin is cheaper and still great service, they have aluminum 100's there if you Hoover air like I do. You would have to take a cab to the marina though. Other dive ops I have used ranged from 45 minute to and hour dives depending on depth. As long as you are with an op that lets you dive your own tank/computer it should not matter. DWM also include basic gear with their price. Blue Magic, Blue XTSea, and tres Pelicanos are great ops as well. Christi with Blue XTSea and Dave with Aldora are huge supporters of this forum.

You've got plenty of time to get your Nitrox card, it's just an evening class with no diving. Nitrox IS your friend, especially if your diving with Aldora. It will get you on some deeper longer dives. We were hitting 80-90 minute dives on our last trip.

It's hard to pick a bad op in Coz as long as they have small, fast boats with no more than 6 divers on board. The key is finding the op that is right for you. Aldora works for us and we enjoy the large tanks, convenient pick up point, valet dive service, and surface interval locations. I have dove with Blue Magic and Dive With Martin as well and have nothing but good things to say about them.

5 days of diving is about my limit...I was tired after my last trip. You can always do 4. Email the ops you are interested in and check pricing.

Good luck, safe travels,
Jay
 
Jayfarmlaw:
If your hotel is Casa Mexicana, it really does not conflict with Aldora's departure times. You don't want to eat a huge breakfast anyway before you dove....or at least I don't. The Casa Mexicana/Aldora combination works great for us since the pier is less than a 5 minute walk away.

Dive With Martin is cheaper and still great service, they have aluminum 100's there if you Hoover air like I do. You would have to take a cab to the marina though. Other dive ops I have used ranged from 45 minute to and hour dives depending on depth. As long as you are with an op that lets you dive your own tank/computer it should not matter. DWM also include basic gear with their price. Blue Magic, Blue XTSea, and tres Pelicanos are great ops as well. Christi with Blue XTSea and Dave with Aldora are huge supporters of this forum.

You've got plenty of time to get your Nitrox card, it's just an evening class with no diving. Nitrox IS your friend, especially if your diving with Aldora. It will get you on some deeper longer dives. We were hitting 80-90 minute dives on our last trip.

It's hard to pick a bad op in Coz as long as they have small, fast boats with no more than 6 divers on board. The key is finding the op that is right for you. Aldora works for us and we enjoy the large tanks, convenient pick up point, valet dive service, and surface interval locations. I have dove with Blue Magic and Dive With Martin as well and have nothing but good things to say about them.

5 days of diving is about my limit...I was tired after my last trip. You can always do 4. Email the ops you are interested in and check pricing.

Good luck, safe travels,
Jay
Click to expand...
Jayfarmlaw:
If your hotel is Casa Mexicana, it really does not conflict with Aldora's departure times. You don't want to eat a huge breakfast anyway before you dove....or at least I don't. The Casa Mexicana/Aldora combination works great for us since the pier is less than a 5 minute walk away.

Dive With Martin is cheaper and still great service, they have aluminum 100's there if you Hoover air like I do. You would have to take a cab to the marina though. Other dive ops I have used ranged from 45 minute to and hour dives depending on depth. As long as you are with an op that lets you dive your own tank/computer it should not matter. DWM also include basic gear with their price. Blue Magic, Blue XTSea, and tres Pelicanos are great ops as well. Christi with Blue XTSea and Dave with Aldora are huge supporters of this forum.

You've got plenty of time to get your Nitrox card, it's just an evening class with no diving. Nitrox IS your friend, especially if your diving with Aldora. It will get you on some deeper longer dives. We were hitting 80-90 minute dives on our last trip.

It's hard to pick a bad op in Coz as long as they have small, fast boats with no more than 6 divers on board. The key is finding the op that is right for you. Aldora works for us and we enjoy the large tanks, convenient pick up point, valet dive service, and surface interval locations. I have dove with Blue Magic and Dive With Martin as well and have nothing but good things to say about them.

5 days of diving is about my limit...I was tired after my last trip. You can always do 4. Email the ops you are interested in and check pricing.

Good luck, safe travels,
Jay
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the input. We are staying at Hotel Plaza, more around downtown. My concern is that Aldora and Martin both appear to leave at 7:30 and breakfast starts at 7:00...not much of a window. I guess it seems kinda trivial to want to make sure I get my free breakfast, but its free god damn it...lol, and I heard it's really good. The Aldora shop is an 8 minute walk, so I might try that, or Blue Magic...which is a 2 min walk doesn't leave until 9:00
 
Marc Lieberman:
We are staying at Hotel Plaza, more around downtown. My concern is that Aldora and Martin both appear to leave at 7:30 and breakfast starts at 7:00...not much of a window
Click to expand...
I stay at the Plaza, and you should be fine if you chose an Op that picks up in town. Breakfast is always ready at 7, and the Aldora pier is about 8-10 minutes walk. Take your gear along to breakfast and head on out when done. A taxi to where Martin picks up may be more of an issue.
 
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