Group booking recommendations for Cozumel

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Do the operators do two sets of two tank dives with different customers each day? Is that why they leave so early? If I am holiday I don't really want to be on a boat at 7.30am - am I missing something?
As Christi noted, with a charter you can work out your own time. However, the early birds get the worm, i.e. a better choice of dive sites before they're overrun with other boats. Also, a late start can mean a long day, especially with 120 cf tanks and a long surface interval. Surely you Brits and the odd Canadian would want to get back for lunch before it's already time for tea?
 
September is the slow season and last year there were several times during the morning dives when I could only see a half dozen boats across the southern sites. I love diving Cozumel in the fall it is not crowded and there are fewer cruise ships. You might check with Tres Pelicanos about a charter as they have an extremely comfortable and fast 10 permit boat, the Skinny Shark and 2 of the best DM’s on the island, Servando and Jorge. If you are there in the middle of the month, Mexico’s Independence is September 16th and they have a lot of fun down town all week. The high point is the Grito de Dolores at 11 PM on the 15th with dancing, speeches and fireworks in front of city hall.
 
Not to bash SCC - but rather than everyone cheer for their personal favorite regardless of whether they are a good match for the individual, let's make recommendations based on the OP's requests. He specifically stated they would need DIN valves and/or adapters + large capacity steel tanks for a group of 10 +/-

Very few ops on the island will be able to accommodate that many DIN tanks at one time. I'll add that SCC uses standard AL 80's with yoke valves. The ONLY other 2 operations on the island that use high capacity steel tanks are Liquid Blue and Living Underwater.

I stand by my recommendation of Aldora divers for this group - based on the specific requests - they are a perfect fit if they are within the grops budget.
 
What may help with Aldora is that they appear to use a valve that is easily convertible between DIN and yoke.

Of the cenotes I have done, I did not like...and would not return to...the Chac Mool system. Most of the dives were within a churned up halocline.
 
another vote for Aldora. Dave and crew have nearly the perfect lodging for a large group, Dave would probably drop the 'nearly' :D , large boats to accommodate all of you and use 120 steels on a regular basis.

PLUS as advanced divers, you may get a chance to go to the new "Polar Express" & "Aldora Adventures" dive sites... currently exclusive to A.D.! See their website or my blog or YouTube channel (links below in sig) for more info on the "Polar Express/Aldora Adventures"

Don't want to speak for them, but if you are going to fill up a boat for yourselves, they may work on scheduling as well, as long as there wouldn't be a schedule issue with that boat later in the day. Folks are pretty accommodating around here, so I would think most dive ops would follow suit, as long as there were no conflicts.

There are also "tips on finding a dive op on Coz" & "Sharky's top dive op reco's" posts/segments on the blog as well...
 
Some people will have A-clamp first stages. I'll need to have a count up.

If we compromised and assumed better gas use in the warm with good vis and live with al80 cylinders is DIN still likely to be an issue?

Here (UK) it is very rare to find a cylinder which isn't really DIN with an insert to allow A-clamp use. All you need is an Allen key.

Thank you for the suggestions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Some people will have A-clamp first stages. I'll need to have a count up.

If we compromised and assumed better gas use in the warm with good vis and live with al80 cylinders is DIN still likely to be an issue?

Here (UK) it is very rare to find a cylinder which isn't really DIN with an insert to allow A-clamp use. All you need is an Allen key.

Is A-clamp the same as yoke? Or is my term incorrect?

Use the big tanks.
 
Probably. Otherwise known as international. Not 232bar 5 thread DIN and not 300 bar 7 thread DIN. Nor the M26 nitrox style nobody ever buys.

I am wondering if (say) six of us up with DIN regs if that will be an issue for a typical operator, aside from the people with the steel tanks.

We could find adapters but they are ungainly and defeat the object of using DIN.


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Probably. Otherwise known as international. Not 232bar 5 thread DIN and not 300 bar 7 thread DIN. Nor the M26 nitrox style nobody ever buys.

I am wondering if (say) six of us up with DIN regs if that will be an issue for a typical operator, aside from the people with the steel tanks.

We could find adapters but they are ungainly and defeat the object of using DIN.
Yes, A-clamp is the same as yoke.

Yes, DIN regs will be an issue for a typical operator. Most dive ops in Cozumel use 80cf aluminum tanks with yoke valves. These valves are dedicated for yoke fittings, they are not the DIN valves with screw-in yoke adapters you refer to, so your DIN regulators will require adapters which run around $40. Here's an example:

XS Scuba Din To Yoke Regulator Adapter AC370 with reviews at scuba.com

Yes, the adapters defeat the object of using DIN, but the fact is that the vast majority of dive ops in the Caribbean and plenty of dive ops outside the Caribbean use yoke valves exclusively. You are actually fortunate that there are exceptions to this general rule on Cozumel.

You could assume better gas consumption in warmer water, but you might be mistaken. Some divers prefer the comfort of limited visibility and may have agoraphobic issues when they can actually see how deep the wall goes, for instance. Drift diving usually leads to less air consumption, but some divers inexperienced with drift diving may fight the currents or be uncomfortable in them and thereby end up using more air than usual.

The shops that use larger steel tanks also allow for longer dives, with 70-90 minutes being closer to the norm instead of the exception, so it's my feeling that one gets one's money's worth with the extended bottom time.
 
Some people will have A-clamp first stages. I'll need to have a count up.

If we compromised and assumed better gas use in the warm with good vis and live with al80 cylinders is DIN still likely to be an issue?

Here (UK) it is very rare to find a cylinder which isn't really DIN with an insert to allow A-clamp use. All you need is an Allen key.

Thank you for the suggestions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I tend to go from 14Lt/min to 9-10Lt/min in warm water.

If necessary I change my DIN for an 'A' clamp rather than endure the extra hassle of a converter.

Have a good time and enjoy the after dive kit removal and stowage of a tourist.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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