Help finding a dive operator Cancun/Cozumel

[dnorris]

Hello,
My Fiance and I are newbie divers about to do our local checkout dives. We are going to Cancun in November and would like to dive while we are there. We actually decided to take up diving because we snorkeled there last year, and thought how great it would be to dive.

We are thinking we would like to do a good number of dives if possible. I saw a package where someone was offering 2 2-Tank Cancun Reef Dives and 1-2-Tank Cozumel dive (wall drift dive) for a little over $200 (including transportation), and thought that would be something we would like to do. Originally thought about doing a Cenote dive as well, but from what I have read here on the forums that's for the more advanced divers which we know we are not.

I am looking for recommendations for which dive operator to use. We will have our personal gear (mask, fins, wetsuit), but will need to rent BCD, weights, and regs. We would also like to use someone that has Nitrox tanks since we plan on being Nitrox certified before we go.

And help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Dallas

 

[casacozumel01]

In my opinion the best dive operators in CZM are Aquatic Sports (www.scubacozumel.com) Sergio Sandoval Sr. 987/872/0640 and his son Sergio Jr of Aquatic Sports & Expeditions (www.cozumeldivingwithsergio.com) Sergio Jr. 987/111/1172. They can also hook you up with a great operator in Cancun/Playa Del Carmen. They are family owned bussinesses and have great care for their clients. Good luck,
John Pera Cozumel Home Care www.cozumelhomecare.com f-cozumelhomecare Mexico 987/107/5984, USA 508/970/5311, casacozumel@hotmail.com

 

[Dr Dive]

Before you go, find a local spot, even if it is a quarry and boring, and get 20-30 dives in. OK, you probably won't get that many in by trip time, but you need repetitions of the basic, boring, steps like gauging tanks, putting everything together, doing the dive and breaking it all down and doing it again. It will increase your confidence immensely. If you do your check outs and nothing else until you are on vacation, you will question why you got certified in the first place. Practice, practice, practice.

 

[PeterNBiddle]

Aldora in Cozumel is very good.

 

[dnorris]

Thanks for the referrals. I doubt that we will get in more than a few dives at the local quarry. Should we wait and not dive at all this year in cancun?

 

[Beyond_Diving]

There are some fairly easy dives in Cancun. shoot Miguel Cachoa Cancun Diving, divePro Cancun Diving, Home an email. he is really good with novice divers.

 

[Mario Chow]

I live and work in Cancun as an instructor, I won't still be here by November however here's some info:

Most Dive shops in Mexico will take care of all your equipment, and divemasters will be very attentive of your needs, as long as you let them know your experience level. We have dive sites (cancun and Cozumel) for all levels of mastery so don't worry if you haven't dived much, just let your diveshop know and they will choose a dive site according to your experience.

Aldora is one of the best in Cozumel (according to me of course) They use large steel tanks so your dives are longer. Im going there next week. Yey!

I work at Solo Buceo in Cancun and I can recommend you dive there with Jaime. He has been diving in Cancun for over 30 years and I have seen how good care he takes of newbies.

As for Cenotes, you will have no problem doing them as a newbie, I did my first cenote 4 dives after my certification as Open Water. However I would recommend you leave the cenotes for your last dives so you can practice on the reefs in Cancun or Cozumel. Chac Mool, Dos Ojos, Taj Maja are very good choices for beginners as they are shallow and they aren't very dark. I just did a video last month on my favorite one: The Pit Cenote. (NOTE: I do not recommend "The Pit" to new divers since any distractions could make you go deeper than your depth limits. Advanced Open Waters are OK. The Pit goes as deep as 300 feet so be careful and check your depth gauge constantly )

I have found that going with free lance guides on cenotes is better than going through a diveshop. You save some money and you know the guides rep. Mauro Bordignon is the guide that took me on that video I just mentioned, he is not only a guide, but he even certifies people for full cave, I can vouch for him as one of the best and most experienced cenote guides you could find in Mexico.

I hope this info helps you make a good itinerary!

 

[JP77]

I just spent 3 days diving here in Cancun. I dove with Scuba Cancun. I can say that I was seriously disappointed with this shop. The shop dates from 1980 and the gear looks like it. The regulators are all beat up and dirty. On my second day, I went through 4 regulators before I found one that didn't leak. Then on our first dive the regulator was leaking as I inhaled, so I got some sea water. I swapped out to the octopus. On the third day they gave me a regulator that had green corrosion inside. I was aghast at it's condition. The BC's have seen better days and many are patched. Their masks are all the same, one size fits all and uncomfortable. Their fins are slip on kind, and most are worn out. Our first 2 days the crew and guides were fantastic. Good people Katie and Lars. The last day I got Ricardo, and our group of three all were advanced and Ricardo cut our dives short. He kept us at 40 minutes and we all had 900+ psi still. We complained and he gave us a BS story about nitrogen loading and DCS. We all had computers and were all fine. Another issue was the surface interval times, which were kept at 30-40 minutes. Don't expect any drinks or fruit on the boat, only water from the cooler is available. There are no rest rooms on any of their boats, guys are OK to hang it out but ladies are out of luck. If you're going to use Scuba Cancun, bring your own gear as I wish I had. It wasn't economical or convenient for me this trip making 3 stops and traveling literately around the world from the Mid East. You expect more from an operator, and this was the worst dive shop I've seen yet. Over the 3 days I hit two spots twice (horseshoe and puerta neigra). If I were you stay away from this operator.

 

[dnorris]

Thanks for the recommendations. I have emailed the people listed here, and am waiting on a response. Some of them I emailed a week ago prior to posting; does it take them a long time to respond?

Thanks!
Dallas

 

[txoft30]

I am going to be in Cozumel in November. I am diving with Pro Dive Mexico. I have never dove with them before, but just from my conversations with them, they seem like they're going to fun to dive with. I am going by myself so they are going to have one of their employees dive with me so that I will have a buddy. Like I said I have never dove with them before but they may be worth checking out.