Help me choose the right Coz Dive op for us...

[nanson]

Just got back from cozumel and diving with Blue XT. They do there best to seperate new divers from experienced divers and give special attention to divers needs and appropriate site selection per skill level. The DM's are instructors and safety is there first concern. They carry the safety sausages and deploy them before surfacing on all dives for all divers.
They are used to certifying new divers and deal well with divers of all skill levels. The only question is, Are they booked in April when you want to go. Best to contact them early.
Have a good time. The diving is world class and some of the best vis you can experience.

My husband and I are going to Coz April 17-24th!!!! We're sooo excited to get back underwater! We're newbies. We just got our OW certification in Oct. on our honeymoon so this will only be our second dive trip.

Just to give you all an idea of our experience level-
We logged about 8-10 dives on our honeymoon, so we're still a little green around the gills, but we're not air hogs (gotta love Yoga!) and we've got pretty good buoyancy control for newbies (if I do say so myself.) We did one drift dive on our honeymoon, but I don't think that qualifies us as experienced drift divers. We would also like to use this opportunity (not to take a course but) to improve our dive skills thoughout this trip. We don't want to be diving with the pod people and resort course-ers, but we also don't want to be with really experienced divers where either we're holding them back from diving their experience level, or we're being peer pressured to dive beyond our abilities.

We had a great experience on our honeymoon with a smaller dive op, and liked the personal relationship that we developed with that experience. We'd like to go with a smaller more personal op again. This way we can improve our skills, and as we start making the rounds of the major dive destinations, when we start going back for return trips we have someone to 'go home to' so-to-speak.

After fairly extensive research here on these boards (and even a little elsewhere) I've narrowed it down to these 3 dive ops (in no particular order):

Careyitos
BlueXTSea
Anita Divers

Considering our experience level and desires who do you think we should go with???

PS and incidentally how soon do I need to make reservations with them???

 

[ScubaTexas]

We have used BlueXT and found that Christi and her crew are fantastic. Very customer service oriented, very professional, safety is a high priority and the dives they took us on were awesome. Raul, her DM, is extremely knowledgable about the reefs and marine life. He's also very good with working with the divers. I would bet that you would not regret going with Christi. We're hoping that we'll be diving with her in a couple weeks if she runs a second boat. She does book up so get in early if you can. :54:

 

[MgicTwnger]

Is aqua safari the same outfit that Sergio Sandoval runs? (aquatic safari?/ Aquatic adventures?)or is that another dive op? I can't remember Sergios dive ops name, but I recommend them for a mewbie.

Not the same outfit.
I dove with Aqua Safari 1-1/2 years ago and can reccomend them. Good DM's, boats, etc., and they do a nice job of grouping divers of similar skill levels togeather.

 

[goofygirl]

I emailed all 3 dive ops a few weeks ago to see if they were available and to tell them of our skill level.

Anita was unavailable the week we'll be there.

BlueXTSea-
I only got an auto response saying thanks for our interest and they'd get back to me, then no actual email followed.

Careyitos-
We gave them details of our skill level and we expressed our concerns about not wanting to dive too deep, and not wanting to hold more experienced divers back. They said if the more experienced divers were going deeper than we wanted to we could stay with a DM in a shallower part of the reef. They were very supportive of our desire to learn as well so overall we feel very happy with the way things worked out.

They were very accepting and supportive of us newbies wanting to become better divers and they were available, so we booked 4 days of diving with them!

Thank you all for your advice and support!

 

[Walter]

"We gave them details of our skill level and we expressed our concerns about not wanting to dive too deep, and not wanting to hold more experienced divers back. They said if the more experienced divers were going deeper than we wanted to we could stay with a DM in a shallower part of the reef. They were very supportive of our desire to learn as well so overall we feel very happy with the way things worked out.

They were very accepting and supportive of us newbies wanting to become better divers and they were available, so we booked 4 days of diving with them!"

Sounds like you made a good choice.

 

[cxg31s]

Careyitos-
We gave them details of our skill level and we expressed our concerns about not wanting to dive too deep, and not wanting to hold more experienced divers back. They said if the more experienced divers were going deeper than we wanted to we could stay with a DM in a shallower part of the reef. They were very supportive of our desire to learn as well so overall we feel very happy with the way things worked out.

They were very accepting and supportive of us newbies wanting to become better divers and they were available, so we booked 4 days of diving with them!

Thank you all for your advice and support!

I have dove with both Blue XT Sea and Careyitos and would highly recommend either of them. You will not regret booking with Careyitos--they have 3 DM's in the water on every dive so there is plenty of in-water support, almost like having a private DM. The 2 DM's in the middle and back of the group are there to provide assistance, escort divers who have problems or run low on air up to the surface or even hold hands with nervous divers. They will do everything possible to make sure you have a good experience and work with you to resolve any concerns or problems you might have. They will also offer advice on improving your skills so pick their brains--they've been diving a LONG time and are a wealth of information. They do long leisurely dives and surface intervals and you can sun on the top deck while cruising--the whole day with them is very relaxing. Enjoy and make sure to post a report when you get back!

Angie

 

[Christi]

I emailed all 3 dive ops a few weeks ago to see if they were available and to tell them of our skill level.

Anita was unavailable the week we'll be there.

BlueXTSea-
I only got an auto response saying thanks for our interest and they'd get back to me, then no actual email followed.

Careyitos-
We gave them details of our skill level and we expressed our concerns about not wanting to dive too deep, and not wanting to hold more experienced divers back. They said if the more experienced divers were going deeper than we wanted to we could stay with a DM in a shallower part of the reef. They were very supportive of our desire to learn as well so overall we feel very happy with the way things worked out.

They were very accepting and supportive of us newbies wanting to become better divers and they were available, so we booked 4 days of diving with them!

Thank you all for your advice and support!

I searched back through my e-mails, and found your e-mail dated 2/23/04. I personally responded on 2/25/04, it sounds like you didn't receive it. I am sorry that our communications failed. I agree however, that you wil be in very good hands with Careyitos. Tony, Ricardo, Cielo and crew are great guys and they will take excellent care of you. Cielo and I became instructors together, so give him a big hug for me!

 

[goofygirl]

Christi- I thought it was weird that you hadn't responded considering what rave reviews you get around here. I just checked back though my email folders and really never did receive your email. Probably a glitch somewhere, I'm sorry we missed eachother too.

I just figured you didn't want us newbies around! :winky2:

I'm looking forward to diving with Careyitos and your endorsement makes me feel even better!
Thanks

 

[Christi]

K,

Yeh, unfortunately we have e-mail glitches around here sometimes and I don't know until it's too late in some cases. My endorsement for those guys is an honest one! I actually dive with them when I take a day off...so I can be pampered by someone else...haha! I just never get days off anymore, which is a good problem to have The only disadvantage for me with you diving with them is that you'll never leave them, they really are good. I didn't mention this previously, but when I cannot accommodate people, Careyitos is one of the shops I recommend. I'm sorry again for the failed communications!

 

[Scuber]

My husband and I are going to Coz April 17-24th!!!! We're sooo excited to get back underwater! We're newbies. We just got our OW certification in Oct. on our honeymoon so this will only be our second dive trip.

Just to give you all an idea of our experience level-
We logged about 8-10 dives on our honeymoon, so we're still a little green around the gills, but we're not air hogs (gotta love Yoga!) and we've got pretty good buoyancy control for newbies (if I do say so myself.) We did one drift dive on our honeymoon, but I don't think that qualifies us as experienced drift divers. We would also like to use this opportunity (not to take a course but) to improve our dive skills thoughout this trip. We don't want to be diving with the pod people and resort course-ers, but we also don't want to be with really experienced divers where either we're holding them back from diving their experience level, or we're being peer pressured to dive beyond our abilities.

We had a great experience on our honeymoon with a smaller dive op, and liked the personal relationship that we developed with that experience. We'd like to go with a smaller more personal op again. This way we can improve our skills, and as we start making the rounds of the major dive destinations, when we start going back for return trips we have someone to 'go home to' so-to-speak.

After fairly extensive research here on these boards (and even a little elsewhere) I've narrowed it down to these 3 dive ops (in no particular order):

Careyitos
BlueXTSea
Anita Divers

Considering our experience level and desires who do you think we should go with???

PS and incidentally how soon do I need to make reservations with them???

I don't know if it's too late, but, we just came back from Cozumel and had a great experience. My boyfriend and I were certified a couple years ago, and we still consider ourselves new to the sport. Before we left, I did alot of research on Dive companies. We hadn't heard great reviews about the dive shop at our resort. We ended up diving with Deep Blue Cozumel. I was honest and let them know how many dives we had accomplished and that we wanted to dive with smaller groups. They came thriugh for us! They picked us up at our hotel pier and it was 4 divers to our one DM. He was excellent, patient, and didn't push us. He listened to our profiles and we went from there. The current is strong, however, I stuck with my buddy and followed our DM. We never felt uncomfortable, and saw amazing things! Not sure what happened, but, on the beach before our second dive, an ambulance was there picking someone up-so, that just makes it even more clear about how serious diving is, and be aware. See ya.