Hotel Dive Ops-Southern Resorts

[richhagelin]

We're going to be staying at Occidental Grand. We're traveling space available so not sure what day we're arriving until we get to Cancun.

It is going to be tough to set up the first day of diving with the ops I want. So, may have to dive with a hotel op on the first day.

What do you all think of the dive ops at Occidetal Grand, Allegro and Iberostar? (I assume that those 3 are the ones closest to OG.

Thanks,

Rich Hagelin

 

[ronrosa]

We're going to be staying at Occidental Grand. We're traveling space available so not sure what day we're arriving until we get to Cancun.

It is going to be tough to set up the first day of diving with the ops I want. So, may have to dive with a hotel op on the first day.

What do you all think of the dive ops at Occidetal Grand, Allegro and Iberostar? (I assume that those 3 are the ones closest to OG.

Thanks,

Rich Hagelin

Occidental Grande and Allegro both use Dive Palancar.

Iberostar uses Dressel Divers.

I wouldn't use either for a week of diving, but for 1 day they both should be fine.

 

[Scott101]

Ron, I am staying at the Grand and was planning on using Dive Palancar for the week since most ops seem reluctant to pick up people that far south.

Is there any specific reason that you wouldn't recommend using them? I know that opinions on ops differ as much as those on politics but was wondering if you could elaborate.

As a land locked diver, just about anything suits me as long as its underwater. My only pet peeve is that I do really good on air consumption (generally first in, last out with 1000+ left when most others are at 500) and would like to use someone that doesn't cut the dive off after the first person sucks the tank dry.

Any suggestions on ops that pick up way out at the Grand and dive a more liberal profile would be appreciated.

 

[richhagelin]

Scott,

So far, I have not found a dive op (other than Sand Dollar Sports) that said they would not pick up at OG. Email some of the better ones and ask.

Rich

PS I am probably going to have to dive with Palancar on the first day since I won't know for sure which day I am getting in until I get to Cancun. After that, I assume that i will be able to call either Papa Hogs or Blue XT Sea and set up diving for the rest of the week. I'm also thinking about using a couple of different dive ops the rest of the week so that I have first hand experience with more than one dive op for future reference.

 

[ronrosa]

Ron, I am staying at the Grand and was planning on using Dive Palancar for the week since most ops seem reluctant to pick up people that far south..

Any decent op should have no problem picking up from the southern resorts. If you get resistance, scratch them off your list.

Is there any specific reason that you wouldn't recommend using them? I know that opinions on ops differ as much as those on politics but was wondering if you could elaborate...

In Cozumel, I prefer a 6-pack boat. They get you to/from the dive sites faster, you are more likely to have divers of similar experience and you will have more say in the dive sites. For a week of diving, I like to do at least 11 dives. I'd venture to say that 11 dives in 1 week with Dive Palancar and you are likely to repeat dive sites and many of your dives would be less than 60 minutes long.

As a land locked diver, just about anything suits me as long as its underwater. My only pet peeve is that I do really good on air consumption (generally first in, last out with 1000+ left when most others are at 500) and would like to use someone that doesn't cut the dive off after the first person sucks the tank dry.

Any suggestions on ops that pick up way out at the Grand and dive a more liberal profile would be appreciated.

All the more reason to dive with an operator that has 6-pack boats. They can separate their divers by ability/air consumption. Papa Hogs and Blue XTSea have a good reputation. However, BlueXTSea books up quickly. You might also want to consider Deep Blue, Aldora and Liquid Blue. Be sure to let them know you are good on air and like long dives.

 

[Canucklehead]

We stayed at the Allegro last year and we did all of our dives with Dive Palancar. The previous post about repeat dives, shorter dives and not having much say in where you go is pretty much true, although I felt the dive masters and operations were first rate.

The problem that we saw with the Occidental (just south of the Allegro) is that they didn't have a pier. That meant that the divers that were picked up there had to wade out waist deep in the water to get on the boat. I'm sure most did the 5-10 minute walk up the beach to the pier at the Allegro (they have lots of gear lockers there so you don't have to cart the stuff each way.) I would assume that you could either wade out for a different dive op, or have them pick you up at the Allegro pier.

This year we're going back to the Allegro, but we're using a dive op from town. They have no problem picking up at the Allegro in their small boat. Like most dive ops from town, they aren't scheduling a lot of afternoon dives, so if we get the urge to do more than 2 tanks a day, we'll likely go with Dive Palancar.

 

[Scott101]

Thanks for all the info. I am not sure but I think I read that the OC now has a pier. I will have to see is I can find the old post.

 

[JJacobe]

If you don't check out Liquid Blue you've lost out. Talk to them! And tell Roberto I said, "thanks for the great dives!"

 

[Scott101]

Thanks for the recommendation. Do you have any contact info for Liquid Blue? I can't seem to find their website or an email address.

 

[Texas Diver]

Thanks for the recommendation. Do you have any contact info for Liquid Blue? I can't seem to find their website or an email address.

http://www.liquidbluedivers.com/indexx.html