What is it that you want in a dive op that Blue Angel does not offer? lI have been staying at what is now Blue Angel since it was La Perla many years ago; my attachment is to the hotel. I dive with the op there for convenience's sake, but they have always treated me well and delivered great dives. What else is it that you are looking for? I am not being a shill for the op; I am just curious. What have I been missing?
PM me if you are not comfortable talking about it on the open forum.
You're not missing anything. I simply have a personal preference. I have no problem discussing it in an open forum.
It sounds like what you want is supplied perfectly well by Blue Angel's dive op. By and large, I prefer to dive with a non-house dive operation. I don't think there's anything wrong with well run in-house dive ops. From what I've read and as I stated, I think Blue Angel's dive op is a good op and for some people it's a great choice. I've been diving with in-house dive operations in other locations and the vibe isn't for me.
I would also suspect that there's probably a big difference between Blue Angel's in-house dive op, Blue Angel, and their operations, and Aqua Safari at the Cozumel Palace. Never been diving with them either, but if I had to make a choice, I'd choose Blue Angel due to the what seems to be a size difference, and maybe the operational differences, from what I've read here over the years about both places. Additionally, I know someone that dove with Safari and didn't have good things to report when we talked about it. He/they loved the Palace.
If I had to dive with Blue Angel, my world would not end.
I know people who've stayed at, and did their diving with, Blue Angel. I know they'd be more comfortable diving with the Blue Angel dive op than diving with me and the way I dive. They were very happy with their stay and with the dive operation. Based only from what I've read and what was reported to me, I suspect they wouldn't have been as happy at Aqua Safari, even though the Coz Palace is very nice.
It may just be a false perception, but it has felt, to me, that there's more order, oversight and control at in-house dive ops. It feels a little bit more whistle and clipboardy. And Dry Erase boardy.
The op I dive with shows up at my dock to pick me up and I have no idea where we're going. They might let me know if the dive plan involves an up-charge due to the sites being further south, like Punta Sur, Colombia, Maracaibo etc., but we could be going anywhere. I don't care about an up-charge and they know that, so if they don't let me know, it's not a big deal. I am specifically notified if the boat is beginners, day trip divers or divers doing their first dives with the op. They know I'm fine with that too, but they assume I want to be on the advanced boat(s) if there is one. When I'm on one of those boats, it's usually in the afternoon or it's a seating/boat arrangement thing and they know I'm flexible. Flapping and flailing? No problem, I can deal. I'm just happy I'm diving.
Also, whether I'm staying at Casa Del Mar or if I were staying at Blue Angel, I'd just as soon dive with the op I've been diving with hundreds of times. I assume that Blue Angel has dive lockers close to the pier and that they'd let me use one if I'm staying there.
I'm pretty sure you understand, there's room for everybody and all tastes on Cozumel. For reasons that many would consider obvious, I probably wouldn't choose to stay north of town if most of my diving was going to be in the marine park. On the other hand, it sounds like one of the house-ops up there does some amount of northern shallow diving. I wouldn't mind a week of that one bit and would "suffer" diving with the in-house op if the opportunity or strong desire arose.
For some, staying at an AI far south, diving with the in-house op and never leaving the resort is a perfect choice. That wouldn't be for me. It doesn't mean it's bad or wrong for them.
