Ideal maximum number of days, dives in cozumel?

[loady]

I’m staying near el centro and I’ve been contacting shops and can’t find any that have frequent afternoon and night dives scheduled. I am not bringing people with me. Which central shops are running afternoon snd night dives?

 

[ggunn]

I’m staying near el centro and I’ve been contacting shops and can’t find any that have frequent afternoon and night dives scheduled. I am not bringing people with me. Which central shops are running afternoon snd night dives?

Most of the shops I am familiar with run afternoon and evening dives only when they have a minimum number of divers that want to go. That number is typically three.

 

[Snoweman]

If I could, I would stay as many days as my financial and time budget allowed. These days, that's generally one week or 10 days, but two or three weeks in Coz would be amazing if I could swing it. Two dives a day is the baseline for Cozumel dive ops, due to the substantial distance most boats have to travel to and from the dive sites. It's not like some places where the dive site is five minutes from the dock. If they take you to a site five minutes from the dock, it's not going to be very good (though night dives are commonly done closer to home.) I add on a twilight or night dive every couple of days for a total of maybe two night dives in a week. As the years have gone by and I have pretty much lost track of my total dive count, I care less about number of dives and more about dive quality. I'd rather do two great dives in a day than try to cram in four.

Definitely consider taking a day off in the middle of your trip. You could visit the mainland as others have mentioned, or just chill by a pool or under a palapa with a drink. The great thing about Cozumel is that even when you're not diving you're still in Mexico! Relax and enjoy.

Everything Lonenzoid stated. The longest I have been on any trip is 14 days, and thought that was too long. If my finances allowed it, (and I had access to a washer/dryer in suite), I would bring my wife and dogs for at least six months. I've only experienced on dive site better than COZ (and that was only one dive). I haven't dived north of the park, and would like to try it.

 

[gopbroek]

I’m staying near el centro and I’ve been contacting shops and can’t find any that have frequent afternoon and night dives scheduled. I am not bringing people with me. Which central shops are running afternoon snd night dives?

I pretty sure my LDS, Tres Pelicanos, will normally run an afternoon or twilight boat with two divers making reservations in advance. With two divers they are operating the trip at or below cost but once a dive is on the board they can sometimes get an extra diver or two to make it worth while. They normally will arrange transportation to the marina and back. If you let them know your interest as a solo diver they can often match up another diver or two and make a trip. When I am on the island I will often round out an afternoon or twilight trip. Most diving in Cozumel is in the AM and there is less demand for afternoon dives because after a typical two dives at 60-80 minutes in length most folks are tired and not up to 4 dives a day repeatedly. I find a 2x4x2x4x2... dive schedule is about the most I can sustain over a week or two and i find myself falling asleep on the bar at Oshana's during beer # 2.
With the increased mainland tourism and the Duopoly ferry companies refusing to reinstate the 7 AM departure out of Playa often afternoon dives get scheduled at the last minute since they are locked out of AM dives do to the ferry schedules. Let 3p and other shop know your desires for afternoon dives and they will try to accommodate you. I am assuming this is in addition to a morning dive.