I'm so confused...where to stay n' who to dive with spring / summer 2013

[BrewingDiver]

I've been to Roatan 3x in the last 12 months, wondering what to expect in comparison? A couple people in town here have said "forget Coz, go back to Roatan" .... for ease of diving and opportunity to maximize bottom time.

Well, FWIW, after doing Roatan once we have been back to Coz and our trip next year will almost certainly be Coz again, trip #7 I think. We got more diving in per day on average in Roatan (boat dives) but the viz is not as good as Coz and the fish count is very noticibly lower. The macro opportunities, for me, were better in Roatan, but the trade-off is you don't get quite the currents so you have to 'swim' a little more. Where we stayed in Roatan, it was also isolated, and I prefer to walk around town in Coz most days, and visit the many great restaurants. Finally, tho my experience in Roatan is limited, I find the people in Coz to be so warm and welcoming, that we have to make a trip back at least every other year.

BTW, as Christi indicated, it's not 45 minutes from BA to the divesites. They have very fast boats, and it seems by the time I'm suited up, we are there.

 

[Karibelle]

Just to offer some information on how afternoon dives work here. Most ops will offer afternoon dives based on demand, this is not exclusive to Opal's Dream. Anyone will do them with a minimum of three or four people, but no one has them scheduled as a guaranteed daily option, including Opal's Dream. You may have been lucky enough to be here at a time when there were enough people to do afternoon dives, but it really just depends on the other divers. We are doing afternoon dives almost everyday this week - but last week ran only morning dives. Every week and every day is different.

Blue Angel does have a regularly scheduled afternoon dive at 1 p.m., and regularly scheduled night dives Tuesdays and Thursdays, for what that's worth...

 

[fishi]

If you are Mark that will be here from 12/2 - 12/14 - I received an e-mail from you this past Tuesday via gmail and replied on Wednesday. I don't see an earlier one from a previous date in the other account.

Just to offer some information on how afternoon dives work here. Most ops will offer afternoon dives based on demand, this is not exclusive to Opal's Dream. Anyone will do them with a minimum of three or four people, but no one has them scheduled as a guaranteed daily option, including Opal's Dream. You may have been lucky enough to be here at a time when there were enough people to do afternoon dives, but it really just depends on the other divers. We are doing afternoon dives almost everyday this week - but last week ran only morning dives. Every week and every day is different.

Christi,
I got a auto reply from the 1st one that gave me the gmail and a auto reply from the gmail. But I never received your reply on Wednesday.

A friend recommended Scuba Mau to me. She was afraid of not having enough divers to do afternoon dives. On her trip when they didn't have enough divers they took her out anyway by herself! She was very impressed with them and recommended them to me. I don't know if they would do that for me because the situtition never came up. They did have 2 beginners on several days an Opal sent the videographer Matt to dive with me. So I was free to do the profile that I wanted to. She didn't have to do that. I've had nothing but good experiences with Scuba Mau and Opal's Dream they deserve to be recommended because they have always got me out for the PM dives when I wanted to go.

 

[TouchO'Gray]

I'm like the OP when I'm on vacation: I don't want to cook, clean or stress about where my next meal is coming from. I want to dive, relax, dive some more; eat, sleep and repeat. We've stayed at Fiestamericana, AI south of town for our last 5 visits to the island (in 3 years). We use Dive With Martin as our operator - we like their service, DMs, fast boats and early-morning pickups (0730). I'll dive once or twice with the on-site operator, Dive House, because they're good people and I enjoy their company. Food is good (not great) and plentiful at FA - and was very good our last visit (2 weeks ago). (New head chef.) I spend afternoons in a hammock or reviewing pics and videos, if I'm not doing 3rd and 4th dives. Yes, it's 100 pesos (soon to be 120, I guess) for a cab into town - but we're on vacation, so we plunk down the $20 or so for a round-trip ride into town for dinner/shopping/visiting friends a couple of nights each trip. Hasn't broken us, yet.

Could I find cheaper accommodations? Sure. But I'm happy with FA and their AI plan, their beach and their hammocks. And their staff. Dive With Martin is a GREAT outfit and I can't recommend them highly enough, as well. Have a great vacation!

 

[shardison]

Forget Roatan!!! :bored2:

Cozumel is Sooooo much better... I also have to say that SCC could be right down your alley (with the exception of the smaller boats) they do have some smaller ones but not everyone gets to be on one. The thing they do that is nice is; they try to pair similarly skilled divers together, as well as splitting up the groups into 8s. Even with the hundreds of boats in the channel, I didn't see any other divers except for the ones in my group on the deeper dives. The shallow dives I would see others that weren't in my group, but that's expected.

By bottom times were much better in Coz than in Roatan... Current diving helps conserve energy and air as long as your not swimming into the current, but part of that might be because of my experience and comfort level improving.

It's the best bang for your buck that I've found between (HI, Roatan, and Cozumel)!! IMHO Plus, you won't find a better shore dive area than the one at SCC.

Enjoy!!

 

[DandyDon]

Hotel Cozumel, can choose the AI option or not, Hinestly, you couldn't pay me to eat the food there, and the AI here would be a waste of money IMO

The cost of AI at Hot Coz will vary by packages but it's often quite cheap and I liked the food fine last trip, as well as the convenience.

I would not want to dive with their house Op tho, and they will charge you for every shore dive tank you want. They wouldn't even fill my pony. Coz is really more about boat diving tho.

 

[diverokc]

I stay at hotel coz. The AI is fifteen bucks a day. For that price it is well worth it. We eat in town for dinners alot , but with fresh breakfast a couple drinks and coca lites the fifteen bucks is well worth it. I just booked 8 nights Ai for less than $650 bucks-that is cheap.

 

[Christi]

I stay at hotel coz. The AI is fifteen bucks a day. For that price it is well worth it. We eat in town for dinners alot , but with fresh breakfast a couple drinks and coca lites the fifteen bucks is well worth it. I just booked 8 nights Ai for less than $650 bucks-that is cheap.

Well that is a great deal!!! Yeh, the $15 a day pays for the sodas breakfast and snack bar -I don't think it's always that cheap though

 

[Keith.M]

I don't have much experience with Cozumel but I did make my first dive trip there in August. (had been there twice before off of a cruise)

I stayed at Scuba Club Cozumel and could not recommend them highly enough. I know there are other places there that I am sure I would be quite happy with as well, but SCC was great and I will not hesitate to book with them again. The food was excellent, the diving superb. Unlimited shore diving.

And this was the view from my room.

 

[DandyDon]

I stay at hotel coz. The AI is fifteen bucks a day. For that price it is well worth it. We eat in town for dinners alot , but with fresh breakfast a couple drinks and coca lites the fifteen bucks is well worth it. I just booked 8 nights Ai for less than $650 bucks-that is cheap.

It's amazing how much it can vary on packages. I think my additional cost for AI was like $25 for the week! It's not someplace you'd want to visit for the food, no - and picky foodies would not be impressed, but it was fine for me.