Kids diving in Cozumel?

[susan6868]

Back to the original question- young kids, newly certified, shallow diving, drift diving, Cozumel etc.
Seems like the thread went off topic for a while there. I have two teenagers who were certified at 12 and 13 respectively. We've been to Cozumel several times and I have some invaluable advice for you.
Private Dive Master.
My 15 year old has been diving for three years now. He's AOW, Nitrox, and he's good. Safety concious and the best dive buddy I could ask for. With that said, when we first brought him to Cozumel we hired a private dive master for him. To a new diver, especially a child, the drift diving can be a little intimidating. We found that although my son did great in Jamaica and the Keys, when he got to Coz at age twelve, he had trouble controlling his buoyancy because of the current and even more importantly, his safety stops. With no anchor line and the current stronger as he got closer to 15 feet, it became a stressful situation for him. Having the divemaster as his buddy was not only a safety issue, but an opportunity for him to spend his time with someone who could instruct him as we dove and hone his skills. We return to Cozumel year after year and he's great now.
Our daughter got certified last year and we took her right to Cozumel with us. She was 13, not as serious about diving, and very intimidated by the whole drift diving concept. She also had very big fears with regard to depth on her first "real" dives. We tried to go it alone for the first day, and not only did it spoil the dive for her, it was a bummer for everyone else on the boat. The second day our dive op suggested hiring a private DM and what a huge difference. I cost us $50 bucks, we were all able to go out as a family, but when once we started to get a little deep, the DM went off with our daughter to a shallower area and spent the time there. Although we were happy to "watch" her, we realized that we weren't qualified to train her, and furthermore, we weren't familiar enough with the area to head off on our own.
In hindsight, which is always 20/20- I realize that Coz probably wasn't the best place to take a brand new diver who was trained with and anchor line or off the shore. However, the private DM bailed us out big time. She no longer needed her own DM this year, but she comes along wherever we go now and we just watch her like hawks.

Coz is definately my kids favorite place, and I think your ten year old will do just fine if you play your cards right!
If you want to inquire about the private DM thing, you might want to email Christi over at Blue XTSea- our kids love her as well as her crew. Frankly, I can't say enough about how wonderful they were with our daughter and how much she was able to enjoy because of them. It would have been a miserable trip for all of us without her guidance.
With that said, it seems from your post that it's just you and your son. I assume you would saty wit him. A private DM is still a great idea beacuse they can lead the two of you from the drop point to depths and places you're more comfortable with without affecting the rest of the group.
Okay, enough said. I hope it all works out for you and that you have a safe and fun trip.
Congratulations to your son on his certification. Now tell him to get a job and start saving money............

 

[MakingBubbles]

...I have two teenagers who were certified at 12 and 13 respectively. We've been to Cozumel several times and I have some inaluable advice for you.
Private Dive Master.
... Congratulations to your son on his certification. Now tell him to get a job and start saving money............

That's what I like about Scubaboard! Some really sound, objective advise. Thank you so much Susan. I am almost certain that I will get a private DM if we go to Coz. I may even get one for my daughter too. This will allow me to focus more on my wife if necessary since she's never been drift diving before. (I've been drift diving numerous times, even in ripping currents)

 

[Crazyduck]

Crazyduck - RIGHT ON! I had already picked the Occidental Allegro as my first choice. Thanks for the info and picture of it. It sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. The other resort I was looking at is El Cozumeleno Beach Resort. Have you heard anything good or bad about it? PM me if you don't want to comment in the forum.

Anyone else have any other tips on easy and shallow diving locations?
Many thanks for all of the comments so far.

I am sorry but I have not heard of the other resort.
We will be back June for 5 days on the beach and diving.

The only negative to the beach is the step down into the water. I am hoping that this has leveled out over the last year. They rebuilt the beach after Wilma. It was about a 1ft step down into the water.
Also there is no hard path into the water. Which is only a pain when getting out.

If you contact Palancar divers they can arrange smaller tanks. That’s on the price sheet that they will send you- 50’s and 63 (if my memory is serving me right.)

We usually also spend the extra for the superior rooms. They are closer to the pools and the ocean. The maid staff was incredible.

Our favorite drink is sprite with lime. They did not have Dr. pepper or Coke but did have Pepsi. So this made a nice substitute.

Downers- the hot tub was broken the week were there.
They were replacing the palms at certain points. Beds are rock hard… we are considering bringing out camping mats. I was not totally impressed with Palancar diver’s supervision- we’ll just say that. If you want specifics pm me.

Just as a heads up- Surf shirt is a great idea. Austin would just snorkel forever and the surf shirt was a big help along with sun screen and neoprene ball cap.

Depending on your group and timeline I would consider contacting Christi and Blue XT. They meet us at our dock. When we starting prepping for the dive Autro stopped asked us Austin’s certification and what we wanted our max depth to be. I was very impressed. Can’t give enough praise to the group.

I have to admit to being absolutely worn out most nights so we ate, watched the sun set, went for a swim and crashed.

Please feel free to give me yell.
Sounds like you are on the right track.
Andrew

 

[susan6868]

Oh Makingbubbles, one other thing. Safety sausages. I don't know if you use them but I would get one for every single member of the family. They're not expensive but worth their weight in gold if you get separated, and with the currents in Cozumel, it can happen fast.
I won't bore you with the details but it was my husband, the adult, who got separated from the group one year and wound up being pulled off course by the current. He inflated his sausage and within minutes another boat came by, scooped him up, and a radio call later he was back on our boat. Details of that little adventure should be posted on "Incidents and Accidents", not here. As you would guess, he made a bonehead decision that really put him in harms way. Suffice to say we all have a sausage clipped to our BC's at all times.
I'm with Crazyduck as far as contacting Christi at Blue XTSea. Her boats are fast but small and she limits them genereally to six people. So, if it's you, and your wife, and your son, and your daughter, you might even have your own boat depending on how busy she is that week. If not, you're at least in the majority and that makes you a "beginners" boat. (Not you, but you know what I mean.) You'll get so much more attention on a six pack than on a cattle boat.
Yummy snacks, and warm towels. Mago the boat captain will astound your kids with magic tricks between dives. Pedro Pablo and Arturo are wonderful DM's who always spent a lot of time between dives and during the surface intervals working our kids on their breathing techniques and proper bouyancy.
I think Christi's out of town this week so you might not hear from her till next. Just a thought in case you're in a rush. You might want to schedule your family dives with her and then use the resort for filler when you just want to hop on a boat and dive without the group. (Sounds like you're pretty advanced.)
Nice to meet another family that dives together- it's one of the very few things our kids will still do with us!

 

[diveborg]

Just as a heads up- Surf shirt is a great idea. Austin would just snorkel forever and the surf shirt was a big help along with sun screen and neoprene ball cap.

More excellent advice. www.sungrubbies.com is a good source for UV protection clothing, including swim shirts.

 

[bgsnmky]

I too am going diving in Coz for the first time myself with my brother and his 13 year old.

When you guys say to hire a dive master are you saying when you go with a big group (like I saw with Paradise - you cna hire one for 35.00 to watch over 1 to two people). Or are you saying there are smaller companies that will take just your group. There are three of us and we checked in with Christi and it would have been great, but we can't afford for just 3 of us to go with her.

Anyone else going to be in Cozumel on June 6th??? that is looking for easy newbie dives?

 

[scubawife]

I too am going diving in Coz for the first time myself with my brother and his 13 year old.

When you guys say to hire a dive master are you saying when you go with a big group (like I saw with Paradise - you cna hire one for 35.00 to watch over 1 to two people). Or are you saying there are smaller companies that will take just your group. There are three of us and we checked in with Christi and it would have been great, but we can't afford for just 3 of us to go with her.

Anyone else going to be in Cozumel on June 6th??? that is looking for easy newbie dives?

You can hire a private DM whether you're on a big boat or with a boat that has only 6-8 divers. I would expect that the prices will vary a bit from shop to shop, but it will be much more affordable then chartering a boat for just 3 divers.

 

[susan6868]

BGSMKY- Scubawife said it best, much cheaper to hire a DM on a big boat than to try to charter a private boat. I suggested Christi because if you will get more attention on a small boat (generally speaking of course) than a boat with a large group of people. That's important for a new diver, even for folks who only dive once in a while. Unless the DM is totally calling the shots, it's much easier to get a concensus from six people than 20 when the DM asks if there's a preference as to where the group wants to go on that day. In addition, Christi works real hard to put people togther who are "compatible".
For instance, if you and your brother and whoever are newbies, she's not going to put you with three people who are itching to go to very advanced dive sites even WITH a private DM. Email Christi next week sometime when she's back in town. I don't want to speak for her, I can only endorse her op based on my own experience.
Others on the board are way more knowledgeable and may be able to suggest other dive ops that offer personalized service as well. I'll stick to what I know and let the rest of the gang suggest the dive ops they prefer. Then go with what works for you.
Have fun, and dive safe!
PS- if you're looking to meet people online ahead of time, you might want to start a thread to that effect. Or, just keep you're eyes peeled, someone WILL start a thread asking who's going down in June and then everyone chimes in. You might find people you can hhok up with and dive with that match your personalities or skill level.
Let's face it, if you can find three you've got a ix pack- full boat!
Good luck.

 

[jd950]

FWIW I think a "private" DM is best and it probably wouldn't be hard to find someone willing to take two of you or put together a small group to a shallow destination. I lined up a Coz dive for July that will be shallow to accomodate two snorkelers in my group. You don't want a cattle boat dive, though.

On the other topic, in an activity where you can be a certified instructor at 18, why is it surprising that you can be a certified diver at 10? At leat the divers are limited to 40' and must be with another certified diver. The 18 year old instructor has no leash at all. Is there a less responsible age than about 17-20???

 

[skismuggs]

I have a 13 yr old girl who has been scuba diving since she was 10 yrs old (PADI Junior Scuba Diver). Technically, she can only go up to 40 ft but she's done dives to about 55ft. But, everytime she dives I always get a personal dive master assigned just for her. Yes, it may cost a little extra but at least I know a pro is always next to her. This way my husband and I can have fun diving and not focus our attention on her all the time. We will be going to Cancun in July and diving Cozumel for a day, but we decided not to take her since the dives are mostly drift dives. She will do a lot of diving in Cancun though but I made reservations with an operator whose dive master will be exclusive to the 3 of us. Hope this helps. Any questions feel free to email me.