Locally Owned at Coz?
- Thread starter brez
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James
I did not question his motives you a**. Are you constanly looking for an argument on this board? I simply stated that the money being paid to the DM and others on the boats do stay on the island. I said
"Are you not supporting the island by diving with anyone on the island that employs locals. If they did not have jobs then they would not support their families and the local economy. You might be supporting 20 or more families by diving with a shop"
Now, do you want to argue about that? Where in my post did I question his motives James? If you really want to debate this then why don't you answer my question!
If I may wade in here...
While it is probably true that every dive op on Cozumel hires locals and therefore contributes to the island's economy in that way, organizations that are externally owned export their profits and therefore are at least to some extent exploitive (that's a word, innit?). I prefer (myself, personally, YMMV) to patronize locally owned businesses on Cozumel whenever I can, in order, in my own small way, to discourage the exploitation of Cozumel by outside interests.
While it is probably true that every dive op on Cozumel hires locals and therefore contributes to the island's economy in that way, organizations that are externally owned export their profits and therefore are at least to some extent exploitive (that's a word, innit?). I prefer (myself, personally, YMMV) to patronize locally owned businesses on Cozumel whenever I can, in order, in my own small way, to discourage the exploitation of Cozumel by outside interests.
ggun
I agree. I was only responding to this post orginally with the thought that whom ever owns the shop, you are still supporting the local economy. My point with James is that I never questioned the posters motives. I just stated my opinion. Hey, everyone has the right to make their own decisions as to who they spend their money with in Coz or anywhere else.
I agree. I was only responding to this post orginally with the thought that whom ever owns the shop, you are still supporting the local economy. My point with James is that I never questioned the posters motives. I just stated my opinion. Hey, everyone has the right to make their own decisions as to who they spend their money with in Coz or anywhere else.
Sorry all, I was away a few days and missed the recent discussion. Thanks all for the many suggestions here.
I'm looking for as much of my money as possible to stay down in Coz. While I agree that some of the money that is spent down there will stay down there no matter what, I don't want the owners taking the profits back to the States (or anywhere for that matter).
My personal motivations fall into 3 main categories:
1) Fairness: IMHO it's only fair for the residents of the diving locale to benefit from the beauty of their natural resources. Just because someone is privileged here
2) Sustainability: As happens again and again, when international investors are encouraged to put their money where they can maximize their profit, there's no reason for them to not pull out at any time and set up shop somewhere cheaper or more profitable. (This also leaves a huge void and can devastate local economies, a variant on "Fairness" above.) I believe that people with a local love and investment in Cozumel are the most likely to keep it running and beautiful over the long run.
3) Distinctiveness: I'd die of boredom if every dive town in the world turned into a strip mall of Marriotts and McDonalds. I won't support the multinational corporations who will try to homogenize and Disneyify every tourist destination in the world.
Give me local flair any day.
It's just one way of looking at the world, but it's how I try to think about how I spend my money. I'd be curious to hear how other divers see the issue.
-Mike
Diver Kat
Contributor
Hadn't really thought about who owned the shops we used - but glad that Papa Hoggs owners are on-site every day.They keep an eye on things and make sure the divers are well taken care of. As for Scuba Club - they may be locally owned, but I would never dive with them again. We booked very specifically as brand new divers last year - on arrival they wanted up to go out with a group going to 110 & deeper. They ended up charging us an extra 50-60 bucks to get a boat to take us out to a more appropriate site.
Hindsight of course is 20:20, but there was absolutely no reason to pay extra; there are tons of good dive companies there that would have been all too glad to take care of you at the going rate. You can't throw a rock on Cozumel without hitting a dive shop; a short cab ride into town from SCC and 15 minutes of looking around and I'll wager you could have been in the water almost immediately.
If you don't get what you want from a dive company, take your dollars down the street; dive trips are incredibly easy to arrange on Cozumel. If you were locked in due to pre-payment, well, there's another reason not to do that.
Diver Kat
Contributor
You're right about that - but our problem was that we had time limitations, and we had to expect that everyone elses morning boats had already left. So they had us somewhat over a barrel - pay the extra - or don't dive. As blue water opportunities are infrequent for us landbound Texans, we paid the extra. We later received an e-mail apology from Tim at Scuba Club who had made all the original arrangements with us, but then wasn't there that day. All he offered us was a discount to come back another time - rather than a refund of what we paid above his original quote. Not enough incentive for me to give them a second chance.
Of course the great thing is with so many Dive-Ops in Cozumel - we can all find one that suits us, and takes care of us to our needs & standards. Scuba Club works well for you, Papa Hoggs for us. So we can all still end up happy with our dive experience....
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