Long overdue Kudos for Aldora Divers - consistently great dive operation

[Underwaterguy]

Living in Colorado, I've been using Cozumel as my diving "base" for years. But I've never really shared what keeps me coming back so often to a truly incredible dive location. In addition to the extraordinary variety of reefs and dive sites, i was fortunate to discover Aldora Divers and the Villa Aldora through Undercurrent many years ago.

This year, i've done four trips to Cozumel, and am currently on my fifth trip. I'm a hack amateur photographer and videographer, and my last trip down was particularly productive trip photo-wise.

I credit Aldora Divers for my being able to get these shots: access to the right reefs at the right time; ability to linger scoping out shots while still being part of a group drift dive; large tanks with perfect nitrox mixes and--as best as possible I guess--pairing well matched divers into the nice small dive groups. Of course the ability to dive in sites well off the beaten path for someone like me who is doing 150+ dives a year here in Coz alone is also a major attraction!

The operation is professional; the dive masters all tremendously experienced and knowledgable of the local waters. Their captains are extraordinary. Now don't get me wrong…they are human and there are days when the mix on the boat isn't quite what we had hoped. But that is reported and corrected for the next day…obviously with new divers coming in -- a lot of whom exaggerate their abilities and experience -- it takes seeing someone underwater to really know their skill level and air consumption.

But I want to pass on that this is an operation worth diving with. They don't offer packages and you can save money diving on the cattle boats, but most of the other operators who people report as quality charge about the same but even if they have steel 120's they don't have high pressure. Aldora also does adventure dives to the north and goes around to the east side when conditions allow.

If you are serious about your diving, you definitely want to consider Aldora (gulp…I hope they have room for me on the boats after this!).

 

[sharky60]

I would love to be able to spend more time on the island and "spread the love around" and dive with Aldora ( and a few other Dive Ops owned by friends and acquaintances I have down there)

 

[lindenbruce]

Oh boy, SOMEONE is trying to get a half off coupon(LMAO). No really though, four out of my last five trips have been diving with Aldora. A really great outfit. And diving with Memo up north this last trip was a real blast. I will be back again baby. B.

 

[D2H2]

My family has been diving with Aldora for 11 years now, two trips a year for a total of about a month a year. Just returned Saturday from a another great dive trip. I fully agree with Underwaterguy. Aldora is an outstanding dive operation and has gotten better every year since we began diving with them.

I'm always impressed with how smoothly Aldora runs its overall operation. They aren't perfect, but are about as close as I think you can get with a dive operation. In all the years that we have been diving with them I have never been left without a dive option. Even when tropical storm Ida blew through in 2009 and the port closed, we were able to have great dives on the East side of the island. If there is a scheduling issue they call you the night before to discuss your options. On a number of occasions, they have placed us on one of their fast boats....and I mean just two of us with the dive master and boat captain. That is really going the extra mile to make sure you are satisfied.

The dive instructors are top notch and will take you to any of the dive sites (Maracabo to Barracuda) for which the group is qualified. You also can arrange for diving the north or east sides of the island. My brother and I did a north side trip with Memo and it was incredible....very different from the west or east. They don't compromise on safety and work to keep you safe irrespective of the dive conditions you may encounter. They also actively protect the reef which is and important issue with us and I think with almost all regular Cozumel divers.

I have been sold on diving on 120s since I first tried them with Aldora. As for cost, I calculate it based on bottom time vs the number of dives. Since I get about twice as much time on 120s, the cost of our time when we are actually underwater is much lower than most other operations. Add to that their valet service and I think it is hard to beat. I also like the idea that they fill their own tanks. You get tanks that are filled to near their rated capacity and the nitrox percentages (which I still check before every dive) are always right on target.

To be clear, I'm not saying that Aldora is the best on the island because I haven't dove with the rest. I think that kind of discussion is nonsense since everyone likes or requires something different from a dive op. My only purpose is to thank Aldora for 11 years of great, safe diving. Happy 20th anniversary to the entire Aldora team.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Add us to the list for the half-off coupons!

We love the Aldora folks. During our recent trip, we did have one 62 minute dive (particularly heavy currents...) but other than that, our typical dive profile was about 80 minutes, with max depth of 100-110'. The longest was 88, and we called it because Kim and Sue were getting cold.