Looking for an operator that caters to divers, not just tourists who dive

[bobfmdc]

Try Edmundo Torres, one man owner/operator of Chachacha dive shop on Calle 7 Sur right around the corner from the Casa Mexicana Hotel on the waterfront in town. Edmundo is sort of a local fixture, having made a reputation for deep diving on air "back in the old days." He has two 6 person pango boats, brings on a boat driver and dives as the guide. Best fast drift guide we have had in Coz. He will go wherever you want that is feasible given the conditions and consistent with your skills.

He charges about the same as the cattle boats, given that he has multiple divers, but you need to contact him (chachachadiveshop@hotmail.com) first. The problem with these small operations is getting the 4 to 6 divers on a trip so that it is not a money loser for the operator. Tell him that Bob and Margie sent you--we just came back Friday (July 1).

 

[yaml]

without a doubt, i highly recommend living underwater: owner/DM jeremy anschel; concierge diving at its best; e.g full length parkas and hot chocolate after the night dive! (big hit with my wife) small group/slow pace/maxed BT as he requires comps on all dives; private beach SIT with great food; was there in may and going back in october; not the cheapest op but in my opinion the only one i will dive with on a consisitent basis (did 1 trip with dive paradise and they were fine - we had the small, private, fast boat; 5 divers incl. DM) but i prefer jeremy's op. also heard good things about diving with martin (he's been around for almost 30 years - i started going to cozumel in 1975 be safe-have fun

 

[TSandM]

I had a similar request when we did our trip to Cozumel, and I wrote to some folks who seemed to dive there regularly who I thought would have the same needs and wants that I did. I ended up going with Aldora. It worked out well. We had large tanks with Nitrox (that's not unique); stayed in the Villa, which was VERY nice (boat pickup where you stay); had a guide who was full cave, and didn't blink at our gear, which was nice; were allowed to dive to the extent of our gas, which was also very nice, and except for one day, dove entirely at the pace of our group. I loved the fleece-lined coats they greeted us onto the boat with. I did not very much like the place we spent SI, but that reportedly has changed.

Were I to go back to Cozumel, I would definitely use them again. I know there are other operators who are very well spoken of, but we had specific criteria, and Aldora met them.

 

[CriticalMass]

deleted

 

[messenone]

ScubaDu without a hesitation!!
Ask for Hector "Pepe" to be your guide. You will not regret it.
He will risk his life for you if he needs to. I ve seen it happen!!
Very serious about his job but with a very good sense of humor.
Plus he is a great guy!

 

[deerboy]

I have been to Coz 5 times in the last 4 years and used 3 different dive ops during that time. Hands down the best dive op is Liquid Blue Divers. They have small but fast 6 pack covered boat, they leave early (8am) so you beat the crowds to the reefs. And they will tailor the dive to the divers - advanced divers can do some pretty advanced stuff with them. I strongly reccomend them - over the years i have become friends with Michael the owner and Julio the DM.

Contact info:
Michaela Velasco
liquidbluediverscozumel@gmail.com
(Mx #) 011-52-987-869-7794
(US #) 970-218-4878

 

[kmurray719]

they leave early (8am) so you beat the crowds to the reefs.....

I've seen people say this before, and it makes me curious....I've done 40-50 dives in Cozumel and only ever ran into other groups of divers in the water two or three times that I can recall ..sometimes leaving at 9am and sometimes 8am...do other people often run into "crowds" on the reefs?? Have I just been really lucky?

 

[DandyDon]

I've seen people say this before, and it makes me curious....I've done 40-50 dives in Cozumel and only ever ran into other groups of divers in the water two or three times that I can recall ..sometimes leaving at 9am and sometimes 8am...do other people often run into "crowds" on the reefs?? Have I just been really lucky?

I have but rarely. I think the crew is more likely to check by radio to see if anyone is on a site considered, ask about open sites, and clear that before telling the divers - unless a diver has a special request. Scuba Mau likes to leave at 8:30 but didn't have any problems, yet the day I wanted to leave earlier so I could catch an early ferry - they moved it to 7:30 am for me.

Another possibility is that if you leave later, you may dive a site than had divers half an hour before you and while you won't see them, some critters will still be hiding - altho park fish are used to us, still some may shy away.

 

[sparky923]

Towards the end of the dive the first diver @ 1000 was on her very long hose to allow the other divers more bottom time. For the rest of the week i was with a different group. To me it was a perfect dive experience, they were proactive as a dive op to guage my skill and ability, did not hinder me in any way and then placed me with like divers.

All the best and safe diving Fdog.

This was my experience with Aldora as well. Edgar was our DM last month and he was great. We were diving only the one day and were diving with a group that had dove with Edgar the day before. One in the group was an admittted air hog, and he shared air with Edgar on each dive. My son ran low early as well, and Edgar let him share also toward the end of the first dive. This was after the 'air hog' had already shared earlier in the dive. Edgar told us when we met him, that he was superman and didn't need any air, and by the end of the day, I was starting to believe him.

 

[messenone]

Scubadu.com the best there is !