Looking for dive op offering 4 dives a day

[ggunn]

Dear Gordon,

You are right "if everyone is properly using their SMBs". How often do you see that?


Dave

Quite often, actually. I always deploy mine when I and my buddywife come up spatially or temporally separated from the rest of the group. I also deploy it on the first or second dive if it's been a while since I've been diving.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Quite often, actually. I always deploy mine when I and my buddywife come up spatially or temporally separated from the rest of the group. I also deploy it on the first or second dive if it's been a while since I've been diving.

Dear Gordon,

Just because you do, and maybe Dandy Don, does that mean that most do…I really doubt it. I'm a deep pocket from Texas and NEVER wanted anyone hurt on my watch. Thus safe and long dives.

Dave Dillehay

 

[SteveWoj]

This has been super helpful. Sounds like there are plenty of options for dive operations on the island. Ultimately, it really comes down to what your into. Some ops offer the family feel of the small boutique dive shop that is all about catering to the individual diver, some are about the all inclusive feel of the resort/food/lodging/great diving and one is all about long dives. Found what I needed... really appreciate all the input!!!

 

[uncfnp]

Dear Gordon,

Just because you do, and maybe Dandy Don, does that mean that most do…I really doubt it. I'm a deep pocket from Texas and NEVER wanted anyone hurt on my watch. Thus safe and long dives.

Dave Dillehay

At the risk of beating a dead horse...

Dave,

I respect your choice as a dive shop to implement any policy you deem fit for your business.

For myself, I cut my diving teeth on drift dives in south florida where boat traffic is frequent and not as knowledgeable or as careful of divers as the boats in Cozumel. If I couldn’t shoot a bag or know to watch for boats I wouldn’t last long there as a solo diver. Your policy allows me zero ability to control when or how I ascend. This does not work for me and any diver that is considering dive ops in Cozumel deserve to know this policy so they can make an informed choice.

There are many dive ops in Cozumel that allow divers to control their ascents and yet there are hundreds of safe dives made each and every day. These same ops also offer any diver without the ability to shoot a bag or ascend independently the option of ending the dive with the DM. It doesn’t have to be one or the other but rather have the flexibility to allow the diver to make the choice that is best for themselves and within their experience and capabilities, Your repeatedly suggesting that any dive op that allows divers to self ascent is operating unsafely is unfair to those ops and to that I do take exception.

 

[ChuckP]

How do you quantify that risk as "huge"? How many divers have been hit by boats as a result of dive ops implementing this policy? Boat captains piloting around dive sites are well aware that there are surfacing divers in the area, and I don't see where the risk of being hit is all that much greater for a pair of divers than for a group of six or so, especially if everyone is properly using their SMBs.

Easy to say when divers aren’t your responsibility, it’s not your business that would gain the exposure and pay the financial price - yes even lowly Mexico has liability laws. It’s not your marine park card that gets pulled and you don’t get the interrogation by the navy, state and local good guys - who might even give you a cot and three squares till all the liability is paid.

You might want to spend a few months straight down here observing divers. There’s tons of great ones but there’s more than a few that could use some guidance.

You dive with the same group a lot, get to know people - captains and DM’s - show some skills - those folks will almost always have the rules bent for them. I see a small chunk of people that are one timers or new to ops - like the dude that had a DM card and about killed six of us at Baracuda - theme the ones that rules are for.

 

[ChuckP]

I've always wondered how the Aldora dives are structured.

For reference, I can pull 60-70 minutes out of an AL80 and my wife is even better.

Not all dive sites at Cozumel are continuous and it seems that many run out of reef at around 6-70 minutes and you end up over sand or the abyss. Frankly I get a bit bored in the last 5-10 minutes.

What do you do for a 90 minute dive? Do you kick over to a new site? Do you float along over sand?

Frankly I don't like 4 dives a day (its just too long of a day) so I am wondering if 2 longer dives might be a better option. But I am wondering what kind of dive quality you get out of that last 15-20 minutes.

The great DM’s here know these reefs so well and plan it so much you’d really be surprised. Maricaibo is not maricaibo - the start points vary by the DM, the group and the plan. The group really dictates the plan.

I think it’s way more difficult to lead a 90 minute dive than any 45 minute one cause yes, you can run out of reef.

I’ve had maybe 150 dives with Aldora trying to learn the reefs - I started out diving with any DM but it quickly became apparent they all don’t drop in the same place let alone cross over the same place - heck, same DM, same reef three days in a row was three different starting points. Aldora has a slight advantage as they can keep you underwater longer, it allows the DM’s to get creative with what they do - if you ended over sand, more than likely it was an experiment gone wrong.

Blue Project is another op I dive with a lot, that Blanca can point out splendid toadfish in a ripping current at 100 yards. She just knows the areas she dives like you walking around your house in the dark - it’s unreal.

Being a DM just drifting along till you run out of reef has got to be miserable - there’s a bunch of DM’s here that really enjoy what they do and put a tremendous amount of effort into a seemingly easy job, most folks just don’t realize it.

 

[Charred]

The great DM’s here know these reefs so well and plan it so much you’d really be surprised. Maricaibo is not maricaibo - the start points vary by the DM, the group and the plan. The group really dictates the plan.

I think it’s way more difficult to lead a 90 minute dive than any 45 minute one cause yes, you can run out of reef.

I’ve had maybe 150 dives with Aldora trying to learn the reefs - I started out diving with any DM but it quickly became apparent they all don’t drop in the same place let alone cross over the same place - heck, same DM, same reef three days in a row was three different starting points. Aldora has a slight advantage as they can keep you underwater longer, it allows the DM’s to get creative with what they do - if you ended over sand, more than likely it was an experiment gone wrong.

Blue Project is another op I dive with a lot, that Blanca can point out splendid toadfish in a ripping current at 100 yards. She just knows the areas she dives like you walking around your house in the dark - it’s unreal.

Being a DM just drifting along till you run out of reef has got to be miserable - there’s a bunch of DM’s here that really enjoy what they do and put a tremendous amount of effort into a seemingly easy job, most folks just don’t realize it.

Appreciate your feedback, but you need to stop saying its 90 vs 45 minutes. You can find ops to let you dive your tank if you want that. I certainly dont do 45 mins in Coz. A fair comparison is boutique to boutique Op.

 

[ggunn]

Easy to say when divers aren’t your responsibility, it’s not your business that would gain the exposure and pay the financial price - yes even lowly Mexico has liability laws. It’s not your marine park card that gets pulled and you don’t get the interrogation by the navy, state and local good guys - who might even give you a cot and three squares till all the liability is paid.

You might want to spend a few months straight down here observing divers. There’s tons of great ones but there’s more than a few that could use some guidance.

You dive with the same group a lot, get to know people - captains and DM’s - show some skills - those folks will almost always have the rules bent for them. I see a small chunk of people that are one timers or new to ops - like the dude that had a DM card and about killed six of us at Baracuda - theme the ones that rules are for.

I ask again: how many times has a diver been hit by a boat as a result of this "unsafe" policy that many dive ops practice? Just because you can conceive of a risk, that does not necessarily mean that the risk exists.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

I ask again: how many times has a diver been hit by a boat as a result of this "unsafe" policy that many dive ops practice? Just because you can conceive of a risk, that does not necessarily mean that the risk exists.

Dear Gordon,

You may remember the 90s when it was pretty common. And even now its is not exceptional to find intoxicated boat captains traveling fast north and south over the common dive sites. In addition, many DCS events occur on surfacing and if you are with a dive professional your chance of survival is much better. According to Dr. Pasqual Piccolo "most deaths occur on the surface…by drowning with a air in the tank".

And if you can give ALL divers a long dive, why take any risk?

Dave

 

[ChuckP]

Appreciate your feedback, but you need to stop saying its 90 vs 45 minutes. You can find ops to let you dive your tank if you want that. I certainly dont do 45 mins in Coz. A fair comparison is boutique to boutique Op.

You are absolutely correct, I’d say a lot of al80 dives are 60 minutes or more at “normal” depth sites. I didn’t intend to imply that 80’s only get you 45 minutes and hp 120’s don’t always get you 90 minutes either!!

It always seems to me that we will spend 45 minutes deeper and shallow up for the last 15-25 on 80’s depending on the group and DM.