Looking for information on Scuba Du

[scubabob1234]

Hi
I'm a new diver and from the postings on this board, I picked the 5 night 4 day dive package with the Presidente & their on site operations Scuba Du. I'm going from Aug 3rd till Aug 8th and will post my experience. Counting down the hours (also have new gear all ready to go!)
Bob

 

[CMAN]

Hello, My wife and I, Along with our 8 year old son will be going to Cozumel on August 15 to 22nd. And will be staying at the El Cozumeleno resort on the north end of the Island. Scuba Du is the operator that services the resort through another outfit called Ocean Tours. I think at this point I am going to use them just because of the convienance of the pick up right at the pier in front of our hotel. All other operators require that you meet them somewhere in town thus gaining a taxi bill. If you dive with them for 4 days, it works out to just over 50 dollars a day for a 2 tank dive. My questions if anyone can help are : Are there usually enough people signed up to go on the advanced dive sites, as they require at least 4 people to sign up and then charge a 10 dollar premium, is it a hassle to request a smaller, less crowed boat, and are they usually on time. The email I got from Antonio, Manager of Ocean Tours, the cousin of the Scuba Du owner,sounded like they were fairly strict on their dive profiles, ie 80 foot max first dive, 60 foot max second dive. Do They stick to this to the tee. :06: Any other information would be helpful. I am about " dive reviewed " out. Thanks for your consideration.
Mike schmidt

Hi Mike, my wife and 2 kids and I stayed at the El cozumeleno last Feb. and I dove with Scuba-Du twice. The first dive was an AM dive and they picked me up from the pier (they were right on time) and then we went to the El Presidente and picked up more divers. They did follow their schedual (the sites that are posted on their web site). We did surface all together but we were all close to 500 psi anyway. After the dives they took us back to the El Presidente and put us in a cab (they paid for it)for the ride back to El Cozumeleno. My second trip with Scuba-Du was an afternoon dive so I had to take a cab (they only pick up for AM dives)to El Presidente and catch the boat there. This time they did vary from their schedual and ask us where we wanted to dive (being my first time in Coz, I let the other divers decide cuz it was ALL COOL to me ). All in all Scuba-Du is a very good dive op and I would use them again. As far as the El Cozumeleno, I will save that for another post.

 

[Foo]

We used Scubadu when we stayed at the El Cozumeleno last month. We hired the private boat (5 or 6 in your party to do that). Antonio was great to work with, he's very knowledgeable about the reef systems and the keeps the dive op from the El Coz running smoothly. He will listen to your needs/experience level/etc. and help you plan your dives. Our DM let us suggest dives and offered his advice also.

We even received a refund (Antonio will clearly explain the refund policy) for the one day that I was sick and couldn't dive.

Carlos, the equipment man at the El Coz, will move your gear to the pier and RUN to meet the boat when you return (he WILL be there with his dolly before you dock- through thick sand), and take your gear back to the shop, rinse and store it until the next dive when he repeats. He works hard for his tips and is worth every penny. No loading up gear and lugging it into a cab, etc., struggling with bags to get to a downtown dive op was really nice.

The dives were, as stated in previous posts, within conservative guidelines. Our dive group consisted of one very experienced diver, one moderately, and 3 beginner divers with only a few previous blue water dives. The conservative (50-60 ft usually),yet AWESOME dives that we went on were perfect for the experience level of our group, yet very thrilling for us all. Be sure and do Palancar Horseshoe. We had the same DM for every dive, and he did not babysit us. He and the boat captain both were friendly and professional. And none of us ended up injured or had any issues, other than we had to go home too soon. BTW, our boat did pick us up at El Coz for our afternoon dives, but perhaps it was because we had hired our own boat.

El Coz is very nice- the beds are hard but the rooms and grounds are spacious and beautiful. You will also be impressed with that mini golf course, it's really very nice. Play at night, much cooler and it's well-lighted. Food- some found it monotonous, I've gotten used to Caribbean food and appreciate it more now than I used to. The staff are very friendly for the most part, and will become familiar to you, as they work from daylight to dark.

Hope this helps. I think you will be happy with Scubadu, hope I don't give you a bum steer. But their convenience/price/efficiency/etc. made our dive trip an extremely pleasant one. Have a great trip!

 

[Aquaman40]

Hi Mike, my wife and 2 kids and I stayed at the El cozumeleno last Feb. and I dove with Scuba-Du twice. The first dive was an AM dive and they picked me up from the pier (they were right on time) and then we went to the El Presidente and picked up more divers. They did follow their schedual (the sites that are posted on their web site). We did surface all together but we were all close to 500 psi anyway. After the dives they took us back to the El Presidente and put us in a cab (they paid for it)for the ride back to El Cozumeleno. My second trip with Scuba-Du was an afternoon dive so I had to take a cab (they only pick up for AM dives)to El Presidente and catch the boat there. This time they did vary from their schedual and ask us where we wanted to dive (being my first time in Coz, I let the other divers decide cuz it was ALL COOL to me ). All in all Scuba-Du is a very good dive op and I would use them again. As far as the El Cozumeleno, I will save that for another post.

Cman, thanks for the info, it all helps.
Mike-aquaman40

 

[Aquaman40]

We used Scubadu when we stayed at the El Cozumeleno last month. We hired the private boat (5 or 6 in your party to do that). Antonio was great to work with, he's very knowledgeable about the reef systems and the keeps the dive op from the El Coz running smoothly. He will listen to your needs/experience level/etc. and help you plan your dives. Our DM let us suggest dives and offered his advice also.

We even received a refund (Antonio will clearly explain the refund policy) for the one day that I was sick and couldn't dive.

Carlos, the equipment man at the El Coz, will move your gear to the pier and RUN to meet the boat when you return (he WILL be there with his dolly before you dock- through thick sand), and take your gear back to the shop, rinse and store it until the next dive when he repeats. He works hard for his tips and is worth every penny. No loading up gear and lugging it into a cab, etc., struggling with bags to get to a downtown dive op was really nice.

The dives were, as stated in previous posts, within conservative guidelines. Our dive group consisted of one very experienced diver, one moderately, and 3 beginner divers with only a few previous blue water dives. The conservative (50-60 ft usually),yet AWESOME dives that we went on were perfect for the experience level of our group, yet very thrilling for us all. Be sure and do Palancar Horseshoe. We had the same DM for every dive, and he did not babysit us. He and the boat captain both were friendly and professional. And none of us ended up injured or had any issues, other than we had to go home too soon. BTW, our boat did pick us up at El Coz for our afternoon dives, but perhaps it was because we had hired our own boat.

El Coz is very nice- the beds are hard but the rooms and grounds are spacious and beautiful. You will also be impressed with that mini golf course, it's really very nice. Play at night, much cooler and it's well-lighted. Food- some found it monotonous, I've gotten used to Caribbean food and appreciate it more now than I used to. The staff are very friendly for the most part, and will become familiar to you, as they work from daylight to dark.

Hope this helps. I think you will be happy with Scubadu, hope I don't give you a bum steer. But their convenience/price/efficiency/etc. made our dive trip an extremely pleasant one. Have a great trip!

Foo, I really appreciate the info on Scuba Du. I now have my plans set and will be in Coz on the 15th. I will leave a trip report when I get back so watch for it.
Thanks again
Mike-- aquaman40