Need advice on cozumel drift dive op and a cheap pkg !

[bamafan]

All cave diving is drift diving.

Some caves have currents and some do not. Chempita (Jade Cenote) on Cozumel has no discernable flow. The cenotes closer to the ocean do have flow. Some it siphons and some spring.

 

[ReefHound]

In Cozumel I have generally seen prices of $75 to $95 usd for a 2 tank dive. There are some small guys who have left the bigger shops and branches out on their own. They charter boats or get their own boat eventually and I have had excellent service from a few of these guys for $75 / 2 tank dive. So if you are diving 4 days you will blow the better part of $400 just on a morning 2 tank dive. Lodging is cheap. Their are the hostels and Airbnb. You can stay for $25/night easily during the summer. Stay close to town so you can walk to the local restaurants and the food is cheap there. Just look for a taqueria with the locals in it. Generally the further east you go the cheaper it gets.

Maybe some call this spread "about the same". Scaling up, if two airlines offered the same route and service, one for $375 (75 * 5) and one for $475 (95 * 5), how many would pick the second and say the fare was "about the same"?

A multi-day package with DWM will run about $65/trip so the spread is even greater.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Some caves have currents and some do not. Chempita (Jade Cenote) on Cozumel has no discernable flow. The cenotes closer to the ocean do have flow. Some it siphons and some spring.

Don’t feed the ... jester.

 

[Soloist]

Don’t feed the ... jester.

 

[ggunn]

There is actually excellent cave diving on Cozumel so this is definitely a true statement .

You guys are splitting hairs. The cave diving on Cozumel is inaccessible to most people who dive there. The C-53 is one dive among... well, a huge number of Cozumel dives. The vast majority of divers who dive Cozumel will be drift diving on every dive whether they dive from a boat or from shore; virtually all the diving at Cozumel is drift diving.

 

[jonhall]

Sorry about the change, please recommend 5 or 6 nights best bang for the buck place for drift dive in cozumel.

I'm generally in Coz through a timeshare, so limited on where I stay, but if I were looking for good diving at a great price, I would look at Dressel Divers (in the Iberostar Resort on south end of island.) Booking a package of dives ahead of time with them gives you 20% off. A few years back, my buddy and I did an 11 dive package for $300 (~$27.27/dive with free nitro) but they have smaller packages. You have to email them for prices. They have a large boat, but the day I dove with them (did other 9 dives on mainland), there were only 5-6 divers. Resort op, so 45-50 minute dives. No complaints and enjoyed the op and my buddy enjoyed the food - day passes were included for the resort! There are obviously many great ops in Coz with longer dive times and great service, so I only throw this out as an inexpensive option. Can't help with lodging but would guess VRBO or something similar has cheap places nearby the Iberostar but you wouldn't be close to town (about a 15 minute taxi ride.)

 

[ggunn]

Can't help with lodging but would guess VRBO or something similar has cheap places nearby the Iberostar but you wouldn't be close to town (about a 15 minute taxi ride.)

I don't know, either, but there's not much down on that end of the island besides resorts and beach clubs.

 

[ReefHound]

No complaints and enjoyed the op and my buddy enjoyed the food - day passes were included for the resort!

Seriously? So you can get a buffet breakfast and lunch along with post-dive drinks for the price of a dive trip?

 

[Snoweman]

Maybe some call this spread "about the same". Scaling up, if two airlines offered the same route and service, one for $375 (75 * 5) and one for $475 (95 * 5), how many would pick the second and say the fare was "about the same"?

A multi-day package with DWM will run about $65/trip so the spread is even greater.

I would take about any airline over Spirit Air and say the extra money was close enough and worth the few extra $$$.

 

[ReefHound]

I would take about any airline over Spirit Air and say the extra money was close enough and worth the few extra $$$.

True but the spread in Coz dive ops does not necessarily entail a change in level of service or quality.