I am a new diver and I just returned from a week long trip to Cozumel. There have been a lot of Cozumel trip reports posted but I thought I would post my experiences from the viewpoint of a new diver. I had done my PADI classroom and pool instruction at a local dive shop and made arrangements for my open water certification in Cozumel. I was referred to Mike Beasley who has his own instruction/divemaster business. He is an American born PADI instructor who has lived in Cozumel for 8 years. When I arrived in Cozumel I called Mike and made arrangements to meet up with him the next day. He picked me up at my hotel and we took a short drive to a beach just north of Chankanaab Park. We did the open water check out diver off the beach were I was his only student. We then headed north and did a nice shallow shore dive at ?Shallow Paradise?. Nice coral with lots of fish. The current started off mild but begin to pick up quickly so we headed back to shore. Mike gave me some pointers and we headed back to my hotel. When I was referred to Mike for my open water certification I didn?t know what to expect but it turned out great. The instruction was one on one and Mike was quite thorough and very patient. Since the open water went so well I made arrangements to dive with Mike for the rest of the week.
Mike uses different boats to dive with and during my week in Cozumel he used Careyitos Advanced Divers. Again for my first ?boat dive? I wasn?t quite sure what to expect. The Careyitos is a 40 foot bertram with a covered deck. We had about 6 other divers plus myself plus 3 divemasters and left at 9 AM. Tony (one of the divemasters) gave a good predive orientation on the way to the dive site. Before we got in the water, Ricardo (the owner and lead divemaster) went in to make sure the current was safe. Our first dive was at Palancar Gardens and our second at Paseo del Cedral. The currents were strong but the visibility was still good. Lots of healthy hard coral and fish (angels, damsels, surgeons, triggers and eels). We also saw two large nurse sharks. I was the first diver to run low on air after 42 minutes bottom time and one of the divemasters escorted me to the surface. The others in the group continued there dive until they hit 500 PSI or their computer time elapsed. Between dives we took a 90 minute surface interval where the crew served sandwiches, drinks, and fruit. I did some snorkeling during the surface interval after lunch. I was very impressed with their divemasters, crew and overall operation. I got back to my hotel around 3:30.
The following day I dove with Mike Beasley and Careyitos and the currents were much milder. We did 2 dives, Columbia Reef in the morning and Las Palmas in the afternoon. Las Palmas was spectacular. It had less coral but was literally crawling with small critters, shrimp, urchins, and lots of fish.
The next day Mike had other clients scheduled and the Careyitos was also booked. I was staying at the Presidente hotel so I signed up for a 2 tank dive with their on site dive op ScubaDu. I was on one of their large boats which was about the same size as the Careyitos but it did not have the upper deck. We had two groups of 7 divers and one divemaster for each group. ScubaDu has a preset location for each day of the week so we dove at Palancar caves and Paseo del Cedral. I asked the divemaster what happens when the first person hits 500 PSI (figuring that it would be me). He said that person surfaces and the others continue. The currents were very strong again and after only 30 minutes one of the divers in our group was down to 500PSI so the whole group surfaced. I was glad that I wasn?t the first diver to hit 500PSI but I was a little disappointed about the short bottom time. When we returned to the boat there were three divers from the other group already aboard. Evidently upon entering the water they lost sight of their group and after 10 minutes surfaced and were picked up. Between dives we had bottled water and fruit during a 60 minute surface interval.
The second dive went about the same, about 35 minutes until the first diver hit 500 PSI and we all surfaced. We then made our way back the hotel and arrived around noon. All and all a very disappointing day of diving. The ScubaDu staff were all very nice but it had a hurry up and lets get back by noon feel to it. Also only having one divemaster per group didn?t seem near as safe, especially when diving by myself (they did buddy me up with another diver).
For my last day of diving I went with Careyitos and we dove at Punta Sur and Punta Tunich. We saw beautiful coral, fish and turtles.
The currents were calm again and my bottom times were around an hour. The more experience divers had bottom times up to 90 minutes. (Both Careyitos and ScubaDu used 80 cubic foot tanks.) From my experiences I would highly recommend both Mike Beasley and Careyitos Advanced Divers. There trips were fun, relaxed, and safe. Ricardo would always go in first to check out the conditions. On one occasion the currents were strong so went to another reef. It took an extra 45 minutes but I appreciated the fact that he wanted to find a better (and safer) dive spot.
Disclaimer: I do not work for or having any vested interest in Mike Beasley?s or Careyitos?s operations. I am just a very happy client. Careyitos does not advertise that I know of and they are not even in the local yellow pages. I feel fortunate that I found them and wanted to pass on what I think is a great dive operation to others who might be interested.
Mike uses different boats to dive with and during my week in Cozumel he used Careyitos Advanced Divers. Again for my first ?boat dive? I wasn?t quite sure what to expect. The Careyitos is a 40 foot bertram with a covered deck. We had about 6 other divers plus myself plus 3 divemasters and left at 9 AM. Tony (one of the divemasters) gave a good predive orientation on the way to the dive site. Before we got in the water, Ricardo (the owner and lead divemaster) went in to make sure the current was safe. Our first dive was at Palancar Gardens and our second at Paseo del Cedral. The currents were strong but the visibility was still good. Lots of healthy hard coral and fish (angels, damsels, surgeons, triggers and eels). We also saw two large nurse sharks. I was the first diver to run low on air after 42 minutes bottom time and one of the divemasters escorted me to the surface. The others in the group continued there dive until they hit 500 PSI or their computer time elapsed. Between dives we took a 90 minute surface interval where the crew served sandwiches, drinks, and fruit. I did some snorkeling during the surface interval after lunch. I was very impressed with their divemasters, crew and overall operation. I got back to my hotel around 3:30.
The following day I dove with Mike Beasley and Careyitos and the currents were much milder. We did 2 dives, Columbia Reef in the morning and Las Palmas in the afternoon. Las Palmas was spectacular. It had less coral but was literally crawling with small critters, shrimp, urchins, and lots of fish.
The next day Mike had other clients scheduled and the Careyitos was also booked. I was staying at the Presidente hotel so I signed up for a 2 tank dive with their on site dive op ScubaDu. I was on one of their large boats which was about the same size as the Careyitos but it did not have the upper deck. We had two groups of 7 divers and one divemaster for each group. ScubaDu has a preset location for each day of the week so we dove at Palancar caves and Paseo del Cedral. I asked the divemaster what happens when the first person hits 500 PSI (figuring that it would be me). He said that person surfaces and the others continue. The currents were very strong again and after only 30 minutes one of the divers in our group was down to 500PSI so the whole group surfaced. I was glad that I wasn?t the first diver to hit 500PSI but I was a little disappointed about the short bottom time. When we returned to the boat there were three divers from the other group already aboard. Evidently upon entering the water they lost sight of their group and after 10 minutes surfaced and were picked up. Between dives we had bottled water and fruit during a 60 minute surface interval.
The second dive went about the same, about 35 minutes until the first diver hit 500 PSI and we all surfaced. We then made our way back the hotel and arrived around noon. All and all a very disappointing day of diving. The ScubaDu staff were all very nice but it had a hurry up and lets get back by noon feel to it. Also only having one divemaster per group didn?t seem near as safe, especially when diving by myself (they did buddy me up with another diver).
For my last day of diving I went with Careyitos and we dove at Punta Sur and Punta Tunich. We saw beautiful coral, fish and turtles.
The currents were calm again and my bottom times were around an hour. The more experience divers had bottom times up to 90 minutes. (Both Careyitos and ScubaDu used 80 cubic foot tanks.) From my experiences I would highly recommend both Mike Beasley and Careyitos Advanced Divers. There trips were fun, relaxed, and safe. Ricardo would always go in first to check out the conditions. On one occasion the currents were strong so went to another reef. It took an extra 45 minutes but I appreciated the fact that he wanted to find a better (and safer) dive spot.
Disclaimer: I do not work for or having any vested interest in Mike Beasley?s or Careyitos?s operations. I am just a very happy client. Careyitos does not advertise that I know of and they are not even in the local yellow pages. I feel fortunate that I found them and wanted to pass on what I think is a great dive operation to others who might be interested.
