New Years Solo Trip, some suggestions and a few questions?

[MikeRiley]

Hello all! Long time no post, but this time I've decided to S&%T or get off the pot.
Unfortunately some life changes have occurred and I've decided to give myself my 30th birthday present a little early in the form of a dive trip. On the plus side, maybe my next partner can be my life-long dive buddy A coworker was able to help hook me up with a killer flight to Cozumel and I've booked a hostel from December 30th to January 6th. This is going to be the perfect week to get away from it all, refresh the batteries and have some amazing memories!

I'm staying downtown at Bed Friends and looking for my best dive options. I've been speaking with Tres Pelicanos and Dive With Martin and wanted to pick the brains of the board if there are any other top notch outfits I should look at. DWM seems great but my only issue is that it's going to cost me $20 a day in cabs there and back and that'll add some significant costs to the trip over 5-6 days. On the other hand, they seem cheaper and include free rentals so maybe it all balances out. but either way, would love some first hand knowledge! I'm a novice diver and will end up doing a refresher course and hiring a private dive master for the first couple of days to really work out all of the kinks.

Secondly, any suggestions for New Years Eve in Coz? I've been to the island a few times and have a half-decent idea of the layout of the city but this will be the first time I've ever travelled solo. I'm not a crazy partier but it'd be cool to have an idea of what might be around.

Also, I used to be a semi-professional musician and every time I was in cozumel I thought it would be a lot of fun to play at an open mic or something like that. Can anyone let me know if there are any on the island? Alternatively, does anyone know of any places that provide live entertainment and might be interested in having me play some music for the night? Will play for beer! I wouldn't normally lug my guitar on vacation but thought I'd look into it and maybe it would be an idea.

Lastly, if anyone is going to be around during that time I'd love to have an internet meet up for a beer and a taco somewhere!
Thanks in advance for the tips; this board has always been wonderful in trip planning and this time I'm actually going!

 

[cicopo]

I've dove with both & certainly won't hesitate to say they are very good choices. TP has almost always had a second DM on the boat so hiring a private DM may not be necessary. When they know you're a bit leary about your skills you'll get extra attention as part of the service. Can't help on the other questions.

edited to add that DWM leaves a bit early relative to many ops requiring you to be fed & ready to go earlier too.

 

[Skittl1321]

I haven't used DWM so I can't compare, but I have used Tres Pelicanos and thought they were fabulous. To the point where the DM literally held my hand when I had a bit of a freak out after rolling in (it took a bit of convincing underwater to get him to know that I didn't actually need that and was really fine...). They seemed to give you exactly the amount of freedom you needed- taking very careful watch of the new divers and leaving the experienced ones alone, and modifying their approach towards you as the week goes on. Most dives there were 2 DMs but on the ones there were not, I felt like most of the time the experienced divers kept a watchful eye on the newer ones. We felt their gear rental for the week was really reasonable, and loved that they provided rides to/from town.

 

[DjDiverDan]

Check your figures -- IF you change Dollars for Pesos, and IF you pay for all taxi fares in Pesos (80 Pesos each way from Centro to the International Pier, where DWM leaves from), then your cab rides are only $5 each way, or $10 a day. If you are otherwise renting all equipment, which DWM provides free, then it's a wash. While I prefer Aldora because of the HP Steel 120s and long bottom times and long SI on the beach, I've been diving many times with Dive with Martin, and it's a very good operation, especially for newer divers. If you tend to suck air, you may want to consider asking for the AL 100 tanks (extra charge $5 or $10 a tank, IIRC), but watch for short fills; if you are paying extra for a 100 cf tank, it does no good at all if its only filled to 2500 psi.

 

[cicopo]

Everyone please note he's up here in Canada where our dollar is exchanging to US at around $1.35 Cdn (or more) for 1 US $. When we have to pay that much extra for everything priced in US it hurts. Diving is in US but as pointed out cabs are in Pesos. I buy lots of Pesos before leaving Canada because they can be used for restaurants, cabs & many store purchases.

 

[MikeRiley]

Yea, the exchange is awful (got even worse today.. :S) i work for a bank so can get a slightly better exchange but was thinking I'd probably bring straight pesos this trip instead of US.
good tip on the big tank, I've always been a bit of an air hog and have used bigger tanks before with better results. DWM seems to be a bit more suited to the way I want to do things so I may just want to suck it up.

 

[extremetito]

I see you posted on the Jan 2016 Cozumel roll call, but if you are looking for New Year's eve activities, you might want to post on the December thread as well.

 

[cicopo]

Many dive ops including Tres Pelicanos offer the 100's for a bit more money. I know because I use them and dive with 6 or seven different ops to stay in touch with all the friends I've made over the years.

 

[MMM]

Am sure you'd be happy with either one of your top choices. What you'll see here on New Year's Eve (if you venture back into the residential areas) are stuffed "men" sitting in a chair...that gets set on fire later in the evening. And fireworks. Probably lots of parties and especially at Moby Dick's back on 65th. But there are other night clubs in town that will be busy. An amateur-musician friend of mine was down a few years ago and played/sang at the Barracuda one evening. Dragged everyone on the boat down to hear him and buy a few beers. I don't think he even got paid in beer though...just applause. Wet Wendy's often has live entertainment and so does Ohana. There are other places on the island with live music but since I seldom venture out past 8 p.m., maybe others here can make suggestions.

Hello all! Long time no post, but this time I've decided to S&%T or get off the pot.
Unfortunately some life changes have occurred and I've decided to give myself my 30th birthday present a little early in the form of a dive trip. On the plus side, maybe my next partner can be my life-long dive buddy A coworker was able to help hook me up with a killer flight to Cozumel and I've booked a hostel from December 30th to January 6th. This is going to be the perfect week to get away from it all, refresh the batteries and have some amazing memories!

I'm staying downtown at Bed Friends and looking for my best dive options. I've been speaking with Tres Pelicanos and Dive With Martin and wanted to pick the brains of the board if there are any other top notch outfits I should look at. DWM seems great but my only issue is that it's going to cost me $20 a day in cabs there and back and that'll add some significant costs to the trip over 5-6 days. On the other hand, they seem cheaper and include free rentals so maybe it all balances out. but either way, would love some first hand knowledge! I'm a novice diver and will end up doing a refresher course and hiring a private dive master for the first couple of days to really work out all of the kinks.

Secondly, any suggestions for New Years Eve in Coz? I've been to the island a few times and have a half-decent idea of the layout of the city but this will be the first time I've ever travelled solo. I'm not a crazy partier but it'd be cool to have an idea of what might be around.

Also, I used to be a semi-professional musician and every time I was in cozumel I thought it would be a lot of fun to play at an open mic or something like that. Can anyone let me know if there are any on the island? Alternatively, does anyone know of any places that provide live entertainment and might be interested in having me play some music for the night? Will play for beer! I wouldn't normally lug my guitar on vacation but thought I'd look into it and maybe it would be an idea.

Lastly, if anyone is going to be around during that time I'd love to have an internet meet up for a beer and a taco somewhere!
Thanks in advance for the tips; this board has always been wonderful in trip planning and this time I'm actually going!

 

[jake11]

We just dove with Tres Pelicanos and they were great!!! Great dive boats, dive masters, dive shop staff etc. Have a great trip!!!!