Newbie divers: Key Largo or Cozumel?

[AquaExplorer]

My wife and I are new OW divers and are looking for our first ocean dives (did OW in rock quarry).

Our initial thoughts were to do Key Largo....and got some good references and ideas for that. Than I started looking at Cozumel (we considered it last year but did not do any vacation last year) and the wife is definitely up for that!

So what are peoples thoughts on this? Is Cozumel newb-OW friendly?

Also, if we do go to Cozumel we are looking at Scuba Club or Blue Angel, we prefer the smaller style of places than the large resorts.

 

[robint]

I would recommend Key Largo. It is easy diving with a sandy bottom, most dives in the 30-45" depth range which is very good for new OW divers. Some dive ops have a guide in the water with you, others don't. Either way, the sites are shallow and finding your way back to boat is pretty easy and a real confidence builder. Plenty of fish to see, too.

Nothing against Cozumel but it is drift diving which can be disconcerting for some new divers. Some dive sites the currents are pretty strong, others it is very easy drift. Also, all the better dives are deep (70-90' depth) which are the ones they do as the first dive of the day. Those might be too deep for new OW diver in many cases.

That said, we did our OW checkout dives in Cozumel and had no problem, but we had a private boat with the instructor and weren't doing dives with anyone else. The dive sites picked by instructor were all very easy and shallow that trip.

If you do go to Cozumel, I would pick Blue Angel over Scuba Club. We stayed at SCC this past year and the boats are big and they don't care what skill level they put together. All dive sites were picked ahead of time and not geared towards the divers needs. It wasn't a problem for us, but for new divers it might have been an issue. I thought the boat crew was just okay, nothing stellar.

robin

 

[inked59]

Have never been to Cozumel but I have been to Key Largo. I highly recommend Key Largo! The water viz is usually awesome and the temps are great. There are many wonderful reefs and wrecks to be explored there. It was where I did my first ocean dive and where I also completed my AOW with a deep dives on the Spiegel Grove and and USS Duane. You'll see fantastic fish, reef life and wonderful wrecks. A personal recommendation would be to go out with "It's A Dive" located at the Marriott Key Largo Resort. Ryan and his crew are First Class!

 

[herbdb]

I just returned from Key Largo where I dove with Rainbow Reef. They provide a free dive guide if you let them know you want one in advance. This will ease your mind for your first reef dives. Plus they know where the interesting critters hide. I am a new guy myself and really appreciated this on the first few dives. My oldest son, had never done a boat dive and was in a similar circumstance to yours.

I have not been to Cozumel, so I cannot comment on how beginner friendly they are. I have a trip scheduled for April. I am glad I took my sons to the Keys first.

 

[lmorin]

Robint described the issues pretty accurately. My wife and I were certified at Key Largo and have returned numerous times to do just the kind of shallow, self-navigated dives mentioned above. There is tons of stuff to find and see on your own. Being on our own in relatively benign conditions has been a confidence builder, particularly for navigation skills.

We have since been to Cozumel twice. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, the dives are generally awesome, whether deep or not. On the other, many of the dives are fairly rapid drift dives that frequently prevent you from dawdling and doing detailed inspections of the many, many interesting fish and invertebrates. In sum, I would say that going to the Keys is an adventure for new divers; going to Cozumel is a much bigger adventure that you might want to defer until you can more fully appreciate everything offered.

We stayed at Scuba Club Coz and found the diving to be managed very well both times. Each time, the dive guide assessed the skills of each diver and managed the dive, including the briefing, accordingly. If you go there (or anywhere, for that matter), let the DM know that you are new divers. That will be good for you, the DM and any other divers who are in your group.

 

[Chris Brown Tech]

Cozumel is great but its drift diving and many sites are deep.

I like Key Largo for newbies and cozumel for the night life