Newbie going to Cozumel seeks advice

[DallasNewbie]

My wife and I are planning to go to Cozumel at the beginning of August for 5-7 days and I have a couple of questions. We will be recently certified, we're doing our open water dives locally in July. We do not have any equipment other than the basics.

1. Some posts here have said some dive-ops don't let you take advantage of the computer profiles, but it seems everyone uses them. I assume that renting for a week is cheaper than buying, but should we just dive with tables?

2. Should we buy or rent BC's and Reg's? I've heard the arguments against renting life-support, but we've already $$$ into Scuba and I'd like to put off additional purchases if it's feasible and safe.

3. Where should we stay/dive? I was looking at the Blu Caribe/Blue Angel packages and it seems like a good idea to use the dive shop where we are staying since it will be our first trip. My wife is kind of picky, it doesn't have to be four stars, but it does have to be clean and have A/C. Does it make more sense to do a Hotel/Air package and have the diving seperate? Is the Blue Caribe a descent place? Where else should we consider staying? There are a lot of good reviews here, but I don't know where to start.

 

[BungyJumper]

Heyo DallasNewbie,

You're going to love Cozumel! I'm a fairly new diver (13 dives total in two years) and went to Cozumel with my wife for the first time May 23-30. We stayed at the Intercontinental Presidente (which was great) and I dove with the on-site Dive Operator, Scuba Du (who were also great). I can highly recommend them both, and I liked being able to walk downstairs from my room to the dive shop and boat with no hassels. As far as your specific questions, you don't need to buy anything (other than basic mask/fins/etc.) to dive in Cozumel. The shops will set you up with all the other equipment, weights, etc. you'll need and the stuff at Scuba Du was in fine shape. You'll also be diving with experienced divemasters, so you won't NEED a dive computer. I'd recommend just going down there, renting what you need from the dive op and have fun getting wet without worrying about buying and hauling around gear. I'll probably buy gear eventually, but I'm ok with just renting for the time being. Definitely check out the Intercontinental Presidente (my wife is very picky and she loved it) and Scuba Du. You won't be disappointed. There are many other posters that have strong preferences for other dive shops and hotels, so I'd also recommend you read a bunch of them and make up your mind based on what you're looking for. If you pick the Intercon and Scuba Du, you'll be pleased with your choice.

 

[HammerNoMore]

1. Some posts here have said some dive-ops don't let you take advantage of the computer profiles, but it seems everyone uses them. I assume that renting for a week is cheaper than buying, but should we just dive with tables?

Rent computers. If you try to do tables in Cozumel your dives will have to be cut WAY short. I've never done a two tank dive in Cozumel that would work on tables.

2. Should we buy or rent BC's and Reg's? I've heard the arguments against renting life-support, but we've already $$$ into Scuba and I'd like to put off additional purchases if it's feasible and safe.

Buying is always a better option. I've seen some pretty sorry rental gear, but if the purse strings don't allow it you should be ok renting, as long as you're with a decent op.

3. Where should we stay/dive? I was looking at the Blu Caribe/Blue Angel packages and it seems like a good idea to use the dive shop where we are staying since it will be our first trip. My wife is kind of picky, it doesn't have to be four stars, but it does have to be clean and have A/C. Does it make more sense to do a Hotel/Air package and have the diving seperate? Is the Blue Caribe a descent place? Where else should we consider staying? There are a lot of good reviews here, but I don't know where to start.

Caribe Blu is very clean, has cold A/C's and beautiful views. It's not 4 stars, but it has everything I want in a Cozumel hotel, including comfortable beds (most make rocks look comfortable and I *like* a hard bed). You won't get room service or carpet on the floor (hotels that cater to divers tend to have hard floors that don't mind getting wet), but you will have a great time there.

Blue Angel is an excellent dive op. Everyone is friendly, they have fast boats and excellent DM's. Another reason to use them is that you will be able to shore dive in the afternoons/evenings for free all you want to. The shore dive is really easy as long as you remember to start your dive into the current, but if you're concerned as new divers I'm sure you could work out a guided dive for the first one or buddy up with someone else in the hotel.

Just make sure to let the shop know that you are new divers and they will take good care of you.

James

 

[redacted]

Computer really is the way to go unless you dive with one of the ops known for short bottom times. Alternative is to cut your dive short o take the table (wheel) down with you (on the dive) and do the multi-level dive calculations on the fly. I've seen some guage divers who just trust the DM - that's really a bad way to go.

Another option on equipment rental is to check with LDS on cost of a week rental. But while the rental gear in Cozumel may not be pretty, it is functional & they will take care of any problems.

 

[DallasNewbie]

Thanks for the replies so far. I have another possibly stupid question. If we are going for 5-7 days, what are the best days to fly? I know some of the charters only fly certain days, but we may be flying regular airlines. Are some days of the week cheaper to fly in/out?

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Thanks for the replies so far. I have another possibly stupid question. If we are going for 5-7 days, what are the best days to fly? I know some of the charters only fly certain days, but we may be flying regular airlines. Are some days of the week cheaper to fly in/out?

Generally mid-week travel is cheaper. Try and get and air/hotel package on one of the big travel sites like travelocity, orbitz or expedia. There are some real bargains out there if you can be flexible. Check out travelzoo.com too. They run a lot of deals out of Dalls/Fort Worth to Cozumel.

 

[z28pwr]

My wife and I are planning to go to Cozumel at the beginning of August for 5-7 days and I have a couple of questions. We will be recently certified, we're doing our open water dives locally in July. We do not have any equipment other than the basics.


1. Some posts here have said some dive-ops don't let you take advantage of the computer profiles, but it seems everyone uses them. I assume that renting for a week is cheaper than buying, but should we just dive with tables?

2. Should we buy or rent BC's and Reg's? I've heard the arguments against renting life-support, but we've already $$$ into Scuba and I'd like to put off additional purchases if it's feasible and safe.

If you have some cash to buy equipment but not all of it I would buy the regulator, second stage, pressure indicator and depth gauge since the regulator will be the most important piece of equipment.

3. Where should we stay/dive? I was looking at the Blu Caribe/Blue Angel packages and it seems like a good idea to use the dive shop where we are staying since it will be our first trip. My wife is kind of picky, it doesn't have to be four stars, but it does have to be clean and have A/C. Does it make more sense to do a Hotel/Air package and have the diving seperate? Is the Blue Caribe a descent place? Where else should we consider staying? There are a lot of good reviews here, but I don't know where to start.

I recommend you don't get a diving package along with the room and instead get the diving seperate that way you will have more dive ops to choose from.

The last two years that I've gone I do the all inclusive at the Hotel Cozumel. The food isn't that great but the deal is pretty good which lets you go into town for dinner a few times and still makes it worth it.

The hotel is a 4 star hotel but it's nothing fancy.

 

[divematt]

My wife and I are planning to go to Cozumel at the beginning of August for 5-7 days and I have a couple of questions. We will be recently certified, we're doing our open water dives locally in July. We do not have any equipment other than the basics.

1. Some posts here have said some dive-ops don't let you take advantage of the computer profiles, but it seems everyone uses them. I assume that renting for a week is cheaper than buying, but should we just dive with tables?

2. Should we buy or rent BC's and Reg's? I've heard the arguments against renting life-support, but we've already $$$ into Scuba and I'd like to put off additional purchases if it's feasible and safe.

3. Where should we stay/dive? I was looking at the Blu Caribe/Blue Angel packages and it seems like a good idea to use the dive shop where we are staying since it will be our first trip. My wife is kind of picky, it doesn't have to be four stars, but it does have to be clean and have A/C. Does it make more sense to do a Hotel/Air package and have the diving seperate? Is the Blue Caribe a descent place? Where else should we consider staying? There are a lot of good reviews here, but I don't know where to start.

If you intend on diving more than once or twice a year, buy your own equipment. I rented until I had a third of the money spent that could have gone to my own equipment. Your own equip. will fit, be taken care of, and will be the same every time you put it on. Think about what you'll spend for two persons rentals for a week anyway. If you have to, just rent the computer until you want to buy your own. The computer will drastically increase dive time.

I intend to stay at Caribe Blu on one of my Cozumel trips, and it's reaaly a great place however if your wife is picky, you might want to move to a slightly nicer place. El Presidente is great, but way at the other end of the pricing scale. Why not try something in between like El Cid La Ceiba and dive with Del Mar Aquatics there on site? Or try Plaza Las Glorias with Dive Paradise onsite. Both places are in the middle of the price range of Caribe Blu and El Presidente. Both have free shore diving and have good dive op's for beginners. Both have package deals and aren't too far from town. La Ceiba is 2 1/2 miles and Plaza Las Gloria is 1 mile. EL Presidente is further south of the others and downtown as well. This will add up when taking a taxi to the great downtown restaurants. You can check out Casa Mexicana, and Hotel Cozumel also. Again, both are in the price range between El Presidente, and Caribe Blu. Please understand that all 6 of these places are good choices and I'm not saying anything bad about any of them. I'd stay at any of them, have been to El Cid La Ceiba, will be staying at PLG in 37 days, and intend to check out Caribe Blu on my third trip. Have fun wherever you stay, and make sure that you go eat at Casa Denis in town.

 

[swim2mi]

Hello Newbies:

I have never been a proponent of rental gear for 2 reasons:

1. The reliability factor is crap shoot at best. Especially as new or relatively new divers you tend to be in a task overload situation to begin with, so why increase the number of things to worry about with unfamiliar gear configurations. In my opinion your own gear gives you a comfort level so that you can take care of the important things like buoyancy control and feeling comfortable in your new underwater environment. My opinion for what it's worth is to buy your gear, take it to the local pool or quarry and dive it until you are completely comfortable.

2. I could never justify the cost of rentals versus buying gear. Granted, buying good quality gear has a high first dollar cost, but over time you will be way ahead by buying over renting. In addition, there is always a market for used equipment so you could recover some of your investment if you stop diving.


You also asked about computers:

Here is my first hand experience when I was in Cozumel 2 summers ago.

I was diving with Dive House and buddied up with a nice gal who was a DM from Houston. She was a very capable and experienced diver. However she had left her wrist computer in the car at the airport in Houston. The dive was a typical morning dive of 80' for 40min, a little longer if you were on computer.

We descended down to 80' mark for a few minutes and then she saw something she wanted to get a better look at and dropped to between 110 and 115. At about the 10 min mark the DM swam down and motioned for both of us to go up because she had reached her No Deco Limit on the table. We were both a little surprised as we both had well over 2000 lbs of air, but we complied and did about a 35min safety stop. The DM did the right thing and neither of us complained. The next day she rented a computer from the operator.

My point is you will really cut youself short if you dive the tables and if you can't afford to buy computers, most operators rent them and that is a very worthwhile investment. There are too many great things to see, especially in Cozumel to cut your dive short. Personally, I want to get every minute I can underwater in Cozumel.

Have a Great Trip

 

[ggunn]

The only piece of equipment (other than mask, fins, snorkels, etc.) I own is a computer; I'd never dive without it.

I rent a BC and reg from my LDS and lug them down to Cozumel, though, so I am confident of the maintenance that's been done, and I dive with the same gear the whole trip.