Oops! Dive with Martin doesn't pickup downtown

[DandyDon]

I thought they did, but nope. Getting from Suites Colonial to the International pier in time for a 7:30am boat would mean leaving at 7am and paying a lot more than I want to in taxi fares.

It seems like more and more Ops are requiring the diver to south of town to meet the boats. I really hate even driving by the tacky Int Pier area.

 

[gopbroek]

Tres Pelicanos takes care of transport to from their shop to the Caleta, they normally run an 8AM boat (leave the shop at 7:45), today they are running a 1:30 trip. On the AM trip I have never had a problem doing the Casa Mexicana breakfast buffet and making over to the shop on time. The cost of fuel is now over $4 USA a gallon, most ops do not want to make a run all the way to down town and then back down to the southern dive sites.

 

[DandyDon]

Tres Pelicanos takes care of transport to from their shop to the Caleta, they normally run an 8AM boat (leave the shop at 7:45), today they are running a 1:30 trip. On the AM trip I have never had a problem doing the Casa Mexicana breakfast buffet and making over to the shop on time. The cost of fuel is now over $4 USA a gallon, most ops do not want to make a run all the way to down town and then back down to the southern dive sites.

Oh, I understand with big boats. I got to go with Alison once, a delightful experience, but with a boat that big I can easily see why she didn't run it to town and back twice a day. Fuel costs would be tremendous.

I went with Tres Pelicanos once or twice last year and they were nice. I do like their approach to ground transportation even tho I still hate the idea of driving thru that Pier mall area twice a day.

How early does Casa Mexicana serve breakfast anyway? I'm staying at Suites Colonial.

 

[gopbroek]

Starts at 7AM

 

[Roatan Joe]

Sorry to hear about the confusion. I'll be diving with Dive with Martin towards the end of this month. Other than the transportation issue, has your experience with them been favorable? All I really expect is a safe boat and a DM that allows me and my buddy to dive our dive without unnecessary negative impact on my "dive our dive" desire. I don't care about fruit or drink, I don't care about anyone setting up or breaking down my gear and I don't care about someone tank banging to point out a grouper or lobster. Hopefully I decided on the right dive shop for this trip!

 

[DandyDon]

Starts at 7AM

I'm lazy enough to not look forward to the one kilometer walk to breakfast with a partial dive bag & camera. No way I could do breakfast and get to the pier before 7:30am. Thanks.

Sorry to hear about the confusion. I'll be diving with Dive with Martin towards the end of this month. Other than the transportation issue, has your experience with them been favorable? All I really expect is a safe boat and a DM that allows me and my buddy to dive our dive without unnecessary negative impact on my "dive our dive" desire. I don't care about fruit or drink, I don't care about anyone setting up or breaking down my gear and I don't care about someone tank banging to point out a grouper or lobster. Hopefully I decided on the right dive shop for this trip!

I've never been out with them but always heard good about them. Tell the DM what you like and don't.

 

[Skittl1321]

This trip we are staying at Suites Bahia and going with Tres Pelicanos. I'm interested to see how walk to breakfast-eat-get to shop, take ride to marina will go each morning. I assume I won't have any gear with me, since I think they take it all. Of course, if we want to do a night dive with Alison, we'd have to bring our gear back with us one day. (Hmm- thinking about that, I should probably find some sort of bag to hold it all...)

Depending on how it is, we might head back south for our third trip. It was really really nice to just sit on the pier and wait to be picked up. Even the morning where we missed the phone call to tell us about the hour delay. We just hung out on the pier and enjoyed the ocean.

 

[jd950]

So far I have not had a problem getting the dive op choice and lodging location worked out, but am curious about who does or does not pick up in town anymore? On a broader note, if this is becoming a bigger issue then I wonder what this will mean for in-town hotels? I for one would pay more for lodging and take a taxi into town for dinner before I would deal with getting up earlier, looking for a cab or hiking to a dive shop and lugging dive camera to the caleta and back each day.

Walking a short distance to nearby pier to wait for/meet the dive boat is really part of Cozumel diving to me (not that I haven't used the caleta from time to time for various reasons).

 

[jake11]

We dove with Dive With Martin and they were great!!!

 

[DandyDon]

This trip we are staying at Suites Bahia and going with Tres Pelicanos. I'm interested to see how walk to breakfast-eat-get to shop, take ride to marina will go each morning. I assume I won't have any gear with me, since I think they take it all. Of course, if we want to do a night dive with Alison, we'd have to bring our gear back with us one day. (Hmm- thinking about that, I should probably find some sort of bag to hold it all...)

Depending on how it is, we might head back south for our third trip. It was really really nice to just sit on the pier and wait to be picked up. Even the morning where we missed the phone call to tell us about the hour delay. We just hung out on the pier and enjoyed the ocean.

It looks like Suites Bahia is about halfway between Suites Colonial and Casa Mexicana. I still have problems reading addresses there, but Google Maps does too. Suites Colonial doesn't actually state an address, says it's "on the main boulevard, overlooking the beautiful Mexican Caribbean," only a block from Casa Mexican, not a kilometer? :silly:

Tripadvisor adresses seem dependable enough....

Suites Colonial, 5a Avenida Sur 9: That's on 5th Ave between 1st & 3rd streets, right?

Casa Mexicana, Av Rafael E Melgar 457 Sur entre 5 y 7: That's on front street between 5th & 7th, right? More than a block from Suites Colonial.

Tres Pelicanos, 5TA Avenida Sur, Entre 3 Y 5 ,#325: On 5th Ave between 3rd & 5th, right?
​

So does this look right?



I like to leave my BC, fins, and pony with the Op, but I take my regs, masks, computers, camera, wet suit, personal items bag, etc. back to my room. If I went with Tres Pelicanos I guess I could drop that bag at their shop on the way to breakfast, then come back to it?

So far I have not had a problem getting the dive op choice and lodging location worked out, but am curious about who does or does not pick up in town anymore? On a broader note, if this is becoming a bigger issue then I wonder what this will mean for in-town hotels? I for one would pay more for lodging and take a taxi into town for dinner before I would deal with getting up earlier, looking for a cab or hiking to a dive shop and lugging dive camera to the caleta and back each day.

Walking a short distance to nearby pier to wait for/meet the dive boat is really part of Cozumel diving to me (not that I haven't used the caleta from time to time for various reasons).

Yep, done that at many hotels and enjoyed it. One hotel went up too much for me, one Op moved downtown as well as changed a lot, etc.