Playa del Carmen looking for Dive Op w/ Steel Tanks

[WTFOver]

Hi all,
Will be staying in Playa del Carmen for a week at the end of March and would really like to find a good Dive Op where my buddy and I can get the longer bottom time and reduced lead that comes with steel tanks... In the past few years we dove mostly over in Cozumel with Aldora but this year the wives have commanded that we take them to Playa del Carmen or else... and I'm more than a little afraid of what that "or else" might entail...
My goal is 3 or 4 days of 2 tank ocean dives and 2 days of 2 tank cenote dives and maybe a night dive or two.

Thanks!

 

[mexico984]

Nice to here you are venturing to the other side! Steel tanks can be a tough one as most if not all shops use aluminum tanks. It is mostly for the humidity, aluminum is much easier to care for and is less weight on the boats.

Due to cenotes having fresh water, you need less weight anyway, usually abut 30 to 40% less so aluminun should do you fine. And getting in and out of the cenotes is much easier without that extra weight!

For dive ops i always recommend the Abyss dive center. Dave runs a great shop, friendly, small groups, and runs biweekly bbqs to add to the diving fun. He believes that his relationships with his divers under the water and above are important. Che k out their site and see what he does. Dive pa kages start at 3 daysof diving so you would get a ni e deal for the di es you want to do.

 

[jcbreitbach]

Not sure if the are steel tanks but Geraldo and Irene at Scuba 10 were able to get 100cf tanks for me every time I have dove with them you just need to tell them a day ahead of time. Also they are an excellant dive shop they are a fairly new shop, but both Geraldo and Irene have been DMs in Playa for many years. In fact I have been told that they trained many of the other local DMs. They have very reasonable prices and Geraldo specializes in cenotes and caves. If you are intrested they are located afew doors down from Coco Bongs between 10th and 12th

 

[Montana Diver]

Do you know if Geraldo previously worked for GeoFish? I dived with them this spring and had some great Cenotes dives.

Do you have their phone number?

 

[WTFOver]

mexico984,
True the lead will go down when we shift to the fresh water dive. When I did my cavern class I found that basically the shift from salt water with steel 120's to fresh water with AL 80's was "lead neutral" for me... The problem is we are both rather short and big around... leaving me at 10/12 lbs in salt water with steel 120's (Bob is about the same at 8/10 lbs) also Bob tends to go through his air rather quickly. My plan was to use the few days of open water dives to tune-up our SAC and Buoyancy with the larger tanks and then switch to the standard AL 80's for the cenote dives. I would not want to enter under rule of thirds until Bob had a few dives that week to tone down his air consumption or it would be a rather short dive.

jcbreitbach,
Thanks for the info... I also understand that Jason at Fantasea Dive can get AL 100's as well... With so many dive ops on Cozumel offering steel 100's or 120's you would think this would be easier to find in PDC... oh well... it is what it is...

 

[jcbreitbach]

Do you know if Geraldo previously worked for GeoFish? I dived with them this spring and had some great Cenotes dives.

Do you have their phone number?

Yes Gerardo did work at Geo-Fish until May of this year as did Irene. That is where I first meet him as well. I dove with Scuba 10 in Sept. and had a great experience. I can't find his phone number but the web site is scuba10.com That will get you intouch with them. Enjoy tell Jerry that Big Jim sent ya LOL

 

[Ed Hatfield]

I could be mistaken but I don't think many of the Playa dive shops own their own tanks. I don't recall hearing any compressors on my walks around town. There are two (that I know of) large operations on the highway that fill and supply tanks daily to the shops. They deliver full tanks each morning and remove the empties. They also have limited quantities of tanks other than al-80's but tend to charge a premium for them. Try e-mailing the shops direct and see about availability and price before committing to a specific shop. I would't mind knowing some prices myself.

 

[Belmont]

When I dive the caves there I use twin AL80's.
Would that be a possibility for you.
A 10 pound V-weight does the trick.

 

[WTFOver]

Ed Hatfield,
Thanks for the info... Sure they may be in a tank pool and use a central fill station the way they do on Cozumel but it is still real easy in Cozumel to get steel 120's air or nitrox with very little effort. I'm just surprised that in PDC it is much more difficult to do the same. It does look like AL 100's are available with advance notice so that will need to be my fall back... That and a tad more lead and we will be fine.

Belmont,
Twins are an option for caves but I'm only cavern certified and that tends to limit one to single tank trips in the hole. While I've given thought to starting with Intro to Cave I have not yet made the leap and Intro is still a single tank penetration except under supervision (which we would have via the guide/dive-master.) I'm fine with singles... it is just given the choice I'd prefer steel... and I'd prefer 100's or 120's but I don't think doubles would be appropriate for us in this case. Maybe once we transition to full cave it will be an option but PADI Cavern is not a diver level that I think most DM's would feel comfortable with doubles and I think I agree... even though I have used them in open water I think in a semi-overhead condition this would not be responsible. I might be overly cautious but that too is a good thing... Nothing ruins a great dive faster than finding you are in over your head and it might be too damn easy to get myself into trouble.

Thanks all for info and input! I'm open to any and all comments.

 

[divinglife]

Hey guys,
AL100s are quite easy to get in Playa with one day notice, and is what we regularly order for customers with high air consumption. I have not heard of any rental steel tanks around here. Compact little high pressure steels would be great except that the high humidity and salt in the air here would be a pain in the **** to keep em clean.