Question regarding a cruise...

[budaman]

Interesting read....totally opposite of our experiences over the last 3 years, but as we all know, things can change. The death of Martin last year may have had more of an effect on the operation than expected. I looked at their website & noticed they do have a larger boat now.....we always used the Pangos & we did back rolls....no platforms on those boats.

Mike

.Mac Web Gallery

 

[Opossum]

I found it, please read this before you make ur choice. If this is true (I don't see why he would lie)...yikes!!

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/introductions-greets/218796-yet-one-more.html

Ooooh good call on that. I shall check out the place you mentioned. Negative vibes are BAD. Of course, there is a nice freedom with "diving where you choose" type thing, but c'mon, that is OBSURD.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[diveborg]

Baaaaa, don't go with them! I'd never heard of them until last week. Someone posted a TERRIBLE review about them. Said the locals call it "Die with Martin." Do a search...if you can't find it I'll try to help you locate it. It was an intro post. I think Blue XT is the way to go. I hear nothing but good stuff about them here on SB.

You are going to base your WHOLE opinion about a dive operator that has a pretty decent reputation on the Cozumel section on ONE post you read about them? A post by a brand new member with only one post. Come on, before you make a post saying locals call the dive op "Die with Martin", you really should have a better source for your quote.

To Opossum: I think that, while expensive, having the whole boat and a the DM to yourself is a great way to go for your first dives.

 

[DiveNerd]

Divenerd - You need to post a trip report when you get back from your liveaboard to GBR. I know that is on most people's "dream trip" list. Lots of pictures, too!


robin

You Got it!!!! I plan to take tons of pics. I've got my set up really hooked up this x-mas! (a close up lens and a wide angle lens... both wetmounts, let's see how I do)

AND.... I bought a 4GB SDHC card especially for this event! Soooo, PICS you shall have!

 

[DiveNerd]

I always make my own arrangements to dive Cozumel, so I don't have any personal experience with Sand Dollar. I have read varying reports however, some of which aren't very positive. It would seen that they use large boats which can hold a large number of divers. Large boats don't always mean large groups, but I'd rather avoid that as it isn't my cup of tea. I prefer small boats/small groups. I would expect that the dive would be a follow the leader kind of dive, typical of the drift diving in Cozumel, with a predetermined bottom time since most cruise divers probably don't have computers.

Seriously, you could do a lot better if you make your own arrangements.


diveborg is right. Check out on your itinerary when you arrive in Cozumel. I did the RC cruise that goes to Coz, Cayman, Costa Maya, and Belize last spring. We used the cruiseship dive excursions for Cayman & Belize because the cruise ship is tendered there and the arrival times were too close to the local dive boat times. (I researched them all online and called many of them). BUT in Cozumel and Costa Maya we docked at the ports and arrived at 7am. PLENTY of time to get to any dive boat. So we booked directly with the local dive ops after I did my research. For what it's worth, we used AquaSafari in Coz. They have a fast boat and a slower bigger boat. You want the fast boat. But it does sell out so book as soon as/if you decide. They have a real phone number that they answer and can book you. We had two DM's in the water. It's definiely drift diving so, yes, you "follow the leader". But what I really enjoyed was that you follow the leader until you you are at 500psi, signal the DM, pop up and there is the boat. It was well organized but not over controlled where you have to come up even though you may still have half a tank of air! Also, one of their shops is located right outside punta langosta (one of the piers where cruiseships also dock) Our ship docked at the international pier but its a $4.00 5min cab ride to and from punta langosta...

 

[DivingPrincessE]

You are going to base your WHOLE opinion about a dive operator that has a pretty decent reputation on the Cozumel section on ONE post you read about them? A post by a brand new member with only one post. Come on, before you make a post saying locals call the dive op "Die with Martin", you really should have a better source for your quote.

To Opossum: I think that, while expensive, having the whole boat and a the DM to yourself is a great way to go for your first dives.

Well seeing as how I had never heard about them before, this is all I had to go on. What reason could the new member have for lying?? Even if it was an off-day or something for Dive with Martin, as everyone/business has an off day...what the member describes is unforgiveable. I wish I had done my research with Sand Dollar Sports, they have gotten very bad reviews here on SB and if I had known that prior, maybe I would have been prepared for them not caring whether we lived or died by not turning off the motor while we were trying to climb on the boat. If there are operators like Blue XT and a few others that seem to ALWAYS get good feedback...why would the OP want to risk it by going with an operator like Sand Dollar or Martin who according to recent reviews really doesn't give an eff about safety??

 

[diveborg]

If there are operators like Blue XT and a few others that seem to ALWAYS get good feedback...why would the OP want to risk it by going with an operator like Sand Dollar or Martin who according to recent reviews really doesn't give an eff about safety??

I agree with the high opinion about Blue XT Sea, but I don't think you can get an accurate picture of DWM after reading one review.

Maybe that one review is the exception. It would seem to me that it would be hard to get a 100% rating from scubadiving.com if they treated most of their customers that way.

There are plenty of DWM recommendations on the Cozumel section, like This Thread

 

[DivingPrincessE]

Per Budaman's post, it appears that the owner (Martin) has passed away...maybe he passed away AFTER the scubadiving.com review and the shop is now in a downward spiral...

 

[Opossum]

Well I looked up Blue XT and they are completely booked during the week that my ship will be visiting there.

My LDS makes plenty of trips there a year (at least 4). I will get with them and see who they suggest. If all else fails, we will do another excursion and just plan a couple of local dives to hold us over and maybe hit up a liveaboard or head to the Keys for a week. We shall see.