Roberta's Dive Shack Opinions and Dive Site Recommendation?

[ReefHound]

They have a Facebook page and a recent post that they are serving breakfast and a pic of their breakfast menu. You might find a pic of their evening menu if you dig deeper.
Tikila Beach Bar

 

[Andrew Dawson]

My wife and I are not super picky eaters [I am allergic to onions, tho]...but...we do love a good meal and are emerging into being "foodies"

@halocline regarding the BM/SM dilemma....yeah....you have given some great points that I will have to carefully consider. it may be that the dream in my mind's eye of having a minimalist SM setup, in high viz, warm water...is coming from my 98%+ drysuit, low viz, cold water SM life...and am just dreaming of that setup in an ideal world. But, the application at hand....boat diving off a smaller boat, lots of current, recreational and semi shallow [less than 100fsw]...may be just better off in a jacket style BCD and a steel 100cf tank. I would go for that...I just need to borrow a decent BM BCD from someone around here...then sort out my kit that way I am a little curious about single SM a 100cf steel tank...and putting a bit of weight on the other side of my body than the tank to balance it out...this is mostly to have me use my XDeep stealth tec BCD...hmmm....but, may just need to borrow a jacket style BCD. I have been rebuilding and maintaining my own gear for so long, it feels weird to borrow other gear. Maybe if I practice with it here first, it will help...which, practicing with it first will happen no matter which setup I go with.

 

[ggunn]

In a related story...

Many years ago when I was out with an op who is no longer in existence, when we got to the second dive site, my tank had a badly blown O ring and there were no spares aboard (I always carry them now and have never had to use one). The DM traded tanks with me and rigged the one with the bad O ring for himself. He didn't put his BC on but he inflated it by mouth and jumped in with it. Once in the water, he put his arms through the straps backwards and rode the BC for the full dive with his hand on the tank valve. When he needed a breath he opened the valve and nearly disappeared into a cloud of bubbles, then he closed the valve.

I still got low on air before he did.

 

[ReefHound]

In a related story...

Many years ago when I was out with an op who is no longer in existence, when we got to the second dive site, my tank had a badly blown O ring and there were no spares aboard (I always carry them now and have never had to use one). The DM traded tanks with me and rigged the one with the bad O ring for himself. He didn't put his BC on but he inflated it by mouth and jumped in with it. Once in the water, he put his arms through the straps backwards and rode the BC for the full dive with his hand on the tank valve. When he needed a breath he opened the valve and nearly disappeared into a cloud of bubbles, then he closed the valve.

I still got low on air before he did.

Before I would have done that I would have tried picking one out of the tanks from the first dive. You'd have a half dozen tries to get one out without tearing it. When I change out o-rings on the Fling - about 50 times a year - I'm about 50-50 on getting one out without further visible damage.

 

[ggunn]

Before I would have done that I would have tried picking one out of the tanks from the first dive. You'd have a half dozen tries to get one out without tearing it. When I change out o-rings on the Fling - about 50 times a year - I'm about 50-50 on getting one out without further visible damage.

Maybe the DM tried that first; it was a long time ago and I don't remember. Maybe he was just showing off. ;^)

 

[Andrew Dawson]

That is an awesome and hilarious story, @ggunn !

I learned ahwile back, as I was a deck hand on the weekends for a few years on a dive charter, that the locals on the boat almost always knew best....and that the experienced DMs were pretty much always the best divers on the trip lol

In Truk, we were doing 3 tec dives a day to 165fsw to 200fsw....the dive guides were hanging out with us...on single AL80s! They would not stay down with us the whole time but would hang out at the anchor line for nearly as long....pretty humbling

 

[halocline]

@halocline regarding the BM/SM dilemma....yeah.... I am a little curious about single SM a 100cf steel tank...and putting a bit of weight on the other side of my body than the tank to balance it out...this is mostly to have me use my XDeep stealth tec BCD...hmmm....but, may just need to borrow a jacket style BCD.

There are people that do single tank SM but I don't know much about it. I have never seen anyone do that in cozumel. I remember from my SM class swimming around with one tank after the drop tank drill and I can say with certainty that I would never choose to dive that way, and that was with AL80s near neutral.

I'm not sure what your budget is, but you could try finding one of the smallest, simplest, feature-less BCs on the market. The oxycheq ultra lite soft backplate is a great one, coupled with a webbing harness and a small wing, but it might get up into the $300-400 range, depending on the wing. You'd have to look around. Zeagle made a fairly minimal BC at one time called the express tech or something like that. I would absolutely look for a used one, I think the older ones had less padding. You also could just get a AL backplate (they're cheap and available used) some webbing and hardware, and one of the less expensive 30 lb wings. What I use, which I love, is a freedom plate, softer 'vintage style' webbing, and oxycheq 18lb wing. If I was looking for a jacket BC, I would try to find the smallest, cheapest used set up with no weight pockets, no padding, no cummerbund. I think the goal here is to have something that holds the tank in place and provides enough lift to compensate for wetsuit compression and gas usage, and leaves your torso free of clutter. In cozumel you should never need more than 20 lbs of lift, unless you are using a very thick wetsuit. I have used a butt pocket hanging underneath the backplate to carry things like a SMB and spool, light, and compass. I rarely use those things on Cozumel dives (the SMB more than the others) but it's not a bad idea to have them.

Definitely ask about a HP100 steel, I think some of the ops may even have 120s. But I wouldn't be surprised if the best you can get without spending a fortune is a AL100. Those tanks are big, floaty, and weigh a ton on land, so for me they are not worth the extra gas. But lots of people use them and don't complain.

I think you're heading in the right direction with using single tanks. I also don't think you'll regret having a very minimal single tank warm water BC set up for future trips. Cozumel is a wonderful place to dive, and you might want to come back.

 

[nodakdive]

They have a Facebook page and a recent post that they are serving breakfast and a pic of their breakfast menu. You might find a pic of their evening menu if you dig deeper.
Tikila Beach Bar

Thanks for this. Wow. From meager beginnings....

I didn't find a dinner menu, but I did see a picture of the coconut shrimp as it was served at Paprika. The menu reminds me of the Paprika menu.

 

[Janie88]

Not any more!

I've been there many times over the last 15 years, it's a terrific place to stay and dive.

Question on location of Roberta's Scuba Shack and Village TanKa? It does not look like it is very close to town. Does everyone rent a car if staying/diving at Roberta's? It looks like a great place.

 

[ggunn]

Question on location of Roberta's Scuba Shack and Village TanKa? It does not look like it is very close to town. Does everyone rent a car if staying/diving at Roberta's? It looks like a great place.

It's not that far; Cozumel is a small island. We always stay at Blue Angel and never rent a car, and Tan Kah isn't that much farther. Cabs are constantly running up and down that stretch of Melgar (the main drag) and they are cheap.