Sept Cruise - Roatan, Cozumel, Belize (which dive ops will work with us?)

[PhatD1ver]

The dive location have already been ironed out, we are going to dive Roatan and Cozumel,

Here's our group

Me - 120 total dives, all in the last 15 months, all kinds of conditions, (AOW, Rescue, wreck, deep, sidemount)

Wife - 60 total dives, all in the last year, mostly tropical, 10-15 'deep' (AOW)

Brother - 40-45 dives, hasn't dove since Catalina last summer (2014) (AOW)

SIL #1- 20 dives, most of them at Christmas last year in Puerto Galera, good mix of conditions, solid diver, great buoyancy

Daughter #1 - 7 dives, all at Christmas, had a great instructor in PG at Christmas, solid buoyancy for a newbie

SIL #2 - 6 dives, was D#1 dive buddy during OW, a little skittish, is the guy I'll pay for a private DM if we do something more challenging

Daughter #2 - 15 dives, decent buoyancy, will be distracted worrying about her hubby if we don't have the private DM..
otherwise, she'd be great..(might not dive at all if she gets pregnant before the cruise, and diving isn't going to entice her not to keep trying...)

So, with this crowd, and Roatan and Cozumel, are there any operators that we would be better to contact and set up our diving with who might work with us? I really want to dive the Odyssey wreck in Roatan, i figure it might be exciting
for the less experienced divers who might just want to dive to 100ft and then work their way up with a DM... my wife and my SIL and D#1 could do a deep dive together with no problem...

Anyway, that's the general thinking, we will likely have 7 divers, not enough for most operators 8 minimum, but we really don't want to get grouped into a cattle car dive either and I'm willing to shell out a few dollars to ensure that isn't the case and I can enjoy diving with my family.

Also, are there any operators that will take the snorkeler/diver mix out? I've been places like Saba where the divers go in and then the snorkelers can toodle around and still get a great view on the shallower dives...

TIA

 

[beluga2]

In Roatan, try Tyll's Dive. They are a small operation that can accommodate what you described.

Tyll's Dive, West End, Roatan

 

[Doc]

There is nothing on Roatan that you could place in the "more challenging" category, certainly nothing you would get exposed to as a "first/only day of arrival". Compared to anything you've seen in Puerto Galera, this will not be challenging in the least.

The Aguilla (and Oddyssey) is deep. Roatan has other, shallower and more interesting wrecks (Prince Albert & Mr Bud), unless hitting a depth is the notable aspect and focused goal. You also infer that you anticipate splitting up even the SCUBA participants, thus the following thoughts:

Since you could "own" a small dive boat, the attentions of the DM, or an additional DM that you could hire...would be directed to helping your party. I'd hire an extra, and do understand that any dive op will give you their dive boat if you're booking 7/8th of it.

Mixing SCUBA and Snorkel? It is not the math you are getting. Most dive operators will tell you that they can easily mix such activities on one boat for all. There are very few locations in this world where that is a workable plan. Compared to the places that it truly is a possibility, Roatan's common day dive ops do not frequent such localized waters. Marginally workable combo sites are along the South side, not the venues of day dive ops. Again, they will certainly protest to the opposite claim of "it's all good" as they try to manage their localized reef structure for snorkel depth and SCUBA access all while doing a moored dive site.