Should I check out other dive ops?

[ggunn]

Last comment: June will be HOT!!

We usually go in April - May, but last year due to family issues we went the last of June into July, and boy howdy, it was hot. But it was even hotter here in Texas, so it wasn't all that bad.

 

[rjmd]

Cozumel is something special, and I mean that in a very positive light. You will be diving in a Marine Park, so that means hands off all things you may see. Boat diving [the vast majority of Cozumel's visitor based diving] will be under the watchful eye of a DM/guide. I have seen DMs guide individuals up to groups of six to eight divers. Except for a few shallow near shore dives, expect a current or two to move you along. All dive operations that I am familiar with now require that each diver have a personal dive computer and a SMB, but many divers just follow the DM, and maintain neutral buoyancy a bit above their DM. When a diver gets to the pre-determined PSI to signal the DM/guide their dive is over, the DM/guide shoots his/her DSMB, and the diver ascends to do a safety stop along the SMB line and then up to the surface to await pickup by the boat. Nitrox is used by the majority of divers now, so make sure your computer will allow for a variety of O2 configurations [all modern computers should have this function].

I'll make sure to purchase an SMB, don't have that on the list for this trip yet. I had a quick look and will probably just get this one from DGX along with a finger spool.

As for dive computer, I am going for the Fenix 8 or Mk3i. I'm a longtime Garmin user coming from Fenix 7 and need an all-purpose sports watch for marathons, maps for backpacking, etc. It's just whether I murder my savings on that Mk3i or not.

I'm all about convenience. In my mind you have the best option of Cozumel diving - a resort/hotel with an onsite dive op (as opposed to traveling to a pickup location or waiting for an op to pick you up.) Scuba Du, like many Coz ops, gets good reviews from divers who have used them. It appears, according to the dive schedule shown on their website (which is a pretty good list of sites), that they don't repeat a dive site through the course of a week - but don't be surprised if they do because of weather conditions or the makeup of divers on the boat. Even though Scuba Du has a schedule, there is some verbiage on their website that reads if you tell them a site you want to go to, they will try to get you there. Bottom line: dive ops go to the marine park and visit the same sites - you won't miss anything.

Awesome, this is exactly what I want to hear!!

Great point. I dove with 3 different ops a couple of years ago and that happened. Also had a repeat with the same op because a new diver wound up on the boat. Paso del Cedral 3 out of 11 dives!

Unless you have the Nitrox certification, I don't think it's necessary to use on your trip - but a great suggestion about the computer. I used Nitrox for the first time this past January even though I've been certified since 2017 only because it was free because I stayed at Villa Aldora and dove with Aldora Divers.

I could get a Nitrox dry certification at one of my local shops before my trip in the coming months so I have the option to dive with it.

Just my opinion here, but if you are comfortable in the water, skip the private DM. If after your first dives you feel you need special attention, then check it out. The last 6 dive ops I've been with in Coz have not paired up dive buddies - if it's the case with Scuba Du, just stay close to the DM. You'll read a lot about currents in Coz - the first time I went to Coz (only did 4 dives due to tears in Achille's tendon), I was all psyched up about them and of course, they were very slight if any at all. Since then, I've been in a few that I'd call fast, but you just need to relax and enjoy the ride.

Last comment: June will be HOT!!

Well I am Australian, so rough surf in the pacific and hot weather is just fine

In observing dives with a particular dive op on Cozumel when I was last there, I estimate that 75-80% of the tanks aboard were nitrox.

Oh wow, that's allot! I may consider doing the Nitrox dry certification before going then.

 

[ChuckP]

Nitrox is used by the majority of divers now

Maybe you should walk into one of the major tank suppliers on the island, you don't have to count tanks to see the difference - by far way more air tanks than nitrox.

Dive ops vary greatly in types of diving and customers - Aldora tanks are probably better than 50% nitrox but they are unique

 

[SwampTiger90]

Maybe you should walk into one of the major tank suppliers on the island, you don't have to count tanks to see the difference - by far way more air tanks than nitrox.

Dive ops vary greatly in types of diving and customers - Aldora tanks are probably better than 50% nitrox but they are unique

Yup. Our boat typically has 10-20% on Nitrox, sometimes zero. We use air when we're just doing daily two-tank dives in Cozumel.

 

[Charred]

I haven't been diving with a snorkel for many years; the only time I remember wishing I had one with me is the time the captain spotted a pod of dolphin between dives and took us around in front of them; we all jumped in with mask and fins while they swam all around us. It was cool but having to get my head up to breathe was a pain.

Once when I still dove with one I was first in the water, so I was looking around below us and breathing through the snorkel. When we were all in the water the DM signaled us to descend, so I did but I forgot to change to my reg. <choke!>

I take at least one light with me on every dive, day or night. Even in daytime there are critters back in holes and swimthroughs to go through. My wife and I have a routine for swimthroughs where she goes first and I shine my light out ahead of her so that she knows I am OK without having to turn around and look.

The funny thing about snorkels is they arent needed except when they are. Surface without your group in rougher ocean and you might wish you had one. They are part of scuba safety gear along with an SMB, a mirror, whistle, a light, etc.

 

[USdiver1]

Maybe you should walk into one of the major tank suppliers on the island, you don't have to count tanks to see the difference - by far way more air tanks than nitrox.

Dive ops vary greatly in types of diving and customers - Aldora tanks are probably better than 50% nitrox but they are unique

Thanks for the clarification. Aldora and BA have been the current operations I have used, might be more popular with the 3-5 dives x day crowd, hence the higher % of nitrox users.

 

[ggunn]

I'll make sure to purchase an SMB, don't have that on the list for this trip yet. I had a quick look and will probably just get this one from DGX along with a finger spool.

When you get a finger spool if it comes loaded with line, unroll it to make sure that the other end is secured to the spool. Sometimes it is not.

 

[ggunn]

Thanks for the clarification. Aldora and BA have been the current operations I have used, might be more popular with the 3-5 dives x day crowd, hence the higher % of nitrox users.

FWIW, BA doesn't have all that many afternoon divers; at least they haven't while I was staying there, which has been for a couple of weeks every year for a long time.

 

[BRT]

Just from my experience, I would say that 75% of the divers on the boats I was on during my last visit to Coz [2024] were using nitrox. Also with the centralized filling of tanks, nitrox seems to be easier to acquire for the dive operators.

I'm an all-in nitrox guy, but my experience with one of the tank fill op on the island tells me a lot more air is filled than nitrox.

 

[ggunn]

I'm an all-in nitrox guy, but my experience with one of the tank fill op on the island tells me a lot more air is filled than nitrox.

Some ops on the island provide nitrox for free; I would hazard a guess that nitrox usage by the people diving with those ops is higher.