The point is neither to do a cost-comparative list (impossible as prices and offers vary depending on season, special deals
and IMO not the smartest way to pick a dive op) nor yet another cheerleading thread (plenty of those around) filled with love but too often useless in terms of actual information and relevance to the poster's needs.
The idea is to compile factual, useful info on the many different ops on the island so that people who have never been there can first get an idea of what the different options are. IE : you prefer boats with a head and giant stride entry, here are the shops that offer those. You want to be picked up north of Caleta, here are your options. You'd like to take an UW photography course, who offers that.
The way I see it, we could first gather all the input into one big messy thread, then verify and extract the relevant, factual, less susceptible to change info. It could then be compiled in one thread (all ops listed from North to South with northernmost pick-up location, contact info, and other useful factual details). Or split up in different threads to answer some common queries ("Ops that pick up in town" ; "Ops with later departure dates for cruise ships" ; "Ops with scheduled afternoon trips" ).
I'm aware that many ops are flexible and will adjust their departure times and locations if they have a big enough group of interested divers, that would be mentionned too, so I don't see how that would hurt their business.
It could even be split up in sub-sub-forums by individual dive op (such as the manufacturers' subforum), but with over 50 ops on the island, it might complicate things rather than clarify them.
I don't have a gun in this fight (don't own/work for a dive shop or any other business, even though many of my friends on the island do) and I don't believe there is such a thing as "the best" (even though the dive op I used and often recommand claims to be so
). It all comes down to each individual visitor's needs and wants at a specific time. As a matter of fact, my former preferred op may not be the one I dive with on my next trip. Not because there's anything wrong with them, but my requirements have changed (only want to do short, shallow dives due to a DCSII hit and ensuing anxiety issues) so they are no longer the best match for me.
I remember when I planned my first trip on the island, I spent a lot of time doing research. Scubaboard was a great help, but it was still time consuming. I didn't mind as I enjoy doing research and checking facts (I'm a journalist/copyeditor), speaking English and Spanish helped. But for a newcomer who has no idea of how the island is laid out and little time to do his homework, it can get confusing. I met a girl 2 years ago who booked her flight+accomodations separately from her diving, and was bummed to have to take (and pay) a cab daily to the boat when she could have just gotten a package for the same price with Aqua Safari a block away from her hotel. I've recently helped a couple of French divers who were about to book a 4-day stay at Ventanas del Mar (on the other side) thinking they could dive close by
Cozumel is a great diving destination and island, but logistics wise, if you've never been there and don't stay at the resorts South of the ferry or rent a car/take cabs, it's not that easy to plan a trip there. Lots of info is available on this board, but it takes hours to read enough of it to get a somewhat full picture of the different options. I sincerely believe making a well thought-of list would be a valuable tool for prospective visitors as well as for the people who make a living on the island (customer easily finds what he is looking for, books a ticket, has the time of his life, repeats and tells his friends about it).
Whether and how we do that of course depends on having enough people here being on board. If not I'll just drop it right here. I don't really care either way.
The idea is to compile factual, useful info on the many different ops on the island so that people who have never been there can first get an idea of what the different options are. IE : you prefer boats with a head and giant stride entry, here are the shops that offer those. You want to be picked up north of Caleta, here are your options. You'd like to take an UW photography course, who offers that.
The way I see it, we could first gather all the input into one big messy thread, then verify and extract the relevant, factual, less susceptible to change info. It could then be compiled in one thread (all ops listed from North to South with northernmost pick-up location, contact info, and other useful factual details). Or split up in different threads to answer some common queries ("Ops that pick up in town" ; "Ops with later departure dates for cruise ships" ; "Ops with scheduled afternoon trips" ).
I'm aware that many ops are flexible and will adjust their departure times and locations if they have a big enough group of interested divers, that would be mentionned too, so I don't see how that would hurt their business.
It could even be split up in sub-sub-forums by individual dive op (such as the manufacturers' subforum), but with over 50 ops on the island, it might complicate things rather than clarify them.
I don't have a gun in this fight (don't own/work for a dive shop or any other business, even though many of my friends on the island do) and I don't believe there is such a thing as "the best" (even though the dive op I used and often recommand claims to be so
). It all comes down to each individual visitor's needs and wants at a specific time. As a matter of fact, my former preferred op may not be the one I dive with on my next trip. Not because there's anything wrong with them, but my requirements have changed (only want to do short, shallow dives due to a DCSII hit and ensuing anxiety issues) so they are no longer the best match for me.I remember when I planned my first trip on the island, I spent a lot of time doing research. Scubaboard was a great help, but it was still time consuming. I didn't mind as I enjoy doing research and checking facts (I'm a journalist/copyeditor), speaking English and Spanish helped. But for a newcomer who has no idea of how the island is laid out and little time to do his homework, it can get confusing. I met a girl 2 years ago who booked her flight+accomodations separately from her diving, and was bummed to have to take (and pay) a cab daily to the boat when she could have just gotten a package for the same price with Aqua Safari a block away from her hotel. I've recently helped a couple of French divers who were about to book a 4-day stay at Ventanas del Mar (on the other side) thinking they could dive close by
Cozumel is a great diving destination and island, but logistics wise, if you've never been there and don't stay at the resorts South of the ferry or rent a car/take cabs, it's not that easy to plan a trip there. Lots of info is available on this board, but it takes hours to read enough of it to get a somewhat full picture of the different options. I sincerely believe making a well thought-of list would be a valuable tool for prospective visitors as well as for the people who make a living on the island (customer easily finds what he is looking for, books a ticket, has the time of his life, repeats and tells his friends about it).
Whether and how we do that of course depends on having enough people here being on board. If not I'll just drop it right here. I don't really care either way.
