Thoughts after my first time with Aldora

[rick00001967]

We have had issues in the past with port closing and getting us the notice. They called my house in Kansas and left a voice mail.

haha we were in florida once and drove all the way from the pompano area to islamorada in the keys only to find out they cancelled due to high seas. they had called our home number instead of the cell number and left a voice mail. i feel your pain. we were ore than a little upset.

Was the DM engaging in that screwy practice of sharing his air/octo with the biggest air hog in the group to extend everyone's bottom time? What if someone in close proximity to the DM has an emergency and needs that air and octo that the DM is letting Mr. Air Hog suck off of? There was a thread a while back in which an Aldora diver talked about how he was getting low on air so the DM had him sucking off his octo so the group could go through a swim through! Dumbest thing I've ever head of.

couldn't agree more. this is a common practice at some shops. i never thought this was a good idea either. i usually bring this up in class as a discussion point with new students.

 

[rick00001967]

i am kinda curious if anyone knows which brand of tanks aldora uses and what the buoyancy specs are. i am assuming they are using lighter steels so no divers are over weighted.

 

[lowwall]

They use two different tanks. You can tell which is which by the coating, one is a 1 or 2 lbs more negative. They also offer steel 100s if you don't want all that weight.

I use a steel BP and with no weights was slightly negative with the lighter 120 at 800psi. Probably dead on at 500, but never got there

 

[lowwall]

I don't blame you one bit. Was the DM engaging in that screwy practice of sharing his air/octo with the biggest air hog in the group to extend everyone's bottom time? What if someone in close proximity to the DM has an emergency and needs that air and octo that the DM is letting Mr. Air Hog suck off of?

On 2 of the 11 dives I did, the guide shared air with a diver once we were finished with the deep part of the dive to extend their (and our) dives. I'm not sure what the exact mark for sharing was, but both divers did the ascent, including safety stop, with their own gas. This was covered during the briefing. The guide asked us to tell him when we were at 2000psi and based off that decided if anyone could use a few minutes of extra gas.

I've read enough trip reports on Aldora and the bottom times are not longer than those that a skilled diver diving AL80's can realize with a dive op that offers their divers freedom.

I've done quite a few 80 minute dives with an AL80, but never with those profiles. The second dives were with EAN36 and an over hour and a half SI and I was having to closely monitor NDL until around an hour into the dive when we got above 40'. I never felt shortchanged on a dive. They could have been 100 minute dives with the big tanks, but the last 20 would have been hanging out midwater above 30' to avoid going into deco. I think it depends on your group, I had reasonably advanced divers on all my boats.

 

[lowwall]

Thanks for the detailed report, I like how you broke it into categories. I second tres pelicanos they are my third choice. Give Chili Charters a try they are always my go to, great customer service and communication and long bottom times I also like Deep Exposure.

Thanks. I'll check back here for suggestions before my next trip of course

 

[ReefHound]

haha we were in florida once and drove all the way from the pompano area to islamorada in the keys only to find out they cancelled due to high seas. they had called our home number instead of the cell number and left a voice mail. i feel your pain. we were ore than a little upset.

What's a "home number"? Lol.

They shouldn't have even had your home number. No reason at all to give a business multiple numbers. It just leads to mixups like this.

 

[Lorenzoid]

What's a "home number"? Lol.

They shouldn't have even had your home number. No reason at all to give a business multiple numbers. It just leads to mixups like this.

What is "calling"? I got the impression all the cool kids down in Mexico (including many businesses) communicate using WhatsApp.

But more on topic, I'd like to thank the OP for the report. I have had great experiences with Aldora, but I do appreciate seeing the "yes, but are they still worth the premium" angle.

 

[Streydog]

I don't blame you one bit. Was the DM engaging in that screwy practice of sharing his air/octo with the biggest air hog in the group to extend everyone's bottom time? What if someone in close proximity to the DM has an emergency and needs that air and octo that the DM is letting Mr. Air Hog suck off of? There was a thread a while back in which an Aldora diver talked about how he was getting low on air so the DM had him sucking off his octo so the group could go through a swim through! Dumbest thing I've ever head of. For those who want to pay $110 for a 2 tank dive in Coz under the impression that they are going to experience longer dive times, be my guest. I've read enough trip reports on Aldora and the bottom times are not longer than those that a skilled diver diving AL80's can realize with a dive op that offers their divers freedom.

After several dives with Aldora I tried 3 P's for a couple 2 tanks a couple years ago, wanting to save some money. After that trial I went back to Aldora. From my experience Aldora runs a much safer operation. And yes dive times are significantly longer than other place I have dove.

 

[lowwall]

BTW, I booked when they were running a free nitrox special and I paid cash which is an additional discount All in price including the marine park fees was rounded to $100 per 2 tank trip.

 

[cicopo]

I don't know why some of you are worried about the shared air concept IF the diver still has at least the 500 thru 700 PSI agreed upon as the low air mark signaling time to surface. We're all supposed to be able to survive having our reg suddenly pulled from our mouth which might happen if there was another diver in trouble. The diver that was sharing can then go back to using the air in their tank, the DM shares with whoever is having a problem (if they simply need air which may not be the case) & who ever is still in the group all prepare to surface (because they should if there was an emergency).