Thoughts on Tres Pelicanos vs Aldora

[ReadyTo Dive]

We have just returned from our 4th time diving with Aldora (and 1st time staying with Casa Mexicanas). Our thoughts and reasons why we personally dive solely with Aldora are:

Steel 120’s mean 0-2lb’s of weight needed for us (even in 3mm’s).

Tanks are always accurate (when we analyze Nitrox) and filled to the brim.

80 minute average dive times.

Fast and nice boats that almost always have us 1st on the water (especially when going south from the downtown pier). Comfortable safe clean and dependable.

We normally/I’d say 80%+ of the time get to dive the sites we want to dive and requested when we booked. Mairiciabo, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, various Palancar sites and Devils Throat are examples.

The service. Denise in the office is always on top of things/a real gem in our opinion as was Jorge. We trust DM’s like Mateo Miguel and Sharif not only to lead/brief dives but also to setup/breakdown our gear. Aldora is just about the only place we do this at, otherwise we setup/normally prefer “hands off”. When staying at the Villa Chris and Chris went above and beyond to get us anything we even remotely requested and on this last trip I wasn’t feeling well enough to do our final dive and Denise came and took us back to the shop no problem/no charge.

The “air hog air share” procedure that keeps the rest of us diving. We’ve only encountered this being needed 2x but it was very much appreciated when they did it. We have been cut short dives before because of 1 heavy user and were less than pleased to say the least - our vacation time is very limited and our underwater time even more so so for them to do this is a plus in our books.

The boat coats they provide are highly underrated imo. We chill pretty easily and LOVE them. People say you could easily bring one with you to Coz but A) they are huge in comparison to everything else we bring and B) you’d have to dry/clean them each day which honestly we just wouldn’t do. Honestly they are more important to us then they probably should be but being extra warm/cozy immediately after a dive is awesome especially as we get older.


Things I would change:

No snacks on the boat is almost strange imo. Even in faraway places like Dominica and Grenada there is almost always something provided at the SI. I personally eat no fruit whatsoever so I always bring power bars for myself on every trip but my wife and the others would surely appreciate some grapes or stale popcorn. There is now a small little beach setup we visited (owned by Aldora?) that had tacos and cookies for sale which we used/was more than happy with but if you were unaware of this beforehand you would’ve had to use “tip cash” to buy something with. The beach setup was lovely too - hammocks and tables and shade; not as nice as the beach restaurant we used to visit but still way more than adequate. While I’m thinking about it, on this last trip one diver had a medium+ size pans of brownies that she ate and shared with the crew but not with the other divers - boo on you lady lol! Always bring enough for the whole class lol.

Not taking my pissy wetsuit. I totally understand why and when staying at the Villa it doesn’t matter whatsoever since you ring and hang it basically at the dock but carrying them back to CA was not ideal. However this offset by the fact that we weren’t even charged for the 2 days we used/rented them so no complaints here.

Everyone has their favorites but Aldora is personally ours. I think it’s great that there are so many quality options- we’ve been to quite a few places where that wasn’t the case.

 

[Trailboss123]

And has anyone mentioned 3P’s will manage your wetsuits where Aldora will not? This is a big factor for some staying in town without adequate facilities to clean and hang suits. Much less having to shlep the suits to and from the boat.

Leave it to you, Lisa, to bring the conversation back around to a salient point and actually draw a comparison that might prove helpful to people
I haven't read the last 2 pages of this thread yet, so this may be redundant, but since there has been little to no comments on Blue XT Sea to this point (my point of reading), I thought I would mention the following, by way of comparisons:

1. Blue XT Sea departs and returns from/to downtown from the same pier as Aldora (usually referred to as the Aldora Pier). This is about a 3 block walk from Casa Mexicana. Call it 5-6 minutes, leisurely.
2. Departure times are 8am for Blue XT Sea.
3. Like 3P's, you do not have to surface as a group at the end of the dive. If you are the one in the group that is low on air, you can indicate that to the DM and he will shoot his surface marker buoy and you can follow it up to safety stop depth and then surface next to it where the boat will be there for you. If you are good on air, you can continue diving with the DM and any others in the group and surface later. We usually average 70-75 minutes on AL 80's. AL 100's are available for a $5 upcharge.

4. Based on everyone else's comments on how well Aldora does at grouping together similar experience levels and air consumption, I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and just assume that my personal experience was an anomaly or outlier. I really mean that and don't want to offend anyone.

I communicated quite clearly ahead of time the experience level of me and my dive buddy (an instructor with similar experience on Cozumel and worldwide). I communicated that due to the cost premium we were paying for those high capacity tanks and that we were only doing 2 dives that day, we anticipated being grouped with similar experienced divers on the boat, given that surfacing as a group was our only option.

We showed up promptly at 7:30am at the Aldora Pier. The boat then cruised up north to the Aldora Villas to pick up our dive companions for the morning. We then cruised back south and right past where we were picked up 25 minutes earlier and then to our dive sites down south. During the cruise down south, I engaged our other 4 dive companions in conversation.

I learned that this lovely family, (Mom, Dad and 2 teenage boys), were vacation divers with limited experience and this morning was going to be their first time diving in 2 years and that they had some apprehensions and anxieties. After my talk with them and helping them sort out some gear issues, I made my way over to our dive guide. Confident that I was out of ear shot of anyone, I let our dive guide know about my conversation with the family and wanted to give her a heads up.

I was cavalierly told not to worry about it. We ended up having 2 enjoyable, but very short, 40 minute dives that morning. All 4 of the family members had issues throughout the two dives. No need to discuss here.

5. Blue XT Sea also doesn't handle wetsuits- so, if that is an issue, definitely factor it in.

6. If cost is an issue or factor, definitely read the fine print and ask questions about whether the daily marine park fee, and the 16% government tax is included or not in your price quote for diving. Not to mention larger tanks and nitrox- it can all add up.

 

[anchochile]

Based on everyone else's comments on how well Aldora does at grouping together similar experience levels and air consumption, I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and just assume that my personal experience was an anomaly or outlier. I really mean that and don't want to offend anyone.

Was this your experience for multiple days or just the first day? I always assume that my first day diving with a new operator will be my audition day, and that I’ll be on a boat with all the other first-day divers. With a good op, the DMs will assess my skills that day and I usually find myself with advanced divers on subsequent days.

I’ve never specifically requested to be put with advanced divers prior to the first dive of the trip, as I assume most DMs would rather see me on the water than take my word for it. I don’t doubt your experience level, but I’m sure DMs in vacation destinations hear all sorts of big talk from divers and have to be cautious and take it with a grain of salt.

That said, I would also be a bit annoyed with two 40-minute dives if I were paying a premium for 120L tanks!

 

[Charred]

One day, we just stopped about 150 feet out from the shore for the SI and were told we'd be chilling here and eating snacks. Nobody asked me or my dive buddy if that was ok. Then one of the prolific posters here cranked up his portable speaker with some terrible music for geriatrics. I had to jump in the water and snorkel for 30 minutes to get away from the noise (and pee).

That is pretty rude. I have to say that 3P is quickly becoming the "OK Boomer" OP. When we were there in the fall all the regulars were having a major hissy fit because they couldn't be on the boat they wanted. In order to accommodate the Boomers, when my group of 4 were diving in the afternoon, we often had to remove all our gear at lunch and switch to another boat for the afternoon. When we mentioned to Pony this really made no sense, Steve had to crack down on the Boomers and remind them the ocean is the same no matter which boat you back roll off. There was much grumbling. It was hilarious watching people board the Skinny Shark acting like they were getting on makeshift rift and then loudly complaining they didnt like this boat. Then they start bragging how they dive with 3P 3 times a year and this is the best op on the island. Its quite hilarious.

 

[Trailboss123]

Was this your experience for multiple days or just the first day? I always assume that my first day diving with a new operator will be my audition day, and that I’ll be on a boat with all the other first-day divers. With a good op, the DMs will assess my skills that day and I usually find myself with advanced divers on subsequent days.

I’ve never specifically requested to be put with advanced divers prior to the first dive of the trip, as I assume most DMs would rather see me on the water than take my word for it. I don’t doubt your experience level, but I’m sure DMs in vacation destinations here all sorts of big talk from divers and have to be cautious and take it with a grain of salt.

That said, I would also be a bit annoyed with two 40-minute dives if I were paying a premium for 120L tanks!

@anchochile
I think you may not understand the situation or context? As a practice, I never tell anyone about me or my dive experience or lack thereof when vacation diving. As a DM myself, I take what anyone tells me with a grain of salt- particularly here in cold water diving environments.

However, we are talking specifically here about Cozumel. We are talking specifically about the difference between the cost and dive durations/experiences and expectations for certain dive operators. I am referring to a particular dive operator that actually expects you to communicate your dive experience so that they can group you appropriately and ensure that your expectations are met- given the premium cost.

I did what was expected by communicating the dive experience of me and my buddy (actually it was asked and required of me) in the paperwork. I also knew enough to make it a point to communicate this-- hundreds of dives on Cozumel and aware of most dive ops. Bottom line, it didn't turn out so well for me or according to all of the expectations set for me by past Scubaboard reports. So, just sharing my personal experience.

As I said, many others here on the Board have had very different experiences. So I am going to choose to believe mine was an anomaly- but I also thought it important to provide an alternative narrative, in case it helps others.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Thanks for the data point, Trailboss. Like Anchochile, I believe the first day is going to be audition day no matter what was communicated with the dive op beforehand or whether they charge a premium over others. Maybe the pre-trip communications were not totally in vain? I would like to believe they keep information on repeat customers in their files.

Also, we sometimes hear of inexperienced divers who told the dive op they were inexperienced and still got taken on a dive that they felt was a little beyond their comfort zone. I don't recall hearing such a story involving any of the dive ops mentioned in this thread. I'm pleased that they appear to err on the side of caution, even if an experienced diver occasionally gets a raw deal on their first day.

 

[Dan G]

Not having snacks is in no way a deal-breaker for me with Aldora. Not even close. Light snacks would be a 'nice to have' and the OP asked about differences between the two operations. I added something that had not yet been mentioned about either. Both my wife and I love diving with them, have done so several times, and plan to do so again enthusiastically. We buy snacks for the boat at either Mega or Chedraui the night we arrive.

 

[ReefHound]

Was this your experience for multiple days or just the first day? I always assume that my first day diving with a new operator will be my audition day, and that I’ll be on a boat with all the other first-day divers. With a good op, the DMs will assess my skills that day and I usually find myself with advanced divers on subsequent days.

So we should just accept a disappointing first dive day out of 5 days? 20% of our diving? Why? When I can just use of the many ops where my dive isn't cut short by someone else's issues and have 5 great dive days?

 

[ReefHound]

Thanks for the data point, Trailboss. Like Anchochile, I believe the first day is going to be audition day no matter what was communicated with the dive op beforehand or whether they charge a premium over others. Maybe the pre-trip communications were not totally in vain? I would like to believe they keep information on repeat customers in their files.

Maybe they should charge 75% of the normal rate on the first dive day?

 

[ReefHound]

4. Based on everyone else's comments on how well Aldora does at grouping together similar experience levels and air consumption, I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt and just assume that my personal experience was an anomaly or outlier. I really mean that and don't want to offend anyone.

I communicated quite clearly ahead of time the experience level of me and my dive buddy (an instructor with similar experience on Cozumel and worldwide). I communicated that due to the cost premium we were paying for those high capacity tanks and that we were only doing 2 dives that day, we anticipated being grouped with similar experienced divers on the boat, given that surfacing as a group was our only option.

I guess we were two. Looking at my log, my dive times with them were 85/75/65/70/59/75. On three of them I ended with over 1000psi.

The ability to group is limited. First, experience is not the same thing as air consumption. I've seen begginners (usually small women) that barely breathe. They might die 101 ways but running out of air won't be one of them. And I've seen guys with thousands of dives who are old and obese who can't make it an hour in a swimming pool. Second, what if the group isn't divisible? What if you have 2 brand new beginners, 10 intermediate divers (huge range), and 4 supreme experts? I'll bet they aren't sending out 4 boats. They'll probably put a few of the intermediates with the beginners and a few with the experts. Third, what if a small group or couple is mixed, both beginner and expert? They aren't splitting up a couple.