cicopo
Contributor
After booking my stay at the Blue Angel they sent me an email offering a better rate on the room if I booked a 5 day 2 tank dive package, and with that Id also be entitled to a lunch for each dive day plus 1 dinner for my wife & I. I had intended to try their dive shop because Id read good things about them but I hadnt intended to do more than a few days with them because I expected to dive with Scubatony & Blue XT Sea to keep friendships up to date. I also didnt want to have to fit 5 days into a 7 day stay since wed be loosing day to the move there and the 7 day was the return home day so I emailed the question whether I could do some tanks while staying Hotel Cozumel & the rest once we swithed hotels. They quickly emailed back sure, no problem so I booked the package. (Without even asking the price.) The plan was that once we were settled in at Hotel Cozumel Id walk down & do the paperwork and set up some dive days thinking Id have to walk down on those days. To my surprise they just told me to be on the Hotel Cozumel pier at 8:05 AM for pick up. And they were always on time.
They dive shop is right next door to the hotel, and the restaurant is above it, and there are baskets for those who want to store their gear rather than take it to their room. They dont (from what I could tell but I didnt specifically ask) clean & store your gear & then get it ready for your next dive. They did however install your BCD & regs on your tank plus swap it for you between dives, and the switch over was usually done before I got seated after climbing the ladder. ( I removed my BCD in the water & the boat captain hauled it up & did the quick switch). Boats used were good for at least 8 divers plus the DM & captain, and had a cover for shade and Im pretty sure they had 2 like that PLUS 2 larger boats that from what I could tell were for cruise ship passengers, and they went out at about 10:30 empty & returned full with people in need of gear. When they returned from diving the divers were served lunch, so Im guessing its a package sold by the cruise ship. It may also be available as a private booking but thats just a guess.
My diving was from the smaller fast boats, and they did 8:00 AM trips, 1:00 PM trips & some twilight / night dives when there were enough divers interested. Surface intervals were on the boat, and the time was dependant on where the second dive would be done. For a shallow site like Colombia Shallows the SI was the time it took to get there since its basically just a very long safety stop. Fresh fruit & muffins were served along with water during the SI, but soft drinks & juice werent offered. Divers dove their tank & computer, not a schedule, and were allowed a bit of room to explore (if skilled enough that they didnt need constant supervision) and usually went up in pairs as necessary once they hit the 700 PSI mark. Dive sites were picked bythe divers, briefings were simple for those of us whove been there before but for new divers (to Cozumel) a more thorough briefing was given. Having been lucky enough to be on the boat most days with very skilled divers we did some more advanced dives including a trip to the north end, and at least one wall dive we did it a bit deeper than usual thanks to a late start (port closed until 10:30) and a very bright & high sun. The lighting at 100 feet was spectacular, and I had never seen the coral look so magnificent. I dove with 3 different DMs and Id be very happy to dive with all 3 of them at any time in the future, and each seemed to have a different approach & interest in what they found interesting to search out, which is refreshing because it shows that they werent just punching the clock & waiting for it to run down to go home time. My DMs were (in order) Matt, Jose & Jorge, who I did the majority of my diving with. Matt seemed to do a lot of instructing, but I dont know if the other DMs also instruct.
Dive prices quoted when I asked were as follows. (The hotel & dive package price fluctuates with seasons so its best to email for that).
2 tank dive trip = $60 plus tax
gear rental = $5 per piece or $15 for everything
2 tanks + gear + lunch (about an $11-$12 value GREAT FOOD) $80.
100 Cu Ft tank add $5 (I use these, great value for the extra scooting around I do shooting photos)
Nitrox = $10 per tank additional.
Theres an additional tax of 11% added on to those prices
and a 14% tax on your room (commonly called a bed tax here).
Based on what Ive been paying to dive for the last 5 or 6 trips these prices are on the low side but the quality of diving was every bit as good, and the site selection hit my happy spot (we did some of MY favorites more than once, but Im sure some want more variety, BUT I told them which sites Id love to do over & over). The only real difference in what I got for my money this trip vs the last few were the lack of going to a beach club for the SI (or to shore at Palancar Pier sometimes) and a few soft drinks or a can of juice, PLUS gear storage & the cleaning & drying of my wetsuit (not always offered) but I dont use one so no biggie.
I did not get to dive with any new divers, nor any resort course divers, or even divers finishing their testing so I cant comment on how they are treated but I did see Matt with students both in the dive shop & water & it looked like they were getting what they paid for, and they didnt seem to become a burden to the experienced divers by sending them out with us.
Highly recommended unless you want the frills & are willing to pay for them.
Photos from my diving (5 albums) can be found at
Picasa Web Albums - Larry
Photos were shot using a Canon G9 in a Canon housing with dual (older) Sea & Sea strobes which only fire at full power, so its necessary to shoot in manual mode most of the time. I shot in RAW plus jpg, and the majority of photos in the albums were derived from the RAW files run through Adobe Camera Raw / CS4.
PS I found it so convenient diving with Blue Angel once wed moved to the resort, plus my wife really liked the fact I was back in time to join her for lunch most days that I didnt take the time to dive with Scubatony or Pedro Pablo (Blue XT Sea) but Im hoping to make a solo trip in late spring to make up for that. Hopefully Ill get some kind of last minute air fare deal that makes that possible.
I also wrote a trip report on the vacation stays at Hotel Cozumel & Blue Angel which can be seen here.
Trip report, Hotel Cozumel plus Blue Angel Resort. - Cozumel Forum - TripAdvisor
They dive shop is right next door to the hotel, and the restaurant is above it, and there are baskets for those who want to store their gear rather than take it to their room. They dont (from what I could tell but I didnt specifically ask) clean & store your gear & then get it ready for your next dive. They did however install your BCD & regs on your tank plus swap it for you between dives, and the switch over was usually done before I got seated after climbing the ladder. ( I removed my BCD in the water & the boat captain hauled it up & did the quick switch). Boats used were good for at least 8 divers plus the DM & captain, and had a cover for shade and Im pretty sure they had 2 like that PLUS 2 larger boats that from what I could tell were for cruise ship passengers, and they went out at about 10:30 empty & returned full with people in need of gear. When they returned from diving the divers were served lunch, so Im guessing its a package sold by the cruise ship. It may also be available as a private booking but thats just a guess.
My diving was from the smaller fast boats, and they did 8:00 AM trips, 1:00 PM trips & some twilight / night dives when there were enough divers interested. Surface intervals were on the boat, and the time was dependant on where the second dive would be done. For a shallow site like Colombia Shallows the SI was the time it took to get there since its basically just a very long safety stop. Fresh fruit & muffins were served along with water during the SI, but soft drinks & juice werent offered. Divers dove their tank & computer, not a schedule, and were allowed a bit of room to explore (if skilled enough that they didnt need constant supervision) and usually went up in pairs as necessary once they hit the 700 PSI mark. Dive sites were picked bythe divers, briefings were simple for those of us whove been there before but for new divers (to Cozumel) a more thorough briefing was given. Having been lucky enough to be on the boat most days with very skilled divers we did some more advanced dives including a trip to the north end, and at least one wall dive we did it a bit deeper than usual thanks to a late start (port closed until 10:30) and a very bright & high sun. The lighting at 100 feet was spectacular, and I had never seen the coral look so magnificent. I dove with 3 different DMs and Id be very happy to dive with all 3 of them at any time in the future, and each seemed to have a different approach & interest in what they found interesting to search out, which is refreshing because it shows that they werent just punching the clock & waiting for it to run down to go home time. My DMs were (in order) Matt, Jose & Jorge, who I did the majority of my diving with. Matt seemed to do a lot of instructing, but I dont know if the other DMs also instruct.
Dive prices quoted when I asked were as follows. (The hotel & dive package price fluctuates with seasons so its best to email for that).
2 tank dive trip = $60 plus tax
gear rental = $5 per piece or $15 for everything
2 tanks + gear + lunch (about an $11-$12 value GREAT FOOD) $80.
100 Cu Ft tank add $5 (I use these, great value for the extra scooting around I do shooting photos)
Nitrox = $10 per tank additional.
Theres an additional tax of 11% added on to those prices
and a 14% tax on your room (commonly called a bed tax here).
Based on what Ive been paying to dive for the last 5 or 6 trips these prices are on the low side but the quality of diving was every bit as good, and the site selection hit my happy spot (we did some of MY favorites more than once, but Im sure some want more variety, BUT I told them which sites Id love to do over & over). The only real difference in what I got for my money this trip vs the last few were the lack of going to a beach club for the SI (or to shore at Palancar Pier sometimes) and a few soft drinks or a can of juice, PLUS gear storage & the cleaning & drying of my wetsuit (not always offered) but I dont use one so no biggie.
I did not get to dive with any new divers, nor any resort course divers, or even divers finishing their testing so I cant comment on how they are treated but I did see Matt with students both in the dive shop & water & it looked like they were getting what they paid for, and they didnt seem to become a burden to the experienced divers by sending them out with us.
Highly recommended unless you want the frills & are willing to pay for them.
Photos from my diving (5 albums) can be found at
Picasa Web Albums - Larry
Photos were shot using a Canon G9 in a Canon housing with dual (older) Sea & Sea strobes which only fire at full power, so its necessary to shoot in manual mode most of the time. I shot in RAW plus jpg, and the majority of photos in the albums were derived from the RAW files run through Adobe Camera Raw / CS4.
PS I found it so convenient diving with Blue Angel once wed moved to the resort, plus my wife really liked the fact I was back in time to join her for lunch most days that I didnt take the time to dive with Scubatony or Pedro Pablo (Blue XT Sea) but Im hoping to make a solo trip in late spring to make up for that. Hopefully Ill get some kind of last minute air fare deal that makes that possible.
I also wrote a trip report on the vacation stays at Hotel Cozumel & Blue Angel which can be seen here.
Trip report, Hotel Cozumel plus Blue Angel Resort. - Cozumel Forum - TripAdvisor
