Trip review Aldora and Palmar Condominium October 29 - November 8

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ratjn

Registered
Messages
62
Reaction score
59
Location
Landlocked Calgary
# of dives
500 - 999
Another ten days in Paradise has come to an end. We spent ten great days on the island diving with Aldora and staying in Jorge's Airbnb at Palmar. https://abnb.me/2MOvMl52HR

The diving:
The upside:
When Aldora gets it right it is an awesome experience. They are now my normal dive shop. LONG dives with amazing Divemasters (Jorge, Jorge and Rich), great office staff (Denise) and nice boats.We averaged a little over 86 minutes per dive.
The downside:
All four times I have dove with Aldora there has always been a bump. This time out of 15 dives we had 7 people on the boat for 4. Aldora's website states:

Then there is the consideration of dive quality. Cattle boats almost always have groups go down with 1 dive guide for every 8 people, frequently in a scene like being in a glass of water with an Alka Seltzer tablet.

Most of the small boat operators will take 8 divers per boat. It is our opinion that any more than 6 divers makes it unsafe, or at least uncomfortable, to do the wonderful swimthroughs that make Cozumel so special - with the 7th and 8th divers seeing little more than kicked up silt. At Aldora we limit dive group size to a maximum of 6, and there can be a big difference in the dive quality between an operator who has groups of 8 and those with 6. Our average load is 4 divers and we always, always make sure that all divers in the group have similar skills and interests.

Did I feel unsafe? No but I was not happy. I agree with the swim throughs comment. I will be back with Aldora, I just wish they would adhere to their 'policy' as stated on their website. Out of my 60 dives with Aldora we almost always have 6 divers, I would love to be on an average boat with only four civers! We had a few photographers who monopolized the small stuff, I stopped trying to see it and just dove with my wife nearby on our own.

The food:
The usual assortment of fabulous dinners in the town

The Condo:
A great stay at Palmar Condos hosted by Jorge. Very clean and the most comfortable king size bed in Cozumel. Aldora picked us up at Casa del Mar, a five minute walk from closing the condo door. Nice pool area. 95 peso taxi ride to downtown.
https://abnb.me/2MOvMl52HR

Report card:
Aldora - B (11 dives an A, 2 dives a B and 2 dives a C
Condo - A
Restaurants - A


Overall an amazing trip. Looking forward to doing the same thing again soon.
 
I am sure Dave will find out and correct this problem. I know he takes the no more than 6 people as a rule that is not to be broken. Aldora is my main dive OP. 9 more days until we are back.
 
Was the seventh person taking a class by chance? I think I might have been a seventh diver a few times while taking the dive master class there....
 
No one taking classes. The five 'new' to us divers with us our last day was their first day of diving this trip.
 
The wrong third could be a disaster!! And I'm sure we've all had those......
 
I agree with ratjn.

When the website states one thing but they deliver another then why should you be satisfied.

Time to move on and find another boat.
 
I agree with ratjn.

When the website states one thing but they deliver another then why should you be satisfied.

Time to move on and find another boat.
Suit yourself, and for the record I have never gone diving with Aldora, but if having 7 divers aboard instead of 6 (no matter what the website says) is enough to send you packing, then you are a lot pickier than I am.
 
Not sure I understand the snarky comments about the seventh diver issue. The poster did not crucify the dive op, as a matter of fact, he was quite complimentary towards the dive masters etc. Personally, I would find 7 divers on a small, fast boat to be more crowded, hence less personal space. It is like renting a sedan for four passengers, then deciding to add another, not catastrophic but not ideal either.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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