Wanting advice on place to stay & dive in COZ asap please!

[1gromit]

Cheers,

For a cheap simple place to stay, you might look at Casa Del Mar or Villablanca - it's a $4 taxi to town from either. In town: Casa Mexicana is pretty well in the heart of things, Barracuda is just a touch south but still a simple quick walk to town. Good diver's bar at Barracuda.

Far as Bottom Time: LIVING UNDERWATER!!! Cannot be beat! I've used Scuba Du, Dive House, Dive Paradise, Aldora, and Living Underwater. LU is my favorite: They use steel 120 tanks filled LOW PRESSURE. Endless air. I'm convinced that these are the best tanks and fills on the island. We routinely did 80 and 90 minutes dives! Your only limit will be deco issues (nitrox helps!). And get this: they let me do a 2 HOUR dive! No exaggeration: 2 full hours (it was a shallow dive, so no deco issues). I've never heard of another op on the island letting you do a 2 hour dive!

- Al

 

[loudives]

"I'm scheduled to stay at the Reef Club, but have read some pretty disturbing things as of late, so am concerned and open to advice on this matter. I'm travelling solo on this trip, so won't have anyone to share taxi expenses with - that might be another reason not to stay at the Reef Club?"

Landlocked,
I'm sure the disturbing things you read about the Reef Club are from those who haven't been there in a few years. I've been there 3 times since Wilma and will be there again next week.
The resort has been completely remodeled and upgraded since Wilma. They actually started the procces before the Huricane. IMO it is now much better than before and better than Allegro.

I wish people would stop giving reviews of hotels,dive operators, and resturants that they haven't been to in years.

Anyway--- yes it is a $15 cab ride to town so thats a minus.

In town there are many inexpensive Hotels that have tv, fridge, ac. 3 that I have stayed in are El Marques, Aguilar, and Pepita. Em and A are 40-45 per and P is 30. They are basic but clean and as safe as any hotel can be.
Bahia and Mexicana are 100-150 range and more upscale.
I dive with www.bottomtimedivers.net favorite, then Blue xt Sea, or Liquid Blue. All have the small fast boats, nice long bottomtimes, and they are your friends not just a dive operator. All great people.

Lou

 

[scubawife]

I've done most of my Cozumel diving with Living Underwater. As 1gromit noted, you will get long bottom times. You will be limited by your computer and air consumption. I find the low pressure steel 95s to be more comfortable then an AL80. (LU usually gives the guys the 120s and the women dive with 95s)

Jeremy will take a max of 6-8 divers (it's usually kept to max of 6). Dives are decided each day by the divers. SI's at a beach club. Water, soda, fruit, snacks, towels and jackets are all provided. He takes care of rinsing and storing all your gear, including wetsuits. I like to try for one or two night dives if I'm there for a week, but with the long dives we get I'm good with a 2-tank trip each day. We usually get picked up around 8am and are back by 1:30 or 2pm. Just depends on the dive sites that day and how long we stay down. LU is not the cheapest shop at $85/ 2-tank trip, but I always feel like it's a good value for what I get.

Picking a dive op in Cozumel is really a matter of deciding what you want and what you are comfortable paying. If you want a premium op with the extras, you'll pay for it. There are a few very good premium ops who are charging in the $75 range, so, for an extra $10 I get a tank that I find more comfortable and a couple little extras in service.

 

[scuba_guy62]

I stayed at the Cozumel Coral Reef Inn at the beginning of Dec. for a week and dove with Dive Paradise with pickup at the Barracuda pier. The hotel is brand new..has a full kitchen up on the roof you can use...comfortable...and I mean comfortable ..beds..and the longest walk I had to anything was about 20 mins. 10 mins to the pier for diving and 5 mins. to the big market. www.cozumelcoralreefinn.com is the website and they have an 800 number you can call and talk to the onsite owners. I am thinking of going back real soon so I hesitate to give it up...lol. You can use the pool and fake beach at the Barracuda and dive with whomever you want that picks up there. Have a great trip.

 

[betsyinczm]

Lou-----just fyi......I was making reservations at the Pepita for divers two days ago.....you are right that they were $30 for AGES and then last year they went to $35.........and NOW, tadaaa, they are $39 which includes tax and is posted on the wall behind the front desk.........still a great deal at a great clean place, but just thought you might like to know the latest.

Betsy

 

[MMM]

We didn't go out today and just as well as it's raining buckets. So I had some time to do some math, just for fun. The first week here I dived with Blue Angel. Last 2 weeks with Living Underwater. I calculated my total bottom time with each dive op and then figured out a cost per minute. Living Underwater worked out (for me) to be about an extra 4 cents per minute compared with Blue Angel. Depending on whether using the steel 120s or the 95s with Living Underwater (I have been using the 120s on my first dive, which is usually a deco dive) and then the 95 (with nitrox) for my second dive and have been coming up with between 500 and 900 lbs per dive (depending on big or small tanks). I think my average bottom time is about 75 minutes per dive (I'm in an internet cafe, so don't have my calculations with me). With Blue Angel, I was using the aluminum 80s, nitrox on 2nd tank. Average dive time was about 58 minutes per dive and I came up with between 400 and 1100 lbs per dive. So it turns out (at least for me) that cost per minute between each of the ops is negligible. So once cost is removed as a factor, then you need to think about what other amenities are important. Long surface intervals? On a beach? Jackets and towels on the boat? Snacks on the boat? Slow, leisurly dives (good for relaxing and taking photos)? Number of divers per boat and boat speeds are comparable. Both will pretty much take you where you want to go, provided you are on an advanced boat with Blue Angel. Hope that helps.

 

[ggunn]

We didn't go out today and just as well as it's raining buckets. So I had some time to do some math, just for fun. The first week here I dived with Blue Angel. Last 2 weeks with Living Underwater. I calculated my total bottom time with each dive op and then figured out a cost per minute. Living Underwater worked out (for me) to be about an extra 4 cents per minute compared with Blue Angel.

Marg, you have entirely too much time on your hands. ;^)

 

[Furypickles]

K, if you want the best price with nitrox included I dove with Dressel Divers and chose the whale package which is 18 dives for the week.. some days we dove four times others we dove three. you pick the schedule you want to dive. Also one day the Harbour master closed the harbour (something about a storm, never got it) anyway dressel divers with either credit you for the dive or reimburse you. I Had a great time with them and the staff are all friendly and very informative. BTW the nitrox was free!!! Just someone else to think about. Had a great time on the night dives too!!! and all our dives were 60 minutes plus, even the afternoon ones were never under 50 minutes.

 

[DandyDon]

Sounds like she's amusing herself on rain day, and sharing with us.

Nice info on Dressel, Fury - interesting. I think I've noticed their boats - big ones, usually full of snorkelers? Here's their site - see you have to email for their price list. Maybe you should write up a trip report if you've been there recently...??

 

[Landlocked Missourian]

We didn't go out today and just as well as it's raining buckets. So I had some time to do some math, just for fun. The first week here I dived with Blue Angel. Last 2 weeks with Living Underwater. I calculated my total bottom time with each dive op and then figured out a cost per minute. Living Underwater worked out (for me) to be about an extra 4 cents per minute compared with Blue Angel. Depending on whether using the steel 120s or the 95s with Living Underwater (I have been using the 120s on my first dive, which is usually a deco dive) and then the 95 (with nitrox) for my second dive and have been coming up with between 500 and 900 lbs per dive (depending on big or small tanks). I think my average bottom time is about 75 minutes per dive (I'm in an internet cafe, so don't have my calculations with me). With Blue Angel, I was using the aluminum 80s, nitrox on 2nd tank. Average dive time was about 58 minutes per dive and I came up with between 400 and 1100 lbs per dive. So it turns out (at least for me) that cost per minute between each of the ops is negligible. So once cost is removed as a factor, then you need to think about what other amenities are important. Long surface intervals? On a beach? Jackets and towels on the boat? Snacks on the boat? Slow, leisurly dives (good for relaxing and taking photos)? Number of divers per boat and boat speeds are comparable. Both will pretty much take you where you want to go, provided you are on an advanced boat with Blue Angel. Hope that helps.

Marg,
You are awesome!! Thanks for the number crunching. Am I interpreting your last sentence correctly- that Blue Angel's boats are more advanced and can take divers to more sites than Living Underwater can? Also, was it your choice to end your dives at 58 minutes and come up with so much air left. I ask because I just can't ever see me making that choice. Jackets and towels could be very much appreciated in rainy or cooler weather since I usually only wear a skin when I dive.

Keep those thoughts comin' SB'ers - ya'll are fantastic!