I was surprised to hear this about Aldora as well; perhaps there is more to the story?
What happened to Cozumel?
- Thread starter StreetDoctor
- Start date
Please register or login
AdivingBel
Diver
^^This^^ As well as protecting their experienced repeat customers. Honestly, I wouldn’t have considered anything that happened to him more than a minor inconvenience. I feel for him in that he got a bit of a perfect storm with it all happening at once, but none of it would have stopped me from diving that day, and I would have had it resolved by the next day.
I’m not sure how much diving he had planned for his trip, but I certainly wouldn’t have cancelled after two days over it. Also my first thought after two days of diving with a new to me dive op wouldn’t have been to come home and post “What happened to (insert destination here) ?” I probably would have thought “What could I have done differently so it doesn’t happen to me next dive trip?” That said, everyone has their own comfort level when diving. I’ve been dive traveling for a few decades so I try to stay positive and roll with it. All IMHO, YMMV.
It is on the dive op. Each diver typically pays the same. If you have enough regulars and need to protect them don’t except other clients. I ran into this once even after having to provide background info of 100’s dives on Cozumel and will never be back to that op. Either provide a quality dive experience or don’t except the business.
AdivingBel
Diver
You’re right. Some dive ops do this better than others based on how they conduct their dives. It can be done in a way that provides assistance to newer divers without impacting the quality of the dive experience for more experienced divers. It’s why I prefer “dive your tank” ops. Others are more comfortable with more structure. DSFDF
Also a dive op doesn’t know you as a diver until they’ve seen you in the water regardless of your cert or what you claim just as you don’t know a dive op until you’ve spent a day on the water with them regardless of what their website claims. Sometimes it takes a day or two with a new to you op to get things sorted out. Doesn’t mean you still can’t have fun.
All IMHO YMMV.
Do you mean to tell me that sometimes divers will exaggerate their skills and experience???You’re right. Some dive ops do this better than others based on how they conduct their dives. It can be done in a way that provides assistance to newer divers without impacting the quality of the dive experience for more experienced divers. It’s why I prefer “dive your tank” ops. Others are more comfortable with more structure. DSFDF
Also a dive op doesn’t know you as a diver until they’ve seen you in the water regardless of your cert or what you claim just as you don’t know a dive op until you’ve spent a day on the water with them regardless of what their website claims. Sometimes it takes a day or two with a new to you op to get things sorted out. Doesn’t mean you still can’t have fun.
No dive op wants a diver to be hurt or killed while in their care, or to be responsible for having to resolve a life threatening situation on the reef, and if that means that they will take divers on less challenging dives the first time they walk into their shop, irrespective of those divers' claims of vast experience and advanced skillsets or what it says in their logbooks or on their certification cards, then I completely understand and support it.
Over the years I have seen new divers on this forum stating that when they first get their OW cert that they will immediately proceed to obtain their AOW cert with little or no real world diving experience; such divers are in no sense "advanced" regardless of what is on their cert card. All of us who have many dives under their belt have been out with divers who by their claims should know what they are doing in the water but who obviously do not. Dive ops must not (or should not, anyway) take these divers into situations for which they are not prepared.
<end rant>
Aldora Divers is not run by a U.S. based owner. The Villa has U.S. ownership, but not the dive op.
While possible, this means Aldors has changed it's approach. Several years ago I contacted Aldora about diving one of their trips to a northern site. I was told they do not take divers north who they have never seen dive. The remedy was that I had to book a regular trip first and the DM would sign off on me being permitted to join a trip north. I bring this up, because @BRT was on a northern trip IIRC and I am surprised to hear it was his first time with them. Obviously policies can change, I am misunderstanding the situation, or the policy is still in tact and this was a rare occurrence.
Back when I was a new diver and the ink was still wet on my OW cert card, I was diving Cozumel with a very small but highly recommended dive op. The owner/DM asked me where I wanted to go one day, and I said, "How about Maracaibo?" not because I knew anything about the reef but because it was one I knew the name of. When he stopped laughing he just said, "No, señor, not yet."
jonhall
Contributor
Sorry, I have only read up to page 10 where things started getting entertaining, but had a few things to share:
*Edited to put the link in as opposed to the spreadsheet!!
Looks like most of those ops are (as of the end of January for most) $90 -120.
Just did a quick scan of my spreadsheet: Cozumel Dive Ops
*Edited to put the link in as opposed to the spreadsheet!!
Looks like most of those ops are (as of the end of January for most) $90 -120.
On my recent January trip, I used nitrox for the first time, although I've had the certification since 2017. It was free as I was staying at Villa Aldora. In 2021, I dove with 3 different ops while in Coz where some divers used nitrox. Never saw anyone analyze tanks - not saying it shouldn't be done, but not analyzing tanks on the boat seemed to be the norm for recreational dives.
Charred
Contributor
This situation is out of character from the Aldora I know. They bend over backwards for you. I'm diving with them in May. But I should add, I am a competent diver, show up with working gear, don't create drama. If I showed up with broken gear and not dove in over a decade, I would expect a slightly different experience. If you show up as a GUE diver and wanting special treatment, well, that's just not going to end like you think on any number of operations on Cozumel.
Lastly, I was told the DM checks the O2 level as they load the boat and setup your gear. Remember this is a boutique operation that takes care of your gear. I understand the desire to check the O2 levels yourself because that is your training, but as long as they are checked I am fine.
Lastly, I was told the DM checks the O2 level as they load the boat and setup your gear. Remember this is a boutique operation that takes care of your gear. I understand the desire to check the O2 levels yourself because that is your training, but as long as they are checked I am fine.
Similar threads
