What is the "typical" surface interval for two tank boat dives in Cozumel?

[gasgirl]

Prevailing opinion seems to be that surface intervals should always be over 60 minutes and if a dive op provides any time less then 60 minutes then you should take your business elsewhere.

I would like to know which dive ops in Cozumel actually have an official 60 minute surface interval policy.

I would prefer if responders can verify their actual SI times from their logbooks rather than relying on their memories.

I just did this exercise for my Grand Cayman two tank boat dives and I had only one out of approximately 80 of those surface intervals actually meet the 60 minute mark. This was diving with six different dive ops over 8 different trips to Grand Cayman.

The average SI was 40-50 minutes. The shortest was 30 minutes.

If I am going to tell my dive op that they are not meeting the industry standard, then I want to be sure that this really is the standard practice.

 

[Zman96]

I have made about 100 or so dives with Blue XTSEA and have never had a surface interval of less than 60 minutes (you are allowed to dive your computer). We have always taken long leisurely breaks at a beach club which is very nice. I have also dove with ops that take roughly 45 minute breaks, but they are doing timed dives and are diving accordingly.

 

[bbarada]

Scuba Club is more than 60 minutes.

 

[DjDiverDan]

I don't think you can say that there is a "typical" SI for Cozumel operators. When I first started diving, in 1990, I dove sevel times with Fantasia Divers, a low-cost operation. Computers were still expensive and rare, and Fantasia had everyone diving tables. A 45 minute SI was their standard. Several years later, I switched to Aldora, a "Valet" dive operator, where everyone dove computers. Aldora did a long SI at a beach club - typically 90 minutes to as long as 2 hours. When I dove with a group the last couple of years, we went with Dive with Martin, which also did a longer SI on the beach, but not at a club. SIs on those dives were from 1 hour to 75 minutes. Again, everyone dove with computers. In July, I joined the ScubaBoard Cozumel Invasion, and we all dove with Dive Paradise. Over 4 days of diving, shortest SI was 50 minutes, longest was 65 minutes. So a lot depends on which operator you choose.

 

[SEMO Scuba]

Do you take into consideration the depth and time of your previous dive and the planned depth and time for your next dive to determine a safe surface interval?

 

[OldNSalty]

SEMO Scuba is correct. There is no "typical" it is situation dependant (or should be).

 

[John Larsen]

Like semo said it all deopends on your depth and bottom times. If youe second dive is at a shallow site lets say paradise with a max depth of 20-25 feet then why would you need a 60 minute SI.

 

[macado]

Aqua Safari is always a minimum 1 hour surface interval. Aldora Divers usually much longer (~2 hours) since they break for lunch at a beach club. Blue XTsea stops at beach club for lunch so i'm assuming they're surface intervals are at least an hour.

I'd say for most dive ops, standard operating procedure is one hour. Of course as other people have mentioned there may be other factors. I don't know of any ops that force short surface intervals, especially if using computer/tables for dive planning and finding out that it would severely limit your bottom time on the next time.

 

[Fin59]

What's a logbook?

 

[Christi]

Like semo said it all deopends on your depth and bottom times. If youe second dive is at a shallow site lets say paradise with a max depth of 20-25 feet then why would you need a 60 minute SI.

Yes, it does - but why be in such a hurry? Longer is better without argument. Our SI's are NEVER less than an hour and typically more like 1:15 - 1:30 - sometimes even close to 2 hours depending on our divers. SI's are done at the beach and divers are welcome to stay on the boat, hang on the beach, or grab breakfast/lunch at the beach restaurant.
1. We don't rush them
2. Often first dives are in the 60 to 70 minute range
3. Longer SI gives more options for the 2nd dive - so that we are NOT limited to shallow dives at Paradise (unless that is what is requested or it is a student dive)
4. It's not always about the "YOU" - the client - it's just as much or more for our DM's. They dive 6 days a week, week after week - sometimes up to 4 dives a day. THEY need to off gas more than the vacationers. And even with the nitrox I give Pedro on every 2nd dive (and other DM's when diving more than 2 tanks a day) - the extra off gassing time is good.

I cringe when I see so many boats pushing their DM's to "get em in and get em out" with short SI's on the boat so that they can hurry back for a 12:00 afternoon dive. We don't even get back from the morning dives until 1 or 2 - because we are not in a hurry. It's supposed to be fun and relaxing, not a race!