What to take and who to dive with in Cozumel?

[Debraw]

I always feel more secure with my own equipment, but it can be a hassle to lug it around. Some airlines consider Mexico to be domestic--meaning that second checked bag is charged. Go figure. The taxi drivers have a union in Cozumel, which explains why the dive ops can't pick you up and drive you to the marina. If you have to cab it to Caleta make sure you agree on the price before leaving--it will always vary. We love Ventura Nah (Buena Ventura Diving Cozumel) for a small, quick boat and personalized service. Have a great trip

Wow is he still around?? I arranged diving through him for my travel agency before I found Dive Paradise. He took two of my good customers out and we arranged an underwater marriage proposal. Venturah took great care of them. My agency started to get busier and it was to hard to book with him ( he was booked when I needed him) so I had to move to a larger dive op with more choices for various levels of divers.

 

[Foo]

Last time I stayed at El Cozumeleno, Scubadoo was their onsite dive op, and they did an outstanding job of taking care of our party of 5 on a 6-pack, and we also had "gear care." I think El Coz is almost the farthest north resort on the island (?), so they would probably pick you up.

 

[rwe]

I stayed and dove with Aqua Safari the last 2 springs. The rooms are not a resort but they are great to dive with and really convenient. You walk down the stairs, pick up you gear in the shop, walk across the street and get on the boat. They have 2 wash tanks, let you store your gear in the shop so you don't have take it back to hotel, and are within walking distance of all the downtown restaurants. They pick up people as the boat goes south but I don't know about on land.

I took all my own gear: Zeagle ranger BC, Sherwood Maximus regulator, Oceanic octopus, DiveRitecomputer, 2 masks, 3 mill wetsuit, poly skin, fins, snorkel, etc. with far too many extras. Put in rolling bag and came to ~ 42 lbs which I checked. Took my C-8080, PT-023, two strobes, and clothes in REI weekend sized backpack as carryon. My dive buddy only took mask, fins, snorkel and rented everything else. Both worked out fine. He did have regulator problem one day but they had extras on boat and provided him with a brand new regulator the next day.

I used 3/2 mil suit but it is not necessary from a temperature point of view.

 

[song]

Wow is he still around?? I arranged diving through him for my travel agency before I found Dive Paradise. He took two of my good customers out and we arranged an underwater marriage proposal. Venturah took great care of them. My agency started to get busier and it was to hard to book with him ( he was booked when I needed him) so I had to move to a larger dive op with more choices for various levels of divers.

Ventura is still around--or quality staff when he personally is not diving. He's got a small op so he may already be booked up, but can't beat his team for personalized service for a small group. (Or he'll rent a bigger boat for a group larger than 6.) Really loved our dive at Barracuda last summer!!!

 

[ripbearer]

Well. I just got back from my trip and here is the final result:

We chose Dive With Martin as our "tour group" and here is why
1) Low prices. Not always the best idea in Mexico but in this case AWESOME.

2) Paddi, the reservation coordinator. We were able to have all our questions answered via email quickly and fully.

3) Early dives. We left at 7:30 so we were on the reefs before ANYONE.

4) Great divemasters and captains. Great crew.

5) Dive Video included in our 3 day package. Need I say more

6) Dive equipment included in package. IF NEEDED. Their equipment is in very good shape and I recommend using their stuff if you don't want to carry.

We also chose to take our equipment instead of renting because:

1) No way to know quality or condition of equipment

2) Its life support equipment and I trust my equipment

3) We snorkeled ALOT as well. Didn't want to rent snorkel equipment too.

4) Proper fit for all of our stuff.


What we will do different next time:

1) Dive with Martin forever now! I've dove with others before. These guys are by far the best

2) Will carry only our regs and mask,fins, snorkel. The equipment at DWM is good enough to leave the heavier stuff at home.

 

[pidgiepoo]

I agree with everything Ripbearer said in the previous post. Dive with Martin is definitely the best. We've used them 2-3 times a year for the past 4 years and have NEVER had a problem.....until this trip. We used their equipment and I had trouble with my SPG. The first dive I popped up on the safety stop and wondered why, until on the second dive I started compairing my gauge with others and found it to be 15-20' off. The next day I got another one that had a small leak which never got fixed. The third day I got one that I couldn't read so they told me to just watch for the red area. After that I got some great equipment...so I figure Ripbearer must have gone home that day and we got his good stuff. LOL
The dives were great, we had a private boat( six people), great dive masters and extended bottom times. Columbia shallow dive was 1hour,5 minutes with loads of Marine life. I'd suggest everyone try to include that site in their dive plans.

 

[ripbearer]

Sorry to hear about the bad SPGs. I took my own stuff this time. So it wasn't me who was hording the good stuff.