What's the scoop on Papa Hog's?

[ggunn]

Gordon I think you are already on island time.....only a few more weeks until you are there

Actually, what it is is that I am in the grip of P.V.S. (Pre Vacation Syndrome), which as we all know can be pretty stressful. ;^)

Saturday at a little after noon was Turnaround for me, the point in time when the time until I get to Cozumel is equal to the time I will be there.

 

[FrenziedFerret]

Sounds like Blue Angel might be the way to go. When I say access to shore dives, I mean we like to take a dip the day before to make sure our gear works, get acclimated, fine tune our weights, etc. It's very nice to be able to take our time to mess with that stuff. (I hate last minute problems.)

I've seen the Blue Angel shop quite a few times. Looks a lot nicer than the Papa Hog's outfit (kinda sketchy).

There seems to be a lot of good things said about BlueXT, except no shore dives.

We're staying at the Iberostar. Will Blue Angel take care of our gear for us, or do we need to carry it all on/off the boat each time?

Thank you VERY MUCH for all your input!

 

[driftin' by]

Here is what I know: We used them pre Wilma with good results. For personal reasons, we now exclusively use Blue Angel.

 

[Scott Riemer]

We like Deep Blue for an operator that meets your requirements apart from the "access to shore dives." I'm not entirely sure what you meant by that one.

We dive with Deep Blue also. But, I also wouldn't hesitate to dive with BlueXTSea.

 

[scubawife]

Sounds like Blue Angel might be the way to go. When I say access to shore dives, I mean we like to take a dip the day before to make sure our gear works, get acclimated, fine tune our weights, etc. It's very nice to be able to take our time to mess with that stuff. (I hate last minute problems.)

I've seen the Blue Angel shop quite a few times. Looks a lot nicer than the Papa Hog's outfit (kinda sketchy).

There seems to be a lot of good things said about BlueXT, except no shore dives.

We're staying at the Iberostar. Will Blue Angel take care of our gear for us, or do we need to carry it all on/off the boat each time?

Thank you VERY MUCH for all your input!

Are you staying at a hotel with an on-site dive operator? You could also just rent a tank for a shore dive the first day and still book and dive with whomever you want. I have never used an on-site hotel shop, but I can't imagine that they all require you to be booked with them for boat dives just to rent you a tank.

You could even just go to Papa Hogs and rent a tank for a shore dive since you're already familiar with the dive there. Doesn't mean you have to use them for anything else.

 

[DandyDon]

Blue Angel and BlueXTSea are but two of the small, fast boat Operators on the island who are popular here; there are many others who are also good, in fact - it's challenging to say that any of the small, fast boat Ops are not enjoyable. Some even like the large, slow cattle boats; I said I never get on another Del Mar boat again 4 yrs ago, but ended up on one with a group last year - and now I am saying that again, but some like them.

I might suggest that Blue Angel and BlueXTSea are kinda on opposite ends of the good range, as Blue Angel is more of a lowest cost, no frills, but fun Op, compared to BlueXTSea which is more of a highest cost, valet service with many fans who are happy with getting good value for their money.

 

[driftin' by]

FWIW... I forgot to vouch for Blue Angle in my previous post. Simply put: They're awesome!

When I say access to shore dives, I mean we like to take a dip the day before to make sure our gear works, get acclimated, fine tune our weights, etc. It's very nice to be able to take our time to mess with that stuff. (I hate last minute problems.)

If it's been awhile since your last trip, you might want to do a "dip" at home if your chief concern is your gear working. If you do have issues at home, you can have them addressed. Many times abroad, your only solution is to use rental gear in the event of equipment problems.

Since your staying at Ib*, the logistics of getting up north just to do a check out dive at BA, Hogs, BlueXTSea, etc, outweighs the benefits, IMHO. If you just wanting to get wet and check your weights, etc, why not do it in the drink at Ib*, even if you have to pay for a tank?

We're staying at the Iberostar. Will Blue Angel take care of our gear for us, or do we need to carry it all on/off the boat each time?

Blue Angel will not take care of your gear. I know that some ops do but the names escape me at the moment.

 

[Chris Park]

Just dove with papa hogs for a week in March and I couldnt recommend them enough. We had a group of six and took out fast small boats everytime. One time we took a bit of a larger boat that picked up a group of 3 from iberostar. Our divemasters and boat crew were all great! They all seemed very knowledgable of the ecosystem and the history of the island and surrounding area. The owners are great too! The owners nephew Greg has moved to the island and is in the office everyday. He was always willing to help out getting our whole group on a boat by ourselves. Not sure about shore diving as we were staying next door and the only shore diving we did was through dive paradise since their op is open until about 830 so night dives were possible. I hope the accusations some people on this board are making arent true because when I return in November I will definitely be diving with papa hogs again! PS the breakfast grub at their cafe is awesome for the very little money!!!!!!

 

[driftin' by]

It appears that a lot of the old Papa Hogs crew now have their own shop....
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/trips-local-marketplace-cozumel/230238-old-papa-hogs-crew.html#post3508794

 

[dartref]

PS the breakfast grub at their cafe is awesome for the very little money!!!!!!

That is absolutely the truth!!! Hard to beat breakfast and lunch on the Papa Hogs porch everyday! It honestly does away with the all-inclusive deals at the hotels. No need when you can eat better and cheaper at Papa Hogs.