Another question about dive operators in Cozumel!

contrms@mtco.com wrote:
> Based on reading prior postings, a good dive operation in Cozumel is
> based on what you expect from a dive operations. So here is the
> question with the conditions to follow.
>
> Please recommend a good diver operation for an experienced 45 year old
> solo diver with over 350 dives in 13 years with the following
> conditions
>
> Early departure 7am sounds good!

Aldora is usually the first boats out -- used to be 7 am, but more
like 7:30 the last time I looked. Deep Blue is usually the next,
before 8 am.
>
> I get up early and go to bed early. I do not change the pattern on
> vacation. It is dark after 7 pm in the tropics, so you might as well
> go to bed.... There is nothing to look at! I like to get up early
> enjoy the morning sun.

What do you do the REST of the day? I am usually up by 6 am.
There is NOTHING to do in Coz for me, since I exhausted all the things
to see/do around 1992.

> Also, the seas tend to be calmer in the morning.

Sez who?
>
> Minimum of three dives per day.

Every shop there can do that.
>
> More would be better! I go on dive vacations to dive. My wife does
> not dive and does not come with me on dive vacations. I do not need to
> sit on a beach and drink or read a book. (I can do both of those
> things at home!). This is my only dive trip this year since all my
> other trips will be with my wife who does not dive.

How many dives CAN you do in a day? 10?
>
> Someplace safe for my Camera.
>
> I have dove in little tiny boats without any room and I have broken
> cameras. I would prefer boats that have a nice safe spot set aside for
> cameras.
>
> Focus on more experience divers
>
> I am a dive master and I enjoy helping new divers. However when I dive
> for recreation, I wish to enjoy the dive with divers of the same skill
> level.

You have just contradicted yourself. You said you were a solo diver.

> After looking through past post dive Cozumel yellowrose seems the best
> fit but living underwater and blue XT Sea also look good. Papa Hog's
> looks like another possiblity.
>
> Suggestions?

Given your picky preferences and conditions, your best bet is to hire
one of the one-man-band operators to custom fit as many dives as you
wish, at any time of the day, and anywhere, north, south, east, or
west.

Lots of names come to mind. But Charro, Pasqual, and Paul Padilla
will make you look and feel like a newbie in every respect; but
they can cater to anything anybody wants. Carl Heinzl used to
brag about doing a 10-tank dive with Charro at 2 am.

-- Bob.

<contrms@mtco.com> wrote in message
news:1123030815.403983.74240@g47g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> Based on reading prior postings, a good dive operation in Cozumel is
> based on what you expect from a dive operations. So here is the
> question with the conditions to follow.
>
> Please recommend a good diver operation for an experienced 45 year old
> solo diver with over 350 dives in 13 years with the following
> conditions
>
> Early departure 7am sounds good!
>
> I get up early and go to bed early. I do not change the pattern on
> vacation. It is dark after 7 pm in the tropics, so you might as well
> go to bed.... There is nothing to look at! I like to get up early
> enjoy the morning sun. Also, the seas tend to be calmer in the
> morning.
>
> Minimum of three dives per day.
>
> More would be better! I go on dive vacations to dive. My wife does
> not dive and does not come with me on dive vacations. I do not need to
> sit on a beach and drink or read a book. (I can do both of those
> things at home!). This is my only dive trip this year since all my
> other trips will be with my wife who does not dive.
>
>
> Someplace safe for my Camera.
>
> I have dove in little tiny boats without any room and I have broken
> cameras. I would prefer boats that have a nice safe spot set aside for
> cameras.
>
> Focus on more experience divers
>
> I am a dive master and I enjoy helping new divers. However when I dive
> for recreation, I wish to enjoy the dive with divers of the same skill
> level.
>
> After looking through past post dive Cozumel yellowrose seems the best
> fit but living underwater and blue XT Sea also look good. Papa Hog's
> looks like another possiblity.
>
> Suggestions?
>
There are over 150 dive operators in Coz and so it's very competitive. It's
hard to pick one but if they've been in business for at least 5 years, they
should be OK. "Natural selection" tends to take care of those operators that
are sub-par.

"punktilious" <punktilious@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:xB5Ie.9785$Mk5.4301@news.cpqcorp.net...

> There are over 150 dive operators in Coz and so it's very competitive.

The whole of the Bahamas, the entire island chain, the whole archipelago
doesn't have a total number of operators at 150. In the entire world there
are less than 4,500 scuba operators. That means Cozumel has 3% of the
world's scuba operations on it's shores. That's an astounding number for an
island with such a relatively small bed-base.

I'm not questioning your truthfulness, but only indicating my surprise at
such a number.

Ross Garrett wrote:
> "punktilious" <punktilious@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:xB5Ie.9785$Mk5.4301@news.cpqcorp.net...
>
> > There are over 150 dive operators in Coz and so it's very competitive.
>
> The whole of the Bahamas, the entire island chain, the whole archipelago
> doesn't have a total number of operators at 150. In the entire world there
> are less than 4,500 scuba operators. That means Cozumel has 3% of the
> world's scuba operations on it's shores. That's an astounding number for an
> island with such a relatively small bed-base.
>
> I'm not questioning your truthfulness, but only indicating my surprise at
> such a number.

Actually, the oft quoted number is 200.

The highly or moderately visible ones are only about 50. But there
are a heck of a lot of small (hole in the wall) operators in Coz,
not to mention the one-man operations that are known only by word
of mouth.

All it takes in Coz to be a dive operator is to have a few pesos
to rent a boat, and a few more to rent tanks and weight.

That was what Rolle (Rolando) used to do. He is the biggest
tech-diving shop in Coz now. I've been on a Punta Sur dive with
him for which he dragged three unknown divers from the bar to
add head-count for renting a boat (which broke down en route
to Punta Sur), rented weights the last minute at the caleta,
and he was toting an AL80 and a pony (for those he picked up
at the bar the night before), and sure enough, they ran out
of air and needed his AL80 extra tank to make it back to the
surface.

I had that dive in some trip report. But that's the way
things are in Coz.

Rolle is a great diver, BTW. I've had several excellent dives
with him in Devil's Ear, Nose, and Throat (as he called it).

On any given day (or week), it would be VERY difficult for anyone
to come up with a census list of 200 dive "shops" in Coz, but
on the extended definition of what constitutes an "operator",
I don't doubt the 200 number one bit.

-- Bob.

Thus spake "Reef Fish" <Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com> :

>
>Ross Garrett wrote:
>> "punktilious" <punktilious@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:xB5Ie.9785$Mk5.4301@news.cpqcorp.net...
>>
>> > There are over 150 dive operators in Coz and so it's very competitive.
>>
>> The whole of the Bahamas, the entire island chain, the whole archipelago
>> doesn't have a total number of operators at 150. In the entire world there
>> are less than 4,500 scuba operators. That means Cozumel has 3% of the
>> world's scuba operations on it's shores. That's an astounding number for an
>> island with such a relatively small bed-base.
>>
>> I'm not questioning your truthfulness, but only indicating my surprise at
>> such a number.
>
>Actually, the oft quoted number is 200.
>
>The highly or moderately visible ones are only about 50. But there
>are a heck of a lot of small (hole in the wall) operators in Coz,
>not to mention the one-man operations that are known only by word
>of mouth.
>
>All it takes in Coz to be a dive operator is to have a few pesos
>to rent a boat, and a few more to rent tanks and weight.
>
>That was what Rolle (Rolando) used to do. He is the biggest
>tech-diving shop in Coz now. I've been on a Punta Sur dive with
>him for which he dragged three unknown divers from the bar to
>add head-count for renting a boat (which broke down en route
>to Punta Sur), rented weights the last minute at the caleta,
>and he was toting an AL80 and a pony (for those he picked up
>at the bar the night before), and sure enough, they ran out
>of air and needed his AL80 extra tank to make it back to the
>surface.
>
>I had that dive in some trip report. But that's the way
>things are in Coz.
>
>Rolle is a great diver, BTW. I've had several excellent dives
>with him in Devil's Ear, Nose, and Throat (as he called it).
>
>On any given day (or week), it would be VERY difficult for anyone
>to come up with a census list of 200 dive "shops" in Coz, but
>on the extended definition of what constitutes an "operator",
>I don't doubt the 200 number one bit.

I'd say closer to 100 on any one day, but easily 200 over the course
of a week. Some, as you say, probably rent the boat and tanks after
you give them the money. Some operators have GPS and chart books,
others stand up in the boat (dangerous in some of them) and say
"there's a landmark and there's the other one, we're here". And you
don't know exactly where here is.

>
>-- Bob.

--
dillon

Linux, it's not just an OS, it's a way
of life.

And a damn fine one, at that.

contrms@mtco.com wrote:
> Based on reading prior postings, a good dive operation in Cozumel is
> based on what you expect from a dive operations. So here is the
> question with the conditions to follow.
>
> Please recommend a good diver operation for an experienced 45 year old
> solo diver with over 350 dives in 13 years with the following
> conditions
>
> Early departure 7am sounds good!
>
> I get up early and go to bed early. I do not change the pattern on
> vacation. It is dark after 7 pm in the tropics, so you might as well
> go to bed.... There is nothing to look at! I like to get up early
> enjoy the morning sun. Also, the seas tend to be calmer in the
> morning.
>
> Minimum of three dives per day.
>
> More would be better! I go on dive vacations to dive. My wife does
> not dive and does not come with me on dive vacations. I do not need to
> sit on a beach and drink or read a book. (I can do both of those
> things at home!). This is my only dive trip this year since all my
> other trips will be with my wife who does not dive.
>
>
> Someplace safe for my Camera.
>
> I have dove in little tiny boats without any room and I have broken
> cameras. I would prefer boats that have a nice safe spot set aside for
> cameras.
>
> Focus on more experience divers
>
> I am a dive master and I enjoy helping new divers. However when I dive
> for recreation, I wish to enjoy the dive with divers of the same skill
> level.
>
> After looking through past post dive Cozumel yellowrose seems the best
> fit but living underwater and blue XT Sea also look good. Papa Hog's
> looks like another possiblity.
>
> Suggestions?
>

BlueXTSea...unbeatable service
Dive with Martin...best price, good service
Papa Hogs...in between the above two

They may have equals but it would be hard to find anyone any better.
Not sure about your 7:00 AM start time though.

Reef Fish wrote:

> What do you do the REST of the day?

Get ready to dive the next day.... what else?

> > Also, the seas tend to be calmer in the morning.
>
> Sez who?

I know that I should not have added that! But since I did

As the day warm up, the land mass will heat up while the sea does not.
This will cause the air over the island to rise and a breeze to occur
from the cooler ocean air replacing the raising warm island air.

> >
> > Minimum of three dives per day.
>
> Every shop there can do that.

Yes, every shop can but do they?

Blue XT sea will only do an afternoon dive if you can insure that four
divers are diving. Since I am a experienced 45 year old diver who is
traveling solo, (note that the adjective solo modifying diver has been
moved to become a adverb modifying the verb traveling) I can not
guarantee that four divers will dive the afternoon dive. Therefore I
would be at an extreme risk of missing afternoon dives if I choose this
otherwise fine shop.

> How many dives CAN you do in a day? 10?

Based on my age and conditioning I would think four most days with a
fifth night dive on one or two days.

>
> You have just contradicted yourself. You said you were a solo diver.

I realize that I used an adjective where I meant it to be an adverb .
I wrote
Please recommend a good diver operation for an experienced 45 year old
solo diver with over 350 dives in 13 years with the following
conditions
I should have written
Please recommend a good diver operation for an experienced 45 year old
diver with over 350 dives in 13 years who is traveling solo with the
following conditions .

Does this change some of your recommendations?


Ø Given your picky preferences and conditions,

I did not mean them to be picky. I meant to provide enough information
so as to help people provide recommendations. Would it have been
better to just have written
"What the best dive shop on Cozumel?" and left it at that?

Any way it was a famous philosopher who wrote (and I quote here)

"You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you just might find
You get what you need"

I realize that I will not get the prefect shop but....

Also I forgot the most important condition..... I'm cheap!

I am leaning towards Pap hog's.

>BlueXTSea...unbeatable service

I really like the sounds of BlueXTsea but they can not guarantee an
afternoon dive.

>Dive with Martin...best price, good service

Dive with Martin has had some mixed reviews

>Papa Hogs...in between the above two

I am leaning towards Papa Hog's

A condition that I forgot is.... I'm Cheap!

Mike C.

> It's hard to pick one

That is why I am asking for help!

> Some operators have GPS and chart books,
> others stand up in the boat (dangerous in some of them) and say
> "there's a landmark and there's the other one, we're here". And you
> don't know exactly where here is.


Ok, Which ones have GPS and which ones stand up in the boat?