Cozumel Dive Operator?

Hello,

Can anyone give me advice on who to dive through in Cozumel???? I am guessing there are a ton of dive operations there but I haven't been able to find much about recommended companies. Any advice would be a great help!

"When I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself"

G Thorogood

We just returned from a Summit cruise that took us through Cozumel. I had booked a boat dive through Eagle Ray Divers. They were simply the best. They were very easy to deal with both via Email and in person. I booked the boat for my wife and I along with another couple. the other guy and I are divers and the women are snorkels. I had emailed chellie (pronounced Shelly) at eagle ray to find out how they would work that arrangement. No problem, they would have a dive master for the two divers and another for the snorkels. She sent conformation of my dates as well as thorough instruction on payment and directions to the marina, which was only five minutes from the pier.

When we arrived at the boat chellie and the crew, two DMs and a skipper met us. She asked how much time we wanted to spend on the two dives. She wanted to know if we wanted to be back in time for any shopping. We were not interested in shopping since we’d been to Coz many times.

They brought us to a section of the reef about 45 minutes out. The girls jumped off at the top of the reef and my buddy, me, and Arturo; our DM went in on the wall. That section drops off to the abyss so we agreed on a profile that would max out at 85' and ascend in predetermined increments.

It was totally beautiful set of dives; the highlights being the many enormous swim-thoroughs and caverns in the side of the reef. Huge cavernous holes with breaches in the ceilings that allowed lots of filtered light to pour through. Inside the holes there was no current but outside along the wall we never had to fin unless it was to stop. Arturo was perfect in that he was very knowledgeable of the reef and fish, yet he let me and my buddy have our complete freedom. I like that part. The girls had a similar good experience with there DM as well.

I’d use Eagle Ray again in a minute. You can find them at there web site or just email Chellie at chellie@eagleraydivers.com .

Good luck and have a ball…Al

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Al,

This is great news. I booked Eagle Ray Divers just the other day for our Galaxy cruise this coming October. Chellie is very easy to work with and I'm really looking forward to diving with them. Thanks for the information.

Roy

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The best dive operator I have made any dive with has been

BLUE ANGEL DIVE SHOP

www.blueangel-scuba.com/

alexcozumel@prodigy.net.mx

Cozumel Mexico

Phone # to Shop from US

011 52 987 872 1631

Oceanfront at Caribe Blu Hotel

(formerly Lorena Hotel)

Cozumel, Mexico

They have clean boats, qualified personnel, and cater to you , not you to them. They picked us up at the cruise ship pier (RCI) and dropped us back off at the pier. My wife and two children were the only persons onboard a six pack. Three Divers and one snorkeler. We had the DM (1:3) and a snorkel guide (1:1) and the boats Captain. Fees were reasonable and just a little more than the cruise line for divers alone. We had our own boat, drinks, fruit, water, and a covered six-pack boat. They even brought extra tanks in case we wanted to make a third dive.

Can't speak highly enough about them. Recommend them without qualifications.

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Anyone ever use Blue XT Sea? I have heard good thingsd about them too. Do they pick you up at the boat? That is an excellent icing on the cake if a dive op does this.

"When I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself"

G Thorogood

I went with Blue XT-Sea in March. Nice operation. Fast boat with shade, 6 divers max, dry towels, parkas if you get cold, long surface interval at one of the southern beach clubs. I'd go with them again. If you contact Christi, she'll give you the complete rundown, but the short answer is you will probably need to taxi to Caletta, the small harbor when almost all the dive boat dock. It is the same place you would go to meet up with Eagleraydivers. They will drop you off at the ship after diving, if that is your desire.

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So when is the next cruise?

Jeff,

Some questions to best answer your question. How experienced are you and what are your expectations for your dives?? Do you have all your own equipment including computers?? Are you a group of by yourself?? What are the hours you will be in port?? When was the last time you dove?? Will this be the first port on the trip or diving or will you have been diving the previous days?? Do you prefer big boats with amenities and crowds or small boats with personalized service.(Coz most days is very calm water, big boats are not a necessity)

There are a number of good ops in Coz, some cater to different levels of divers, thus the questions.

Rich

We have dived Cozumel twice from a cruise ship and have used Eagle Ray both times. Candidly, I would not use anyone else, ever.

They were terrific on all 6 dives that we took with them.

The area is phenominal, and if you only dive one port on your cruise, you HAVE to dive Cozumel (unless you are near Roatan...and then dive them BOTH). LOL

Even though we were repeat customers, Eagle Ray asked us about what we wanted to do for profiles, made recommendations based upon how they though to maximize our experience and offered several options for dives. They asked us (both times) a great deal about our level of experience and comfort with different aspects.

THe first time, we were newbies, pretty much. They took things nice and slow and our DM--Bernardo--was terrific at giving us tips on buoyancy control and controlled breathing. We went over the dive prep in great detail and he made sure were 100% comfortable before hitting the water. We ended up dumping about 6 pounds of weight each from our BC by the 3rd dive! We definately benefited greatly from this experience from a long term perspective.

The second time we went with them (just a month ago) we had a terrific time and decided to do a night dive. It was really interesting. Tons of different life in the current environment.

They are extremely safety and ecologically conscious, by the way. No worries on that regard, whatsoever, as far as I was concerned.

We are planning on going on a dive trip after our honeymoon...and we are going to Cozumel and we will be diving with Eagle Ray. I think we are going to try to get some classes in as well. They are just that darn good!

09/04/04

SDDIVER,

Here are a few answers to your questions. My wife and I will be diving. We were both certified in Jun 2003, and we have logged about 20 dives so far here in Ohio and some in Kauai, Hawaii. The last time we will dive before going on the cruise in January will be in late August in Ohio. So, we are pretty new to the sport but we are comfortable in the ocean having been down to 100 ft while in Hawaii.

I have no expectations for the dive, I just want to see what Cozumel has to offer divers since I might want to come back here for a full week. I love to see fish, turtles, and all other ocean life. My wife and I have all our own equipment except for BCDs (we have our own regs). We will be in port from 11 AM until 8 PM. This will be our first port on or cruise, so it will be our first dive in about 6 months. And finally, we prefer smaller groups with personalized service. We wife is a bit nervous at first on the dives until she is 5 ft under. Thanks for the help SDDiver! Let me know what you think.

"When I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself"

G Thorogood

Jeff,

Congratulations on your certification and first year diving. One thing I can guarantee you is that you will want to go back to Coz for a land based trip. Your port times will limit your options a bit. Most diving in Coz is morning two tanks that leave 9am ish. Some but not all shops also do afternoon two tanks leaving 1-2PM. If through these boards you find other divers on your ship to put 4-6 together some shops will let you set your own start time to better adapt to your schedule.

Some options I woud check out.

All have websites, just do a search

Deep Blue- email Matt and Debbie- They have a two tank afternoon daily- I've been out with them. Great people and op.

Blue XT Sea- haven't dove with them yet, but plan to at some point- Don't know if they go out in the afternoon.

Papa Hogs- I believe they also run afternoon boats.

Dive with Martin- Shop is very near Southern Cruise ship docks. Also may run afternoon boats.

I would contact several via email and see who can accomidate you. Don't wait to long to set up your diving. January is the busy season and a lot of ops are already booking up,especially around the Holidays.

One other thing to be aware of is Ships time vs local time. It's never been the case on ships I've been on, but I understand Carnival and maybe others keep the ships time the same as the port they start the cruise from. This could cause confusion in setting up your dive times.

One tip on diving Coz is work on your bouancy during your dives in August. Because of the drift nature of the dives you will enjoy yourselves a lot more if your bouancy skills are honed a bit.

Enjoy

Rich

Jeff-

Another vote for Eagle Ray Divers - especially since you are a bit new. They have wonderfully personalized service.

We went snorkeling (DH had an injured ankle) with Chellie on X-mas day last year, and they took wonderful care of us, and their divers on the other boat.

Good diving!

Wendy

Another vote for Eagle Rays!!! We did a discovery scuba dive with them about 2 years ago and when we leave on our cruise in Aug one of our ports of call is Cozumel (it was a must between my DH, son, and myself) and we will be diving with them again. I can not say enough great things about them. My testimonal is on their website. Their web address is eagleraydivers.com

Hope you have a great dive!!!

Bettina

 8/1 Rhapsody

Celebration 7/02

Thanks for all the replies! I have been in contact with Eagle Ray and they have been great so I am booking with them. Can't wait!

"When I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself"

G Thorogood

Congrats on your decision to dive Cozumel, my favorite dive island in the world. I've never used Eagle Ray, but understand that they do have a good reputation. I prefer Papa Hogs Scuba Emporium, having used them exclusively for the past 7 years. Their operation is owned and operated by a young Canadian couple, and there is no language barrier at all. Their divemasters have all been very good as well. Just an alternative for you.

Just to add to something the previous poster mentioned...there will be no language difficulties at all with Eagle Ray. Chellie is from the US, and everyone we were exposed to on the crew (except the boat captain?) spoke perfect English.