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Recommendation for decent Discover SCUBA in Cozumel


scuba_ninja
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Greetings,

 

My wife, who has never shown much interest in diving has decided she wants to do a DSD in Cozumel. GREAT! I'm looking for recommendations for a good safe shop that will:

 

1) Show her a good time

2) Not give me a hard time about joining her even though I'm an instructor. I'm not looking for special treatment, but some places are funny about certified spouses joining the dive. Being an instructor sometimes only makes it worse. Some places don't let anyone take a camera on a DSD and I certainly understand why, but that would be possibly the only "special" request I'd have.

3) Will be able to get us back to our ship on time.

 

Yes, I know I can send her off on a DSD and I can do my own dive, but considering this would actually be our honeymoon, I'd rather dive with her, even if it means sitting through a DSD class.

 

No, she has no interest in getting certified before the cruise. She refuses to dive in cold water (we live in Chicago) and there really isn't an opportunity to do checkout dives anywhere else before the trip.

 

Thanks for your suggestions.

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The first thought I have is what other ports are you going to? Cozumel would not be my first choice for a discover dive, considering pretty much all the diving there is boat diving, and deeper than Discover Diving limits.

 

If Coz is your only viable option, you may try Papa Hog's (http://www.papahogs.com). They're small enough that they may be able to do exactly what you want.

 

Feel free to email me using the link below if you'd like specifics.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

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PapaHogs is a good option, as are lots of others. Blue Angel, Scuba Allison, Dive with Martin, lots of smaller dive ops there.

They will do it from a shore location, not a boat.

No idea about their rules regarding you going along. PapaHogs will probably do it, no problem but you should e-mail them to make sure. They have a nice shore dive location....I know as that is where me, DH, and our kid got certified with them 17yrs ago. One of the owners, Margaret, would be perfect for your wife if she is available. She is an instructor and Canadian, very friendly and good at it.

 

robin

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Thanks for the suggestion! I'll email Papa Hogs today. Based on what I'm hearing, they seem like a good fit.

 

Funny, we are stopping in a number of other places that would be GREAT dive spots, but the other ports have excursions she's super interested in. It's all about compromise. Hey, maybe she'll catch dive fever and our next trip will be a liveaboard

 

Cozumel might not be as great a dive spot as Roatan, but it's sure better than a quarry in Illinois!

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Cozumel might not be as great a dive spot as Roatan, but it's sure better than a quarry in Illinois!

 

I think Papa Hogs is the most likely to be able to customize the DSD for you. As Robin pointed out, its to your advantage to try to set things up so your dive is with Margaret.

 

It's certainly not that Cozumel isn't fantastic diving (it is), but the shore diving there is nothing real special But, as you point out, it beats a quarry all day every day.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

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Sand Dollar Divers I know offers discover scuba with a walk in area just for that type dive. They have a man made reef ball trail starting near the shore line. Its all really shallow. My niece and nephew aged 13 & 15 went with them last year and loved it. No boat very easy water entry.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Have never personally used Papa Hog's but have never heard bad things about them.

Most people gush about how good they are.

 

They're not my first choice for dive operator's in Cozumel, but for what the OP is asking ( a Discover Scuba, with special arrangements) I think they'd be the best.

 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

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DeputyDan and Omeiv, thanks for the info. Omeinv, do you have another recommendation? I have not booked anything yet. I did contact Papa Hogs, maybe it's too far out still, but they didn't sound very enthusiastic. It was more "hey, show up and we'll do something for ya" which is fine, I don't need special treatment, I just need to make it back to the ship before I become a pier runner (or swimmer).

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DeputyDan and Omeiv, thanks for the info. Omeinv, do you have another recommendation? I have not booked anything yet. I did contact Papa Hogs, maybe it's too far out still, but they didn't sound very enthusiastic. It was more "hey, show up and we'll do something for ya" which is fine, I don't need special treatment, I just need to make it back to the ship before I become a pier runner (or swimmer).

 

I use Aldora for diving in Cozumel. They are first class in every respect. However, I don't know that they would be good for the Discover Scuba you're looking for.

 

 

The thing with Papa Hogs is Margaret is always easy to deal with. The joke about Mike is "He's French-Canadian. If you catch him on a Canadian day, he's a dream to deal with. If you catch him on a French day...".

 

 

If you're calling, call, and ask for Margaret. That being said, they really are flexible. The shop I teach at uses them for divers on referrals, and they're always accommodating.

 

 

I have dove with Sand Dollar. I was not impressed. They have the Cruise Ship Excursion Concession, and thus tend to run large groups. A lot of people are happy with them, but I'm curious what their breadth of comparison is.

 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

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The thing with Papa Hogs is Margaret is always easy to deal with. The joke about Mike is "He's French-Canadian. If you catch him on a Canadian day, he's a dream to deal with. If you catch him on a French day...".

 

Ha! They sound like a hoot. Thanks again for the tips. I've got a few months until sail date, so I'll make some calls.

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