Need help selecting beginner scuba course

[fam6]

I would like to book beginner scuba for our teenagers while in Cozumel and need help narrowing our search down. This will be their 2nd time in Cozumel doing beginner scuba. I would like to book this time not through the ship. I would like your input and your experiences positive and negative if you have dealt with any of there outfits. Have you ever had any dealings with the followingand how would you rate them? I don't want to make a mistake, this is their Xmas present.

1. Aqua Safari

2. Blue Angle

3. Blue Bubble

4. Dive Cozumel

5. Dive Paradise

6. Eagle Ray Dive

7. Shoretrips.com

[ScubaMare]

Shoretrips.com probably goes through one of the 6 shops you mentioned. They, themselves, are not a dive shop.

 

Those shops all have great reputations but you're comparing apples to oranges in some cases. Aqua Safari and Dive Paradise are two fairly large shops. They'll have fast boats and their groups could be potentially larger than some of the others you mentioned. But, they are fine shops just the same.

 

I don't know anything about Blue Angle or Blue Bubble or Dive Cozumel other than they have pretty good reputations and, in general, get good reviews.

 

We used Eagle Ray Divers for our Discover Scuba. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we spent the rest of our week on the island taking the PADI Open Water Certification course from them. This was 4 years ago. They are still the dive shop that we use. In fact, we were just in Cozumel for 11 days a couple of weeks ago and we each wound up doing 11 tanks with them -- five 2-tank days and a night dive. Our friends that were traveling with us did their referral dives with them, having done all of the coursework in the states, and they loved them. ERD tends to keep their groups fairly small, usually around 8 and never more than 12. When we were there a couple of weeks ago, we and our friends had the boat and instructor all to ourselves for a couple of days.

 

Hope that helps.

[62texan]

We just returned from Cozumel where we used Eagle Ray Divers (eagleraydivers.com) for snorkeling at 3 reefs. My husband and I have snorkeled alot, but our three kids never had. Our group was small, only the five of us plus two couples.

 

Luis, our guide was exceptional. He made sure everyone was safe at all times, and kept us together. He also pointed out many kinds of marine life and took lots of pictures for us. Our captain was also excellent at maneuvering the boat. Luis is a divemaster, and his passion is diving, so I am sure he would be just as excellent at teaching diving. In fact, we would like to learn the next time we get to Cozumel! I highly recommend Eagle Ray Divers.

 

We were especially glad we went with them after talking to another passenger on our ship who went on the ship's excursion. They had about 50 people in their group, and only got to snorkel for about 30 minutes! This was our first cruise (Carnival Elation out of Galveston), and other than the tragic incident of the lady falling or jumping off the ship, it was fun!

[bruce-r]

Shoretrips.com probably goes through one of the 6 shops you mentioned. They, themselves, are not a dive shop.

I think they use Aqua Safari

 

Of the shops you list, I have read positive reviews of:

 

2. Blue Angle

3. Blue Bubble

6. Eagle Ray Dive

 

To this list I would add http://www.bluextseadiving.com I've gone out with Christi's operation and she runs provides exceptional customer service. I'll use her again next time in Cozumel.

 

There are 2 you didn't list that I would consider, http://www.divewithmartin.com and http://www.scubawithalison.com I have only read very positive reports about Alison, and DWM also gets good reviews.

 

Since this is going to be their christmas present, I'm thinking you want the best possible diving. Shore diving in Cozumel is good compared to the diving available in other places, but it isn't nearly as good as the dives you can do from a boat. I would recommend that whoever you select, be sure that the kids will be doing dives from a boat, and 2 dives doesn't cost much more than one dive, so if you can manage it, I'd vote for 2 dives too.

[fam6]

hi bruce-r

Thank you for your reply. A question what is what do you mean by 2 dives? Is it one from shore and one from a boat? Or do you mean 2 tanks of air? Thanks for the other 3 places I'll email them. I've put all the info. I have so far onto a spread sheet and noticed there are differenced in terms of duration ( from 2 to 4 hours) and the price ( from $60.00 up to $89.00). Now does this mean like that old saying "you get what you paid for?". Now, how did you go about choosing a beginner scuba excursion, and when you finally made that decision did you have to put money up front 1st, like a deposit even before the cruise? Thank you for you time in helping me, I appreciate it.

[ScubaMare]

2 dives does mean two tanks. The first is either from shore or you'll jump off the boat in shallow water and review your skills. Prior to that, you'll have about 45 minutes of "classroom" time where you'll learn some basics. OK, then you'll head to the water, put on your gear and get in. Like I said, you'll go over th basics and then, before you know it, you'll be diving. The dive usually lasts about 45 minutes and is in about 30 to 35 feet of water.

 

Now, the second dive (if you did okay and choose to do another) will be done from the boat. You'll first have what's called a surface interval where you'll rest and allow the nitrogen to escape your body. Then you'll do another dive (again about 45 minuters) in about 35 feet or so of water -- different reef.

[bruce-r]

hi bruce-r

Thank you for your reply. A question what is what do you mean by 2 dives? Is it one from shore and one from a boat? Or do you mean 2 tanks of air?

2 tanks for a dive at 2 different sites. If you are on a boat with other divers, plan for at least an hour between when the first dive ends and the second one starts. Most of the good dive OP's go to one of the beach clubs for this surface interval.

 

Now, how did you go about choosing a beginner scuba excursion, and when you finally made that decision did you have to put money up front 1st, like a deposit even before the cruise?

Actually, I'm a certified diver and I did my discover scuba in a swimming pool more than 10 years ago. I've been diving for over 4 years. I picked my dive operators mostly based on recommendations from members on the http://www.scubadiving.com message board and http://www.scubaboard.com. Most operators will ask for a deposit of a percentage of the trip, about 20%. Christi uses Paypal for deposits. I think they all would prefer that you pay for the trip in cash at the end.

[fam6]

Hi ScubaMare

Hi bruce-r

What do you mean " rest and allow the nitrogen to escape your body". I have never scuba before, I don't know anything about scuba, so how dangerous is this.

This nitrogen, do the kids feel this, can it make them sick?

[bruce-r]

What do you mean " rest and allow the nitrogen to escape your body". I have never scuba before, I don't know anything about scuba, so how dangerous is this.

This nitrogen, do the kids feel this, can it make them sick?

No worries. The air we breath is actually about 78% nitrogen gas. Everyone has dissolved nitrogen in their tissues all the time and it is completely natural and harmless. What happens when you dive is that the pressure of the water forces a bit more nitrogen to dissolve out of the air you breath from your tank into body tissues. When divers go deep for extended periods of time they accumulate a lot more nitrogen in their tissues. If you don't have enough time on the surface between dives you don't off-gas enough nitrogen to have much bottom time on the second dive. That is why divers need a "surface interval" between the first and second dive.

 

The reason you don't feel the nitrogen in your body is that it is in balance with the air pressure around you. If you went up a very tall mountain, the air pressure would decrease and some of the nitrogen in your body would slowly become gas again and you would breath it out until you reached a balance again.

 

I hope this explanation is coherent enough to make sense and that it helps.

 

Scubamare, can you add anything to this?

[jetskier]

FAM6,

I would recommend www.scubawithalison.com We did a discover scuba with her in Nov 04 that was reasonably priced compared to other operations. It was one on one instruction with just me and my wife. 30 min on a flip chart, 30 min in chest deep water demonstrating everything you learned on the flip chart, and down to 20-25 feet off the beach at Caleta Marina. My wife was nervous and Alison ensured that she relaxed and enjoyed the experiance. It must of worked because when we got back to the States we had to go get certified. We will be going back to Cozumel in Sept and are looking forward to using Alison again.

Dave T.

Carnival Holiday 9/3/05

Norweigan Dream 10/31/04

USS Frederick LST-1184 12/14/81 (USMC)