where to stay and dive in Cozumel/Cancun (package pointers please!)
xx...@networking.stanford.edu
to do a referral course to a tropical dive destination. Cozumel/Cancun seems
like a pretty good compromise between price and accessibility (would be
flying out of San Francisco). I'd welcome recommendations on where to stay
and what dive shop(s) to use not only for the referral course but also for
diving in general. A pointer to where to find good package deals would be
great, too. Finally, if anyone has other suggestions on what tropical
destinations would be both interesting for diving and accessible from the
SF Bay Area, that would also be welcome (not Hawaii, though - my friend did
a resort course in Maui and wants to go somewhere different... and yes, you
know and I know the islands of Hawaii are all different but that doesn't
seem to be enough variation...)
I've suggested Cayman, since I've been there before, but it tends to be a
bit more pricey. Since I've never been to Cozumel, though, I don't know
that for certain nor do I know how travel times compare between the two.
Thanks in advance!
--Vince
Ron Lee
hotels. http://www.cozumel.travelnotes.cc/cgi-local/index.cgi
Get the Cozumel map from www.cancunmap.com
Most dive shops can do the referral and pick you up at a dock near
your hotel (if it has one).
Ron Lee
Dan Bracuk
:A friend of mine has done all of the pool work for a PADI OW cert and wants
:to do a referral course to a tropical dive destination. Cozumel/Cancun seems
:like a pretty good compromise between price and accessibility (would be
:flying out of San Francisco).
Two reasons you may want to reconsider are:
a. its drift diving
b. Mexican instructors with thick Spanish accents.
Neither is the end of the world really, but if was me, I'd go somewhere else.
Dan Bracuk
Toronto
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
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BrightDivr
>like a pretty good compromise
> recommendations on where to stay
>and what dive shop(s) to use
> A pointer to where to find good package deals would be
>great, too.
IF you want Cancun of Coz:
1) I would definitely choose Coz over Cancun - the diving is far superior.
2) For a resort/dive op/package, I would definitely recommend Scuba Club
Cozumel. We we there for the first time recently, and were extremely pleased
with everything.
The resort was clean and the service was excellent - NO problems with lazy or
dishonest staff.
The dive op was excellent, with good DM's and excellent boats. Convenient and
plentiful rinse tanks and lockers, nitros available.
The fool (the resort is all-inclusive) is outstanding. We had planned to go
into town for dinner a couple of nights, but the food at SCC was so good, we
ate every meal there at the resort.
It is very close to town, so it is easy to go to Carlos & Charlie's after
dinner (andd/or after lunch).
brightdivr
Sffd451
with much better service the last year. I have dove with them 4 times, no
complaints, and I have no connection with them...and their instructor currently
is American so no "thick mexican accents" should you be concerned with Mr.
Bracuk's comment.
My first dives were deift dives in Cozumel, they were far easier than the low
viz surge I trained in at Monterey Ca. a few days earlier.
I highly recoimmend Alicia's Bed and Breakfast, economical, friendly and the
best breakfast it town included.
Have fun, Cozumel is the best deal around for carribean diving, IMHO.
John Drake
Ron Lee
>Two reasons you may want to reconsider are:
>a. its drift diving
>b. Mexican instructors with thick Spanish accents.
Dan my son. How wrong could you possibly be?
Drift diving is easy and fun. Don't venture up to Barracuda on your
first dive there (unlikely anyway).
As far as accents, I have not found that to be an issue and the
English of many folks there is mucho better than ma espanol.
Ron Lee
Dan Bracuk
:Dan my son. How wrong could you possibly be?
:
:Drift diving is easy and fun. Don't venture up to Barracuda on your
:first dive there (unlikely anyway).
:
:As far as accents, I have not found that to be an issue and the
:English of many folks there is mucho better than ma espanol.
Keep it in context. We are talking about a gringo doing his cert dives. Currents and accents are
more of an issue under those circumstances than they are for grizzled veterans like us going on yet
another dive trip.
Greg Mossman
news:20030116215912...@mb-dh.aol.com...
> The resort was clean and the service was excellent - NO problems with lazy
or
> dishonest staff.
Amazing, since Mexicans are so lazy and dishonest (cough, cough).
> The dive op was excellent, with good DM's and excellent boats. Convenient
and
> plentiful rinse tanks and lockers, nitros available.
That's nitrous, not nitros. What a gas.
> The fool (the resort is all-inclusive) is outstanding. We had planned to
go
> into town for dinner a couple of nights, but the food at SCC was so good,
we
> ate every meal there at the resort.
Yes, you play the fool very well, but as for food, you have got to be
kidding to compare SCC's food to what you can get in town. I've never eaten
at SCC, but all the other reports say it's barely edible at best.
> It is very close to town, so it is easy to go to Carlos & Charlie's after
> dinner (andd/or after lunch).
I won't even touch that.
ggunn2
Dan Bracuk wrote:
>
> xx...@networking.Stanford.EDU entetained us with
> :A friend of mine has done all of the pool work for a PADI OW cert and wants
> :to do a referral course to a tropical dive destination. Cozumel/Cancun seems
> :like a pretty good compromise between price and accessibility (would be
> :flying out of San Francisco).
>
> Two reasons you may want to reconsider are:
> a. its drift diving
> b. Mexican instructors with thick Spanish accents.
I'll add
c. If your bud can work it out to do his checkout dives in the States
befor going down there, I recommend thatbecause
c1. Why waste precious vacation time on "baby" dives where you don't
see anything?
c2. IMO it is better from a skills standpoint to be checked out in
conditions that are a little more challenging*.
*That's not to say that there aren't challenging dives at Cozumel, but
where they will take you for checkout will be pretty much like a pool.
Gordon in Austin
BrightDivr
>go
>> into town for dinner a couple of nights, but the food at SCC was so good,
>we
>> ate every meal there at the resort.
>
>Yes, you play the fool very well, but as for food, you have got to be
>kidding to compare SCC's food to what you can get in town. I've never eaten
>at SCC, but all the other reports say it's barely edible at best.
Sorry Greg, but in our experience the food was _outstanding_. You can question
my judgment on this topic, but anyone who knows my wife would NEVER question
her discriminating tastes on this subject. We were there for a week, and every
meal, every day, was superb. You can always order from the menu, but we got
the "special" for lunch and dinner every day, because they were uniformly
_great_.
Another week, another cook, maybe a different experience.
> I've never eaten
>at SCC, but all the other reports say it's barely edible at best.
Well, since you've never eaten there, I guess we'll take that fact into account
when judging your comparisons to downtown :)
Dazed and Confuzed
boats. Convenient
>
> Yes, you play the fool very well, but as for food, you have got to be
> kidding to compare SCC's food to what you can get in town. I've never eaten
> at SCC, but all the other reports say it's barely edible at best.
>
You are misinformed. THe food there was excellent. WHile it is a good idea to go
to town for variety, SCC has an excellent kitchen. It compares to anything on
the square for dinner.
--
If at first you don't succeed.......
Try reading the directions!
Dan Bracuk
: c1. Why waste precious vacation time on "baby" dives where you don't
:see anything?
Better than manly quarry dives where you don't see anything.
Greg Mossman
> Well, since you've never eaten there, I guess we'll take that fact into
account
> when judging your comparisons to downtown :)
Well, since you've never eaten there, I guess we'll take that fact into
account when judging your comparisons to downtown. Plus I'll add in all the
opinions of those who have tried both. I win.
Greg Mossman
news:3E298FE9...@netnitco.net...
> You are misinformed. THe food there was excellent. WHile it is a good idea
to go
> to town for variety, SCC has an excellent kitchen. It compares to anything
on
> the square for dinner.
You're the second to claim this. Perhaps I am misinformed. My last time
there I stayed across the street (Costa Club) with an all-inclusive package.
The breakfasts and lunches were decent, but the dinners pretty lousy, so we
went to town most nights. My original research (since the group was
originally supposed to stay at Scuba Club) didn't turn up any good news
about Scuba Club's food.
Charlie Allen
"Greg Mossman" <mos...@qnet.com> wrote in message
news:v2jbtld...@corp.supernews.com...
> "Dazed and Confuzed" <ded...@netnitco.net> wrote in message
> news:3E298FE9...@netnitco.net...
>
> > You are misinformed. THe food there was excellent. WHile it is a good idea
> to go
> > to town for variety, SCC has an excellent kitchen. It compares to anything
> on
> > the square for dinner.
>
> You're the second to claim this. Perhaps I am misinformed.
>My original research (since the group was
> originally supposed to stay at Scuba Club) didn't turn up any good news
> about Scuba Club's food.
>
>
Add in a third. I came back Wednesday from 9 nights at SCC. The lunches and
dinners were excellent. At breakfast, the omelets, french toast, etc.
suffered from sitting in heated trays too long, but were still reasonably good
and there was a good selection of fruits and juices.
The food was noticeably better than last April, when it was "OK and plentiful,
but not great".
Charlie Allen
Greg Mossman
news:KLkW9.1235$KG5.1...@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
> The food was noticeably better than last April, when it was "OK and
plentiful,
> but not great".
There you go. Thank the internet for useful up-to-date reports. I sort of
wish our group had stayed there instead, but as our package ended up with
free booze as a consolation, along with Costa Club's big and social pool
scene, I'm not complaining that I had to go to town a few nights to get
something edible.
It sounds like SCC got itself a new kitchen manager. And I did like the
idea of unlimited 24-hr convenient shore diving for making certain illicit
scuba activities possible with my buddiette, so perhaps I shall give it a
try next time.
Apologies to BrightDivr for maligning his tastebuds. I stand corrected.
And this is the last public apology I will ever make, so you'd better print
and frame it.
BrightDivr
>Apologies to BrightDivr for maligning his tastebuds.
Oh my God, I think you have just violated rec scuba use rules, but your apology
is accepted.
You are a gentleman and a scholar, and there are damn few of us left.
brightdivr
BJAMES1
>a. its drift diving
>b. Mexican instructors with thick Spanish accents.
>
>Neither is the end of the world really, but if was me, I'd go somewhere else.
Dear Dan....
It's sometimes easier to understand the Spanglish than to understand that when
one from Canada says "aboot" it means "around" and not something between your
foot and your fin.
As for drift diving...there's nothing simpler in the world. Good instructors
(and there are LOTS of them on CZM) will have a novice floating along, watching
the scenery rather than flailing their arms and legs through the water.
It's a (relative) bargain, offers great diving and is a good way for a "gringo"
to experience international travel on a (again, relatively) safe level.
bj
Reef Fish
> >Two reasons you may want to reconsider are:
> >a. its drift diving
> >b. Mexican instructors with thick Spanish accents.
> >
> >Neither is the end of the world really, but if was me, I'd go somewhere else.
Two common misconceptions about getting cert in Cozumel. See my story
about Dr. Gordon Flash, M.D. below.
>
> Dear Dan....
>
> It's sometimes easier to understand the Spanglish than to understand that
> when one from Canada says "aboot" it means "around" and not something
> between your foot and your fin.
And not "das boot" from which you dive either. :-)
And we have 'em thar Suthern folks around them heels (not the ones on
your foot, but the ones you climb) where Popeye rules, who kent
(spelt can't) tell a "pin" (the kind you write with) from a "pin" (the
other mind <g>), or a "pitcher" (the kind that holds water) from
a "pitcher" (the finished product of a painting artist).
> As for drift diving...there's nothing simpler in the world. Good instructors
> (and there are LOTS of them on CZM) will have a novice floating along,
> watching the scenery rather than flailing their arms and legs through the
> water.
That's almost exactly what *I* said, in my 1993 article about Flash:
RF> Any reputable dive operator in Cozumel will NOT take novice divers
RF> to sites where the current too swift for their (in)experience. Drift
RF> diving in slow to moderate current is the EASIEST (and to me, the most
RF> enjoyable) way to dive because you save energy by letting the current
RF> do the work (of swimming) for you while you simply hold your buoyancy
RF> and enjoy the ride and the sights that pass by. :-)
============
Google Message ID: SCUBA-L%9312311...@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU>
(Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1993 12:21:00 EST)
Many of the dive shops in Cozumel, reputable or not, do offer Open Water
and Advanced Open Water courses. To mention only a couple of the shops
and instructors I know something about), Dive House has many experienced
instructors, offering certs in PADI, NAUI, and SSI. Flash Gordon, M.D.
whom I met in Czm got re-certified (and his girl friend certified) by
Jorge who has done over 20,000 dives in Czm. They were very satisfied
with the shop and the SSI instructions they received. I dove with them
on their 3rd and 4th open water dives after their certification, and they
did fine.
=============
The reason I remember this so well is that Flash Gordon is his real
name, and he is a real M.D., a most unusual and colorful person, whom
I saw on TV a couple months ago, talking about his clinic in S.F.
His current webpage will give you an idea about him:
Flash was getting re-certified while his girl friend, now his wife,
also an M.D., was getting newly certified in the paragraph above:
http://www.docflash.com/sfj_beach.jpg
Jorge is still an Instructor/DM in Cozumel, who had moved from Dive
House to other shops, last seen on my last two Czm trips in 2002.
On their 3rd and 4th open water dives, Flash and Shauna did BETTER
than many U.S.-trained divers who had been diving for months or even
years! This is my conclusion after having seen thousands of divers
in Cozumel since I saw their newbie dives in 1993.
I posted three years later, in 1996, about Flash's sig when he was
an active poster in rec.scuba and about the subject of multi-Specialty-
in-one-course certification:
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=5040.84...@scifi.maid.com
In short, there are some good reasons why someone may not want to
waste their vacation time getting certified while in Cozumel when
they could have done it at home and start enjoying the REAL dives
immediately.
But, "drift dive" and "instructors with thick Spanish accents" are
NOT among the good reasons.
-- Bob.