Aldora Divers/Vista Del Mar: "About as good as you can get in the Caribbean", Oct, 2014,by DOHN HENION, CA, US ( 1 report). Report 7918. |
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No photos available at this time | |||
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Accommodations | N/A | Food | N/A |
Service and Attitude | Environmental Sensitivity | ||
Dive Operation | Shore Diving | N/A | |
Snorkeling | N/A | ||
Overall Rating |
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Value for $$ | |||
Beginners | |||
Advanced | |||
Comments |
Chose Aldora because they cater to advanced divers. Dove with them for five days. Started out with their "Aventure Dives" north of Barracuda Reef - outside the marine reserve called Tiburcio and El Puente 2. Corals healthy and saw a "sleeping" silky shark divesting itself of parasites in a cave that receives a supply of fresh water. Caught Lobsters and Lionfish and the made a good ceviche for the group onboard. The trip was worth the extra charge. We also dove the southern sites of Maracaibo, El Islote, and Palancar Caves. They didn't hesitate to spend the extra fuel to go to the sites we wanted to dive. They let us dive until we ran down to 700 pounds even if the dives were 1.3 hours. Observed three sharks and five Eagle Rays total. Memo, the owner, was extremely accommodating and did everything possible to keep the divers happy. Dario was an excellent guide as we weren't really looking for anyone to point out the small criters. He was good at alerting you to pelagics. One of the divers had a new camera rig and had buoyancy issues his first day with it. Apparently kicked some coral. You do not want to be the victim of the public excoriation that diver was subjected to by Aldora's female dive master! I have dove Cozumel for 24 years and it is in the best shape that it has been during that period. |
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Websites | Aldora Divers | ||
Reporter and Travel |
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Dive Experience | 501-1000 dives | ||
Where else diving | Irian Jaya, Palau, Fiji, Cook Islands, Halmahera, Sulawesi, Cozumel, Grenada, Jamaica, Bahamas, Hawaii, California, etc.. | ||
Closest Airport | Getting There | ||
Dive Conditions |
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Weather | rainy | Seas | choppy, currents |
Water Temp | 71-87°F / 22-31°C | Wetsuit Thickness | 0 |
Water Visibility | 100-300 Ft/ 30-91 M | ||
Dive Policy |
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Dive own profile | yes | ||
Enforced diving restrictions | Let them know when down to 1000 or 5 minutes before decompression mode. If you were a heavy breather you could use the guide's octopus so that everyone dives until 700 pounds. Three minute safety stop. Everyone goes up together unless there is an equipment failure. | ||
Liveaboard? | no | Nitrox Available? | yes |
What I Saw |
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Sharks | 1 or 2 | Mantas | None |
Dolphins | None | Whale Sharks | None |
Turtles | > 2 | Whales | None |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best): |
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Corals | Tropical Fish | ||
Small Critters | Large Fish | ||
Large Pelagics | |||
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Subject Matter | Boat Facilities | ||
Overall rating for UWP's | Shore Facilities | N/A | |
UW Photo Comments | If you were diving with a group of non-photographers they just wanted you to keep up to the point that they could see your bubbles. Cattle boats had a bucket that didn't fit two big rigs comfortably. You have to request a life jacket to subdue vibrations on the fast boats. |
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