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Dive Review of Aldora Divers/Melia Cozumel in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cozumel

Aldora Divers/Melia Cozumel, Apr, 2008,

by John Keith, UT, USA (Top Contributor Top Contributor 32 reports with 9 Helpful votes). Report 4007 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Aside from the lack of a camera rinse tank/bucket, Aldora has to be one of the best, most professional dive shops we've been with. Memo did everything he could to make our experience good. Never had more than 7 divers on the boat. The dive masters (dove with three) were excellent - detailed briefings, willingness to find and point out critters, care of the environment - just great. We'll dive with them again for sure. We dove a few years ago with another dive shop and Aldora is clearly the better. But all of you Undercurrents folk seem to know that (that's why we went with them). The reefs and animals seem to be recovering nicely from the hurricane, but evidence of damage is still plenty obvious. We didn't see many morays, though - not sure why. Did see several turtles (4 on one dive). Quite a lot of current on many of the dives, and, of course, lots of other divers, sometimes enough to reduce visibility considerably.
The hotel was an RCI exchange. It's an all-inclusive optionsl, but if you choose to opt out (which we did) you get zero - no buying drinks or eats piecemeal. The hotel was pleasant and the staff friendly and accomodating. Still, we won't go back. We visited Villa Aldora - we will stay there in the near future (as soon as the bank account recovers). We didn't miss good meals, though - Los Tortugas, El Moro, Cafe Denis, and Cafe Navigante, and La Perlita are really great. Loved the grouper in many styles and was overserved with shrimp and mixed ceviche. Thanks to Undercurrents, we were very careful with the car rental - pictures and all. Had no problem at Thrifty/Dollar. We'll be back to Cozumel in the near future - good diving, great dive shop, great eating and drinking - What else is there?

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Red Sea, Saba, Grand Cayman, Cabo San Lucas, Turks and Caicos, HI, CA
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy Seas choppy, currents
Water Temp 23-27°C / 73-81°F Wetsuit Thickness 5
Water Visibility 100-0 Ft/ 30-0 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions Descend, ascend with dive master - otherwise you could pretty much do as you pleased
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 2 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 1 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 3 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments There was no facility on the board for cameras - not even a fresh water bucket.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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