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

Aldora Divers/Villa Aldora, Apr, 2013,

by Thomas Anklam, CA, US (Reviewer Reviewer 4 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 6966.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food N/A
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 2 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments This was my first time diving Cozumel. After reading the reviews in Undercurrent, I chose to dive with Aldora Divers and to stay at the Villa. Very high marks to both. The Villa is very nice, immaculately clean and well run. Brent and Debbie, the onsite managers, couldn't have been more accommodating and did everything possible to make my stay enjoyable and relaxing.

Aldora Divers uses 120ft3 steel tanks, so, if you use your air conservatively, you can get incredible bottom times. We did a relatively shallow drift using 36% nitrox and my dive buddy and I logged 90 minutes. The drift diving was terrific. Excellent visibility, strong currents and lots to see.

You definitely want a good dive operation, because, with the combination of long bottom times and strong currents, you drift a long way. The Aldora divemasters and boat drivers were up to the task and there were never any issues with the pickup.

My only issue with the diving is that one of the divemasters is a bit of a cowboy. We dove Punta Sur, a truly spectacular site. But during the pre-dive, he never mentioned that much of the dive would be below 100' and that it would likely be a decompression dive. So as we progressed through the various tunnels, we were all staring at our flashing dive computers wondering what was going on. Fortunately, our group was very experienced, so no issues. Great dive, but the drama was entirely unnecessary.

Just to emphasize, this was only one individual, the rest of the Aldora team was excellent. I would dive with Aldora again, without hesitation.
Websites Aldora Divers   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Fiji, Socorro Islands, Bonaire, Thailand, Monterey
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 78-80°F / 26-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 100-150 Ft/ 30-46 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile ?
Enforced diving restrictions [Unspecified]
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

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

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

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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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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