Dive Review of Always Diving (Alvaro Gonzalez) in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta

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Always Diving (Alvaro Gonzalez): "MUSA (Museo Subacuático de Arte)", Apr, 2014, by R Howard, MB, CA ( Reviewer 4 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 7913.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My wife and I booked this trip last minute to escape a long and cold Canadian winter. Prior to going I contacted Alvaro by email and received quick clear replies. Alvaro expressed concern about doing the wrecks off Cancun due to the sea states in April, but the Cenotes were a definite go. When we got settled into our Hotel we made a bit of a day trip to go to the AlwaysDiving shop. Turns out its more of a mall kisok at the Isla Mujeres fairy pier. Had some difficulty contacting Alvaro, but the staff at the other businesses were helpful and we finally arranged a meeting. I booked a day of cenote diving and a day of reef diving including the museum. The cenote diving was in Chac Mool and was amazing. Alvaro picked me up at my hotel and myself and two other divers from Brazil made a great day of it. For the museum dive, I took the bus to the shop and we waited for the dive boat to pick us up. There was a bit of confusion about the times and we ended up waiting a couple of hours for the boat. Always Diving does not have their own boat and charters with another dive company for spaces. Not surprising there are scheduling issues occasionally. Alvaro was very good about it and provided everyone with a copy of the dive video for free for the trouble. Once under way there were 3 certified divers and 2 discovers with Alvaro (instructor) and Miguel (divemaster) and 2 other divers on the boat with their instructor. Lots of room and well run. The first dive was the museum. We kitted up and back rolled into the into 75deg 100ft viz water with the mid day sun blazing in the sky. Maximum depth was 35ft and the dive was 50minutes of pure bliss. What an easy, enjoyable dive. With Alvaro at the lead we swam/drifted from one site to the next. You might think that you could get bored on the dive, drop down on the statues, swim around for and bit, and then what? But that's not what it was like at all. We came down very close to a star gate looking statue and then moved on to one new exhibit after another. The crowd of human statues were the biggest display but we saw at least 6 others and we didn't see it all. Plenty of opportunity to take pictures, lots of fish and reef to see in between exhibits. Alvaro and Miguel were well organized and moved the group along at a steady pace. At the end of the dive we were starting to head up for our safety stop when a school of about thirty angle fish swam right to us. This put a hold on ending the dive and we swam with them, very close, for awhile. On surfacing the boat was within calling distance and we all made it up the ladder without issue. I had my own equipment so I'm not sure about the rental side of the shop, but the discover scuba students along with us on the dive had good equipment and did exceptionally well. This speaks volumes about Alvaro's teaching ability and capabilities as a dive leader.
Websites	Always Diving (Alvaro Gonzalez)
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Jibacoa Cuba, Plymouth UK, Oban Scotland, Playa Del Carmen Mexico, Crosby USA, Westhawk Lake Canada
Closest Airport	Cancun International Airport	Getting There	Westjet and Cancun Shuttle. Direct flights and quick transfers, very simple.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	choppy, no currents
Water Temp	70-80°F / 21-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	90-110 Ft/ 27-34 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	At the museum, following the dive guide was mandatory as finding the exhibits on your own would be difficult. In the cenotes following the dive guide is mandatory for safety reasons.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	There were no big rigs on any of the dives but the boat crew was careful with the cameras I was using.

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Dive Review of Always Diving (Alvaro Gonzalez) in Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta

Always Diving (Alvaro Gonzalez): "MUSA (Museo Subacuático de Arte)", Apr, 2014,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Always Diving (Alvaro Gonzalez) in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta