Dive Review of Dive Paradise in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan

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Dive Paradise: "Cozumel Fun in the Winter", Jan, 2017, by Michael E Bovard, OR, US ( 2 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 9455 has 1 Helpful vote.
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	[None]Dealt with two dive operations on this trip. The first was the "house" operation at the Casa Del Mar. My wife was set to do her open water in Cozumel and she did her Dive#1 with Jorge...skills went fine but just as they started the swim tour part of the dive she signaled a problem and we all surfaced from less than 15ft. She was out of breath and back to the dock we went. The Casa Del Mar crew took her gear and helped her up. All seemed fine for a bit but it wasn't and after speaking with Alex Pina he and I agreed a hospital visit was in order. Turns out the wife suffered a pulmonary edema and spent our second night on the island in the hospital. All turned out fine but I mention this only to highlight the exceptional assistance provided by the doctors and staff at the International Hospital in Cozumel...they were great, but as good as they were, Alex (from the dive operation at Casa Del Mar) went so far above and beyond in helping my wife and myself through this ordeal I simply can't say enough good things about them. Moving on...the first scheduled dive day was Sunday and it was CANCELLED...the North winds came through and no one went out...this is a risk during this time of year but things calmed down and diving was great the rest of the week...a little wind, occasional sprinkles, but nothing challenging and getting on and off the boat was easy enough. Our DM for the entire trip was Giovanni. We dove with him 5 days including a night dive. We did 2 advanced dives in the mornings and then 2 more moderate dives in the afternoons with one afternoon being a twilight and then a night dive. Some of the dives we did were Devil's Throat, Palancar Deep, Columbia, C-53, and many others. Our skipper took us to any site we requested so long as we could get there based on ocean conditions (which wasn't an issue this trip). Cozumel reefs are still beautiful and we saw sharks, turtles, rays, eels, octos, splendid toadfish, seahorse, snake eels, and for the first time in my dive career...a submarine...yep...while diving the C-53 which was a minesweeper the Atlantis submarine made an appearance...it didn't get too close but I did get a pic. There were tons of fish although I was surprise at how few Lionfish there were. I guess they are making progress. As for our crew...good dive briefings before each dive, Giovanni did an nice job pointing our interesting things underwater, the crew was helpful with donning and doffing gear as needed, and they provided snacks, water, and soda between dives as well. They were safe, helpful, professional, friendly, fun, and I will happily dive with them again. The Casa Del Mar is nothing fancy but more than adequate. The rooms were nice, there was plenty of hot water in their BIG showers but the staff was simply great. Our first night there we noticed the AC unit was dripping water onto the room floor so I called the desk and asked them if they would send up a couple towels to put under it. Two minutes later they called back and asked if they could send a maintenance guy up to fix it (it was 8:00pm). I said sure and by 8:15p the guy had it fixed and we were all set. The house restaurant was good, not great, but service was very good and had breakfast there every morning without a hitch. We found a great place to eat on the island this trip thanks to Alex (mentioned above) called Le Chef. If you go to the island don't miss the opportunity to eat here. The owner's name is Eduardo and the address is 5ta. Avenida entre calles 3 y 5 sur. The tortilla soup is a meal but they serve a prosciutto wrapped grilled tuna over risotto covered with a tomato/olive oil/basil sauce that is really good and the prices are very very reasonable. It's easy to get to and about a block off the main drag. We also had LionFish cakes at Kondesa which was very good but the prices here are a bit higher. All in all an excellent trip. Our group had 25 divers spread across three different boats with Dive Paradise and everyone seemed pleased with the diving and DMs. Will be returning to dive in July/Aug when is will be very hot but until then...drysuit time in the great northwest for me. Dive safe.
Websites	Dive Paradise
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	[Unspecified]Hawaii to Cozumel to British Columbia I dive warm, temperate, and cold...it's all good.
Closest Airport	Cozumel/Cancun	Getting There	flight to Cancun/shuttle to Playa/Ferry to Cozumel
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry	Seas	choppy, currents
Water Temp	79-81°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	1
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]begin safety stop at 500psi
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]our boat, the Coquetta, while considered a bigger boat, did not have a camera table or area to work with the gear. This was really a cross between and big boat and a fast boat. There was a camera tank to hold cameras during travel and the crew was helpful with handing down and taking cameras whenever possible but that was the extent.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Dive Paradise in Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan

Dive Paradise: "Cozumel Fun in the Winter", Jan, 2017,

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 Dive Paradise in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan