Dive Review of Manta Divers/None in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cancun

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Manta Divers/None, Sep, 2005, by Lanny Oden, AZ, USA . Report 2876.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	This day (16 SEP) was a Holiday celebrating Mexico's independence from Spain. Mexican Independence Day. Apparently, it is customary to start celebrating on the eve before the Holiday. Much like New Year's Eve. And the whole city participated! Even our Skipper seemed to have partied well into the night. I say this because on the morning dive he was a bit grumpy and slow to read some of the wakes and waves on the ocean. As such, we were tossed about rather violently a few times. Our first dive went along well. Everything worked out as planned. We did our dive and Miguel(our dive master) sent up his orange dive sausage and El Capitan came and picked us up. However, on the second dive this was not to be the case. At the end of our dive, Miguel (our Dive Master and guide) sent up his dive sausage as before, just before our ascent. This way the skipper could see where we were and start making his way towards us, be nearby and ready to pick us up when we surfaced. That didn't happen. A little over half a mile behind us lay our boat, still moored at the buoy where we had started our dive. Miguel whistled loudly a few times to no avail. I then blew on a diver recovery whistle I had attached to my B.C. It was deafeningly shrill and extremely loud to the ears. I blew this twice more. No motion from the boat. Miguel then quickly made a new plan. He decided we should all swim together to another boat that we could see. It was the same distance or greater away than our own, but it was not against the current. We did have to swim against a cross current at times, but it would have used considerably less energy to swim to the new boat rather than our own. The new boat was also in the direction of land. Ours was not. So Miguel headed us in the direction of the new boat. It happened to be one of the boats that had underwater self propelled scooter tours. During the swim to the boat Miguel apologized several times for the actions of the Captain of the Nemo, our dive boat. I assured him that I knew it was no fault of his own that we were not picked up from the water. Still he apologized. Once reaching the new boat, Miguel asked for permission for us to come aboard. The Captain of this boat was VERY generous and accommodating. He helped each of us out of the water. As soon as everyone was out of the water and safely aboard his vessel the Captain, completely impromptu, procured for each of us cold bottled water to drink. He was most hospitable. After Miguel talked to the Captain of the tour boat, we found out that he had felt something was wrong. We were swimming towards his boat and farther away from our own and a great distance from either vessel. Knowing the currents in the area, he felt that we might indeed be making our way to his boat instead of going toward our own. He said he had tried several times to contact the Captain of Nemo by radio to alert him to our whereabouts and possible trouble. Each time held no response. The tour boat was anchored both fore and aft and had two divers in the water along with several tourists on scooters. He could not move his boat safely. He could only watch us make our way slowly towards him. He said he had continued hailing our skipper and intended to do so until he was answered, his tour and crew returned from their dive or we made it safely aboard his vessel. He never got an answer while we were in the water. The Captain of the Nemo was finally aroused by the calls from the radio and he answered. He then came to the tour boat and rafted up alongside. We transferred gear and then passengers and off we went back to the dock with no other incident. The Skipper of Nemo now seemed a bit grumpier however, for unknown reasons. Upon arrival at the dock, we cleared our equipment and headed back to the Manta Divers dive shop. While I was cleaning my dive gear at the rinse barrel, Mimi Dykes (the owner of Manta Divers) received a report from Miguel as to what had happened. She came out to me and apologized saying that for the 14 years that they had been in business, nothing like this had ever happened before. It was inexcusable and she wished that she could come out here to explain to me why it happened, but she couldn't. "It was just poor professionalism and very irresponsible of the Captain to do what he had done." Mimi was very thankful that no one was injured or lost during the dive. She then returned to me the price of the morning's dives. Again she apologized to me personally and regretted what had happened, assuring me that the proper actions would be taken and reprimands as warranted. I told Mimi that I knew it was not the fault of her or Manta Divers, directly and that if ever I came back to Cancun, I would still dive with them. I got two good dives; a whole lot of exercise and my money back for the dives. With the money I got back, I got a photo CD and T-shirt. So in all, I walked out of there with two good dives, my life, a CD full of photos, a T-shirt, five dollars in my pocket and a good story to tell.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	California, Hawaii, St. Lucia, BVI, Cozumel Mexico, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Puerto Penasco, Mexico, Catalina Island, California, Arizona, Oklahoma
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, choppy, currents
Water Temp	0-84°F / -18-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	100-150 Ft/ 30-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No restrictions were mentioned.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 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
UW Photo Comments	No fresh water rinse on the boat. Boat was no more than a panga.

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Dive Review of Manta Divers/None in Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cancun

Manta Divers/None, Sep, 2005,

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 Manta Divers/None in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cancun