Dive Review of Mexico Divers/Marina Paraiso in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Isla Mujeres

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Mexico Divers/Marina Paraiso: "Avoid Mexico Divers", Jul, 2018, by Beverly Sobelman, WA, US ( Reviewer 6 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 10376.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We went to Isla Mujeres mainly to participate in a whale shark research trip, which was amazing. SO MANY sharks and mantas. But we also wanted to do a couple of days of diving so our tour operator (Aqua-Firma, highly recommended) booked us for two 4-dive days with Mexico Divers: 2 advanced morning dives, 2 easy afternoon dives. I'm not even sure how to start to describe our disappointment with the actual experience but I'll lead by saying we canceled the second day as soon as we got back from the first. A few examples of why: - they picked us up at our jetty (yay!) but then took us back to the marine to grab rental gear and FUEL THE BOAT while we were on it. WTF? That seems both unsafe and inefficient. - on our first dive (Punta Negra), they couldn't seem to find the site. My buddy and I sat on the back deck, ready to go, huffing diesel fumes while they searched. They they put us in, and promptly moved the boat, necessitating a 200m surface swim. And THEN, they rope-towed us at least 3 min til they finally found the site and let the other dives into the water. It was ridiculous and exhausting. - they let a family of 3 obvious beginner divers onto our advanced trip, which then became NOT an advanced trip. No wreck for us, just 2 50' drift dives at the same site, both of which ended early because the beginners blew through their air and they didn't have enough divemasters to have one stay down with us. I came up with half a tank even after all the surface nonsense before the first dive. - two of the rental mouthpieces had been chewed through so they had those divers use their seconds instead of their primaries. For the whole dive day. - full/empty tanks weren't marked so several times they swapped in empty tanks - the divemaster (Jorge) went too fast, didn't point out much of anything, and was so conservative about watching deco limits as to be absurd. After 4 dives in 10 hours (yes, it took that long), two at 50' and two at 30', he told us we should absolutely not dive the next day or even free-dive while snorkeling. I think he did not actually understand deco limits. - the beginner afternoon dives were fine. The underwater museum is a lovely site for beginners. The coral is pretty. In short, I do not recommend this operator, and would not recommend Isla Mujeres as a dive destination unless you're a very new diver. Might be worth a day or two if you are doing other dives in the area (like the cenotes, which we did not get to). But not with this operator.
Websites	Mexico Divers
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Hawaii, Australia, Puerto Rico, Dominica, Honduras, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Galapagos
Closest Airport	Cancun	Getting There	Ultramar ferry from Cancun
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, surge
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-60 Ft/ 9-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Super-strict depth, time, and safety stop limits. Which seemed excessive as we are all advanced or rescue divers.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	None	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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	No special accommodations made for photographers. I think they hosed down the gear with fresh water at the end of the dive but that's it.

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Dive Review of Mexico Divers/Marina Paraiso in Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Isla Mujeres

Mexico Divers/Marina Paraiso: "Avoid Mexico Divers", Jul, 2018,

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 Mexico Divers/Marina Paraiso in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Isla Mujeres