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

Aldora Divers/Presidente Intercontinental, Jan, 2013,

by Arthur J. Lafave, DC, US (Reviewer Reviewer 4 reports with 1 Helpful vote). Report 6861.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments My second time with Aldora Divers and their outstanding reviews are well-justified. With steel tanks, all dives were between 65-85 minutes. Our last dive was a full 84 minutes! This operation takes care of you in all phases, generally in a smaller boat configuration with 4-6 divers. Our divemaster, Dario, was terrific at choosing dive sites, leading the dive and picking out critters along the way. The crew were all incredibly friendly, helpful and efficient at getting us in and out of the water and changing the equipment between dives. Memmo (the owner) and the other office staff are also very friendly, helpful and involved.

The routine is leaving the dock around 7:30-8:00 (they pick up at the dock at the Intercontinental at 7:45 or a bit later, which is very convenient), a trip down south to a site, either at Palencar reef or nearby, for a deep dive, a surface interval at Mr. Sancho's beach club of about an hour -- enough time to get some food or a snack and drink, a shallower second dive, and return to the hotel between 2:00 and 3:00, depending on when we got started and how far south the first dive was. With dive times of 70-80 minutes, it is a bit like going on 3 or 4 dives, not just two.

During this trip, there was some rain and it was overcast and bit cold on some days. The heavy coats carried on board, enough for all of the divers, were very welcome. On sunny days, it was warmer and very comfortable.

We obtained Nitrox certifications on this trip and were very glad that we did. We found that it opened up a number of deeper dives to us that were unavailable with air.

In my opinion, Cozumel is the top dive destination in the Caribbean. There is not the abundance of large pelatics or big schools of larger fish that exist at the top dive sites in the Far East, but the coral formations are large and impressive, and we did see several eagle rays, nurse sharks, turtles, a free swimming moray eel, other morays, lots of lobsters and crabs, garden eels, a scorpion fish, lion fish (invasive), southern sting rays, a wahoo, several groupers and large parrotfish, and many, many smaller reef fish. Overall, highly recommended and will return.
Websites Aldora Divers   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Sipadan, Phuket, Koh Samui, Burma Banks, Palau, Bonaire, Roatan, Little Cayman, Grand Turk, St Croix, Belize
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather rainy Seas
Water Temp -°F / -°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 60-80 Ft/ 18-24 M

Dive Policy

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

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 4 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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