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

Aldora Divers/Villa Aldora, Dec, 2004,

by Marilyn Mitchell, MI, UNITED STATES . Report 1545.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments January 2005 - Aldora Divers runs a diving operation the way it should be run. Hats off to Memo and Dave! They run small boats with 6 diver max and use steel 100 and 120 tanks,resulting in dives of more than an hour everytime. After dropping our gear at the shop the night before our first dive, we never touched it again until we picked it up on our last day. The divemasters Mario, Mateo and Luis were terrific! Customer care was fantastic. On our first dive, I had a high pressure leak, which eventually resulted in the dive being aborted. We headed to a beach club to make repairs and while there, Memo, one of the owners, showed up to tell us they had brought extra tanks so we were able to do both dives after all! Each day, our surface interval was spent at a beach club, where we got something to eat and sat in the sun until it was time for the second dive. The diving was incredible although waves caused by "el norte" made getting back on the boat a challenge some days. However, since your gear is handed up to the captain before boarding, it was definitely do-able. We saw 7 or 8 splendid toadfish, beautiful eagle rays with wingspans that looked to be 8 feet or more, huge grouper, several kinds of crabs, lots of lobster, many morays, both green and spotted, a "herd" of more than 50 large gray angelfish "grazing " together on some kind of seagrass and lots more. One day when the harbor was closed due to the weather, Aldora arranged a trip to the los ojos cenotes, an awesome sight.

Villa Aldora is owned by Dave, one of the owners of the dive operation, and is very capably managed by Greg and Kay. Aside from one other couple who were longtime friends of Greg and Kay's, my husband Gary Sundermann and I were the only other people around that week. (It tends to be slow right after the holidays, although many divers were arriving the next week). We had a GREAT time with Greg, Kay and their friends!!! We stayed in the Barracuda Suite, which included a king and a queen size bed, table and chairs, loveseat and full kitchen. It was very nice and was kept spotlessly clean. There is a very nice coutyard where people can gather for drinks in the evening and a small "beach" type area for lounging. We were told the snorkling was great right in front of the villa, but the wave action due to el norte kept us from jumping in. The Villa is about a 20 minute walk north of town, so it is convenient to walk there and back for dinner.

Aldora Divers jumped to the head of our list of GREAT dive operations, and Villa Aldora is a wonderul place to stay. We had an altogether excellent adventure!!

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving South Caicos, Grand Turk, Grand Cayman, Roatan, Bonaire, Curacao, USVI, BVI, FL. keys
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, dry Seas choppy, currents
Water Temp 78-79°F / 26-26°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 100-125 Ft/ 30-38 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Aldora Divers requires divers to use computers, and since Cozumel diving is drift diving, all divers ascended together. Steel 100's for women and 120's for ment allowed longer dives than might be usual.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

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