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

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Aldora/Villa Aldora, Jul, 2006, by Jill Rain, WA, USA ( Sr. Reviewer 9 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 2583.
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	Fourth return visit to Cozumel. Went Aldora: not cheap but good value. First stay at Villa Aldora, a mile and half north of town center (cab, or walk half hour). Villa has 9 units, on the water, quiet, homey, sunsets and lounging, easy pick-up by Aldora boats and dealing with dive logistics. All units have cooking facilities, AC, good plumbing, and free phone/wireless internet access. Management gracious and helpful, very friendly atmosphere. Bring cash/traveler's checks - can't pay with credit card. Good snorkeling out front. Repairs from hurricane damage almost complete - fully operational. Town: fully up and running, but pretty empty except for cruisies during the day (ships anchor offshore now, docks sunk); good deals at restaurants. Aldora dive operation: still consistently good (3rd time with them). Fast boats, early departure, 6 divers per boat max, usually less. Rarely saw other divers underwater. Aldora has scratched certain sites off their list since hurricane Wilma due to damage on shallower reefs. Palancar/Columbia/Punta Sur still excellent, second dives often at Santa Rosa/San Francisco also in great shape. Fragile corals and sponges thrashed and littering the bottom, lots of new sand drifts - but that's most of the damage. Some fish dependent on those have declined (like trumpetfish), others have proliferated (algae/coral munchers). Far more juveniles than usual of many species (esp. angelfish, drum, trunkfish, damselfish). MANY more turtles. Some sharks and eagle rays. Diversity and numbers of fish overall is about the same, surprisingly. Still the largest at depth. Signs of recovery everywhere (inch high purple sea fans, etc). I've drifted Cozumel reefs for 10 years now and it was fascinating to see the dynamics of disaster natural sucession at work. And these reefs still have the most dramatic and intricate deep formations anywhere.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Fiji, PNG, Australia, Hawaii, Caribbean, Baja
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather		Seas
Water Temp	85-0°F / 29--18°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	50-120 Ft/ 15-37 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
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	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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Dive Review of Aldora/Villa Aldora in Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan

Aldora/Villa Aldora, Jul, 2006,

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 Aldora/Villa Aldora in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan