Dive Review of Mantaraya Divers/Fiesta Americana in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cozumel

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Mantaraya Divers/Fiesta Americana, Nov, 2007, by Wade Smith, CO, usa ( 2 reports). Report 3908.
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	The Island of Cozumel was wonderful. The people were very pleasant and the food around town was very good. It is a short plane ride from Denver. The Fiesta American was a very nice place to stay and the AI was worth the extra money. The diving was good overall. The reefs in less than 40 ft are still in poor shape, it will probably take several years for them to recover. In the deeper water the reefs are healthy and there are a lot of fish and turtles at all depths. I will definately go back and stay at the Fiesta. I will never use the same dive company. WARNING: DO NOT DIVE WITH MANTARAYA DIVERS (This is different from Manta Ray Divers). Fernando Aldana, the owner and divemaster, is very lazy and does not care about his customers. His dive equipment that we rented from him was in very poor condition. He never helped us on or off the boat. We had three young divers (11 to 16 years old)and he never offered to help them. He would just lie back in his captain's chair and act annoyed that it was taking so long to get ready. He took one of our adult divers, who had very little experience, on two back-to-back 55 minute dives down to 80+ feet. This is way beyond safe diving limits. When she surfaced with him, she complained of a sharp pain in her neck and head. He told her it must be her sinuses and "Don't worry about it". That evening we were at his dive shop and she again told him that she was not feeling well and he again said that it was "nothing". We took her to the hospital anyway, and they immediately diagnosed her as having an embolism. She spent the next five days on and off in a compression chamber. Cozumel is a great place to dive, just be careful who you dive with.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	I have also dived in the Bahamas, Bonaire, and Jamaica.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	60-80 Ft/ 18-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Fernando had no restrictions on depth or dive time, even though there were four beginner divers in our group, and some of the dives had very strong currents.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
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		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	The visibility while we were there was not very good to get wide shots. The currents are so strong where most of the fish are located that it is difficult to slow down long enough to get a good picture. It makes it even more challenging if you are with a group that has non-photographers because they tend to fly away in the current while you are trying to get a picture.

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Dive Review of Mantaraya Divers/Fiesta Americana in Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cozumel

Mantaraya Divers/Fiesta Americana, Nov, 2007,

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 Mantaraya Divers/Fiesta Americana in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cozumel