On one trip to Cozumel, John Q. did a pirouette on the deck of the dive boat and counted 28 other dive boats.... Once visited mainly by divers, cruise ships now regularly disgorge great packs of shoppers who descend on the flashy night clubs, restaurants and bars galore, and sidewalk hustlers hawking condos, serapes that are questionable bargains, and little plaster statues of guys wearing big hats leaning on saguaro cactuses.... Spectacular dives do exist, but many operators are reluctant to visit these sites, especially if the divers aboard have mixed experience levels, and rightfully so, because much of Cozumel's diving (especially the advanced sites like Punta Sur Two, Tunich, and Barracuda) is deep or fast-current drift dives. Beginning divers should select other destinations.... Carry surface-signaling devices for both day and night (strobe, safety sausage, etc.) and stay with your dive guide or group.... Dive operators vary widely in quality and safety.... The best diving is in spring and summer; it can be rainy during the fall (hurricane season) and winter. There's better diving on the western side toward the southern end of Cozumel, with the eastern side generally unsafe to dive. Best dives include Palancar, Santa Rosa, Maracaibo, Punta Sur, and Colombia reefs.... Expect water temperatures in low- to mid-80s. Visibility is consistently the best in Caribbean.... Cozumel is one of the biggest travel bargains, with accommodations ranging from the inexpensive downtown hotel Bahia, to diver hangouts La Ceiba and the Galapago Inn, to higher-dollar hotels like El Presidente or Sol Caribe.... Almost like having a new Caribbean dive destination, the immense unexplored reef structure of Chinchorro Banks off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula has become accessible to divers this year, with two new resorts opening up south of the Sian Ka'an biosphere along the coast road down to Xcalak. The high-end, all-inclusive Costa Maya is slated to open by January 2000, while the smaller Maya Ha Resort is already open. Both resorts offer myriad adventure tours and activities in addition to diving, making this region an excellent choice for serious divers looking for reefs where few divers have finned as well as divers who travel with non-divers.

For full reviews of the following Mexico destinations, see:

Cenote Diving - Yucatan, Undercurrent- July 1999

Aldora Divers Cozumel, In Depth- October 1996

Chinchorro Banks, In Depth- October 1996

Yucatan Peninsula, In Depth- February 1996

Cozumel

Aldora Divers, August 1997, Michael Silvestre, Spring, TX. Best dive operator I've been with. Steel 120's. Shortest dive was 1 hour 7 minutes with max depth of 110 ft. All dives with computers-free loaners. Cost: $65 for Aldora, $55 for most others for fast boats, but dive time was almost double. Thorough pre-dive brief and safety briefings. Vis: 100-150 ft. Water: 83-85 degrees. Dive restrictions 130 ft, no deco. Divemaster Antonio-Great! Long welcome surface interval was spent on shore at Playa a Sol, not in the boat. Great opportunity to relax, visit and grab a snack.

(Ph: 713-334-3003, e-mail: 102142.3237@compuserve.com)

Aldora Divers/Fiesta Inn, September 1997, Scott D. Campbell, Seattle, WA. Fiesta Inn; for $70/night, we were very pleased. Clean room, good service. Huge pool in a large, open courtyard; pleasant area to relax. Restaurant good, not great. Trip coincided with tail end of hurricane, so we had clouds and rain the first 2 days. After that, good weather in mid 80's. Aldora excellent. Our divemaster, Daniel Alva, was wonderful with our 5-person group of 50-60 year olds. Showed us critters and was generous with his personal time. Invited our divemasters to dinner and had informative conversation about the state of diving in Cozumel and Mexican politics. Aldora's steel 120 tanks gave bottom times up to 1 hour 20 minutes. Vis: 75-125 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Aldora worth the small additional cost. Only negative: our boat captain drove like a crazy man, leaping wakes, etc. I sustained mild injury to my knee due to his driving.

Aldora Divers, October 1997, Michael Tell, Grapevine, TX. The best dive operator we have ever used. Steel 120's gave extended bottom time (1:02 @ 136). Must use computers, went to deeper dive sights that few operators go to. Picked up at 8:00 A.M.. Went to dive site of our choice (usually 20-30 minutes). In-depth briefings; divemaster in water as there were strong currents and unusual swim-throughs. Water: 82-84 degrees. Vis: 150-200 ft. David's Throat at Punta Sur unbelievable. Enter cave at 83 and exit at 134; unbelievable pinnacles and lots of fish. After morning dive went to beach for lunch and back out for afternoon dive by 12:00 (usually shallower drift dive). Night dives outrageous. Octopus, giant lobsters, giant crabs, etc. 8 dives in 3 days and over 8 hours of bottom time. They are the best!

Aldora/La Ceiba, November 1997, Dr. Terrence W. Dunlop, Annapolis, MD. Aldora has lost Memo, head divemaster, to his own dive operation. Operation still quite good. 120CI tanks with DIN yokes allow for long bottom times. In 3 days did not have BT less than one hour. One dive was 85 minutes. Reefs and marine life outstanding despite nearly one million dives a year. Vis still excellent although not as good as 5 years ago. Vis: 80-100 ft. Water: 78-82 degrees. Dive restrictions; normal recreational limits. Heavy cruise ship traffic. Another pier going in, although not a reef destroyer as was the last one (Paradise Reef). Small plane sunken in front of La Ceiba broken up and tossed about by off-course cruise ship. La Ceiba very nice, although windows in rooms leak, don't go during rainy season. Food marginal. San Miguel continues to expand with t-shirt shops and the like. Way too commercial. Also petty crime: I was victim of attempted theft from by back pack while waiting in airport. Advanced divers should arrange to see sites in the north (Barracuda and San Juan) and far south (Chunchacab, Punta Sur, Maracaibo). Lots to do for nondivers.

Aldora Divers/Fiesta Americana, 1998, Bob Oberle, Norwalk, OH. First trip to Cozumel. Used Undercurrent as a research tool and the info was accurate. Aldora is first class operation and treated us well. Vis: 100-150 ft, water: 84-86 degrees. Our bottom times were extended, all divemasters helpful, and a premium placed on your safety and the environment. Each divemaster had an area of expertise that they shared-small creatures that you needed a magnifying glass to see (yes, Horacio let in our group examine the tiny seahorses), knowledge of the fantastic swim throughs at Horseshoe. They genuinely wanted you to have a good time. Food and margaritas were excellent everywhere we went. Relatively inexpensive compared to other Caribbean destinations. Pancho's Backyard rates a 5-star award. The atmosphere is only surpassed by the quality of the food. Thanks for your information.

Aldora Divers/Hotel El Presidente, January 1998, Joe Ruf, Vineland, NJ. Runs 5 Mako boats, max 2 divers, will dive where you want. We were first boat at all sites. Surface intervals spent on beach near sites. Only dove 3 days. Did Devil's Throat and Columbia Deep. Max 130'. Neat caves and swim throughs. Divemasters excellent and helpful. Everyone dove computer. Stayed at 15' drifting until everyone was back in green. Dove with steel 120's. Shortest dive 45' (depth 130') longest 65'. Great dive operation. Vis: 50-70 ft. Wtr: 80 degrees. . . . Hotel El Presidente is best hotel on island but away from town. Breakfast and lunch OK but expensive. Had one dinner-overpriced. Staff at hotel and people in town are very friendly. Ate in town for $30-50 for two with drinks. Breakfast $2.99. Recommend LaChosa, Prima Posta, Ernesto's and upscale Pepe's Grill and Morgans. Car fare $3 hotel to town (for 2). . . . Wish I had known potential for cold weather in January (air 72-74 degrees) my wife was freezing and she only dived once a day. Another 10 degrees and it would have been great!

Aldora Divers/La Ceiba, January 1998, Bob DeVoe, Grosse Ile, MI. Computer diving only, 6 divers max per boat, small fast boats, always first on the dive sites. Usually allowed us to pick the dive sites depending on conditions. Steel 120's allowed extended bottom times but sometimes this was deceiving. Because we were always pushing the computer limits of the dive, the extended bottom times sometimes included 15 minute safety stops to off gas. Not much to see during a 15 minute safety stop. Usually, they grouped divers with similar experience levels but a couple of times they grouped us with a diver who drained his 120 in 20 minutes and had to breathe off the divemaster's tank so we could continue the dive. Vis: 30-80 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. . . . They gave dive instructions on the boat as it sped to the dive site. Often I had no idea what the dive master was saying because of motor and wind noise. When you arrived, your regulator was fitted with DIN adapters that did not allow you to use your equipment for shore diving. Currents were extremely swift; one dive, they estimated the currents were 8-9 knots and we probably should have aborted the dive, but didn't. They were tossing us along the bottom like tumble weed with little control. Visibility was no more than 30ft. Even with some negatives Aldora sure beats other, 20-30 divers/boat operations and Cozumel still has some great diving.

Aldora, February 1998, Naffie & Philip Fischbacher, Danville, CA. Weeks before departure we had downloaded 20+ pages detailing Aldora's policies, practices and disclaimers. They indicated that they used DIN attachments but did not require that we bring one along as they would adapt our equipment. An Aldora representative would plan to meet our plane upon arrival at the airport. They were not there so we went directly to our hotel. They came to our hotel to pick up our regulators for DIN modification. We dived two 2-tank dives (on 2 separate days). On the first day the divemaster was unable to prevent the DIN adaptor from leaking so I dived using one of Aldora's loaners. Vis: 75-100 ft, water: 80-85 degrees. By the second day they still had not adapted my own system to DIN. My wife has an identical Scuba Pro system to mine and fortunately her equipment was satisfactorily modified. That made her diving more comfortable since she dived with her own equipment but she routinely ran low on air because she had been given 100 in 3 tanks whereas mine was 120 in 3. This limited our dive times to under 1 hour.

Aldora Divers/Fiesta Inn, February 1998, Tex Frank, Evergreen, CO. More expensive than others but six persons/boat is comfortable. Vis: 80-130 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. Dive restrictions: no gloves, no knives. Arturo a great guide both day and night. He showed us many critters. He works hard to earn a well deserved tip. Divers choose sites; boats on time and fast. They should allow knives for holding on bottom in current for experienced divers and photographers. We saw the largest lobsters ever, 4-5 ft. long. Many barracuda. Swim throughs are short and easy. Great weather and low seas made diving fun, not work. . . . Fiesta Inn was great location and has a huge pool.

Aldora/Fiesta Inn, March 1998, Brenda Richart, Richmond, VA. Fiesta Inn good value; nice, clean accommodations. Enjoyed the large pool, service good (excellent bartender for happy hour). Like the proximity to town (could walk, but much too lazy to pass up a $1.10 USD cab ride). Hotel food O.K., pricey compared with town, but not bad. Staff moved at island pace. Aldora costs more than operators but worth every cent. Barracuda schools all over the place. Four eagle rays, 2 southern stingrays, yellow rays and electric ray, cero mackerel, school of permit. Night dive at Columbia shallows excellent! 10 lobsters, snake eel, sleeping parrotfish, 5' green sea turtles. Cedral: 2 splendid toadfish, 3 large Black Groupers 3 1/2 - 5 feet. Chankanaab: corals are showing wear. Great trip.

Aldora Divers/Plaza Las Glorias, April 1998, Steve Paine, Pierre Port, LA. Aldora converted our regulators to DIN fittings and supplied 120's filled to 3100+ Psi. They store and clean gear over night. Picked up at Plaza Las Glorias. If you didn't bring a computer, Aldora provides a loaner. 1 divemaster and 6 divers (max) per boat. Down times 50+ minutes. Vis: 80-100+ ft, water: 80-82 degrees. Leisurely surface interval at Playa Del Sol where food was available. Divemaster found sea horses and other tiny critters. Fast boats, no head. Costs a little more, but extra downtime was worth it. Playa Las Glorias was comfortable, prices reasonable. Room had refrigerator but no microwave or toaster as last year. Close enough to town to walk to restaurants.

Aldora Divers/Fiesta Inn, April 1998, Wade Norton, Tualatin, OR. Cozumel great. Aldora was even better! When vis was 40 ft. divemasters focused on the minute creatures. Artoro (excellent divemaster) showed us a tiny trio: spotted drums, sea horses 1/4 inch long, puffer fish 1/4 inch long, scorpion fish, sand trails leading to sand covered Sea Biscuits and more. Wow! Vis: 30-180 ft., water: 79-81 degrees. No wonder Aldora rated very high in Undercurrent.

Aldora Divers/Days Inn, May 1998, Harry L. Cure Jr., Fort Worth, TX. Aldora Divers the best. 120 cubic foot steel tanks (high pressure) gives you extended bottom times and long dives. Vis: 90-100 ft. Water: 81-87 degrees. No dive restrictions enforced. Barracuda, Maricado, they will dive the sites other operators will not. Very talented, professional divemasters.

Aldora/Presidente, May 1998, Lorri and Evan Wolfe, Colfax, CA. Aldora divers is tops. We dove shallows so that we could video, which meant we dove with beginners so we saw the excellent care given to the newcomers. Enjoyed our sit time at Playa del Sol. It is worth the extra $. Dove Cedral 3 times, giant groupers and a green fire worm. Water: 80-82 degrees. Free-swimming green eel, baby seahorse. Presidente was tops in comfort and service with a wonderful beach, pool and Palapa. AA now flies direct from Miami. Cancun airport a pain. Mexicana charged me $26 for extra luggage going over but not on the return.

Aldora Divers/Fiesta Inn, June 1998, Bart Howle, Somerset, NJ. DM's knew where the critters were and pointed them out. On night dive, we saw 15 large lobsters and octopus. An eagle ray got within 20'. Punta Sur and Santa Rosa were best two dives ever. Fiesta Inn was good dive hotel. Ate our meals in San Miguel, fantastic and cheap. Vis: 100-120 ft. Water: 84-86 degrees.

Aldora/Fiesta Inn, June 1998, Rich Meitin, New York, NY. Great dive operation, pleasant Caribbean diving. Limited fish life, few big things. But some nice coral and pretty underwater substrate/geology. Vis: 80-120 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Dive restriction: 130 ft. dive with drifting group usually. Cozumel with a mediocre dive operation is pretty awful, though. The key: Avoiding big clusters of bad divers.

Aldora Divers/Fiesta Inn, July 1998, John M. Davis, Chattanooga, TN. Water 80 to 84 degrees, visibility 75 feet. Oracio Martinez excellent at pointing out unusual critters. He knew when to keep the group together because the current was strong, and when to let everyone do their own thing. "You tell us where you want to dive and we will take you there if it is possible." Every morning we were picked up promptly. Never more than seven divers on each Aldora boat. They did their best to group divers according to ability, on each boat. Able to dives advanced sites where we went deeper with stronger current. They also accommodate me with my video camera and made every effort to see that I got good shots. Other divers, without cameras were given just as must attention. Long surface interval to a beach area that has access to plenty of refreshments. Long bottom time that includes a very slow accent with (10) minute safety stop after every dive, at 15 feet. Fiesta Inn is nice, comfortable, moderate. Beds are hard-on a concrete slab-but you get clean rooms with a porch that overlooks a large pool. Food is good, service is relatively quick. People at the hotel were friendly and accommodating, excellent maid service. Sheets and towels were changed daily. A cab to town was four dollars for the group. Convenient for breakfast but don't get a meal plan as there are much better places to eat in town. Aldora recommended two or three restaurants (outstanding) which were not where the tourists eat. You must book Aldora through Diving Adventures, in Texas. They are not the greatest.

Aldora Divers/Cozumel Vacation Villas, July 1998, Renee Allan, Wauseon, OH. Got our own house. Had breakfast and lunch made by our cook. Our own pool. Snorkeling just off the house. Taxis cheap and plentiful. Aldora the best. Men get high pressure 120's, women 100's. They provide free din fittings and computers. Only 6 on a boat. They leave an hour before everyone else so we were the only ones on reef most of time. Vis: 80-100 ft, water: 81-84 degrees.

Aldora, August 1998, Undercurrent Correspondent. Weird currents! Blowing sand level currents at Santa Rosa Wall and a couple of other spots (sponges are full of sand, everything is scoured out). Pool-like tranquility at Punta Sur (Devil's Throat) and current reverse halfway through Punta Sur (Belly of the Whale). Quite a few seahorse, pipefish and pipehorses; saw a pregnant red male and a black female. Aldora in transition! Had to use our DiveAlerts three times to call the boat (once, the capt. was asleep on the flying bridge when we came up). Ran out of gas on a night dive just off Playa Sol; someone was at the office late, so we had gas trucked out to us, and a new divemaster forced one diver down despite the diver indicating intense ear pain. NOT what I expect of Aldora. . . . Rest of our dives with Aldora were pretty good, as usual.

Aqua Safari/Plaza Las Glorias, June 1998, Larry Hoyle, Prattville, AL. When people above us took a shower, water came through our ceiling. Room humid and damp always. Staff nice and attentive. Aqua Safari shop personnel and divemasters were friendly and always asked where we wanted to dive. Vis: 80-120 ft, water: 80-83 degrees. Wife had upset stomach 50% of time despite taking precautions. (Ph: 011-52987-20101, Fax: 011-52987-20661)

Aqua Safari, July 1998, Thomas L. Berry, Princeton, WV. Went alone; no problem (all buddies were competent and considerate). Some large grouper, a hawksbill turtle, octopus every night dive. Five dolphins during surface interval; attempted to snorkel with them. Vis: 80-100 ft, water: 80-85 degrees. Good bottom time; my computer hit the yellow on the nitrogen load. Costa Brava cheap and mostly frequented by locals-watch the green sauce!

Aqua World/Blue Bubble/Dive Paradise/Casa del Mar, September 1997, Joan B. Wilson, Tulsa, OK. I was a participant in a DAN study and we used a different dive operator for each two-tank dive. Dive Paradise was good; pointed out lots of critters. . . . Aqua World. I will never dive with them again; divemaster was only concerned with herding us together and coming up on time, never pointed out anything. The dive boats were nice but were set up as cattle boats. . . . Blue Bubble wonderful. Asked where you wanted to dive and gave more freedom to computer divers. Have used them often before and have been impressed with their operation. Vis: 75-125 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. (Ph: 888-266-9888,

e-mail: aqwssc@cozumel.com.mx)

Aqua World/Sol Caribe, January 1998, Larry and Jeannye Slade, Gulfport, MS. I love the island, its people, town square, the dive operation. Sol Caribe all inclusive with fairly new owners. Huge rooms beautiful grounds like a paradise. Private beach, walk across the street to Aqua World. George Verde was a conscientious divemaster. Pleasurable experience to glide effortlessly over corals. Vis: far as the sun lit, water: 77-78 degrees. If George saw something, after banging on his tank he would signal to take a picture. Saw a green eel about 8 feet out from its hole. Got some nice shots but George wasn't satisfied, he wanted me to get closerso I gave him my camera and he got one of those frontal, opened-mouth pictures for me! They changed our gear each dive and set us up perfectly. Worth a good tip too.

Blackshark/Mary Carmen Hotel, July 1998, Joe Johnston, Mt. Olive, MS. Good fast boats. Only 6 divers/boat. Good pre-dive instruction. Can use computers. Go where you want. 2 tanks morning or afternoon. Mary Carmen Hotel in town where the action is. Good, clean, air conditioned, safe and convenient. No bar, no Jacuzzi, no pool. Just turtles to watch on the floor in the central patio! (Rangel Espana Ph: 011-52-987-2-03-96)

Blue Bubble, August 1997, Jim Gibson, Springfield, MO. Been to Cozumel 8 times. We enjoy the town, the food and the drift diving. La Perla has no eating facilities except continental breakfast; short taxi ride to town and we enjoy eating at different restaurants. Hotel is clean, rooms spacious, it is on the beach. Blue Bubble has small fast boats and they pickup in front of the hotel. Jorge our dive guide showed us all the critters. Vis: 80-100 feet, water: 80-82 degrees. Blue Bubble a good and safe operation. (Ph: 405-878-8853, e-mail: blubub@aol.com)

Blue Bubble Diver/La Cieba Hotel, October 1997, Aaron Wiltfong, Cunnison, CO. LaCieba is a wonderful facility with helpful employees, two pools, hot tub, beach, great photo shop in house. Great local and shore night dive local. . . . Dive shop on premises usually has large groups of divers-10+ with guide. Blue Bubble Divers runs 6 or 8 packs. Usually assigns a diver to the group for the duration of five days! Profiles vary according to group ability. Vis: 80-100 ft. Water: 79-83 degrees. Dive restrictions: 90-100 ft. max. depth. DM's are extremely experienced and most are funny! They can usually show small or big or other neat stuff! $45 for two tanks and special reef diving sites accessible with extra fee of $20.

Blue Bubble/Villa Maya, January 1998, Dennis Hanna, St. Paul Park, MN. Blue Bubble very professional and did a great job. We had two new divers, they worked with them 'separately until they were ready for open water and then arranged dives we could all enjoy for our group of 7. Vis: 60-100 ft. Wtr: 80 degrees. Divemaster Porfinio was good at finding the hard to find and let the more experienced divers have their own dive profiles. Fast boats in good condition. . . . Villa Maya is a private 5 bedroom villa with full staff. Accommodations and food are excellent.

Blue Bubble Divers/Fiesta Inn/Cozumel, May 1998, Phil and Nancy Hamilton, Sandwich, MA. Reefs are wonderful. The Fiesta Inn was good, the rooms had efficient AC (very humid outside), the staff was pleasant and helpful and the rooms were clean and reasonably furnished. Food OK but better in town. The Rock 'n' Java Cafe next to the naval station does great breakfasts and has good espresso, cappuccino and latte. . . . Blue Bubble excellent. Booking was hassle free (made 2 days before departure). The boats were on time, the divemasters spoke good English and tried to find dive sites that would accommodate the wishes of the divers. Vis: 70-100 ft., water: 80-84 degrees. Six to eight divers per divemaster. Rinse and store services for your gear works as well. Had we known more about how the dive trips worked, we could have squeezed in a couple of extra dives into the time we were there.

Blue Bubble Divers/La Cieba Hotel, June 1998, Kay Williams, Gunnison, CO. Jorge with Blue Bubble Divers made every dive as though it were our first. The entire week we saw turtles, nurse sharks, sea horses, rays. Even a pod of about twelve dolphins as we went out for our night dive. Vis: 70-100 ft. Water: 80-84 degrees. Dive restrictions depended on group dive experience, 100 ft. Accommodated all levels of divers.

Caballito Del Caribe/Sun Village San Miguel, March 1998, Bob Cottle, Lisle, IL. 16 dives in 7 days. Caballito Del Caribe provides good service. I had contracted a price for all the dives but when we finished the week and calculated how much we owed, it came out more than agreed on the phone. Because the diving was good we paid but we will see if we dive with them again. Vis: 40-80 ft. Water:78-82 degrees. Dive restrictions enforced: Follow dive guide, do not go deeper than xx ft. (we always did and no problem). Two in our party had brought cash only so we requested a safety deposit box at the reception area. As the week went along, the two guys found they were missing money and all we can surmise is that somebody that worked in the hotel had access to the safety deposit boxes. Stayed at the Sun Village San Miguel and bought the package thru Apple vacations. We did write Apple, and after a month wait, they had investigated (or asked the hotel to investigate something akin to the farmer asking the fox to check if it is stealing any chickens!) and had not found any evidence that anyone from inside had tampered with the boxes. We will not be using Sun Village San Miguel in the future.

Caballito Del Caribe, May 1998, Walton and Marian Fisher, Miami Beach, FL. Water temp 84 degrees, vis 100' plus. The divemaster/guide was the absolute best! Israel Martinez is the guide to request in Cozumel. After assessing our skills at 50'-70' he really showed us the sites-down to 105'. We dove with him for four days. While drifting over the reef he moved the group left and right to see the show. On Palancar Gardens he fed 5 spotted eels and one green moray. He found sleeping nurse sharks daily, the largest being 7'. As people ran low on air he sent them to the boat and let the rest of us stay down. Dive times ranged from 39 minutes on a deep dive to 60 minutes on the second dives. Israel and the captain set up the tanks and changed them for the second dive. Our gear was carried to the shop and rinsed for us. Then it reappeared at the pier for the next day of diving dry and packed. They also set up the weight belts for all the divers. With this service and drift dives it was a relaxing and restful 4 days of diving. The walls were dramatic and looking into the abyss from the wall is the most amazing site in the world. If you fax ahead and make a request you will be on the boat with Israel.

Caribbean Divers/Barracuda Hotel, 1997, Jim Kiernan, Coral Springs, FL. Caribbean did a good job. Picked up at Barracuda dock, divemasters were excellent. Didn't push us about psi's to surface (700 start back up was reasonable) air fills 3,000, really know reef, boats pretty nice. Didn't want to go to farther sites such as Devil's Throat or Columbia. . . . Barracuda old place, but very convenient for beach diving and boat pickup. Santa Rosa Wall was awesome, Paradise Reef great for night dives. Emphasized Don't Touch The Coral! Vis: 100 + ft. Water: 82-84 degrees. Anxious to please. (Ph: 011-52-987-21080, Fax: 011-52-987-21426)

Club Cozumel Caribe, October 1997, Russ, Beeville, TX. Great family resort. Many things for nondivers. Vis: 50-75 ft. Great resort people. Diving restrictions enforced were depth-time.

Del Mar Aquatics, November 1997, Douglas B. Sams, Indianapolis, ID. 4th trip to Cozumel. 3rd time with Del Mar. Service has deteriorated to the point that I asked for my money back. They insist everyone dive their profile: first dive each day was for 80' for 30 minutes. After a couple days of repetitive diving, I could easily go into deco with that profile (I have an Aladin Nitrox that is very conservative). By catering to the beginner and treating all divers as beginners, they not only teach beginners not to plan their own dives, but reward those who plan a multilevel computer dive by putting them back on the boat with 1500 psi and half the bottom time of a normal dive. The "mission" of this operation was volume and not quality. Get the divers to the dive site, in and out in 30 minutes, back to the dock for the next load of cattle. Although navigation was simple on the wall dives and it was easy to catch up after spending some quality time observing the marine life or taking a picture, we were reprimanded for not staying within visibility range of the dive guide at all times. If we had failed to come up with the group or consistently gotten lost, this would be understandable, but that was not so. (Ph: 800-621-6830)

Del Mar Aquatics, April 1998, Patrick H. Tower, Perham, MN. Take boots, told not to. Overall very good dive outfit. Guides were excellent showing octopus, toadfish, rays. Saw eels, small and large turtles, lobsters (huge). Safe operation, kept track of everyone always and made diving a real pleasure.

Del Mar Aquatics/Casa Del Mar, May 1998, Gary Trommen, Austin, TX. Great divemasters. Vis: 80-100 ft. Water: 84 degrees. No diving restrictions enforced.

Dive House/Fiesta Americana, October 1997, Mike Holub, Ames, IA. Great diving. Drift diving very relaxing. Dive shop across street from resort; boats were super, roomy. 2-3 employees in water and 1-2 on boat spotting bubbles. Safety conscientious. . . . Nice resort. Tried two other dive operations: Dive Paradise had rude divemasters. Saw one divemaster break coral 4 times. All they cared about was getting back. Could not dive computer time. Blue Bubbles Dive Shop had nice people but small, old boats. Water: 81-82 degrees. Vis: 100+ ft. (Ph: 011-52-987-21953, Fax 011-52-987-23068,

e-mail: dive@divehouse.com, Website: www.divehouse.com)

Dive House/Scuba Shack/Fiesta Americana, November 1997, Kathy Eisner, Highlands, NJ. Fiesta Americana nice; casitas do not have water view but are gorgeous suites with continental breakfast included. Need cab ride to town; some drivers tried to rip you off. Dive House well run, clean boats, divemasters conscious of divers not touching corals. Usually divemaster in front, one in rear. Novice divers can have trouble doing safety stop while drifting so fast (no hang bar). Divemasters alert to this. Vis: 80-100+ ft, water: 75-80 degrees. . . . Scuba Shack max 6 divers. Best service. Divemaster took us to fabulous places and let us dive longer because of computer. Customized dives while pointing out crabs, eels, turtles, shrimp. No large grouper.

Dive House/Fiesta Americana, March 1998, Jim Parkhill, McAllen, TX. Of several dive operations I've tried in Cozumel, Dive House is the most restrictive. An 80' depth limit was strictly enforced. As an experienced diver, I rebel at things like the absolute prohibition of knives and gloves, or at having to surface with 1000 psi. Staff was friendly, but made no serious effort to accommodate a group of advanced diver's request for a 6 pack trip to Punta Sur. Vis: 60-100 ft, water: 74-78 degrees. A minor inconvenience is the distance from hotel room to dive shop, especially for those wanting to carry gear back to room for good cleaning and drying rather than cramming it into a wet locker overnight. Fiesta Americana's facilities are OK but restaurants way overpriced. For reasonably priced food or evening entertainment a cab ride into town becomes a daily necessity.

Dive House/Fiesta Americana, April 1998, Art Nelson, Oakhurst, NJ. I have been going to Cozumel since 1982 and could always depend on the fish; in 1992 it still held true. Not now, with all the cruise ships and the novice divers, the fish have gone to places where they won't be harassed all day long. Came up among 30-40 boats once. . . . Dive House is a cattle boat operation, loading boats with experienced divers and cruise ship schleps. Not shy about assigning a noncomputer diver to a diver with a computer, then telling both to cut their dive short by 10 min. Due to one not having a computer I was forced to return to the same spot four times because the boat, all new people each time, elected it. Vis: 40-80 ft. Water: 76-80 degrees. . . . Island is very crowded now. Not quaint like it was. There may still be big fish somewhere on the island, but a cattle boat won't find them. Find a small operation.

Dive House/Fiesta Americana, June 1998, Robert Horin, Hillsboro Beach, FL. Larger dive boat, 10-12 divers. Divemaster announced that if any single diver violated the dive plan they would abort the dive and all divers must surface. They would give no refunds. I was happy to be responsible for my dive profile and possibly my buddy's but that it was wrong to hold me (or other innocent divers) responsible for the actions of each diver on the boat, none of whom I knew personally. Divemaster stated that this was a "company rule!"

Dive House/Fiesta Americana, August 1998, Alan Discont, Scottsdale, AZ. Vis: 75-100 ft, water temp: 82-84 F. Nice dive hotel far enough from town to be peaceful; under repair so closed 1 of 3 restaurants, easy cab to town for good dinners! Dive House not service oriented! No flexibility, hidden costs, provide dive locker, but charge $10 for locks. Stereotypical mañana service. Didn't leave tanks for night dive unless told 5 times. Not helpful with gear on land and hardly on boats!

Dive with Martin/Plaza Las Glorias, December 1997, Andy Boone, SC. Fourth Coz. trip; flew through Cancun, missed flight connection due to late charter. (Allegro Air/Vacation Express). We were bussed to Playa del Carmen and took the ferry to Cozumel. My wallet was stolen while waiting for our luggage off the ferry. Luggage was lost on the return trip. Advice-fly straight into Cozumel. (Continental or Sun Country). . . . Stayed at Plaza Las Glorias (for the third time). Motel great, good staff, breakfast OK. Weather marginal for diving-North winds. Harbor Master closed the port for diving on several days. Underwater everything was great. . . . Martin has an excellent operation. Three fast boats (6-8 divers max). Pick you up at Plaza Las Glorias or farther south. Sorts divers by experience and the advanced group can go just about anywhere they want to go. (Group decision, Martin can veto based on the weather, currents, etc.) We dove Punta Sur, Columbia Deep, Delilah, El Paso de Cedral, Yucab, Palancar Gardens, Chakanab, Paradise and Santa Rosa. We had been to Barracuda, Punta Moulas, San Juan and Maricabo on previous trips but the weather cut those out this time. Limitations: stay within sight of the divemaster, not exceed planned depth for dive (60'-130'), start up with 700 psi and make a five minute safety stop. Divemasters are genuinely interested in divers and in pointing out underwater life: octopus, splendid toadfish. Nitrox available, encouraged, necessary for very advanced dives. (Ph: 281-859-0700, Fax: 281-859-7720)

Dive with Martin/Fiesta Inn, May 1998, Barbara Cordaro, Martinez, GA. Dive with Martin great, second time with them and not disappointed. Will pick you up at Fiesta Inn. . . . Fiesta Inn service slow, no ice machines, food expensive for amount and quality. Pizza Rollandi very good. Great service and quality of food is excellent. . . . Great trip, visibility 150 ft., big groupers, eels. Water: 78-80 degrees, vis: 140-160 ft.

Dive with Martin, June 1998, James, Debra & Amy Potter, Eaton, OH. Martin Aguilar gave informative dive briefings and stressed safety. Made drift diving a great experience. Had small but fast boats-5 to 7 divers on each trip. Santa Rosa Wall was magnificent and swim throughs were awesome. Abundance of green and spotted moray eels at Palancar Reef and watched a spotted moray chow down on what was left of a sailfish. They stressed safety: restrictions 100' limit, safety stops on each dive 5-7 minutes and buddy teams were to surface when one member reached 800 psi. We could drift and enjoy 15 additional minutes underwater than the other team because of our air consumption. Upon surfacing the boat was always there to pick us up. Martin supplied cold bottled water and fresh pineapple during the surface intervals. . . . Stayed at Continental Plaza in Playacar a long ferry ride (40 minutes and $30 round trip for 3 people) plus a long taxi ride to and from the ferry pier to the International pier where Martin is (10 minute ride and $8 round trip taxi for 3 people). We had paid for a night dive with Martin that we were unable to do because the last ferry to Playacar left at 10 p.m. and time did not allow us to do the night dive plus catch the ferry to Playacar. Martin offered to take us out on an additional afternoon dive or we could collect on the night dive the next time we are staying in Cozumel. Hindsight being 20-20, we should have stayed on Cozumel at the La Ceiba Hotel within walking distance to the Dive with Martin shop. Vis: 100-110 ft. Water: 82-84 degrees.

Dive with Martin/Le Ceiba, August 1998, Richard Keen, Odessa, TX. La Ceiba: things don't work as well as they look. However, ac and tv worked. Plenty hot water and large tubs. At end of second dive I got ill. Martin apparently took control and did everything right. Got me to SS recompression chamber that had dedicated staff. Dives well within limits. Diagnosis mild DCI and mainly heat exhaustion. Never saw it coming. Martin loves his job and gave good briefing. Dive and come up as group. Great operation for beginner or once a year diver. Showed us marine life and is safety conscious.

Dive Palancar/Allegro Diamond Resort, December 1997, Charlie Stillings, Norwalk, CT. Visibility not good for Cozumel. Saw large eagle ray, turtles, large groupers, schools of smaller fish. Resort close to major dive sites. Eleven in our group, so we had our own dive boat and choice of sites. Punta Sur-a great dive. Into cave at 80 ft. and out at 120 ft. Not for beginners. Dive was 129 ft. for 48 minutes. Was into deco. Weather no good. One day boats did not go out because of rough water. Vis: 50-80 ft. Water: 78-79 degrees. Time and depth restrictions enforced. (Ph: 011-52-987-23433, Fax: 011-52-987-25094, e-mail: divepal@cozumel.finred.com.mx, Website: www.dsi.divetours.com)

Dive Palancar/Allegro Diamond Resort, April 1998, Mark Walden, Garland, TX. Allegro Resort (formerly Diamond); third visit to the Allegro resort, food slightly improving. Great location for families or groups with nondivers due to lots of activities. Make reservations for the Italian Restaurant early in stay. Cab rides to town up, to $12 each way. . . . Dive Palancar has good boats and lots of personnel. Four dives/day, return to dock after each dive. Prepaying dives before leaving gets cost down to $25/dive. With advanced notice, we had boat for our group of six. Hard to get them to do dives longer than 40 minutes. The diving: nothing unusual, just fun colorful Cozumel drift diving!

Dive Palancar/Allegro Diamond Resort, May 1998, K. Yage, Hermitage PA. Water 80-81, vis 80-100. Excellent resort with good variety of food (buffets, Mexican and Italian restaurants). Facilities clean, beautiful grounds, good rooms. Excellent staff. Dive Palancar is a good operation. Close to reefs so all boats returned to dock between dives. Shallower second dives much fishier. Cozumel diving is awesome. Night dive not so hot, lots of little worms everywhere. Lots of pacman jellyfish on surface for a few days.

Dive Palancar/Allegro Diamond Resort, June 1998, Russ, Beeville, TX. Bad: Room not comfortable. Good: Service in restaurant, friendliness of staff, beautiful resort, beautiful sunsets.

Dive Palancar/Diamond Resort, August 1998, Richard A. Power, Haslet, MI. Great dive operation. Friendly, helpful staff. Good divemasters: Gustavo Gongora was outstanding. Good boats. Close to reefs and dive sites. Four dives/day plus night dives Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Eight divers on a boat. Shallow dives best for fish. Lots of large, friendly grouper. Many angelfish, triggerfish, filefish, lobster. Saw 20 dolphin on one dive, two came within 25 feet. Vis: 50-100 ft. Water: 86 degrees. Dive restrictions: depth, time, follow the divemaster. Drift dives great, but current was highly variable.

Dive Paradise/Barracuda Hotel, September 1997, Dwayne Miller, Neosho, MO. Divemasters top notch, friendly, fun; experienced are left alone or shown special sites while they help the beginner along. Daniel is a great leader and a good organizer. 6th trip; they have led me and my daughter from beginners to 100 dive conscientious divers who respect the reefs and the currents. Water: 81-83 degrees. Vis: 100-150 ft. . . . Town is a fun place and the locals are trusting friendly and a joy to be with.

(Ph: 011-52-987-21007,

Fax: 011-52-987-25161,

e-mail: appledp@cozumel.czm.com.mx, Website: www. dparadise.com)

Dive Paradise/Barracuda Hotel, October 1997, Jim Kiernan, Coral Springs, FL. Lots of dives available: 8:30, 11:30, 1:00, 3:00, 7:00. Lots of boats, lots of good divemasters to show you the sites. Some sorry old boats (rather see them as part of reef!) Some fairly new boats! Very prompt! Anxious to please!

Dive Paradise/Barracuda Hotel, December 1997, Galyn Wilkins, Ft. Worth, TX. After ten trips to Galapagos Inn (now Dive Cozumel), I tried Barracuda and Dive Paradise. Hotel is clean, cheaper and quiet. Dive Paradise operates three dive trips each day. Two tank trip at 8:30 a.m.; one-tank trip at 2:30 p.m.. Big boats carry 10-14 divers split into two groups, 5-7 divers with each divemaster. Six packs faster and willing to go to Punta Sur, even Maricaibo Reef. Vis: 80-90 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Dive restrictions: 80'-700 psi on large boats, 100'-110' on six pack trips to Punta Sur. In my ten years traveling to Cozumel, the fish life has dramatically declined. Tropicals visible on shallow dives, but groupers, sting rays and barracuda have gone elsewhere. Is this because of fifteen dive boats a day on Palancar, Santa Rosa and Columbia Reefs?

Dive Paradise/Plaza Las Glorias, 1998, Steve & Correne Stacy, Austintown, OH. Diving great. Divemasters very friendly and fun. Fast boats. Friendly grouper. Excellent swim throughs. Vis: 100-150 ft. Water: 75-80 degrees. Hotel was decent, but older. Food was better and cheaper in San Miguel than at the hotel.

Dive Paradise/Villa Blanca, January 1998, Mel Broder and Anjie Johnson, Timbo, AR. Anjie got her certification; Daniel Ayala instructor made Anjie a well-informed, careful, aware diver. People at Villa Blanca reimbursed us for money that disappeared from our room though hotel was not responsible. Local doctor treated ear problem; did not charge us.

Dive Paradise/Fiesta Inn, April 1998, Kar DeGeiso, Newark, DE. Temp: 80-82, vis 50-100. First dive 100' the second shallower. Did dives that were requested. After explaining that we needed fresh water to rinse cameras, they did provide us with that. Fiesta Inn a great place. Staff friendly, rooms nice, balcony to air out dive gear. Lockers across the street from dive boat. Dive Paradise a good operation. Divemasters friendly and informative. Good briefings. Found a splendid toadfish. Night dive: octopus, lobsters in the open, channel clinging crabs, huge Black groupers following like puppy dogs, lots of spotted eels.

Dive Paradise/Barracuda Hotel/Cozumel, May 1998, Dale Thompson, Del Mar, CA. Best dives at night, off the beach. Reefs closest to town (N) showing effects of cruise ships and second pier recently built. Much less life, esp. turtles and bigger fish and a lot of sand/silt on some corals. Southern reefs still in great condition but operators don't want to spend time getting to them. Barracuda Hotel makes Motel 6 look high end. Dive Paradise-good divemasters across the board; inept but friendly otherwise (boat ran out of fuel on way out one A.M.; no Nitrox for one diver; no wetsuit for another as prearranged). Vis: 75-90 ft., water: 81 degrees. Cozumel vs. May 1997-diving is worse, food in town much better due to cruise liner business.

Dive Paradise/Barracuda, May 1998, D. McBride/Deyna Puckett, Lahaina, HI. Barracuda perfect for us. Trip, accommodations and diving were great. Enjoyed Betto and Smiley (our dive guide and captain). Always opt for the experienced diver program with a fast boat. Vis: 200+ feet, water: 82 degrees. Apple, is new owner of Dive Paradise, needs to practice her social skills; it would behoove her to be at least friendly to repeat customers.

Dive Paradise/Barracuda Hotel, July 1998, Ronald Bailey, Roanoke, VA. Hotel is basic, rooms comfortable. Dive Paradise did a good job. Vis: 60-150 ft, water: 82-84 degrees. They were late most days picking up divers and sometimes did not have all divers listed to go. Good lunch and service by guides and boat crew. Not camera friendly. Only one small bucket to keep cameras wet.

Dive Paradise/Plaza Las Glorias, August 1998, Nicola Nelson, Hawthorne, CA. Bring cash-many places don't take credit cards. San Miguel is noisy, traffic, boats, loud music. Bring dive lights. Most divemasters excellent; one seemed uninterested. Boats on time, plenty of help with equipment. Lots of boats and divers at several dive sites. Vis: 85-100 ft, water: 86 degrees. Loved the tunnels and swim throughs. Good practice in drift diving with sometimes strong currents.

Flash's Adventures, July 1998, Karen and Fred Becker. Comment in last Chapbook about Flash's was compelling enough to push me to contact them. Well worth it! We choose where we went, how long we stayed, what depth. Rarely had a dive under an hour and all first dives included depth deeper than 100 feet. Just the two of us and Flash on 4 of our days; then two days that we had beginners with us worked out fine too. When they ran out of air after 20 minutes, they just went back to the boat and we continued our dive (we did go to calmer dives on those days). No plush boats, just your basic fast six pack with back roll entries. Definitely for the diver who wants some serious bottom time in Cozumel. Lisa, Flash's wife, arranged for the Bed & Breakfast and it was great too. Not luxury, but everything you could need: clean double beds, showers, rinse tank, home cooked breakfast, air conditioning, even a TV. (e-mail: flashadv@xaac.com, Website: www.xaac.com/flashadv)

La Cinpatica/La Ceiba, May 1998, Brad Fuller, Billings, MT. La Cinpatica is a great dive operation for intermediate or advanced divers. They take you anywhere you want to go and show you what you want to see. Divemasters friendly and helpful, but briefings and oversight is minimal. Current boats are small and basic, but the Melissa (just commissioned) will be a more diver-friendly setup. Great value compared to the cattle boats. Vis: 60-100 ft, water: 80 degrees. . . . La Ceiba was clean, safe, and well maintained. Ask for room in the older section-avoid the high-rise dormitory next door.

Roberta's Dive Eco/Casa del Mar, July 1998, Karen Riker Wash, Plano, TX. Personalized service to accommodate both beginning and advanced. Small boats, 6 or fewer divers. Always on time to pick us up at the hotel. Divers choose the sites. Water: 80-82 degrees. Casa del Mar Cabanas great value for family-bi-level with 2 bathrooms and beds on each level. Food OK, but we preferred to eat at Ernesto's Fajita Factory next door.

Sand Dollar Sports, January 1998, Tracie Henry, Randolph, MA. Although divemasters were knowledgeable and helpful they restricted bottom time to stay on schedule, keeping a close leash on the divers and not allowing you to stray far. Vis: 50-80 ft. Water: 78-80 degrees. Great for beginners, boring for advanced. They did make special trip for advanced to Maracaibo. It wasn't as difficult as we were led to believe (unless you had just received your O.W. certification). The closeness to Palancar makes this hotel/dive operation an outstanding value.

Scuba Club Cozumel, December 1997, Ray Csepi, No. Brunswick, NJ. Beautiful, clean and well kept Mexican style resort on the ocean. Package includes room, meals and diving. Beverage only at breakfast. Food is very good. Divers Lunch of Mayan dishes a popular option. Boats in top shape and divemasters very experienced. Gustavo does exceptional job of coordinating dive shop and training. In winter bring mosquito spray, a light jacket and light wt. poncho for sudden rain. (Ph: 800-847-5708 or 011-52-987-21800, Website: www.scubaclubcozumel.com)

Scuba Club Cozumel, January 1998, Paul Ramer & Christine Roth, Golden, CO. Rooms perfectly designed for accommodating piles of wet dive gear and for rinse before departure. Funky layout added a charm that I see only rarely throughout the world. Staff, from the managers to the cleaning ladies and gardeners, without exception related to us like we were favored relatives. Food nearly always superb (some small exceptions). Waiters in the Fat Grouper restaurant quickly got to know us and regularly coached us on our Spanish. On New Year's Eve the hotel treated everyone to an outdoor Mexican feast complete with a huge pinata. The piñata handler was so good that the gaiety lasted for at least an hour. . . . Only problem: ceiling mounted vegomatics that pass for fans. These steel-bladed beasts are mounted low enough so that anyone over 5' 8 can touch the blades. I got a deep gash in my thumb while changing my shirt. Fortunately it didn't interfere with diving. Our divemaster let me wear a glove on my injured hand (to keep away the sharks, he laughingly suggested). No gloves or knives are allowed when diving in the National Park. . . . Diving was less than ideal and far from the Cozumel reputation thanks to a strong North wind, but it blew away the humidity and mosquitoes. First day of diving was canceled by the harbor master. Shore diving from the hotel was unattractive since the waves were breaking over the piers and up the sidewalks. The next day we managed to get in our 2 boat dives, in the largest and newest boat, a 55' single hull that was an even match for the waves. We all fought the cold after each dive, and several members of our party got seasick. Stopped using our poly skins under our suits and left our suits on between dives to stay warmer. Had 2 divemasters, 6 to 8 in each group. Raymundo a perfect divemaster-clear briefings, constantly pointing out interesting features and critters, never in a hurry, always looking out for possible problems. Stayed down to 500 lbs. on most dives. Chop was severe on most dives; I would have been more comfortable if they had issued safety sausages. Wind was blowing opposite the current-often got washed under the boat during pickup. The boat crew was excellent, managing to get everyone back on board fast. . . . Gave us a free night dive as compensation for our lost day. It was interesting but visibility was not wonderful. Every boat in town was out with hundreds of lights underwater from the boat. Number of small octopus, eels, and rays. Rental lights not the greatest. . . . New Year's Day, with all the dive boats on holiday, we took the ferry to the mainland and dove at the Cenote Dos Ojos with the Loco Gringos, Gary and Kay Walten. Two dives there were highlight of the trip. Dives were exquisite but a bit rushed-just a few too many people. Ferry ride was rough; lot of passengers got sick. The ride back was a lot worse.

Scuba Club Cozumel, February 1998, Sherri Hasbrouck, Tucson, AZ. Sunny, water 76 to 78 F, visibility: 10 to 60 feet, Stick with your guide. Dandy place for new divers. Dive guides and boat crews consistently terrific. Shop's staff consistently surly. Slow cattle-boats, long rides. New reef-wreckers with experienced divers. Hordes on some sites. Terrific experience when you have 20 lifetime dives; considerably less thrilling when you have 100.

Scuba Club Cozumel, May 1998, Chuck & Nancy Anson, Oceanside, CA. Great accommodations and food. Rooms large, tile floors. Bathrooms big, large showers. Staff changes towels twice a day. Big fluffy ones. Nice balconies or patios for drying suits and skins. Gated resort with security. Lockers for gear and rinse tanks. 2 morning boat dives. Surface interval on boat. Tanks filled to 3000+. Almost all drift dives. Plenty to see and it's all beautiful, unless you encounter other dive groups with novice divers all over the coral and each other. Staff always pleasant and wanting to help you have a nice stay. Rooms cleaned thoroughly. Refrigerator in rooms. No TV or phone. Vis: 80-200 ft, water: 80-84 degrees. Town is nice walk or $2 by taxi. We took walks each night never felt threatened. One day we counted 8 cruise ships; people filled the streets, no cars could get through. Sunday night at the square is special and worth a trip to watch the locals at play.

Scuba Club Cozumel, June 1998. Keith and Patty Maupin, Green Forest, AR. Vis: 75-150 ft, water: 78-80 F. Great resort. Not in town, but within walking distance. Food and accommodations were great. Took two nondiving teenagers and they loved Cozumel. Diving great. Guides give good brief and pointed out critters. Dove devils throat exited at 129 feet, a thrill! Night dive off the Club pier was good. Kids snorkeled above us. Boats are top of the line and are equipped with heads. One day crew stopped at a beach side cafe for lunch and volleyball, a great time.

Scuba Dive/Presidente InterContinental, October 1997, Gloria Davis, St. James, MO. Hotel beautiful but large and spread out; Large rooms and balconies! Food expensive and average quality. Rented a car to eat in town. Dive operation good. Fast boats left dock by 8:10 and we were first ones on the reef and back to hotel by 11:30 after 2 tank dives. 80 ft restriction; if you wanted to do the deeper dives you signed up for the specialty dives. Punt Sur, Columbia, etc! For an extra fee and they take experienced divers there. Divemasters have quit feeding the morays after a reported attack on a tourist. Water: 84-86 degrees. Vis: 80-120 ft. Scuba Dive-efficient and conservative. Guides point out critters. Long safety stops-4-8 min! All divers come up at once; OK as all were experienced.

Scuba Du/Coral Princess Hotel, October 1997, Lyndon Campbell, Florissant, MO. Hotel clean and nice. Staff friendly and helpful. No dive operator on premises until 3rd day, when PePe Scuba showed. Dove with Scuba Du out of ElPresidente Hotel. Staff was helpful and friendly. Had a preset dive schedule to sites. Went to Santa Rosa Wall twice but didn't mind. Vis: 100 ft. Water: 84 degrees. Camera bucket was filled with salt water! Other than that, nice operation. (Ph: 011-52-987-21379)

Scuba Du/Presidente Intercontinental, November 1997, David Larson, Dallas, TX. Hotel very nice with good beach, proximity to dive sites, cleanliness, service, but way over priced. Superior room was quality of an Allegro Diamond all-inclusive hotel room, at best! Short cab ride to town. Good snorkeling at hotel beach, vis: 90-100 feet, water: 78-80 degrees.

Scuba-Du/El Presidente, July 1998, Stan & Gretchen Gettis, Coconut Grove, FL. Current great as an "E" ticket ride at Disney World. Diving for beginners is too difficult, it's a 10 for experienced divers. Thousands of small critters. Boats fabulous. Take 7 divers per divemaster. Vis: 75-175 ft, water: 84-86 degrees. Congenial dive staff points out anything they see; no language problem. Current makes it tough for macro photography. When staying at the El Presidente you can roll out of bed, dive right there. Shore dive too.

Scuba Shack/Fiesta Inn, February, 1998, Ray & Teresa Mars, Minnetrista, MN. Hotel accommodations excellent value and great pool, walking distance to San Miguel. Scuba Shack a conscientious operation. Smillio excellent divemaster and watches group closely. Can dive own profile within some limits. Boat large and comfortable but not fastest.vis: 80-100 ft. Water: 80-82 degrees. Restrictions enforced: divemaster set depth time limits based on air consumption. Large grouper, large angels, schools of bluestripe and French grunts. Santa Rosa wall spectacular. Wide variety from walls to shallow coral reefs. Drift diving easy. (Ph: 011-52-987-20145)

Sea Scuba/El Marques, April 1998, Norman Ross, Abilene, TX. El Marques is downtown and a very nice place. Room was clean, had a great AC and fridge and was two blocks from the pier. They did turn the hot water off late at night, which was annoying after a night dive. No place to hang wet gear other than the bathroom and around the room. Dove three days with Sea Scuba and they were very accommodating. Divemaster would take you where you wanted to go and let you dive a reasonable profile. Vis: 50-75 ft. Water: 74-79 degrees. (Fax: 888-338-0387, e-mail: seascuba@cozumel.com.mx)

Sea Scuba, July 1998, Rick Glider, Tucson, AZ. Safety conscious with good briefings, small, fast boats took no more than 7 divers (sometimes only 4 of us). Twelve boat dives for $295 including drinks. First time in Cozumel. Beautiful coral gardens, large coral pinnacles, abundant marine life, Incredible night dives, great wall dives. Saw turtles, large lobsters and crabs, morays (including a purple mouth moray rarely seen), large arrow crabs, toadfish (seen only in Cozumel), peacock flounder, slipper lobster, couple of dolphin at the surface, octopus, starfish, grouper (you could almost touch them); Santa Rosa Wall, Paradise Reef, Punta Tunich, Punta Sur, La Francesca, Columbia Pinnacle, Yucab, Palancar Caves, Chankanaab reef, Palancar Gardens. . . . Great meals at La Choza and The Mission (dinner for 2 was $15-20, including drinks). Ernesto's has great fajitas. Rock n' Java, a short walk from Plaza Las Glorias, has a good 3 egg breakfasts for $3-4.

Villa Blanca, December 1997, Ray Csepi, No. Brunswick, NJ. Hotel rundown, no hot water in shower. Very heavy smell of mildew in room and bed. Biggest roach I've ever seen. Isolated and too far to walk to town. Would not recommend.

Wildcat Divers, September 1997, Norman B. Ross. Dove 3 days with Wildcat Divers and it was the same old story-get in the boat with 1300 psi in your tank. When we were signing up for the dives, they promised us one thing and when we left the dock it was something else. (Ph: 011-52-987-21028)

Yucatan Peninsula

Akumal Club Oasis, May 1998, M. Pawlowski, Denver, CO. Reef badly damaged from hurricane, pollution, lack of care. Water very warm (90 degrees) so fish went deeper. At least one turtle every dive. Vis: 40-90 feet. Resort not set up for experienced divers. Not many dive sites. But Cenotes (under water/underground caverns) were spectacular although inland and fresh water and 70 degrees. When we arrived at resort (midnight), they put us in bad room in back building. Next morning we complained and got ocean front room that we had requested before we left. However, louder complainers got condos (beach front)!

Aqua Tech/Villas DeRosa, 1997, Dr. Ramon D. Jacobs, St. Clair Shrs, MI. Many dive operations in Playa del Carmen. Most mediocre to poor; best is farther South, Aqua Tech at Villas DeRosa is the best not just for caves, but any certified diver can do Cenotes Cavern Dives. Lots of good equipment. Excellent teaching staff. Good variety of lodging. Honest brochure. Ask for newsletter. (Ph: 011-52-987-59020,

e-mail: 105107.2445@.compuserve.com, Website: www.cenotes.com)

Aquatech/Villas Derosa, June 1998, Ron Fraga, Byron, MN. Food good, rooms clean, bottled water coolers in each room. King size beds-firm. Some suites with great views of ocean. Tony and Nancy Derosa run a first class operation! Air fills always good. 80 cubic foot singles and doubles, 100 cubic foot singles, 85 cubic ft. doubles (steel) for Nitrox. Outstanding and helpful staff. Took a full cave class with Tom Young who is outstanding cavern/cave instructor. Water 72 degrees F fresh, almost 78-80 F in salt (passed through several haloclines). Caves decorated with stalagtites, stalagmites, fossils etc. . . . infinite vis in caverns and caves. Small fish in lighted areas of caverns. Most incredible diving I have ever had.

Aquatech/Villas Derosa, July 1998, Ted Doering, Jupiter, FL. Spectacular cave/cavern/cenotes. Vis: 300 ft. Water: 76-84 degrees. Steve Gerrard and Tony Derosa discovered many underground river systems on the Yucatan between Tulum and Cancun. Took cave and cavern training, 4+ exciting. I was in good hands though the adrenalin starts to pump like mad when daylight disappears. Restaurants in Akumal: La Lunita especially home-like atmosphere at Villas Derosa value. Good rooms need updating, especially mattresses. Dive boats and staff for ocean diving: fair not great compared to Cozumel across the water. Wish I had brought more tobradex/cortisporin otic etc, the algae and bacteria in the fresh water can be deadly.

AquaWorld/Cancun Palace, December 1997, Randy Hoyle, Marietta, GA. Resort was great. Diving as far as marine life and visibility was great (water: 76-80 degrees). . . . I contacted Lina at the Aquaworld counter near the resort pool to get details on diving. I didn't want to purchase any dives that my wife was unable to make and that I couldn't get refunded. Lina told me that the dives that I wanted (2 morning dives, 2 afternoon dives and 2 night dives, each) couldn't be refunded but that if my wife were unable to make the dives, we could get dollar for dollar credit at the Aquaworld store, a workable solution. I paid for three two-tank dives for myself and my wife. She tried to make the first dive but was unable to complete it and became sick. When I requested the credits, the manager refused to refund our money or credit us the cost of the dives. He finally agreed to credit us 1/2 of the two (2) night dives and nothing for the afternoon dive.

AquaWorld, December 1997, Joy Faber, Huntingdon Valley, PA. Bought Aqua World's 3-dive package through desk at hotel. Saved $3. Included AM 2 tank, night dive 2 tank, and choice of full-day trip to Cozumel or Cenotes (2 tank). Cenotes unique (out of 135+ dives). Dove Cenote Dos Djos, 2 tanks, amazing, ethereal, spooky, beautiful stalactites and stalagmites eons old, shimmering in crystal clear water of cavern system, with interspersed reflecting pools of sky blue and jungle green (where the caverns opened to the outside world). Experienced guide led our group of 4 divers, no cave/cavern certification needed, and guide gives thorough briefing and tutors you on specialized finning technique needed to avoid stirring up silt. Transportation to the jungle (near Akumal) was included, first by A/C tour bus, then transfer to open stake-body truck for the bumpy off-road ride through the jungle to the Cenote access, thru a 5ft wide hole, down a 30-ft metal ladder, to an underground platform at water level. Just getting to the Cenote was an adventure. (Bring bug spray!) . . . . Aqua World provides 3 mm wetsuit; water 77 degrees. . . . Cancun reefs (Granpay), No Name Reef, and Manchones off Isla Mujeres) Rubble scattered on sand. One nurse shark, small tropicals Warning: If you book a dive package through hotel desk confirm your bookings with Aqua World's main shop before you lug all your gear on the public bus to get to the dock for a 7AM check-in. I arrived for the Cenote trip, only to find they had me reserved for a Cozumel day trip instead. So I had to come back the next morning. Apparently the Aqua World representative at my hotel had known the Tuesday Cenote trip was sold out, but he told me it was available, so he could get me to buy the package.

AquaWorld, April 1998, Wade Norton, Tualatin, OR. arranged a dive on Aquaworld's big cattleboat, which they allowed out when the smaller boats were not. Ocean dives were poor. Cenote dives (with Aquaworld) were fantastic! Vis: 100-500 ft. Water: 75-80 degrees. Wow, 500 ft vis. Dived two sections of the Chacmool Cenote (about 2 hours south of Cancun). A must!

Aventuras Akumal/Club Oasis Akumal, February, 1998, Nancy Simon, Muttontown, NY. Cavern diving awesome. Nancy runs a first rate operation. Christophe, Pablo were fantastic guides. Great briefings and made sure everyone was at ease. Stalactites and mites were great. Unfortunately due to Los Niños no shore or boat diving while we were there. Vis: 40 ft, water: 75 degrees. Club Oasis Akumal very nice Mexican style all inclusive; not fancy but clean and enjoyable. Beautiful condos and rooms as well. (Ph: 800-327-2254)

Crown Princess/Westin Regina Resort, January 1998, Jeannye Slade, Gulfport, MS. I hated Cancun. Vendors were unfriendly except for the flea markets where we got the excellent deals in silver. Xel-Ha was wonderful; got there early and covered all the grounds by 2:00. Floating back down the river got crowded; inner tubes, people, fins were everywhere; thermoclines had increased tremendously to very poor visibility. Saw a humungous barracuda, huge schools of French grunts, snapper and school master, juvenile French angelfish, gray angelfish, saw 2 magnificent rainbow parrot fish 2.5 feet in length. Vis: as far as you could see, water: 74-78 degrees.. . . . Hotel grounds pretty but the pressure to buy a time share was so strong we hated being bothered. Staff, except for gift shop, could not care less if you were there. Don't drink the bottled water in your room. It is left on the counter and adds $7 to your bill at the end of the stay. Spa costs extra, Sauna costs extra, weight room costs extra. They did not give us a keyto the locked liquor and locked refrigerator, but before we could check out someone had to be sent to our room to check it while our taxi waited.

Blue Peace Diving, Rick Glider, Tucson, AZ. Two cenote (cavern) dives, $160 for equipment, drinks, fruit, coupon for lunch, transportation to and from Cancun to Playa Del Carmen. Good briefings. First dive at Ponderosa. Follow divemaster past interesting formations, trying to peer through haloclines where salt and fresh waters meet; quite an experience. Clear water made it easy to look up from 20 feet to see the jungle plants along the openings of the cenote. Used dive lights, but at times didn't need them because outside light peered down into cenote. Taj Mahal; stalagmites and stalactites, fossils of brain coral and sea shells. Surfaced in a cavern inhabited by bats. Blue Peace takes no more than 4 people/ divemaster. Water 75 degrees. (Website: http://seafari.web.com.mx).

Scuba Cancun, April 1998, David P. Carter, Rumford, RI. Used good judgment about who should go on which dive based on experience and water conditions. Vis: 60-80 feet. Willing to accommodate special requests, particularly good spots for photography, fresh water bucket for camera if desired. Friendly and courteous staff, good boat handlers. (Ph: 011-529-8831011)

Sea Fari/La Ceiba, November 1997, Dr. Terrence W. Dunlop, Annapolis, MD. Took ferry from Cozumel to Playa de Carmen (40 minutes and $10 r/t). Two tank dive in two separate cenotes. Most sites fresh water with astounding visibility. No visual sensation of being in water, more like being in air; vis: 300 ft.+, water: 70-74 degrees. Had to follow divemaster, who is certified cave diver. All lights provided and brief orientation to cavern/cave diving. Most within sight of an opening, but not always. Not for the claustrophobic. Did Chaemol and Grand Cenote; latter much nicer than former. Stalactites, stalagmites, columns, petrified trees and alien limestone formations. Some cenotes require strenuous walks and climbs (in full gear). Not high voltage diving and no corals, sponges or marine life other than the odd cave fish, but a nice change. Divemasters capable and pleasant. Combine trip with time in Playa del Carmen, which is nicer than San Miguel in Cozumel; ferry operates from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., weather permitting. Plenty of nice shops and restaurants. Worth a one time dive experience. Cave diving certification available. Yucatan cave system not fully mapped yet.