Aldora Divers, a great company in Cozumel
Considerations of Drift Diving in Cozumel
Most divers learn and practice scuba diving in relatively calm waters, or at least those devoid of major currents. When boat diving without current, even with large groups, it is usually possible to navigate away from the crowd with a buddy and return to the boat when the dive profile/air supply of the buddy team dictates. Large groups of divers may cause some discomfort thrashing about in the boat before the dive, but once in the water one diver's affect on the others is minimal. Diving in currents however adds great complexity to the scuba experience, with particular ramifications for large groups or even small groups that contain different skill levels and interests.
But in Cozumel drift diving is the only possibility and it is one of the worlds most frequented dive sites. And few have done a good job of melding drift diving with quality of dive considerations. Perhaps that is why Cozumel has such a poor image as "Cattle Boat Capital of the Caribbean". But the reality is that the Cozumel operations have pretty much the same types of boats and staffing as other destinations--it is just that they have not recognized the differences that drift diving should dictate.
For the most part drift diving has evolved into a very safe and enjoyable activity that many divers, seasoned to its peculiarities, long for when diving elsewhere. At its best, divers may sweep along a near vertical wall, drifting along effortlessly and enjoying the view. Some have compared the experience to being an "eagle gliding along the walls of the Grand Canyon". Let us look at some of the major ingredients of drift diving.
Precision of Drop Site
Most of the reefs, especially the more advanced sites in the south like Punta Sur, require dropping at exactly the right spot so that as the group descends, the desired cave or swim through is encountered when the group hits the bottom. This requires navigation at the surface, as well as underwater where the dive masters/guides must check for current direction and speed. Once the right position is determined by the dive master the group drops and quickly descends. If the divemaster/captain are lazy, inattentive or just don't care they drop anywhere along the reef and the divers may never know what they have missed.
The divemaster who is really concerned about the quality of the dive will always enter the water first to check the current and drop site, and swim until it is found or get back in the boat for another try. The drop site precision is a major factor in seeing the best of Cozumel and the quality dive operations will insist on this from their divemasters..
Buddy Groups
The buddy system is used in drift diving but it is somewhat different than elsewhere. Before entry each buddy still performs the same tasks of checking each other for tank pressure, open valves, etc., but underwater you find that you have a lot of buddies, the buddy group!
For Cozumel drift diving to be safe the Captain must follow the bubbles of the group. It is not possible for him to track multiple bubble streams. Consequently the group must stay in close proximity during the drop, the dive, and on the ascent. That is one of the divemasters most important jobs. This means that everyone in the group must come up together as well. Once on the surface the captain can collect a cohesive group, but could have serious problems trying to find people scattered all over the ocean, especially in the occasional rough seas.
Page 173 of the PADI Divemaster Manual states that in drift diving "The group must descend, stay close, and ascend together". There are some dive shops in Cozumel that do not adhere to this policy but in our opinion it is unsafe, and directly in violation of PADI standards.
For the most part this technique has been honed to a science in Cozumel, but every now and then complaints are heard about being nearly abandoned by the boat. There is the occasional neglectful captain or divemaster but it is a very difficult job to herd 20 divers. More often than not it is the fault of the diver who left the buddy group. Given the size of some dive groups and the difficulty that dive masters, even the good ones, have in keeping track of so many people--it is surprising that there are not more complaints or accidents.
So, when drift diving it is like you have multiple buddies. If your buddy is using dive tables and it is time for him to ascend, so it is for you....even if your computer says you have 20 minutes of bottom time left. If your buddy runs low on air then you have to go up as well...even though you have 2,000psi. The end result then is that with groups, the lowest common denominator dictates the dive--and the larger the group the lower the denominator. There is little wonder then that people complain about Cozumel drift diving and just do not realize the factors that contribute to their dissatisfaction.
Unfortunately, many dive operations do not recognize this basic difference either, or if they do then are powerless to fix the problems because of economics.
Dive Economics
Once Cozumel became well known to the diving world, a steady influx of divers began which continues today. It is sort of a pipeline which spews forth divers to the diving businesses there, no matter how poor the service or safety record. The situation exists today where the dive shops, for the most part, compete for business on price alone. Of course they all say "small groups, quality dives, etc." but the basic economic fact remains that at very low prices they cannot afford to:
1) Purchase and maintain good safe equipment (roughly one out of 20 boats in Cozumel have O2 onboard)
2) Employ the best dive guides and captains
3) Burn gasoline to visit the more remote and better dive sites.
4) Limit dive group size.
5) Provide personalized service.
As a result Cozumel has developed a pretty poor reputation for diving quality--even though it has the best dive sites in the world. Nevertheless, the big operations may not have the understanding or the will to try to reverse that situation, but they may not need to change-- the pipeline just keeps spewing out divers!
However, properly managed semi-private operations that don't spend a lot of resources capturing new victims in marketing campaigns and paying commissions to tour group operators, can viably conduct dive business at rates just slightly higher than the mainstream going rate. In fact for $10 per day more, it is possible to provide the highest quality dive experience short of private charters.
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I highly recommend Aldora Divers in Cozumel, they give wonderful diving for small parties (max. 6 per boat).
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