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Comments: 3 of us left cold rainy UK for Cozumel on the 19th December to dive with Aqua Safari. The owner Bill, his managers and staff are all consummate professionals.
We decided on Aqua Safari after sending e-mails to a number of dive shops in the area, the replies & our conversations with Bill lead us to want to dive with them.
The DM's are wonderful, the briefings always include a "don't touch, & respect the reef, wildlife" very Project Aware!
I highly recommend Aqua Safari for divers who are experienced, as well as those who are just getting started.
They are a great outfit & it was a pleasure to dive with them!

Comments: We were put in touch with Aqua Safari through a tour operator - shoretrips.com  We arrived early for our "intro to scuba" course, and were given snorkle and mask and spent 1 1/2 hrs snorkling outside the shop area. Our instructor was Pedro, and he was terrific.  He calmed my fears, and made sure we clearly understood our instruction.  After our lesson, we rode out on a dive boat and finished off our air tanks. It was the most incredible experience I have ever had! Pedro stayed right with us, constantly checking our safety and making certain that I was confident .  I can't wait to come back to Cozumel and get certified. Pedro was an outstanding instructor!

Posted by Jenny on 05/03/03

Aqua Safari is a very safe & good dive operation and a 5 Star PADI IDC.  The shop at the Plazas Las Glorias was a pleasure to deal with.  

You will like them if:
1.  You are not an advanced diver;
2.  You like the company of 12-20 other diver to chat with and sun-tan with;
3.  You like having a DM pay closer attention to you than is typical on the average fast boat in Cozumel;
4.  You like the big stable boats and clean marine heads.
5. You like the Deckhand handing you cold softdrinks & snacks at the surface interval.

Having said all that - we met a nice couple from Denver on a AS boat in Oct 2000 that we continue to dive with and will see again in Coz here shortly for our 3rd vacation together.  We now dive with a different operator as our needs have changed.

Comments: I've been to Cozumel 21 times and most of those trips were with Aqua Safari. I just couldn't get myself to go back to any of the other dive shops after diving with them. The owner, managers and staff are all top-notch professionals. They are fun and friendly, safe and sane. I have no doubts about their ability to handle any situation when it comes to safety or emergency response. The boat captains are experienced and consciencious. The dive guides and assistants are responsible and truly enjoy showing off (and protecting) the beautiful reefs around their island. The staff that work in the dive shops are helpful and friendly. I've got over 800 dives logged and highly recommend Aqua Safari for divers who are experienced, as well as those who are just getting started. I've also done a number of PADI certifications with them and have found the training I received there (Freddy was my instructor) was much better than PADI coursed I've taken at home in California. Safari Inn is not the Ritz Carlton, but when I can roll out of bed and be on the dive boat in 20 minutes, that's convenience!! Don't think twice about the other dive operators. These guys are the best show in town.

Posted by Jenny on 03/30/02

In two out of three trips to Cozumel, we dove with Aqua Safari.  The last trip we dove the fast boat (Belinda) and it was awesome. We had 6 divers on board (8 max) and one Dive Master.  The boat (Belinda) is newer, fast, but has no head, shade cover, or the drinks/snacks provided on the big boat.  We returned about an hour earlier than the big boat trips.  View the boats at: www.aquasafari.com  E-mail Ms. Donna Mena and she always promptly answers all questions!

The larger boats are an excellent place to make new friends (some of whom we have returned to Cozumel with) and an oppportunity to review who you'd rather not dive with, even if they were the last diver on earth. (like the poor guy last time who had never been in the ocean, ran out of air in 10 minutes and rocketed to the surface).    

If you are the type of diver who doesn't mind staying at 80 feet (with the group), and not dropping off the edge to 130feet, than you would have a good time with Aqua Safari.  The staff and the shop at the Plaza Las Glorias is super friendly, smiles, and remembered our names each morning.  Oh yeah, and their boats are on time!  Whoever you dive with, ensure that they have 02 and radios on board.

Posted by mikeydiver on 03/24/02

Aqua Safari has very large boats equipped with heads, good op been diving with them since 1989.I would recommend you try "sea bands" avialable at your dive shop. You wear them on your wrist and for most people they eliminate any queazy stuff.

Posted by Mj on 01/03/02

Hi Terri,

Can't say anything about the hotels but for a shop, I'd recommend Aqua Safari.

http://www.aquasafari.com 

We dive with them exclusivly and send referrels and other divers to them every month.

Posted by Jenny on 12/1701
Traveled: August, 2001
Stayed: Cozumel
Weather: Good
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Value: Excellent Value
Promptness: 10
Policy: 10
Friendliness: 10

Comments:
We dove with Aqua Safari from August 25 - Sep 2, 2001 and had a great time again!  The boats were nice and the DM's were friendly and safe.  The dive shop personnel even remembered our names from December 2000!  We took the big boats for the first 5 days and met a nice group of people.  Our DM's were great, and El Pedio the deckhand superb as always.  On the last day, we took Belinda, the fast boat.  While Belinda had no sun cover or no lunch snacks, it was the way to go!  We dove with 6 instead of 16, and finished our dive day at least one hour earlier than usual.  We did notice that the DM on Belinda was a little stricter than usual (e.g. scolding us at 76 feet for being too deep) and tried to add air on my BC for me at depth.  Aside from these minor blurps after 40 dives with them, we'll definitely be back in 2002!

Posted by Chuck Cox on 07/29/01

Hi Sarah,
For the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone would stay at Plaza las Glorias and not dive with Aqua Safari. That's one of the main advantages of staying at PLG. They are located on the first floor of the hotel, extremely nice people, competative prices, a really good fast boat and four very nice big boats. I've been with DWM and Aqua Safari both and would take AS over DWM any day. Check out www.aquasafari.com

Chuck

Posted by Jenny & Ray on December 24, 2000

For our first trip to Cozumel in Oct 8-16, 2000, my husband and I decided we were going to try several dive operators.  We selected Aqua Safari as our first dive shop and never tried anyone else.  It was the best decision we made our whole vacation!

Upon arriving, we had less than 50 dives each and we were used to 10-20 feet visibility in colder (60) San Diego waters & 6.5 mil wetsuits.  We were a little nervous. The staff (Angel) at the Plazas Las Glorias location Aqua Safair dive shop greeted us by name every morning and with his huge smile!  The Aqua Safari boats were newer, large with shade cover, clean heads, and had a deck to tan on. The entry/exit platform was easy to use.  Cold sodas and fruit or empanadas were served after every dive. The deckhand constantly poured us drinking water to keep us hydrated.

Most important, the Aqua Safari divemasters (Mario, Orlando, Ivan, & Pedro) were fun, safe, and attentive when you needed them to be.  There was always a divemaster in front and at least one behind the group, and sometimes one in the middle, depending on the number of divers.  Since this was our first drift dive, we were surprised by the speed of the current on our first dive. However, from the 1st to our 14th dive, the Aqua Safari boat followed us like a dog.  I felt at ease during our safety stops because I could look up (and to the side) and recognize the bottom of our dive boat.  When we surfaced, we were within 5-10 fin kicks of the platform.  This was good
because Hurricane Keith had just passed the island, and it was a bit choppy the first days. The second day, the waves were larger and crashing up against the pier.  Small dive operators cancelled but Aqua Safari showed up. Due to the size of the chop, I was almost hoping we would not go.  Once we got underway about 45 minutes, the chop turned to calm and the sun peeked
out. It was a great dive!  The entire group of ten people that we met on the boat had a fantastic time that week.  In fact, we're going back in May 2001 with 6 others, and we plan to dive safely again with Aqua Safari.

Jenny and Ray Smith
San Diego, CA

Posted by Darcy on October 12, 2000

Aqua Safari-  Finally decided to pick someone I knew would go out everyday. They have the larger, slower boats but it was worth it.  They have more space to relax and have a head.  1st day there were only 5 divers- 2nd day there were 11 (2 divemasters) but they pulled it off and it didn't seem like a cattleboat.  The divermasters, Mario and Carmen were very good and gave good briefings.  I have to say it still amazes me how many people dive and have no clue about safety stops, buoyancy- the divemasters can't be by everyone's sides through an entire dive.  These guys did their best considering some of the idiots they to deal with.  I would dive with them
again- they were reliable and safe and the boats were comfortable.  It was $50 for a 2 tank am dive.

Posted by Nick on Sept. 5, 2000

My 17 year old daughter and I dove with Aqua Safari for a week while staying at PLG.  I have  over 200 dives and my daughter has just over 40.  We found them very safety conscious and professional. We used the large boat and that allowed us to meet some very nice people.  In fact, my daughter met some girls from Texas and got to hang out with them, shopping and dinner.  The small faster boats would not have given her that opportunity. The staff knew our names and greeted us personally each day, and when we asked to make a boat change in order to dive with the Texas group, it was not a problem.  We were able to dive our computers.  The dive master just asked everyone to begin their ascent with 700 psi min.  Yes, the larger boats were somewhat
crowded.....12 divers plus 2 DMs, but I would use and recommend Aqua Safari again.   Nick

Posted by KITTY on March 2, 2000

Have used their services several times in the past two years. They are extremely safety concious, have a head on the boat and are no more price- wise than others. Fruit between dives and friendly helpful, service. Have their own web page @ Aquasafari.com
Based at Plaza las Glorias and downtown.

Put my 20 year old daughter in a refresher course here and requested a dive video.
Have memories she is pleased to share with her college friends of the two of us swing dancing under the sea. Sea Urchin is very good as well as the others I'm sure, but have personal experience only with above mentioned.

Have fun!

Kitty

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