Scuba Tours in Cozumel
Tres Pelicanos offers a variety of scuba diving trips in the clear, warm waters of Cozumel, Mexico. Because we run such a tight ship, you and your dive buddy will be able to plan up to 5 dives per day – depending on your computer dive profiles, of course. Our Cozumel scuba diving trips leave every morning and are guaranteed to leave every afternoon, twilight and night so long as a minimum of two divers pre-book those trips. Pre-booking gives us time to advertise to other divers already here, and possibly add to the group. Should you decide after arrival to add afternoon, twilight and night dives, scuba diving trips will need a minimum of 4 divers to guarantee.
A Day in the Water with Tres Pelicanos
Are you ready to dive your dive Pelicans?
Our vehicles leave the dive shop at 7:45 AM so get there early (no later than 7:40 AM) to kibitz with the other divers or prepare any equipment that you may need. The Tres Pelicanos shop has been modified to meet Mexico government specified Covid policies so you can feel comfortable wearing your mask and visiting with other divers and our staff. Also because of Covid, we have had to remove our shop water cooler; however, we will have bottled water aboard the boats. We do ask that you bring your own water container as the entire Island is trying to lessen the use of any plastic articles, including plastic bottles.
If you are staying south of our dive shop, we can pick you up in one of our private vehicles on the way to the marina. If you are staying down the coast in one of the hotels, then we can pick you up by boat on the way to the dive sites. Your hotel may require you to pay a small fee to allow us to pick you up at your hotel pier. If you stay north of our location, you can take a taxi to our shop where we will transport you to the marina.
When you arrive at the marina you will board one of our boats, the Skinny Shark or the Loan Shark where you will find your dive gear all set up on a scuba tank. Both are fast and comfortable boats with a top cover and are Captainea (Port Captain) inspected for all safety items and registered to work within the National Park boundaries. The $2 fee you paid when making your reservations to scuba dive are then submitted to Parque Marino (National Park).
We always ask our clients which of the many wonderful reefs they would like to dive. Once the consensus is decided we go to our first dive site. Before going “feet wet” a dive briefing is given about the dive profile, the reef, what you may get to see, and how to get back on the boat.
Just remember the name of the boat you are on and the radio channel we use is #6. That way if you are on the surface and another boat comes by to ask who you are diving with you can tell them e.g. “Skinny Shark, channel 6.” A radio call will bring our boat to you; however, our experienced boat captains are usually right there above your bubbles.
When you enter the water, you may descend or wait for the group. If you need extra weight then it can be added by getting one off the boat. If you find at the end of the dive you are a little light then our divemaster will be able to give you extra weight which he carries. As you descend be sure to go slow and equalize your ears.
Once you are comfortable just follow the divemaster and enjoy the underwater beauty of Cozumel scuba diving. Our usual first-dive profile is 80-90 feet deep for approximately 20 minutes then ascending to somewhere around 60 feet continuing upwards as the dive progresses or the reef allows. When you reach 700psi notify the divemaster and he will take you to a shallower depth where you can do your three minute safety stop. Other divers in the group can continue to dive. We ask that everyone surface at 70 minutes of bottom time.
Once back aboard we do our surface interval either on the boat or at one of the two piers that will allow us to moor up to. Only one of these piers has a public bathroom. While on the boat the ladder can be placed over the side so you can go in the water. Scuba divers understand basic biology and have no problems using the ocean as el baño. A typical surface interval is 60 minutes.
The second dive of the morning will be on another reef, again chosen by the group. This will typically be a shallower dive as we monitor the increased nitrogen levels of our divers. Except for being a shallower dive, everything remains the same.
Be aware that Cozumel Scuba Diving is considered drift diving as the currents drift divers along. Sometimes the currents can be faster on different reefs. Also the higher you are, the current moves along faster. If you find yourself getting ahead of the group, then just get to the bottom and shelter behind a coral head or remain stationary in your elevated position by facing the current and finning slowly so as to not expend all of your air.
When the second morning dive is completed, we will return to the marina. Anyone going on the afternoon dive can be dropped off at a coastal restaurant for lunch. The dive boat will return approximately 90 minutes later to pick you up. Be aware that the restaurant allows us to drop you off only if you spend some money at their establishment. The reason being that the piers belong to the federal government and each hotel or restaurant has to pay a concession. It is only fair they ask you to purchase something.
At the end of your day when the boat returns to the marina, just leave your dive bag on the boat and we will transport you back to town. Your gear will be brought back to the shop, rinsed, hung and ready to go for your next day of diving.
Our afternoon diving profile is identical to the morning dives with different reefs chosen. Our vehicles will leave the dive shop at precisely 1:00 PM.
We also offer Twilight and Night dives. The twilight scuba diving tour is a late afternoon dive usually commencing around 4-5 PM depending on the time of year. On a twilight dive you will witness the joys of marine life coming alive or settling down for the night. Your second dive will be either a true night dive in which you will enter the water when it is dark OR you will enter the water with enough ambient light to get your bearings. Normally within a few minutes it will be dark and you won’t even realize it. This is when octopus and other sea creatures come alive under the careful illumination of your divemaster’s light. Night dives are usually done on shallow (30-40 ft) reefs. There is also the option to just do a one tank night dive.