Tank Size

[river_sand_bar2]

Does anyone know what size tanks the ops use in Belize and Cozumel?

 

Are the 80's or 120's??

[booth22]

I'm pretty sure AL80's are standard down there

[cruzegirl]

Booth22,

I just had to comment on your photos.... Excellent..... so many good shots...... And I can see you have a fascination for the Nudibranch's too..... I love them......Not that I've seem that many yet but they are beautiful...... Couldn't watch the video's as it froze my computer but love the pics......And I'm formerly from Arizona too.... from Tucson...... I've lived here for 20 years now....In California that is.... Anyways, great shots.....

[river_sand_bar2]

Booth22... Loved the pics as well...

 

I just dove La Jolla caynon last night... weather and vis was pretty good...

Bought a new houseing for my Canon A620, so I took it down to about 70ft to test it for leakage... all dry!!!! wooohooo.... cant wait to get some good shots as well.

[Middleager]

In Belize, most shops use 80s. The one I went with had 100s and I requested to use that.

 

In Cozumel, again most shops have 80s, but many would also provide 100s if you ask for an extra charge of about $5. One shope, Aldora, has 120s -- and gives you long bottom time. Aldora is more expensive, and I would've dove with them, but from cruise ship they'll need 4 people (odd time) to go. I ended up diving with Blue Angel in Coz and used 100s.

[river_sand_bar2]

Thanks for the info... I wanted to see if I could gage my bottom time based on the tank size. I mainly use 120's here....

 

Whats the average depth and bottom time for most of the dives down there?

We booked through the cruise ship in Belize due to the limited time so I would imagine most of the divers on that trip will be from the cruise ship or do they pick up others prior to picking us up from the ship?

[booth22]

Thanks for comments on the pics you guys... I have the cannon housing and it's been down to 100' with no problems at all. We'll be back at La Jolla in November and can't wait to do some more diving. And I do like the nudi's, they're fun to try and find while diving!

[Capt_BJ]

Thanks for the info... I wanted to see if I could gage my bottom time based on the tank size. I mainly use 120's here....

 

Whats the average depth and bottom time for most of the dives down there?

We booked through the cruise ship in Belize due to the limited time so I would imagine most of the divers on that trip will be from the cruise ship or do they pick up others prior to picking us up from the ship?

 

In my (many) trips to Coz' using a variety of shops I've found al 80's to be the norm, but with prior arrangements other sizes could be had. In particular spousal unit can normally meet the planned profile on shorties and will request same to ease her back.

 

I typical 2 tank trip in Coz will usually be a 'deep' profile of 80 to maybe a bit more for 20 on the first dive followed by a shallow ... maybe 45 .... for 50. I'm not an air hog, but sure don't match spousal unit's mizerly air consum' and find an 80 to be fine on these profiles. Cayman trips (lots of those too) tend to be very similar profiles, in my experience.

 

The trip is going to give you a very safe profile....they tend to expect the average cruise ship diver to be someone who got certified in 1970 and hasn't dove since :o

 

wrt to who will be on the trip ... I've seen it work both ways. Sometimes the trip was all from the ship, and sometimes it was a mixed load. Depends on who has the contract when you visit...and how many divers the ship sends. Some cruises I've seen 30 divers show up...others we were the only two....

[bruce-r]

For Cozumel, in addition to Aldora, Liquid Blue (an excellent operation) and Living Underwater both use larger steel tanks, 100' and 120's.

[cmdchiefthom]

The ship's excursion contractors will use the standard 80's, however I have seen 50's aboard the boats. Private arrangements would obviously allow a diver to request specific equipment types.