Scuba Life Cozumel — Local services in Isla Cozumel

Went diving with Scuba Life Cozumel a week ago while we were on the Norwegian Pearl. We set everything up in advance and the staff was very responsive and confirmed that we had everything lined up prior to even leaving on the ship. During the cruise I got an email from them letting me know they were watching some weather coming in for the day we were supposed to dive. They wanted to make sure that we were prepared in case the Harbor Master shut down diving on the Island. Luckily in our case, they did not! The Marina is super short taxi ride from the port, and there was an abundance of taxis to get, so no problem there. As soon as we arrived at the shop, we were greeted by the staff and checked in, and paid the rest of the cost of the trip. As soon as check in was complete, we were shown to the boat that had our 3 instructors waiting for us (Steps from the dive shop). Our group had 2 certified divers, and 5 that had gone before, but were not certified so they were doing the ‘explore’ scuba trip. The two certified divers had our own instructor, and the other 5 had two instructors with them (they never go more than 3 divers per 1 instructor). Anyways, we got on the boat and boom, all of our gear was there. The guys on the boat were super cool and greeted us and asked us to try on our stuff to make sure it fit. When they say, no hassle diving, they mean it! We tried on our wet suits and SCBAs and once we all had the right sizes (only 2 people had to change). We had a safety brief, and an agenda for the day. Once that was complete we took off. At the first site, the 2 certified divers went on a dive by themselves (to go deeper), and the remaining did their discover dive. The dive itself was AMAZING! This was my 11th logged dive, but my first drift dive. Everything about the dive was seamless. They help you put on your gear, they brief you on what we are going to do, they guide you to where you need to go etc. Even all the new guys stated they felt extremely comfortable the entire time. They felt very well instructed and safe throughout the dive. At our surface interval we were given fruit and drinks to rehydrate. It happened to be my birthday so as soon as we were all on the boat they actually played the happy birthday song to me. These guys are top knotch and really do care about each of their guests. They made sure we were all happy, full, and hydrated before we moved on to the next spot. They gave us another briefing and off we went all as one group to dive together. Immediately into the dive me and my brother were doing the silly ‘mom we are ok sign’. Our instructors pulled everyone together and actually organized and took the group picture of us underwater, again it was their idea, not ours. They truly wanted the best for us. The second dive went awesome again and there were sure to watch all of us and keep some of the stragglers from wandering off. They were very attentive to the group, but also made sure to point out the wildlife to us. The cruise back to the marina was a fun one, as the guys were hanging out with us, joking around, and making sure we were having a good time. They were also taking apart all of our equipment and cleaning it. Again, no hassle diving. Our group did not have to lift a finger during any part of this dive. These guys made sure we had an amazing dive, boat trip, and all in all great day. If you are looking for a great dive shop in Cozumel, these guys are all around AMAZING! I have dove at many different shops around the world that have been let downs, or not very attentive, or just not what I expected. Scuba Life Cozumel blew me out of the water with their hospitality, fun, ease of diving, and safety. We had an awesome day, and if I find myself back in Cozumel (which I hope I do soon) these guys will be the first...

WOW, where do I even begin?! Absolutely the best dive shop we have encountered in all of our diving to date.

Equipment: Dive gear is in great shape and rental equipment includes a dive computer, which is far from a given. Staff do all the setup, tank change, and cleaning at the end. It was such a joy to truly be on vacation and to have all this taken care of. We brought a lot of our own equipment and they add wristband name tags to each piece and clean and store overnight after each day of diving. This was such a great experience… really simplified things for us!

Boat: Larger, newer boats that are quite comfortable. They even have non-slip mats on the stairs and bottom of the boat to make it safer and easier to get on/off and to walk around. Note that it requires back roll water entry, though it has 4 entry points that are easy to sit on, so it doesn’t require the lifting yourself and your tank up onto a ledge behind your equipment spot.

Staff: Absolutely wonderful! I dove here for over a week and each day was great! The dives groups generally seemed to be 8 people max with 2 guides. It could be a bit large to start but they did a great job of buddying up those who ran through air quickly and had one dive master take these divers up for a safety stop while the rest of the group continued their dive. I would have liked slightly more dive master identification of interesting sea life, especially small life, but this was a very small thing and there was still a fair bit of pointing out wildlife. We mostly dive with Diego, David, and Vero, and had a great experience with all 3. Diego did our daughter’s PADI advanced certification and did a great job. He was thorough in providing info on the boat and made sure that she was comfortable and capable for each underwater skill that needed to be mastered. The boat captains, Oscar and Jaime, were both very kind and helpful. We had a great time with all the employees we interacted with!

Prices: Seemed competitive for the area. My one small complaint is that we were not able to book the multi-day rate for our daughter’s two days of diving that followed her advanced course, which seemed a little weird to me since she did 4 days of diving total, including her two days of advanced cert.

Logistics: Boat makes a stop after leaving the marina if there are guests to pick up at Secrets. Unfortunately, there are some dive sites, such as Yucab, that aren’t available on days when the boat has to stop at the Secrets dock, based on the time it takes to get there and the scheduling of morning and afternoon dive times.

Dive time: Shop policy is 70 mins max per dive, which is a very reasonable limit.

We had such a wonderful experience diving with Scuba Life Cozumel and might even plan another trip to Cozumel specifically to dive with this shop. I couldn’t recommend this crew...

My wife and I booked three days of two-tank diving with Scuba Life as our first dive trip after certifications and we will 100% be diving with them again in the future! We had the pleasure of diving with Javier aka “Gordo” as our private dive master for the trip, and he was phenomenal! The staff both under the water and at the shop went above and beyond to make sure that our first experience with them, and first diving trip after certifications, was absolutely amazing!

My wife and I were both a little nervous, but between Carly’s support through the whole process and Javier’s patience and skill, we had a truly awe-inspiring experience! We also had the pleasure of meeting and diving with JP (the owner), Reynada, Aldo, and Kily. During the breaks between tanks on the surface, all the dive masters were engaging with us on the boat, whether it be informing us about the beautiful critters we were seeing, giving tips on frog kicks, etc. I enjoyed it because that interaction and insight transformed down time waiting for the next dive into interesting conversation that we all took something away from! Not to mention, it helped pass the time quickly until we were ready to dive again!

Captains Oscar and Jamie were both on the ball when it came to assisting us with equipment so that we didn’t really have to do much. It was all taken care of for us, which was awesome! They were also on point when it came to putting us on the reefs and making sure to stay comfortably close so that we could safely get back in the boat ASAP at the end of the dives.

We also purchased the package deal, so we stayed at the Tree Top hotel, and it was very beautiful, clean, and close to the main city. You can get almost anywhere you want via the complementary bikes in maybe 15 minutes. There are tons of great options to go out to eat, but we also enjoyed having a complete kitchen to cook breakfast in. It’s nice to just make a pot of coffee with some eggs and toast while you settle into the day (there’s a grocery store called Mega that’s maybe a 10 minute walk from the Tree Top to get anything you might want to cook). A huge plus is that the Wi-Fi has solid speeds for someone like me that works remote and needs to be able to work fast between dives! Oh, and if you’re in room 6, look at the tree outside the balcony in the evening. A big iguana was hanging out in the sun there every day before the sun went down!

From start to finish, Scuba Life has clearly invested the money, time, and effort that make for a fantastic dive shop. The staff has a genuine love for what they do, and it is reflected in their leadership and insight. Walking around the town, you see a lot of shoe-string shops, but Scuba Life runs a first-class operation! Thank you for making our first dive trip one that we will always remember! See...