ScubaTony — Local services in Isla Cozumel

I dove for a month with ScubaTony in June 2022. I Did 30+ dives. Another 5-Star visit!

ST as they are known, is the best of the best. And I don’t mean just in Cozumel, but anywhere I’ve been diving. Much like arriving at a 5-star boutique hotel, ST provides a level of customer service that is 2nd to none.

I’m an advanced diver with nearly 800 dives logged with several hundred being with ST. I also do a lot of underwater videography and photography. I don’t suffer mediocrity very well and having taught customer service in large corporations, I use my career experience and expectations as a benchmark to compare large and small service companies. I’m always watching to see how the team interacts with new customers, and/or customers with an issue such as gear problems, ear problems, etc. Putting it simply…”They take care”. Other companies can learn a lot from watching how the entire team works together to provide the best possible experience to everyone.

From the time you begin your scheduling, the two women, Joei and Dona, are knowledgeable, welcoming, and knock themselves out to help you get your dives planned. Before retiring, I was a senior exec and these two women are the type any company would love to have on their team!

Once at the marina (Marina Fonatur) at the south-end of the downtown, you are greeted warmly and made comfortable. The dive masters and dock team (Carlos/aka Viernes and Salsa) work together seamlessly to get you and your gear onto the right boat. They introduce you to the captain and help you get settled-in.

The briefings onboard on the way to the dive site(s) are consistent across all the dive masters (DM’s). Questions are answered and there is no rushing to get everyone in the water. They regularly remind people to take their time and not to rush. Safety to them is Job-1.

The DM’s are all outstanding. I’ve had the pleasure of diving with all of them over the past seven years. On my most recent trip, I’ll give a shout-out to, Kris, Pedro, Miguel, Martin, Carmelo and Moi. Each one is great and has their own style. All have eyes that seem to always find the best things to see, whether large or small macro objects. Turnover is low, and my understanding from locals is that there is a ‘waiting list’ for DM’s from other dive operations who want to work for ST. That says a lot!

The boat captains are not just drivers. They too are part of the overall experience. They not only know the dive site areas, but they are always going above and beyond to help you with your gear, serve refreshments, or to simply have a nice conversation. They are experts at following the divers and being at the spot where we’ve ascended. Some days with high winds and surf, entry back into the boat is a challenge. All the captains help to get you back onboard safely. Shout-outs to (names/nicknames)…. Carlos (Papo, although I call him Papi Chulo), Hector (Mago), Alex, and Miguel (Chicken). You guys are amazing!

I have recommended to many friends that they use ScubaTony. They come back raving about their experience. I’ve helped friends get their certifications with ST and they too have said how much they’ve loved their experience with them and the quality of instruction they received.

What more can I say? Nothing really except to say, sign up with them and have...

My dad and I took a trip to Cozumel and knew nothing about diving here. I read on Reddit that Scuba Tony was the best dive agency to go with, and the Google reviews confirmed it.

Let me just say: the reviews here don't lie. The prices were amazing too. We did 16 dives and they were all very reasonably priced!

The first day we had to do a refresher because it had been more than a year since our last dives. Our Divemaster was Israel and he was an absolute G. Unlike most dive shops that just dump you in a pool or take you out to the shallows to refresh skills, the refresher was an awesome 2-tank dive in the reef! It was amazing. Israel was super attentive and very enthusiastic and kind.

We dove a total of 16 dives with them. Each day, they picked us up from the beach right at our resort which was amazing. We woke up, and went right to the beach, and boom, we were diving in no time. One time, a dive was delayed because the ports had closed due to weather. I got an email telling me that I would have to go to the marina to get on the boat since pickups were not allowed, but I goofed and didn't read that part of the email. I thought I had blown it and that we weren't gonna dive that day, but they accommodated us anyways and still picked us up from the resort. I was so grateful for their flexibility.

Each dive is determined on the boat. The instructors know the reefs like the back of their hands and can take you anywhere depending on what you want to see, be it coral formations or sites teeming with marine life. There is a huge variety of dive options and they know them all.

When you get on the boat, they have your equipment ready and prepped for you. I brought my own gear, and they allowed me to leave it with them multiple days without having to lug it back to the hotel each time with me! It was awesome to wake up and know my gear was ready to go and set for me each day.

When you get to your reef, they already have your BCD and reg set up for you and they help you into your rig. They give you defogger for your mask. They brief you about the dive and then you roll off the boat.

I have to take a moment to talk about the surface intervals. They have soda, cookies, and other snacks on the boat, so lunch really isn't really necessary. But the best part? Oh my gosh the best part? At every surface interval on the boat, they serve you hands down the best Guacamole and chips I have ever had. This stuff is freshly made by the captain on the boat day of and let me tell you it is insane. Incredibly fresh, and made with the best ingredients. I cannot compliment the Guacamole enough.

One surface interval, they took us to some shallows (like 2ft of water) and a bunch of stingrays came around the boat looking for food. It was awesome. No guac for the stingrays though!

All in all, if I ever come back to Cozumel, I don't need to look for another dive shop. The dive instructors are excellent. The service and hospitality are excellent. The whole experience was amazing. 11/10 experience with Scuba Tony, and I cannot recommend these guys enough. They have my business...

My brother and I are very newbie scuba divers, I hadn't been in years and I made sure to go through a refresher course and read through a PADI book/watch all the Scuba youtube videos before flying to Cozumel. Diving in Cozumel was awesome, water clarity was ridiculous and Scubatony was a first class operation. My brother and I flew from Denver, Colorado and stayed at the Casa del Mar hotel from July 28th‐Aug 4th 2021 and had no issues, hotel was very reasonably priced and we'd stay there again.

Right in front of our hotel there was a dive operation called Cozumel Marine World and we did a bunch of shore dives with them which was super cheap. Their equipment though didn't compare to Scubatony. Cozumel Marine World's gear was old and dated, I had to wear an old school weight belt and the O ring on the cylinder they gave me was bad and leaking air, had to switch it out...always remember to do those safety checks especially in Mexico. Glad I only did shore dives with their equipment since we only went down to max of 30ft. For boat dives where you are going to rent a BCD/Regulator and trusting your life to the equipment I'd only go with Scubatony. Scubatony had very well maintained Aqualung gear with integrated BCD weights like every dive operation should have.

For anyone going to Cozumel to dive just a few tips, always bring your own mask/fins/snorkel/wetsuit/quick spit mask defogger at a minimum. We brought everything except fins and that was a mistake, it's just a pain to constantly rent those from places if you'll be diving from the shore like we did. If you'll be diving from the shore and other locations around the island, it's worth it to just buy your own dive computer like I did as well and make sure to know how to work it before you make the trip. I bought the new Aqualung i330r color screen dive computer for $359 off Amazon before my trip and it worked perfectly. I wish I would have bought the new Shearwater Peregrine though for slightly more money.

Only other items I wish I would have brought to Cozumel for diving was a deployable surface marker buoy (DSMB) and an underwater compass. You don't really need these if you are just going with Scubatony but for shore diving you really do need to have them and know how to use them. Boat traffic is pretty heavy in Cozumel and you don't want to pop your head up on the surface without a buoy that boaters can see.

We'll be going back to Cozumel eventually and for boat diving I definitely trust Scubatony especially if you're renting equipment as their gear is top notch. Miguel was our divemaster for both days of diving and he was fantastic as well. Miguel was super efficient on his air, he probably can stay down a hour per cylinder whereas my brother and I were maybe getting 35-40 mins before having to surface, we definitely have some work to do lol.

So I give Scubatony 5 out of 5 stars, their email communication for booking and answering questions was great. The actual dive operation and dive masters were amazing. This is the place to book for...