News
Pro Dive Mexico opens new 5 star facility in Cozumel island, introduces “Free Unlimited Nitrox”
Pro Dive Mexico, an organisation that already operates several acclaimed PADI 5 Star Centers along the Mexican Riviera Maya and on Cozumel Island, announced today that another brand new dive facility will be added to the list and will be inaugurated on the 1st December 2013 – just in time for this year’s busy Christmas season. The new dive facility will be located at the Occidental Grand Cozumel, an all-inclusive 5 Star property that belongs to the finest hotels that Cozumel offers today, and features Cozumel’s longest and most beautiful white sandy beach, Playa San Francisco.
“The far southern location of this hotel and diving center ensures such a convenient diving experience to the diver, due to its very close proximity to Cozumel’s most renowned and most spectacular reefs. Here, we are just a few minutes boat ride away from sites like Palancar, Punta Sur or Maracaibo. This enables the diver to enjoy an early morning 2 tank around the corner of the hotel at world famous reefs, to be back at the hotel around noon where they can kick back and relax for the rest of the day – a true divers delight!” states Pro Dive Mexico Operations Manager Maria Jose Lledo Jara.
Along with this inauguration, Pro Dive Mexico also announced the upcoming birth of their brand new “Free Unlimited Nitrox” program.
“In the past we had to limit our free nitrox program to only one free Nitrox fill per person a day, because we used a continuous blending system requiring the purchase of expensive oxygen. In the future, we will be blending with a modern and state of the art membrane system, making our Free Nitrox program a truly unlimited one. No purchase of oxygen will be required any more and we are happy to pass this 100% saving on to our divers. Even a diver who dives 4 or more dives a day will be able to do all those dives on free Nitrox. That is what we call true “Free Unlimited Nitrox”, and this is actually pretty unique in Mexico”, Maria Jose Lledo Jara adds.
The “Free Unlimited Nitrox” program at Pro Dive Mexico will be introduced firstly at all of their dive center locations in Cozumel island and will then be followed by their Riviera Maya locations in Spring 2014.
For more information please visit Pro Dive Mexico’s website www.prodivemex.com or email them at info@prodivemex.com
Pro Dive Mexico is also Latin America’s leading PADI CDC center and instructor training facility. To inquire about their GoPro programs contact info@idcmexico.com or visit www.idcmexico.com .
Pro Dive Mexico’s Facebook Fanpage with lots of pictures and further info is located at https://www.facebook.com/ProDiveMexicoOfficialFanPage Their Twitter page is https://twitter.com/Prodivemexico.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 2
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 1
For a week at the end of February I was invited to sample the diving with Orca Dive Club based at the Breakers Diving and Surfing Lodge by courtesy of SOMABAY.
Somabay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds. Somabay caters for scuba diving as well as many other sports, including windsurfing, golf, sailing, go-carting, horse riding and many other activities.
All the activities are of a world-class standard and any or all of these can be booked directly from The Breakers.
I took Easyjet from Bristol (UK) to Hurghada. Easyjet are not by any means my favourite airline but the flight was cheap and direct (except for the surprise extra £48 I was charged at the gate for my carry-on bag).
I was met at Hurghada airport by a driver and car and taken to the Breakers 28 miles (45Kilomaters) south along the coast. Once at the hotel I was too late for an evening meal and so a basic meal was delivered to my room. That and a beer from the fridge and I was fast asleep.
Early the next morning after breakfast I arrived for my rep meeting at the Orca Dive Center for 8.00am. I was immediately made to feel welcome, and after brief introductions I got some dive gear from the store, had a chat with my dive guide Mohamed and got ready to try the house reef situated at the end of a very long wooded pier where all diving gear and divers are taken out by buggies.
Once at the end of the pier, a helping hand from staff makes sure your gear is set and then it’s a short walk to the very end where you can either climb down a ladder of simply jump in the water next to the reef. The house reef extends both north and south giving a very easy and safe dive with plenty to see. At this time of the year the water temperature was a constant 22 degrees Centigrade and there was little or no current, so there were no issues in swimming back to the pier.
Quite a few divers were in dry or semi-dry suits, but being from the UK and used to the cold I found a 3mm wetsuit with a 3mm neoprene vest quite comfortable. Even after 50 years of diving I still find that first dive of a trip slightly nerving until I am actually underwater and then all becomes relaxed and I ease into auto diving mode. There was plenty to see with many of the Red Sea favourites along the way.
After the dive and a buggy ride back to the hotel for a very good buffet lunch I was back in the water, once again on the house reef for an afternoon dive.
Check in for part 2 tomorrow when Jeff gets on a day boat and dives a few of the off-shore reefs.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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