Dive Review of Papa Hogs SCUBA Emporium/Villa Blanca Garden Hotel in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cozumel

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Papa Hogs SCUBA Emporium/Villa Blanca Garden Hotel, Aug, 2013, by Russ Battisto, MN, US ( Sr. Reviewer 9 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 7086.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	As experienced divers returning to Cozumel for the umpteenth time we enjoy getting into our routine. Off the plane and thru customs, we get gear ready and jump in for a "check-out" dive along Villa Blanca wall. We stay shallow until both diver and equipment check out. Rinse and put the gear away for the night and head to our favorite watering hole, mostly Papa Hogs. Great chips, guacamole and beer to rinse the travel day away. Dinner is usually prepared by Arturo at the Villa Blanca restaurant. Great food, fast service and perfect for tired divers after a long travel day. The rest of the week we enjoy our morning dives (Columbia is still my favorite) and after noon siestas followed by Happy Hour again at Papa Hogs. Mike and Margaret run a tight ship and have all paperwork ready and their fleet of small fast boats with nitrox scheduled and ready for us each morning. We stay at the Villa Blanca Hotel because it is clean, comfortable and next door to our dive shop. Jorge, the manager, makes sure our stay is wonderful each time we visit and greets us several times during our stay to be sure everything is to our satisfaction. Jorge and his staff work hard to keep us comfortable. Very convenient. Papa hogs and Villa Blanca work well together. The dives this year were mostly wonderful. Although the weather was perfect for us all week, we noticed lots of current several days so dive sites were juggled to compensate. We hit all of our preferred sites but not necessarily on the days we planned. Our divemasters (Arturo, Juan and Erik) kept us on sites that we would enjoy based on conditions. Even advanced divers prefer to enjoy a dive and we accomplished that most days. There were a couple of dives that were cloudy (sand stirred up from heavy currents) and one "fly" dive where the currents made it impossible to use our cameras much but overall this time of year is great for diving in Cozumel. Our highlight, three black-tipped sharks at Punta Tunisch, our second dive of the day. Toward the end of the dive we were headed shallow when the 3 sharks showed up to check us out. I got some good video of them as they loitered near us. Overall a great trip, once again. Can't wait to return!
Websites	Papa Hogs SCUBA Emporium Villa Blanca Garden Hotel
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Mainly Caribbean, Fiji, Hawaii, Africa
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas
Water Temp	80-84°F / 27-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	80-120 Ft/ 24-37 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Papa Hogs allows you to dive based on your skills and experience. Mike & Margaret try to match you with others in your dive experience. Very nice!
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Boat Captains and Divemasters are very helpful, when needed, for us camera/video nuts. Attention to detail and great care taken with equipment. Divemasters allow for slow-pokes with cameras (like me) when opportunities arise.

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Dive Review of Papa Hogs SCUBA Emporium/Villa Blanca Garden Hotel in Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cozumel

Papa Hogs SCUBA Emporium/Villa Blanca Garden Hotel, Aug, 2013,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Papa Hogs SCUBA Emporium/Villa Blanca Garden Hotel in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cozumel