About

Careyitos Divers

Born as a business in 1980 in Cozumel, when there were only ten diving operators on the island.

1980

The long version

Careyitos Divers was born as a business in 1980 in Cozumel when there were only ten diving operators on the island. The name has changed shape over the years, from Careyitos Divers to Careyitos Advanced Divers and back again, but the boat has been running the same reefs the whole time.

Ricardo Madrigal founded it and still owns and operates it. He is 72 now and slowly stepping back from the daily running of the trips, handing it to a crew of PADI certified instructors and divemasters who are young, professional and eager to work.

The people who dived with Careyitos in the eighties now send their children, and in some cases their grandchildren. That is the part Ricardo is proudest of, and it is not something you can build quickly.

I do not know how we rank in the best to worst scale as I never went with other dive operations. My only guide on that subject is that we are still here after 40 years.

Ricardo Madrigal, owner and operator

An early Careyitos photograph of divers on the boat in the 1980s

Careyitos crew members on the back deck of the boat in Cozumel

About

The crew

Ricardo, Jose, Gaspar, Cristobal, Martin, Ariel, Miguel and Hailler. Between them they hold divemaster, instructor and captain certifications, and most of them learned this reef here.

How we serve divers

We aim to serve the most advanced to novice divers with the same attention and desire to better them, and to move them along from the basic mechanics to the finesse of the sport.

About

Safety, and the things we insist on

None of the following is negotiable, and we would rather lose a booking than bend any of it.

Certification cards, every time

We will always request certification cards and a completed release form before anybody gets in the water. There are no exceptions and no favours.

Sites matched to the divers

We will not choose dive sites that are inappropriate for the experience of our divers. If the current is wrong for your group that day, we go somewhere else.

Two divemasters, always

A maximum of eight divers with two divemasters in the water. One leads, one watches the back of the group, and nobody dives alone by accident.

Respect for the reef

We will always request respect for the underwater environment, and we will insist on this. Nothing touched, nothing taken, nothing chased.

About

The boat

A 38 foot Bertram with twin engines and propellers, a large sundeck, a bathroom on board and space to sit or lie down while transiting to and from the sites.

We run her at ten to twelve knots. It is slower than most of the fleet and that is deliberate, because high speeds are hard on the animals that live here. It also means the ride out is part of the day.

38 ft Bertram: Dives
10 - 12 knots: We go slowly on purpose

Come and see for yourself

The best introduction is a two-tank day. Book one and make up your own mind.

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