Studio Blue Cozumel: The Complete Guide
Studio Blue Cozumel has been diving the island since 1990: PADI and SSI courses, two-tank trips capped at eight divers per boat, night dives, rentals and repairs, a few blocks from the ferry pier.
Studio Blue Cozumel: The Complete Guide
Best for divers who want a hard eight-person cap on the boat and a downtown shop that has been trading since 1990
Studio Blue Cozumel is a locally owned dive shop on Calle Dr Adolfo Rosado Salas, established in 1990 and PADI and SSI certified, and its defining commitment is a published limit of no more than eight divers per boat.
Plenty of Cozumel operators describe themselves as "small group". Studio Blue attaches a number to it. Combine that with more than 30 years under local ownership, a downtown location a few blocks from the ferry pier, and a shop open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and you get an operation built around convenience and continuity rather than volume.
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Why Choose Studio Blue Cozumel
The eight-diver cap is the headline. Group size is the single biggest determinant of how a Cozumel dive day feels. Eight divers means a briefing everybody can hear, a guide who can see the whole group in a drift, and a ladder queue measured in seconds.
Longevity counts for something. A shop trading continuously since 1990 under local ownership has been through hurricanes, tourism collapses and the arrival of dozens of competitors. That is a harder credential to fake than any certification badge.
It is a genuine full-service shop. Studio Blue describes itself as offering dive trips, snorkelling tours, equipment rental, repairs and sales, and the team has decades of experience maintaining and repairing gear. If a regulator starts breathing wet on day two of a week-long trip, that matters more than any brochure feature.
Both agencies are taught. Studio Blue is PADI and SSI certified, so you are not locked into one system. Our overviews of PADI courses in Cozumel and SSI courses in Cozumel set out the differences.
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Diving Style and Experience
Studio Blue's standard product is the two-tank dive trip — the shop calls it "how most divers explore the many picturesque dive sites surrounding Cozumel."
Boats typically leave around 8:00 or 8:30 in the morning and return in the afternoon. Afternoon dives and twilight or night dives are also available. For night dives, the group leaves the shop for the marina around 6:00 p.m., and a minimum of four divers is needed to schedule the trip.
On dive sites, Studio Blue is deliberately broad: "Shallow, deep, drifts, caves, swim-throughs, walls, wrecks... there is something for every diver and all skill levels." Advanced sites such as Punta Sur are on the table for experienced groups when conditions permit — an important qualifier, because Punta Sur is a genuinely demanding site where current and depth do not forgive inexperience.
Cozumel diving is drift diving almost everywhere. The current carries you along the reef and the boat follows your bubbles. With eight divers rather than sixteen, that process is simpler for everyone. Our Cozumel dive sites guide ranks the island's reefs by depth and skill level if you want to know what to request.
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Courses and Training
Studio Blue Cozumel teaches both PADI and SSI, and publishes durations for its core courses.
| Course | Duration published by Studio Blue | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Discover Scuba | 2 to 3 hours | Introduction to scuba diving, no certification required |
| Open Water Diver | About 4 days | First level of scuba certification |
| Advanced Open Water Diver | 2 to 3 days | Builds depth, navigation and specialty skills |
| Rescue Diver | 3 to 4 days | Requires EFR Primary and Secondary training within the last 24 months |
| Scuba Refresher | Not published | For divers revisiting essential skills |
| Divemaster | Not published | Available through additional training |
The Rescue prerequisite is worth planning around: you need Emergency First Response Primary and Secondary Care completed within the previous 24 months before starting the Rescue Diver course. If your first aid certification has lapsed, budget an extra day.
For first-time divers, the Discover Scuba Diving experience at 2 to 3 hours is the low-commitment entry point, and the Open Water Diver certification at around four days is the full one. Divers continuing on will find the Advanced Open Water course is a natural two-to-three day add-on, and the Divemaster course is the first professional step Studio Blue offers.
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Boats and Group Size
Studio Blue Cozumel caps dive trips at no more than eight divers per boat and describes its boats as large and comfortable.
That combination — a big boat with a small load — is the specific thing to understand here. It is not that the boat is small; it is that the boat is not filled. You get deck space, room to kit up without elbowing anyone, and a group small enough for a guide to manage in current.
For night dives, the practical limit runs the other way: a minimum of four divers is required for the trip to go ahead. If you are a solo diver or a pair wanting a night dive, ask the shop whether others are already booked for the date you want.
The shop does not publish a maximum number of divers per guide separately from the per-boat cap, or a specific boat name and length.
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Location and Getting There
Studio Blue Cozumel is at Calle Dr Adolfo Rosado Salas 121, Centro, 77600 Cozumel, Q.R., Mexico — a few blocks from the ferry pier.
That is about as convenient as a Cozumel dive shop location gets. If you are arriving by ferry from Playa del Carmen for a day of diving, you can walk to the shop. If you are staying downtown in San Miguel, you are within a short stroll. If you are staying on the southern hotel strip, it is a short taxi ride north.
The shop is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Those long hours are genuinely useful: you can drop off gear for a repair after dinner, or sort out the next morning's booking in the evening rather than rushing at dawn.
Boats leave from the marina rather than the shop itself; for night dives the group departs the shop for the marina around 6:00 p.m., so confirm the meeting point for morning trips when you book.
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Prices and What's Included
Studio Blue Cozumel does not publish dive trip or course prices on its website.
Rather than guess, ask directly — and ask specifically what is included. In Cozumel the National Marine Park fee is the item most often quoted separately from the dive price, so confirm whether it is inside or outside the number you are given. Also worth confirming: whether tanks and weights are included (they usually are), and what rental gear adds per day.
What the shop does state is that rental equipment is well maintained, and that staff will assemble a complete set and carry it to and from the boat for you — a small courtesy that saves a lot of hauling across a hot dock.
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Who It Suits Best
Divers who genuinely want a small boat load. Eight is a published number, not a marketing phrase.
Anyone staying downtown or coming over on the ferry. A few blocks from the pier is hard to beat for logistics.
Divers who value a long-established local business. Since 1990, locally owned, and still trading.
People who need gear serviced mid-trip. Rentals, sales and repairs on site with a team experienced in equipment maintenance.
Divers who want flexible timing. Morning, afternoon, twilight and night dives are all on the schedule, and the shop stays open until 9:00 p.m.
Divers who have not settled on an agency. Both PADI and SSI are taught here.
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Who Might Prefer a Different Shop
Divers who want to compare prices online before enquiring. Studio Blue does not publish rates for dives or courses, so you will need to make contact for a quote.
Divers who need nitrox confirmed in advance. Nitrox availability is not stated on the shop's website. If enriched air is essential to your dive plan, confirm it before booking rather than assuming.
Guests wanting hotel pickup. No pickup service is published; the downtown location assumes you can reach the shop yourself.
Divers wanting cenote day trips or a photo and video service. Neither is listed among Studio Blue's published services.
Divers who prefer email correspondence. No public email address is published — reservations run through phone or WhatsApp.
None of these are marks against the shop. They reflect an operation focused on running good small-group dive days from a convenient downtown base rather than on selling every possible add-on.
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Practical Information
- Name: Studio Blue Cozumel
- Address: Calle Dr Adolfo Rosado Salas 121, Centro, 77600 Cozumel, Q.R., Mexico
- Phone: +52 987 872 4414
- WhatsApp: +52 987 107 9171
- Website: https://www.divestudioblue.com/
- Hours: open daily 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
- Established: 1990; locally owned and operated for over 30 years
- Certification agencies: PADI and SSI
- Group limit: no more than 8 divers per boat
- Standard trip: two-tank boat dive, departing around 8:00–8:30 a.m.
- Night dives: depart the shop around 6:00 p.m., minimum 4 divers
- Also offered: snorkelling tours, equipment rental, repairs and sales
- Staff: bilingual
Not published on the website: email address, dive and course prices, nitrox policy, hotel pickup, cenote trips, photography services, owner names, or specific boat dimensions.
For a broader comparison of the island's operators, see our full guide to Cozumel dive centers, and for planning what to dive, our guide to the best scuba diving in Cozumel.