cozumel, mx info needed....

[Jaksonbrown]

Can anyone recommend a great dive resort on Cozumel? Must do dives?

Thanks.

[BillZ]

Pretty much every resort on the island is a dive resort since thats the main reason people go to Coz. It really depends on what your looking for. We prefer to stay close to town because we like to try different restaurants and pubs.

As far as dive ops go, my suggestion would be to stay away from the cattle boats and dive with the six pax (six person) operators. They're a bit more expensive but you definately get your moneys worth in longer bottom times and better dive sites.

We dove with Blue XTSea and they were great - http://www.bluextseadiving.com/index.php

Next time we go to Coz, we'll probably dive with Aldora Divers. They are on the higher end price wise but you make up for it with a high level of service and guarenteed diving.
http://www.aldora.com/

[Sockmonkey]

Here... because I'm that guy:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/

-Eric

[Jaksonbrown]

Here... because I'm that guy:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/

-Eric

Thanks Eric,

I am aware of the scuba board threads... I was hoping to get the perspective of someone here local.

[Sockmonkey]

Here... because I'm that guy:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/

-Eric

Thanks Eric,

I am aware of the scuba board threads... I was hoping to get the perspective of someone here local.

You sure take the fun out of being obnoxious.

-Eric

[lizard0924]

I've been to Coz once (December 2007) as my introduction to open ocean diving, right after I got certified. Stayed at the Fiesta American and the onsite dive shop was Dive Friends Cozumel. The resort was okay and pretty inexpensive, with onsite restaurants, a swim-up pool bar, etc. They had the usual resort amenities, and you could choose all-inclusive or a la carte. However, it is really far away from downtown Coz, so you pretty much had to take a cab if you wanted to go into town to dine, shop, play tourist. No biggie for us, but that might be a deal breaker for others. The main resort was also located on the opposite side of the road from the ocean, so to get to the dive shop, you had to walk across the two-lane road. Again, no biggie for me, but maybe for others it matters. All the rooms had a nice ocean view and a balcony, from what I recall.

Dive Friends ran a decent operation, with friendly staff and decent dive boats. The boats were hit or miss in terms of number of divers out for any given two-tank dive. Sometimes only 4-6 people, other times fairly full (which sucked). They only did a.m. trips, if I recall correctly. I do remember that they dove some pretty bold dive plans (like depths of 90-100 feet) on some of the dives, considering that the boat was full of newbie, unproven divers (including myself). But, then again, it is Mexico and everything is based on "guidelines" not rules, or so they said.

I've heard really great things about Aldorra Divers, and would probably use then if I ever went back to Cozumel. The diving in Coz was great, but, since my love affair with Bonaire started, it is really, really unlikely I will go back to Cozumel anytime soon.

Hope this "local perspective" helps.

[Gooch]

We got certified there in 2006- at the Iberostar Resort and Dressel divers. It was really awesome and I would like to go back to them sometime in the future. I only know that resort and dive op- they are together, but they were very nice to deal with, showed us great stuff, and we had a wonderful time. I think that particular resort is geared more toward Europeans but I would go there again and thought it was a good bargain for the buck.

If I were to go back today- I would like to see the resorts of Playa de Carmen and the Cenotes. They can get you to the same reefs but you can see Chicken Pizza (Chichen Itza), Tulum and the Centoes easier. And....there are the Iberostar resorts there too. Paul Flower on FB is a Brit that works the dive scene there....you can ping him for info...tell him Pat Guthrie sent you...he will probably ask about his owed money

[Robo]

We went to Coz in February and stayed at the Hotel Cozumel and dove with Dive Paradise. My wife was certified to dive in January and this was the "reward" trip. Though she did have to take me with her.

The Hotel was all inclusive, if you wanted and the diving was "on-site". You walk from the hotel to the dive shop via a tunnel under the street. The hotel was clean, the food was fine and the pool was big. We don't drink, but there seemed to be enough of those opportunities. The place was probably 75% divers, so that sorta cuts down on the partying. The hotel is 5-6 blocks from downtown so no cab/car is really needed.

Our package included 5 days of diving, 4 days of 2 tanks in the morning and 1 tank in the afternoon and the last day just the morning. We took a "day off" from Coz and took the ferry over to Playa del Carmen and dove a Cenote, 2 single tank dives. That was the absolute highlight of the trip. We are talking about going back and doing just a week of those. Dive paradise arranged for a dive shop on the mainland to do the Cenote, and they contracted with a free lance dive master. He was great and when we return we'll just coordinate the trip with him. It was so easy, grab the ferry and walk a block to the dive shop and then Jose picked us up with the tanks and the BC's, we only had our basic masks/fins/snorkel. Jose's site is http://www.divecenote.com. He was great.

The hotel package included the Dive Paradise diving, some days we were on a boat with 12 people, sometimes a "fast boat" with 6. There were plenty of dive masters and the site's were very diverse. The cost of the Hotel/Diving package, not including the Cenote deal, was $2,100 with tax for us both.

We felt the deal was reasonable and the hotel/dive crews were great. Skip the hotel chow for the last night and try Casa Mission, but make a reservation. Fantastic restaurant and a great way to cap a great week.

Hope that helps,

Rob

[LCF]

We went several years ago, and stayed at the Villa Aldora, and dove with Aldora divers. Overall, it was an excellent experience. The Villa is easy walking distance from town, but far enough away to be quiet. The day we arrived, the managers drove us into the city to do grocery shopping, which was service I didn't expect. The dive op picks up at the Aldora dock whenever the weather permits (which it did throughout our stay, IIRC) and that's very convenient. The boats are 6 packs and fast, and are equipped with the loveliest long, windproof coats lined in polarfleece that they wrap you with when you get out of the water. Aldora provides steel 100s and 120s, so the dives are lovely and long, and Nitrox is available.

Our DM was Mateo, who is an instructor and also a cave explorer. He was good company and a delightful guide, allowing us to do our own dive but pointing out cryptic critters we would have missed (like splendid toadfish). We weren't thrilled with the place we spent surface interval, but I understand that has changed since our trip.

Aldora can also organize a day trip to the mainland for a pair of cenote dives, and Mateo leads those dives.

Were I to go to Coz again (unlikely -- it's too far from the caves ) I'd use Aldora.