Cozumel
This isn’t Muck Diving! True, but that doesn’t mean those in the Midwest cannot treat themselves to some of the more exotic diving experiences. Because the traditional Muck Diver doesn’t dive in paradise everyday information on dive ops, hotels, what should I do and not do become essential when planning a trip to paradise. Because of all these questions, we thought we would give everybody a one-stop place to go to learn about these places and hopefully help with planning your next trip. Once again, the success of this relies upon those that have taken the journey. So, please help out and tell us about your trips and what worked and what did not work.
May 30, 2010
Original Post by Okc Diver on ScubaToys
Arrived on Sat. May 22 around 11:15am got to the resort (Park Royal) around 12:30pm. Walked over to Del Mar Aquatics paid for a 5 day 2 tank trip. Got a tank for a beach dive to find out my weighting. asked for 2 five pound weights got geared up (all new gear) the weighting was perfect for no wetsuit,1 just swimsuit and rash guard. Met up with a family from Enid, Ok. went out with them they were doing a weight check also. spent around 30 minutes under surfaced with close to 2000psi. Went back to the resort to see if my room was ready.
Sunday, arrived at the pier was on the Big Splash.
All dives are divers choice.
Dive site was Santa Rosa wall using a 3mm wetsuit with hood. I had four 3 pound weights in each pocket. Went down to 86 feet dive lasted 30 minutes. Several corals, sponges, and marine life. (Missed my safety stop)
Glue on the velcro side of the fiber optic holder came off and camera fogged up
dive site 2 (can’t remember name)
Saw several jellyfish, turtles, lobster and a few sharks and DM caught a lionfish. Max depth was 63 feet dive time was 40 minutes 12 pounds of weight 3mm wetsuit no hood but wore gloves. Made my safety stop for all other dives left camera on boat
Monday was put on splash I.
Palancar caves was the site. Depth was 75 feet dive time was 35 minutes (tank was 2800psi). More camera problems as above. 3mm wetsuit no hood or gloves with 12 pounds (as with all other dives)
dive site 2 can’t remember name
Max depth was 35 feet dive time 45 minutes (2785psi, I kept getting short fills on my tanks) did see my first seahorse.
Tuesday back on splash I
asked for 100cu tanks at 5 dollars each (still not a full fill 2700psi) Max depth was at 63 feet (boooo) dive ended at 50 minutes regardless of how much we had left in the tanks
Dive 2 splash I
max depth was 54 feet dive time 50 minutes. I found my first lionfish got the DM’s attention and he bagged it. Saw more turtles, juvinile spotted drums, scorpion fish, jellyfish lobster that was close to 4 feet long out alongside the reef, grouper, rope jellyfish, arrow crab, christmas tree worms
Wednesday back on the big splash
dive site was Cedral pass.
100cu tanks again. The max depth was ‘supposed’ to be 80 feet the current was pushing us down the wall fast. I hit 93 feet computer was showing low air had my camera tucked under my left arm (no time to take pics) added air to the bcd fought the current ar 90 feet for 5 minutes, finally got to a spot where I could get out of the current swam to a safer depth ended the dive at 32 minutes with 600psi in my tank started with 2800psi
dive site 2
max depth was ‘supposed to be 60 feet’ ended up at 78 feet entered dive over a large stingray. Caught 2 more lionfish dive time was 40 minutes 2910psi ended with 590psi. Saw a large crab several parrorfish
Thursday back on splash I
100cu tanks (2880psi) max depth 71 feet dive time was 40 minutes. Lots of sealife. More problems with the strobe.
dive 2 final boat dive.
dive site 2 was Yucab reef 100cu (2800psi)
Max depth was 55 feet bottom time was 45 minutes full of sealife. Saw more juvinile spotted drum, parrotfish, turtles, saw another loinfish reported it to DM and he wrote on his slate that he had no bag to catch it but location was noted. Near the end of the dive found a spended toadfish. This dive I took the camera but left the strobe on the boat
Friday
beach dive in from of Park Royal-El Cid resorts. Max depth was 37 feet and dive time was just over 1 hour. Me and an SSI asst instructor. Rash guard swimsuit and gloves two 5 pound weights. Surface swim out to the bouy over the plane, freefall asccent to the wreckfound it full of life; sponges, corals, several types of anemones, sea fans, social feather dusters, split crown feather dusters, banded coral shrimp, giant hermit crab, arrow crab, thimble jelly, flamingo tungue, cushion sea star, long-spined urchin, butterflyfish, queen,french,gray angelfish, rock beauty, several damselfish, wrass, few types of basslet, female stoplight parrotfish, squirrlefish, peacock flounder, spotted scorpionfish, cowfish, queen triggerfish, several more but can’t remember
Follow-up:
Del Mar Aquatics charged 290.00 (does not include marine park fees) if you want nitrox it’s 12.00 extra per tank 100cu tanks are 5 extra per tank(even for the unlimited beach dives). I forgot to mention that the first day at ParkRoyal there was NO hot water and the second day there was NO water for about an hour. It seemed like the nightly shows were the same. A cab ride to town runs about 80 pesos or 7.00us. Royal Holiday will try to get you to do one of their “time shares.” If you use the in room safe at PR for 8 days it cost my 14.00us
Original Post by Rayaa3 on ScubaToys
I arrived in cozumel 2/14/10, about Noon.
The weather on Sunday and Monday was pretty good, highs in the 80, no real wind to speak of.
Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday were pretty windy out of the north – bringing current and waves. None of it shutdown diving, though on tuesday most shops had a late start as the harbor master waited to open the port.
Highs were 75-80 all week, Saturday 2/20 was the nicest day of the week, I’de guess 82 with a wind out of the east, the ocean was a calm pool at the surface.
The Allegro Hotel:
As stated the allegro is a very pretty resort, the grounds are well taken care of. The rooms are in casita style buildings with thatch roofs. There are 4 rooms per building. The rooms are a bit small, 11×13 for the bed/tv area, plus the bathroom and closet. The bathrooms in my room are a bit out of date and dingy, if that type of thing bothers you, it doesn’t bother me.
The resort is All inclusive, there are 2 bars open during the day, one at the pool/lunch buffet, another at the beach. There is a 3rd bar near the dinner buffet, but it doesn’t open until the other 2 close (dinner time).
There really is 1 main restraunt at the hotel, buffet for all 3 meals. For lunch there are 2 other options, Mexican a la carte, and Japanese a la carte. Men are required to wear long pants (I really didn’t care for that) at the a la carte restraunts. When you check in, they will tell you to make reservations for the a la carte’s – make them right away, no matter what. They say they don’t take reservation for more than 1 day in advance, when I called about japanese first available was 3 days away.
So the rooms are nice enough, bathrooms are a little dingy and outdated, but the beds were very comfortable. They are always firm in Mexico, and these were, but they were a bit softer than Hotel Cozumel or Fiesta Americana.
Food: the food was surprisingly pretty OK. I would say not bad for AI buffet service. However, 2 days of our stay (up until lent) the hotel was full, and food was difficult to find. You would go to the buffet and they would be out of the main courses. A bit dissapointing. However, when the hotel was practically emtpy food and service was in good supply. We tip at AI for drink service, but the first couple of days we couldn’t find a waiter to tip. Towards the end of the week we could get some attention, and tipped well for it (which leads to even better attention).
The resort has a great beach, and great pools. There is a nightly show from about 8:30pm – 10:00pm. If your room is on the side of the resort that the theater is on you should go to the show – you’ll hear it from your room quite clearly anyway. The show was actually pretty good, but I’m an early to bed early to rise kind of guy (I wake at 5:30am on vacation), so I was annoyed a few times by thumping speakers from my room.
They have a very good gym for these kinds of places, 2 newer treadmills, 2 newer ellipitcals, some free weights, some universal.
The crowd:
The crowd when we were there was mostly 30-50ish adults without children. I’m sure it is different during summer, or spring break. However, the crowd was surprisingly rowdy. I’m use to dive hotels in Cozumel where 75% are divers waking for 8am boats, and the other 25% are spouses or others content to sip drinks at the pool. The mix here was about 50% serious diver, 50% other folks. So there was a lot more late night hijinks than I cared for. I came out of my room in my underwear at 2am one night ready to have words with someone who felt the need to serenade the hotel grounds. They made it to their room before I found them.
I would rate the hotel 3 stars, but only because of the beach, pools, gym and grounds. Based on food availability, and service, I would say 2.5 stars. Again, that was really because of the experience when the hotel was full. If it’s dead when you are here you’ll have a much better time.
As a reference I find hotel cozumel to be solidly 3 stars all around, and fiesta americana to be the same.
The reason to come to Allegro – good price, and the beach.
OK, that’s all I have time for now. I’ll tell you more about diving later. I only got 4 dives in the whole week, but not related to weather. This was a family vacation anyways
Hotel Barracuda & Dive Paradise
Original Post by DevilDiver on ScubaToys Feb 2010
First, I have to say that I was actually surprised and very pleased with the Hotel Barracuda and I would definitely stay there again. I have been to Cozumel six times now and stayed at AI’s three of those trips and hotel’s the other three time. I was split between booking at The Villa Blanca (I have stayed there before) and the Barracuda. The Villa Blanca was OK but I am glad that we gave the Barracuda a chance. Next time the Barracuda has it, hands down as far as I am concerned.
We booked 4 nights/5 days (for $192/pp or $384/total), 8 dives each + shore dives ($207/ea or $414/total) with Dive Paradise (on-site dive op) through Bay Adventures.
The rooms were clean and well kept, two twin beds, A/C, balcony with sea view and never ran out of hot water. Each room has a small fridge that can be stocked with beer or whatever, like beer.
We got a room on the third floor, nice view but if you do not like stairs request 1st. There are lockers provided ($25 deposit) at the on-site dive op to store gear if wanted or you can lug it and throw it all over your balcony.
The hotel is located just south of the old pier and mall and just north of Margaritaville (2 bldg down). There is a brand new Mega Mart (1 year) right across the street that has almost anything you could need, the fruit, pastries, clothes, med’s or beer (can’t buy beer after 3pm on Sunday). They have great Pizza there also, we got two lg whole pies and a 12pk of beer and ate them with staff at the dive shop one night.
The bar/restaurant (The No Name Bar) was fantastic, some of the best food that I have had on the island. The No Name Bar is owned by retired cruise ship entertainers and they do cater to the crews when they are in port. This makes for some large crowds and (semi) loud music during the afternoons depending on how many ships are in for that day. I thought it was great but if you like low key this could be an issue. The food was very good and reasonable priced, mix of American and Mexican with good portions and flavors. (I did not see any kind Turkish food offered-BRsnow)
The really is no beaches at this part of the island but they have the traditional man made beach that you find at the resorts and hotels at this part of the island. There is a stair entry for divers/swimmers or a dock for access to the water.
I enjoyed the shore dives but I like looking for small critters and shallow (20-30ft) rubble, debris and sand are good places to find them. On day dives we found schools of Tang, Sergent Major, Yellow Rays, Damsel some Parrot and Wrasse, Lobsters and Crab. Night dives were large Hermit Crab, Shrimp, small Octo’s, Yellow Ray’s and a juvenile Red Lionfish that I was able to pin and smash with a piece of rebar, did not kill it but it sure swam away kinda lopsided.
The Barracuda is two doors down from Margaritaville, about 5-10 mins walk to Carlos n Charlie’s/Senior Frog’s and about 15 mins from the square. It is about a 10 min cab ride to the airport.
Dive Paradise
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First time diving with Dive Paradise, I have found most of the op’s on Cozumel are pretty much the same give or take. It appears that Dive Paradise is the 110 lb gorilla on the island. I was told they have over 10 boats, main shop is just south of town at the old pier, they were the on site dive op at the Barracuda Hotel.
They had a small shop on the northern side of the hotel, not much inside but they did have weights and some tanks, they offer lockers ($25 deposit) to store gear that you do not take back to the room.
Boats were in good shape with no mechanical issues, oxy and first aid kit on board. They provided water and snack between dives if wanted and some boats have restrooms (ladies).
Captains, DM’s and deckhands were good for the most part. This is also where I start to have some issues with Dive Paradise. We had a different boat every day with different crew, sometimes nicer sometimes not – this goes for crew as well. A couple of the DM’s were great, a couple not so much.
I do not need to be tethered to a DM myself but with different people being shuffled between boats daily I found a few others that needed a little extra attention from the crew and that was not always available. A couple of small issues could have gotten out of control easily and were over looked due to time and schedule but the real problems always start with a small issue.
Not saying that they were negligent but IMO they had too much going on switching boats/crew/divers and a tight schedule picking up and returning divers to their hotels/docks and when they change up the crews all of the time and it leads to confusion. I believe this a management issue, the crews legitimately tried (for the most part).
Next trip personally I will not use them, I plan to go with Opal at Scuba Mau. That was our plan on this trip but we got a package offer.
These are just my opinions from my expierience from this trip, take it for what ever that means.
Original Post by CHT on ScubaToys Jan 10
Iberostar Resort, Cozomel
Resort:
Grounds are very nice and maintained well. Staff is friendly and helpful. Rooms are a little small and beds are like all resorts in Mexico firm/hard. Mini frig in room stocked every other day but we tipped our maid $2-3 everyday and she kept us stocked. Breakfast is up in the main building buffet style with the usual omlet bar/juices/ etc…(on a aside note there is no airconditioning here and in the morning the black birds know how to get around the netting set up and are eating at the buffet. They chase them off but they tend to fly right back….this might freak some people out but I’m not one of those people)… Lunch is down by the pool again buffet style with a pretty good selection. Again not airconditioned but netting goes all the way around so no birds can get in. At night this area becomes the steak house, need reservations. The ribeye was very good but one of my kids got the ribs and all I can say is just say NO!! The ribs are horrible stick with the steaks. Back up in the main building is a buffet style dinner. Next to the buffet is the Italian restaurant. This is the only airconditioned restaurant in the resort. Food is ok nothing great to say about it. Some people loved it and some hated it but again everyone has their own preference. Reservations need here as well. Both restaurants require closed toe shoes and pants (no shorts). Most places will turn the other cheek if you walk in with sandals on, but not here they will make you change. Pool is divided in two with a swim up bar in the middle. A bar is also on the beach and one in the main lobby, entertainment complex, and disco. They have star friends that keep activities going throughout the day and evening. In the evening they have shows put on by the star friends. Some are good and some are cheesy. They have kid shows that start at 8pm and adult shows that start at 830 and run till about 1030. Then the disco opens. Don’t quote me on those times though, but I think thats right. Beach is in good shape, except if you want to get in the water. The beach down by the water is very rocky…so bring and wear water shoes. If you want to get in the water you need to go near the pier to get in, or better yet get in from the ladder off the end of the pier. This is one of the only drawbacks to the resort.
Taxi to town is $23-24USD each way. You can exchange dollars for pesos at the front desk and it costs 17-18pesos…saves a few bucks. The resort also rents cars for about $100 for 24hrs includes insurance.
Now the diving. I did dive with the onsite dive operator Dressel Divers. They are a very good safety minded operation. The boats are large and they have fruit and water on the boats. They will set up your gear or you can do it yourself. They do have lockers down at their shop. Dive masters give good briefings. When I dove they sent up the flag when the first person got to 1500 psi. Then as people got low you came up. My dives ranged from 50-110 min. You are on their profile though and I requested the guys I liked and once they see you know how to handle yourself and are a safe diver they tend to relax and give you free reign. They also have a set dive schedule and sites so if you want to go somewhere different you need to schedule it in advance. We altered our sites twice. I think the sites with days is on their sites but if not I can get it too you. They do not dive devils throat…I asked. Prices are higher than most operators but if you request a price list they will send you prices and packages. I don’t know if they alter their prices much but again I have one from 5 months ago. They are out of Spain but if you prepay the knock off 15% and with any dive NITROX IS FREE. I did the math and after prepay and free nitrox and less hassle along with they come back to the resort between everydive I decided to go with them.
If you want to dive any site and dive your own profile then I would go with someone else like Papa Hogs, Dive with Martin, etc… They all pick up at the pier just search the forums there are dozens of recommendations and topics on this already covered.
One more thing the snorkeling. Dressel has a diver/snorkel package. You go out on the same boat as the divers and while they dive you snorkel above them. All I can say is JUST SAY NO!! My daughter wanted to snorkel so we booked this. Biggest waste of money ever. One lady took her son and was so mad afterwards she complained and they gave her money back. You do snorkel above the divers but you are in 60-100 ft. of water. It’s like looking out of the window from an airplane. No coral, no nothing. Oh you can see it but its way down below. The lady that got her money back booked a snorkel trip, in the resort lobby, with the guys next door, and said it was great, but I have no hands on experience with them. She told me it was worth it though. I don’t know the name of the place but if your at the pier look right. During the day they do snorkel trips and at night they have a little restaurant there.
Cozumel TR 10/28-11/1/09
Original Post by GeoRoc01 on ScubaToys
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I just returned from Cozy. It was a 4 night, 3 days of diving. It was a SingleDivers.com trip staying at Casa Del Mar diving with Del Mar Aquatics.
My trip started with a big snowstorm hitting Denver the day I am leaving. Fortunately, my flight wasn’t cancelled, just delayed a couple of hours. We were still able to catch the last puddle jumper over from Cancun to Cozy and grab the last taxi leaving the then closed Cozumel airport over to the hotel.
Three days of great diving. While I did only the base package and not the afternoon dives, I dove the following sites off of Big Splash..
10/29
Palancar Gardens
Cedral Pass
10/30
Palancar Caves
San Francisco Wall
Chakanaab (Night Dive)
10/31
Punta Sur
Columbia Shallows
This was my first time diving Chakanaab and Punta Sur and all of our dives were great. Our Dive Masters Fernando, Mario & the boat crew treated us very well as usual. Yeah, we had a little rain on Saturday, but overall it was still a good time!
Casa Del Mar treated us well again. My roomie & I were very happy with our corner room. Large room with nice king size bed and large balcony with plenty of space to dry out gear. They had a nice halloween party on Saturday night with a DJ, dancers and a costume contest that gave away two trips for next year, dive packages, massages and everyone who participated at least got a discount coupon towards a 2010 trip.
This was my 4th trip to Cozy with Single Divers, staying at Casa Del Mar & Diving with Del Mar Aquatics. Each one seems to be memorable in its own way. This as definitely the largest and it was a great group to dive with..Thanks to everyone! Can’t wait to do it again next year..
Trip Review: Baldwin’s / Papa Hogs
Original Posty by LegallyBeth on ScubaToys (10/8/09)
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We’re back from a great trip to Cozumel. This was my first dive trip since certification. We had a great time diving, relaxing, and just getting away. I found all of the other reviews so helpful, that I wanted to include my own summary of our trip, costs, and personal experiences.
Flight – American, direct from Dallas. About $325 round trip per person
Accommodations: Baldwin’s Guest House (located in town) $70/night including breakfast (off-season rate). Nice place – and we were the only guests so we had the place to ourselves. It was super clean and the hosts were nice. The grounds are unbelievable –the pool is beautiful and they have a lot of neat wildlife.
Diving: Papa Hogs, $60 per 2-tank dive
Pros: They only took out 6 people at a time.
Cons: Pushy/rude staff. The captain and dive master were always in a rush –practically pushing us off the boat. On one particular dive, I received a lot of push back from the dive master when I said that I didn’t feel comfortable doing a swim through (at the wreck) since I was a new diver and I didn’t have a light.
Overall we had a great time diving. The attitude of the employees didn’t stop us from having a great dive. We will probably use another operation next time just for variety, but I wouldn’t completely rule out Papa Hogs for future trips.
The dives were great. We saw nurse sharks, sea turtles, barracuda, and eels. On our night dive we also saw octopus and squid. The water was 81* and the unlimited viz in Coz was quite the change from all of the lake dives I have done. What a treat!
Transportation
We took a cab each day from Baldwin’s to Papa Hogs. It was about $5 each way.
Dining:
Since we stayed in town, we hit a lot of local places with names that I do not remember.
Casa Mission – great food! Beautiful outdoor setting. Lots of mosquitoes.
Prima’s –Italian food near the resorts. Nice atmosphere.
The restaurant at Papa Hog’s –it was super convenient for lunch after diving, but we only ate their once because the food just wasn’t very good.
Activities:
Diving of course! J We dove 9 times on this trip, so we really didn’t do much besides lounge around the pool. But on our last day we rented a scooter from Isis ($25 for a 2 passenger scooter for 24 hours) and rode around the island. It was so much fun. We will definitely do this on future trips.
Trip Report 08/11/09-08/18/09 ~ Hotel Cozumel & Papa Hogs
Original Post by AndyRent on ScubaToys
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My wife and I just returned from a long awaited and very enjoyable trip to Cozumel. We are both divers but we didn’t want to spend every moment in the water. We have not purchased underwater camera gear. Unfortunately, we have no pictures to share.
We booked the trip through Orbitz. I used the Promo code Entertain200 that another member had posted on the forum. We flew from Houston Intercontinental on a direct flight with Continental Airlines. The 2 airline tickets and the 7 nights at Hotel Cozumel was $857.53. The price of the hotel included Breakfast only.
We booked 6 two-tank dives at $60.00 each with Papa Hogs (3 each) for a total of $360.00. We only had room for 1 BCD in our dive bag, so I rented a BCD for another $5.00 a day. Papa Hogs and their employees were friendly and very accommodating. Papa Hogs picked us up in one of their 6 pack boats at the Hotel Cozumel pier at 8:00 AM. After our dives they dropped us back off at the HC pier. We dove on Chankanaab, Paradise, Delilia, Tormentos, Santa Rosa, and Punta Tunich reefs. The reefs were beautiful. We saw lobster, jackfish, parrotfish, garden eels, conch, starfish, nurse sharks, lots of turtles, barracuda, pipefish, seahorse, a moral eel, and a lot more.
Since, we didn’t purchase the All-Inclusive option at Hotel Cozumel, we ate in San Miguel a lot. Our meals were all very good and we always had good service. Some of the restaurants that we visited were El Capi Navegante, Mosaicoz, Casablanca, La Mission, and Prima Trattoria. We found a bar off of the main square named Kelly’s that was good for after dinner drinks.
All-in-all we spent just over $1800.00 (flight, hotel, diving, food, souvenirs, transfers, tips, and parking). We had a wonderful time and would go back again in a heartbeat.
Trip Report 6/13 to 6/20
Original Post by SEMO Scuba on ScubaToys Forum
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Cozumel Trip Report
I stayed at Hotel Cozumel. It is a nice facility. The rooms were clean and spacious, the swimming pool is large, and the staff were friendly & helpful. We paid for all inclusive so food & beverages were included. The bar drinks were good and if you wanted upscale liquor it was available at a reasonable price. The food quality was very good with a large variety of choices.
I dived with Dive Paradise doing two tank morning and one tank afternoon dives. The boats had oxygen kits and first aid supplies. Most days I was on the larger boats with two dive guides, one deck hand, and the captain. With two dive guides even if there were 12 to 16 divers on the boat there were never more than 6 or 8 divers in a group. The dive/safety briefings were consistent from all dive guides. Since I was diving alone I got instabuddies, but my luck was good as all that I buddied with were fine.
The diving was great. Most of the divers were pretty competent and had decent SAC rates. I only saw a couple of reef beaters. Most of the dives were 45 to 60 minutes with the first dive of the day a max of 80 or 90 feet. The second dive of the day usually maxed at 60 to 70 ft and the afternoon dive a max of 50 to 60 ft. The current was swift during most of the wall dives and the viz was great on all of the dives. I got my first up close encounter with a shark at Dalila and although it was only a Nurse shark it was still pretty cool to be that close. It was sleeping on the bottom and we got close enough we could have touched it. We saw many turtle, sea horse, crab, lobster, and I found a Lion fish on my last dive at Villablancha wall at 35 feet. The dive master said it was a pretty large Lion fish and he tried to catch it in a plastic bag but the current kept pushing him into a fire coral that it was sitting in. It was near the end of the dive and by the time everybody got to see it and he finished trying to catch it our air supply was telling us to do our safety stop & surface.
The price with air fare from St Louis and the stay at Hotel Cozumel were very attractive and combined with a week of diving the trip barely cost $1100.00. I was very satisfied with Hotel Cozumel, Dive Paradise, and the diving at Cozumel. I’ll be going back again sometime. Soon I hope!
The air fare, hotel, food & drinks was $700 per person. My diving for the week was $400 extra.
Coz Trip Report 4/09 (long)
Original Post by Chace Nicole on ScubaToys Forum
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Thurs-Email from Rentadora Isis says they are no longer able to pick up, so I roll my things out past the airport to catch a cab to Sally (Barefoot in Cozumel) for a massage. The driver tried to charge $12 US from airport to Sallys, which is in town. I told him I didn’t think so & we came to a reasonable figure. The massage was wonderful and was a great way to start a vacation. Sally was kind enough to let me keep my suitcase there while I walked to Isis for my rental. I got a green VW convertible this time, looked nicer than ones in the past…maybe Margarita has upgraded her fleet . I picked up by bag from Sally and went onto the hotel. Much to my suprise, I was offered an upgrade to the tropical suites at no charge! woohoo! No ocean view, but thats okay. The room was wonderful with a safe and fridge, the sewer smell in the bathroom for the 1st couple days was pretty strong, but I just kept the bathroom door shut & that helped a lot. By the end of the week I either didn’t notice anymore or the bleach smell won out over the sewer smell. Hammock on the balcony, great for naps. A couple of days I was charged for drinks out of the fridge that I did not consume, but the front desk staff was very nice & removed the charges. Trip Advisor dinner at Especias, the food was amazing! Don Julio was amazing! hee hee. Adrian is so fun & listening to Abraham play the guitar was a real treat. He has such talent!
Fri-8:30 Scuba with Alison-pier pickup for diving. Palancar Caves for 69min. Second dive was French reef for 71min saw a free swimming moray, noticed a lot of reddish stuff growing along the bottom in the shallow areas, I guess an algae of some kind? On the way back our captain, Carlos, spotted a pod of dolphins & we gently slipped in the water with fins & mask. I looked down & they were already on the bottom, I would guess they were about 50ft down…but what a treat to see them in the wild. I went to the money bar for lunch & service was soooo sloooow. Maybe I was just really hungry. I know things are more laid back, but this was the slowest I’ve seen in Cozumel. Dinner was La Cocay with some friends from the boat. The manicoti was good, homemade noodles (portion was small) I also tried the chicken that was stuffed with a goat cheese I believe (wonderful!)
Sat-9:15 pier pickup for diving-Palancar Gardens for 70 min. Second dive was San Fransico Wall, never done this dive before and it was great! Bottom time 80min. Saw a free swimming nurse shark. Large silver tarpon like fish were baitballing smaller fish on the edge of the wall. Took a picture of what a thought was some cool worm or cucumber in the sand. It wasn’t a very good pic so I went around to get it from another angle & just started cracking up & flooded my mask. It was a snorkel! not a worm..a snorkel! (pic attached below) It had been down quite a while & was buried in the sand just so. I took my famous snorkel worm home as a souvenir. Met friends in town for dinner at Parilla Mission very good service and Margarita. Combinacion Mexicana was very good. Excellent Caldo de pollo. On the salad bar, they have a dish…I don’t remember the name, but it is cactus & it was very tasty!
Sun-Dive-Colombia Deep 60 min. Saw too many turtles to count. Second dive was Colombia Shallows for 87 min. Got some good pics, but when I turned my flash on as some clouds moved in..I forgot to set my white balance back to auto so many came out red. I haven’t messed with trying to remove the red. Chi for dinner, great dumplings and Sweet & sour chicken. Gelato on the waterfront, the cheesecake flavor with berries was delish. Walked the square for a while..hit Chedraui for fruit & pastries.
Mon-Drove around the island. Freedom in Paradise-very good Iguana drink. Coconuts-strong margaritas look out! Mezcalitos-weak margs compared to coconuts . Went to Los Otates..hooked on the gringas and tried the posole soup, very good and huge portion.
Tues-3 tanks diving with Aqua Safari. Alison went to Europe for a couple of weeks so I dove with Aqua Safari on Tuesday. (DM)Chino & Capitan, Jorge. Palancar Caves for 50 min, Dahlia for 44 min and Paradise for 54 min with (DM)Miguel Jr. Very smooth running operation with great staff! I decided to find Wet Wendys, met Klara and had a very tasty Margarita & nachos. I ran into Deb (DS2) & some other TAers. I had a great time here, despite some harrasment from some roudy Texas boys
Wed-Its my day to leave Checked Continental’s website just to make sure flights were in order with the whole flu thing & all. A notice is up that there is no charge to change your ticket. Thought long & hard about calling work & saying that I had been quarantined to the island & see ya in about a month or however long it takes me to get over the flu. Decide not to do that, I’m bummed so I head to Wet Wendy’s again (with luggage in tow) thinking one or two of Klara’s margaritas might help. It does & I stay until an hour before my flight & hitch a cab to the airport. Slept on the flight home
Scuba with Alison-I cannot say enough great things about Alison & Carlos (captain). The boat is tweener (not a big boat & not a small boat). Alison is a riot & gives very good site briefings. Everyone gets a pre-dive safety check. They change your stuff over between dives & store your gear overnight & have it ready to go the next morning(besides wetsuits). Surface interval is at a beach…they provide snacks, softs drinks & water. You dive your air & deco limits. I was lucky to dive with a great group this week & everyone got along really well & had a dinner a couple of nights.
Trip report Cozumel June 2 – 6 (2009) with Papa Hogs
Original Post on ScubaToys by Mr Tabasco
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Well my wife and I just got back from Cozumel last night. We dove with Papa Hogs and got in our First night dive. The weather was wonderful and somehow we managed to miss the rain the entire time. We dove Palancar caves the first morning and the huge coral formations just make me realize how vast the ocean really is. The currents were up and down throughout the week but overall they didn’t seem to be too bad. The worse currents we saw were on Saturday at San Francisco and Punta Tunich. We saw all kinds of neat things during this trip. Several Nurse sharks, turtles, Moray, Sting Ray, lobster, toad fish, scorpion fish, pipe fish, a seahorse and many more that I cannot remember. The water was pretty clear most days but it was a bit cloudy on San Francisco since the current was kicking up a lot of silt. This was only our second dive trip (both have been to Cozumel) so we felt very fortunate to have seen all of this. This trip also marked our deepest dive at about 115 feet which was pretty cool. Also, being a bigger guy I have really struggled with air consumption so I was excited that I managed at least 1 dive (Punta Tunich) that was over one hour (Even though I was using a 100 cu ft tank). On Thursday we did see an unfortunate event when the Mexican Navy anchored on the reef in Las Palmas. Although it was a real interesting experience to be diving under a boat that size it was a shame to see an anchor dropped in the coral.
The night dive was absolutely wonderful. We went to Paradise and they dropped us in just before it got completely dark so we could get acclimated and we got to see a ton of marine life.
I can’t say enough about Papa Hog’s. The largest group we were in was 7 and 3 of them were very experienced divers which meant we had the DM right there with us through all of the dives. The all of the DM’s we dove with were great as were Mike and Margaret and all of the staff at PH.
We ate at Prima almost every night and the food was wonderful. They have moved to the top floor a large building where Wynston’s used to be (just south of Margaretville restaurant) so the view was as good as the food (well almost).
The only real negative was coming home!
Great time with Scuba Mau Cozumel
Original Post by SyoTabBucs on ScubaToys (May 09)
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The gang did it again. They continue to shine on each visit. 4 days of diving.
May 22-23-24-25. The only thing wrong with this trip was it was to short. We usually stay 7-10 days but had only 5 days (4 days diving) this trip. Got in 4 wonderful days of diving. Conditions were magnifiacte. We got to Punta Sur(devils throat) on the 23rd, Maricabo on the 24th and Palancar Bricks on the 25th. Seas were calm. Once again , Mau, Opal, Divemasters, captians and staff did a great job.
Angie and I met up with fellow divers each afternoon at LaPalapita beach club for lunch and some cold adult beverages. Lots of great folks diving with Scuba Mau this week. (as always) Then off for dinner each night. This trip included La Choza, Zapata Grill, The new place across from Villa Blanca. What used to be Mezcalitos West The Hatch??. (same menu) and one of our favorites, Los Otates
And then we went sailing on the afternoon of the 25th. Dario of Cozumel boat trips was great. About a 3 or 4 hour sunset tour up and down the island. A great way to cap off a wonderful trip. Dario is a great guy. Former divemaster on the island and a 3rd generation sailor. And quite the traveler.
Salute`
Original Post by RainMaker on ScubaToys
“Coz on a budget” Trip Report – Feb. 2009
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I arrived in Cancun, Mexico via a direct US Airways flight on February 10. My plane was on-time, and none of my baggage was lost, damaged or destroyed. I cleared Customs & Immigration at the airport with no problems (as usual for Cancun), and then purchased my bus ticket on Ado Bus Lines to Playa del Carmen for $9. After the 1 hour bus ride to Playa, I purchased a $14 ticket for the ferry ride to Cozumel.
After the ferry arrived in Cozumel, I walked several blocks with my 2 wheeled suitcases and small backpack from the pier to the Safari Inn (next to McDonald’s), as usual underestimating the distance and the effort involved. I checked in at the small, friendly hotel about 6:00 p.m. and began unpacking. It had been a long day of travel that had started at 5:00 a.m. when I began driving from my home in northeast Georgia to the airport in Charlotte. However, everything had gone well, and it was great being back in Cozumel with 2 weeks of diving and warm weather to look forward to.
The next morning, I transported all by dive gear 1.5 miles to the Blue Angel Dive Shop located next door to the Caribe Blu Hotel. However, the new Canadian owners are renaming the entire operation Blue Angel Resort. I completed my paperwork, paid my balance and was assigned a locker that I’d use for the next 2 weeks. Then I went diving, making 4 dives on the little reef that lies just south of the hotel. The water felt a little cooler than I expected. But it was great to be back in the relatively warm Caribbean, and to witness the continuing recovery that the reef is experiencing after it was severely damaged by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. During the next 2 weeks, I made over 40 dives. Ten were boat dives, and the others were a result of the free, unlimited shore diving I received from Blue Angel with the purchase of the boat diving package.
After rinsing and stowing my gear, I did some food shopping on the walk back to my hotel. I brought a small percolator in my checked baggage and bought coffee, fruit, chips and breakfast bars that I’d use for snacks, breakfasts and lunches in my room. I planned to eat out only once per day (for supper).
Additional information concerning lodging, meals, diving and overall expenses for this trip are shown below.
My 9 minute “Shore Diving In Cozumel” video at YouTube is located here: YouTube – Shore Diving In Cozumel, Mexico
The slideshow of my dive photos at Photobucket is located here: Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket
My 5 minute “Carnival Parades In Cozumel” video at YouTube is located here: YouTube – 2009 Cozumel Carnival Parades
Lodging:
This was my second stay at the Safari Inn. I’d been there for 2 weeks in January 2008 and had been impressed with the friendliness of the staff and the cleanliness of the room. The rooms are large and spacious, and provide basic accommodations. There is no TV or phone (and most likely the only view you’ll have is a wall across a side-street), but there is cold air-conditioning, a private bathroom and plenty of hot water. The hotel also provides bottled water for guests and free, in-room broadband service, though if your PC has Windows Vista getting connected can be a challenge. They’ll also provide guests with a plastic armchair, but you’ll need to ask for it.
As noted above, the hotel is a few blocks south of the ferry pier, next door to McDonald’s (or look for the Aqua Safari pier out front). It is on the premises of the Aqua Safari Dive Shop and is run by an American man and his Mexican wife. With all fees and taxes, the room rate (for 1 or 2 people) is just under $45 per night. The website for the hotel is located here:
Accommodations in Cozumel – Safari Inn
Diving:
I bought a 10-boat dive package from Blue Angel Dive Shop at the special Internet rate of $300, and the package included free, unlimited shore diving on the reef directly in front of the shop. I was assigned a locker and given the use of a lock (or bring your own), and was also provided weights, all free of charge.
This was the third time I’ve used Blue Angel, and as usual their service was excellent. They have boats leaving at 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., and occasionally at 10:00 a.m. Usually the first dive of the day is made at one of the walls on the southern end of the island and the depth is 75 – 110 feet. The second dive is usually made on one of the shallower reefs (30 to 70 feet). The length of the first dive is 35 – 45 minutes, and the second dive is 50 – 60 minutes. It is not necessary that all divers end their dive at the same time. Fruit, bread snacks and bottled water are served on the boat, but towels are not provided. Their website is located here: http://www.blueangel-scuba.com/
Meals:
This trip was done on a budget, and one of the best ways I’ve found to save money on dive trips is to get out of the “tourist mindset” concerning food, and eat like a local.
I brought a small percolator in my checked bag and made fresh-brewed coffee each morning (and night) in my room. I thought about this each time I saw folks paying $1.25 at McDonald’s or $3.50 or more at Starbucks for a cup of coffee.
I also went to the supermarket each day and bought fruit (usually apples and bananas), breakfast bars and chips. I used these items for breakfasts, lunches and snacks. In addition, both the Chedruai and Mega Stores have excellent bakeries, and I’d usually purchase a pastry to have with my coffee each evening.
I dined out only once per day, having supper each night at the little cafe at the back of the Chedruai store. On most days I’d have some combination of pasta, potatoes, gravy, vegetables, rice and beans. Before ordering at the cafe, I’d go over to the bakery and select a dinner roll and have my selection bagged and priced. Then, I’d select my evening meal and beverage, and pay for everything at the cafe. The price for supper each night varied from about $2 to $3.50 (one night I really got carried away with the pasta). The trick is to exchange dollars for pesos where the exchange rate is good (like Chedruai), then pay for the meal with pesos. At the cafe, no tipping is expected, but you are expected to bus your own table (like an American fast-food place).
I estimate I spent $5 – $6 per day for food on this trip. Since I have to eat at home (and my food costs are probably higher there), I’m not even listing food as an expense on this trip.
Overall Expenses:
My round-trip ticket from Charlotte, NC was $479. My diving cost $300, and this included 10 boat dives and about 30 shore dives. The hotel cost a total of $627 for 14 nights of lodging. In addition, the bus and ferry rides amounted to about $40, and it cost $60 to leave my car at the Charlotte airport for 15 days. Except when transporting dive gear, I didn’t use any taxis at all, prefering to walk everywhere I went.
The total cost of the trip, which provided me with diving everyday for 14 days, was about $1,530. It was a lot of bang for the diving-buck, and includes $10 for a spiffy “Blue Angel Dive Resort” t-shirt that I just couldn’t pass up.
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Rainmaker
Cozumel trip report March 29- April 6, 2009
Posted by Gee on ScubaToys
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I have often visited this forum to research destinations however, I have not posted my own trip report so I thought it was time I repaid.
I wanted an easy, relaxing and, more importantly these days, budget friendly dive vacation. Cozumel, seemed to be a good choice. I Departed from Huntsville, Alabama airport at 6:15 am and changed planes in Dallas. Touch down was in Cozumel, Mexico on an AA flight that was on time at 12:30 pm, and even better, all of my luggage made it too. I cleared Customs & Immigration at the airport with no problems and by 1:45 pm I was on the way to Villablanca. Thanks again for the ride Johnathan. I Checked in at the front desk, rented a safe in the lobby ($5 for the week) to store passport and currency, but didn’t get the beach towel (refundable $15 deposit). The hotel provided a complementary bottle of water at checkin. Free wifi was available but my room was apparantly not close enough to the wireless router to get a connection. I could connect around the pool. I unpacked then walked next door to complete the paperwork at Scubamau. Then I started diving. I wanted to check my equipment and weight before getting on the boat the next day so I tried the shore dive from the boat dock across the street from the shop. Mau watched me set up and gave a briefing & Opal brought the tank over for me. started with the 5 mm wetsuit and beanie and it was comfortable for me all week. I packed a shorty and a dive skin but didn’t wear them. I recorded a consistant 79 deg F all week. It was great to be back in the relatively warm Caribbean, and to see fthe continuing recovery that the reef is experiencing after it was severely damaged by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. During the next eight days I made 1 shore dive, 10 boat dives with Scubamau and 4 boat dives with Aldora. Please note: I have no intention to compare the two dive ops in this post. I wanted to take advantage of the free unlimited shore diving at Villablanca but I seemed to lose steam after just two morning dives, a shower, gear rinse and lunch.
This was the First time I’ve used Scubamau, a relatively new dive OP on the island. A couple of emails to Opal arranged room for eight days and diving for five. The price quoted was very reasonable and there were no hidden taxes, fees or other surprizes at checkout. Some ops require payment up front but, except for $70 cc charge (done on Villablanca’s website) to hold the room reservation, I didn’t pay for anything until I checked out. They use two small fast covered boats with 150 hp outboards for the morning dives. I’m not sure about the afternoon as I only did the two morning dives. DM provides a briefing. Entry is by backroll. Group of 4 to 6 are led by DM. Usually the first dive of the day is made at one of the deep sites 75 – 110 feet. A surface interval at a beach sometimes with bathroom facilities sometimes not. Once, we came back to VB. The second dive is usually made on one of the shallower reefs (30 to 70 feet). The length of the first dive is 35 – 45 minutes, and the second dive is 50 – 60 minutes. It is not necessary that all divers end their dive at the same time. Fruit and bottled water are served on the boat, but towels are not provided. .
Weather throughout my stay was very pleasant. It varied from sunny to partly cloudy. Air temperature during the day was in the mid 80s. Water temperatures 79 deg F. Seas were 1- 2 feet maximum. The wind picked up on a few days and made the boat rides a little wet and choppy. Viz varied from 75 to over 100′.
Critter roll call: Spotted Eagle Rays, Nurse sharks, Tile fish, Toadfish, Turtles, moray & spotted eels, trunkfish, hogfish, trumpet fish, juvenile spotted drums, baracuda, stingrays, lobsters, jawfish, angelfish, triggerfish. The big thrill for me was seeing a sailfish zip by while waiting for the boat pickup. I carried a camera on the boat but didn’t dive with it every time. I would leave it on board if the current was ripping or if the boat didn’t have a fresh water rinse. Of course, that was when I would see most of those critters! I managed to take a few snapshots of fish butts.
Picasa Web Albums – glenn
The dive sites included Yucab Wall, Yucab Reef, Villa Blanca Wall, Palancar, Eagle Ray, Columbia Deep, Tormentos, Santa Rosa Wall, San Francisco Reef, Punta Delila, san juan, barracuda
My standard room was large, spacious, cleaned daily and provided basic and affordable accommodations. The bedroom had a King sized bed, a single large wrought iron chair with a cushioned seat, a large closet, a built in dressing table, two night stands, a telephone, refrigerator, a wall mounted tv with good picture quality. Most of the 3 dozen or so channels were spanish speaking but a couple of the channels showed US made movies with spanish subtitles. Another channel had several hours of Fox programing in english.There were 3 single 2 prong electrical outlets in the bedroom and 1 single 2 prong outlet in the bathroom (bring an adaptor if your electronics have 3 prongs). The AC worked well but was not needed at night. The large sunken tub provided plenty of hot water at an adequate pressure. It was very good for rinsing gear, There was no hairdryer.
I’m not a food critic or gourmet so, sorry, I did not track precisely what and where I ate. I walked into town most afternoons and simply looked for eateries several blocks east of the waterfront that was full of locals. Some of the things I ordered included Seviche, tacos, chili rellenos, fajitas. potato soup, salad. Everything I ate was quite tasty and inexpensive. I also went to the Mega market and Chedraui for snacks and beverages several times.
I had a very relaxing and affordable dive vacation, made some new friends in the diving community and came away with diving memories that will last a lifetime.