My wife has been looking at going to Cozumel at the end of the school year. It would not be a "dive vacation" but, she does want us to do a few dives. She has been looking at the All Inclusive Resorts since, we had such a great experience at one in Nuevo Vallarta several years ago. It was simply nice to not have to worry about food and drinks.
Does anyone have any suggestions that we need to take into account. I already know that the diving is not included in the resort and would be extra. What I'm looking for is experiences you have had, what to look out for, dive shops to use, hidden costs that we perhaps are not aware of, etc....
We are "water" people so a couple days of boat diving would be nice but shore dives are fine with us too.
Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
Cozumel
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Desert Diver
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Re: Cozumel
Hi,
Sandi and I were just in Coz for about 9 days. I've never done an all inclusive. I think it is probably the cheapest way to go but we like looking around too much to be tied in to 1 place. I would highly recommend 3 Pelicanos for diving. They have a large, fast boat and you don't step on the fins of the guy across from you. The owner, Steve, still likes diving and goes along. They will pick you up and take you to their boat. I'm know other dive shops are great too. You can rent tanks and dive across from Villa Blanca and at Blue Angel for $5 or $6. Probably other places too. If you want to shore dive PM me for what I found. Many of the resorts in Cozumel are spread to the South and you need to get a taxi or rent a car to get to the center of town. We stayed in a simple house about 8 blocks above the ferry landing for less than $50/night and had a spare bedroom we didn't use. Villa Blanca is $50-$75 a night and close to dive shops but not close to many restaurants.
Brian Thompson
Sandi and I were just in Coz for about 9 days. I've never done an all inclusive. I think it is probably the cheapest way to go but we like looking around too much to be tied in to 1 place. I would highly recommend 3 Pelicanos for diving. They have a large, fast boat and you don't step on the fins of the guy across from you. The owner, Steve, still likes diving and goes along. They will pick you up and take you to their boat. I'm know other dive shops are great too. You can rent tanks and dive across from Villa Blanca and at Blue Angel for $5 or $6. Probably other places too. If you want to shore dive PM me for what I found. Many of the resorts in Cozumel are spread to the South and you need to get a taxi or rent a car to get to the center of town. We stayed in a simple house about 8 blocks above the ferry landing for less than $50/night and had a spare bedroom we didn't use. Villa Blanca is $50-$75 a night and close to dive shops but not close to many restaurants.
Brian Thompson
Re: Cozumel
We have been going to Cozumel for the last 11 years, its one of our very favorite places. There are probably 150 different dive ops on the island at least, so your choices are huge. Several resorts ranging a great deal in price.
For one stop shopping, call Dave at Aldora divers. He is one of most respected dive ops on the island. He has a nice villa just north of town, with I think 12 rooms. He dives larger tanks than the aluminum 80s that pretty much every one else uses. He also dives the other side of the island, and is the only op that does that. So when the harbor master closes the port due to wind or storm, Aldora is launching a boat on the other side, and diving pristine almost undove site, like the old spanish galleon wreck. He also has been discovering new undove sites north of the island.
His web address is www.aldora.com
Another very respected dive op is Blue XTsea. Christie has done a fantastic job over the years.
Either shop can guide you resort wise should you choose, and make you package deals. I recommend you dont pick a resort too far from town, which I have done in the past, as you definitely want to enjoy what town has to offer for food shopping and entertainment.
If you want more details, pvt me, if you want I can give you my cell number as well. Cozumel is a fantastic dive destination, but also offers so much for the non diver.
Good Luck!
For one stop shopping, call Dave at Aldora divers. He is one of most respected dive ops on the island. He has a nice villa just north of town, with I think 12 rooms. He dives larger tanks than the aluminum 80s that pretty much every one else uses. He also dives the other side of the island, and is the only op that does that. So when the harbor master closes the port due to wind or storm, Aldora is launching a boat on the other side, and diving pristine almost undove site, like the old spanish galleon wreck. He also has been discovering new undove sites north of the island.
His web address is www.aldora.com
Another very respected dive op is Blue XTsea. Christie has done a fantastic job over the years.
Either shop can guide you resort wise should you choose, and make you package deals. I recommend you dont pick a resort too far from town, which I have done in the past, as you definitely want to enjoy what town has to offer for food shopping and entertainment.
If you want more details, pvt me, if you want I can give you my cell number as well. Cozumel is a fantastic dive destination, but also offers so much for the non diver.
Good Luck!
Re: Cozumel
The wife and I be in Cozumel for a week in May and will be using Aldora only. HP 100's and 120's oh my. I asked about packages with them, and they don't do it, but their rates are reasonable. They only night dive Wed and Sat , unless they can get at least four on the boat.
Below is their reply they sent to me...
We dive on high capacity steel tanks for extended bottom times in small groups of 6. We use HP 100 steel for the gals and HP steel 120 for the guys filled to 3500 psi. The morning 2 tank is about a 5 hour turn around leaving from the downtown pier at 7:30 and returning about 1:00pm. The 2 tank is $89. We also offer afternoon 1 tank dives at $55, a 1 tank night dive at $60, and a 2 tank twilight at $96. We guarantee nights dives and twilight dives every Wed and Sat and will also do them any other night we have 4 or more divers. Afternoon dives are done on request with 4 or more divers. If you would like to do either of these, we usually do not have a problem finding other divers. Keep in mind that you will be getting double the bottom times with us than you do with other dive operators.
Dive sites are chosen on day of diving. They are chosen by the group on the boat according to dive skills and the Dive Master. We group our divers according to dive skills, with multiple boats we are visiting many different sites per day. We do not like to take you to a site you have already been, unless you just loved it so much you want to go back. The Dive Masters are very knowledgeable about where the animals are at that time, so you may like to visit a site more than once. At this time we have the eagle rays migrating, so divers want to return to the same place to see many at once.
We do not sell dive packages. These are normally sold by cattle boat operators who will lock you into a schedule and you will pay for dives whether you do them or not. We prefer to let our dives make their own schedules, having the flexibility to make changes once here, without penalty, we just need to know the day before. We do offer a 10% discount to those paying cash on the island for diving.
Depending on your time of arrival, we would suggest that you do an afternoon1 tank dive on arrival. If you flight is in before 12:30, then you will be able to make the departure time of about 3:00pm depending on where you are staying. We pick up at most hotels with a proper pier south of town. The 17th do a 2 tank morning and a 1 tank afternoon dive. The 18th, 19th and 20th you can do the AM dives and the night or Twilight if we have enough divers. We will be doing Villa Express dives which a 1 tank afternoon at $35 from the Villa Aldora. Not sure where you are staying. If you have not looked at our hotel for our divers exclusively, it is on our web site. We offer tanks for free to do a beach dive whenever you choose for our guests.
Below is their reply they sent to me...
We dive on high capacity steel tanks for extended bottom times in small groups of 6. We use HP 100 steel for the gals and HP steel 120 for the guys filled to 3500 psi. The morning 2 tank is about a 5 hour turn around leaving from the downtown pier at 7:30 and returning about 1:00pm. The 2 tank is $89. We also offer afternoon 1 tank dives at $55, a 1 tank night dive at $60, and a 2 tank twilight at $96. We guarantee nights dives and twilight dives every Wed and Sat and will also do them any other night we have 4 or more divers. Afternoon dives are done on request with 4 or more divers. If you would like to do either of these, we usually do not have a problem finding other divers. Keep in mind that you will be getting double the bottom times with us than you do with other dive operators.
Dive sites are chosen on day of diving. They are chosen by the group on the boat according to dive skills and the Dive Master. We group our divers according to dive skills, with multiple boats we are visiting many different sites per day. We do not like to take you to a site you have already been, unless you just loved it so much you want to go back. The Dive Masters are very knowledgeable about where the animals are at that time, so you may like to visit a site more than once. At this time we have the eagle rays migrating, so divers want to return to the same place to see many at once.
We do not sell dive packages. These are normally sold by cattle boat operators who will lock you into a schedule and you will pay for dives whether you do them or not. We prefer to let our dives make their own schedules, having the flexibility to make changes once here, without penalty, we just need to know the day before. We do offer a 10% discount to those paying cash on the island for diving.
Depending on your time of arrival, we would suggest that you do an afternoon1 tank dive on arrival. If you flight is in before 12:30, then you will be able to make the departure time of about 3:00pm depending on where you are staying. We pick up at most hotels with a proper pier south of town. The 17th do a 2 tank morning and a 1 tank afternoon dive. The 18th, 19th and 20th you can do the AM dives and the night or Twilight if we have enough divers. We will be doing Villa Express dives which a 1 tank afternoon at $35 from the Villa Aldora. Not sure where you are staying. If you have not looked at our hotel for our divers exclusively, it is on our web site. We offer tanks for free to do a beach dive whenever you choose for our guests.
The ocean is a lousy teacher. First you get a test, then the lesson.
Re: Cozumel
While I like Aldora, I disagree with what he says about packages. I have dove with 3 different dive ops on Coz and they were very flexible about the packages. Other than that, good stuff. Gotta love the large tanks!