Thoughts on Cozumel

[ertechsg]

Ok, peopleI want your thoughts on Coz- dive ops, hotel/resorts favorite place to eat or drink and yes dive site. I'll go first,since this gives me something to do besides work. I've stayed at both the north and southend of the island perfer hotel cozumel close to town no taxi ride. Food at resort is better than avg plus DIVE PARIDISE across the street. My wife and I love walking through town and stopping off at differant bars(corona most places .99, COCONUTS is a cool place to stop off for a drink(otherside of island-taxi but worth it one time). The best place to eat is PRIMAgreat food.Santa rosa wall best dive, but I like wall dives 100 ft down and nothing but blue below, for those that have done wall dive know what I mean.Now lets hear yours. I really don't want to work.

[3rdEye]

I'll chime in here,
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<DIV>Cozumel was recently my first dive vacation, and first time diving in the ocean, so maybe this means jack but here's my thoughts.</DIV>
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<DIV>Stayed at the iberostar, I think closer to town or in town would have been nicer. Resort food was ok....not thrilled about it...I had some real stomach issues most of the time for some reason. I liked the all inclusive aspect of just being able to grab a free drink anywhere in the resort, but I'd probably trade it forbetter food and closer to town.</DIV>
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<DIV>DoveSanta Rosa wall, and of the 8 dives I did, definitely one of my favorites. Also enjoyedPalancar gardens and Palancar caves, less of a current in those coral caves and it was nice to be able to easily stop and check stuff out.</DIV>
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<DIV>Our dive op was a great guy, and we basically had him all to ourselves (off season), so we got a lot of extra attention and insight. He was also great at finding critters we would have missed, even found a toadfish.</DIV>
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<DIV>Next time I go, I'd like to find some better bars to go to, and some better restaurants. Dinner at Guidos was probably the best meal I had down there, that and the lunches on the dive boat.</DIV>
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<DIV>If you don't get a chance to night dive (I didn't), definitely do a night snorkel near the shore....I managed to see some of the coolest stuff in 4 ft of water....eels, octopus, lobsters, worms, barracuda, etc. very cool.</DIV>
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[DallasNewbie]

We've been several times but have only stayed at Caribe Blu and dived with Blue Angel. We've had no reason to try anyone else, even though I know there are quite a few other high-quality dive ops on the island.

I like Palancar gardens and Bricks, but I also really like Paradise. It's a nice shallow dive teaming with life. Unfortunately the last time we went, the current was going the "wrong" way and we only got to see a third of the reef.

[94GTStang]

We have gone to Coz twice and stayed in two different hotels. Our first time down there was at Hotel Cozumel and we really enjoyed our stay. They have a nice pool (which we didn't step foot in) and a nice beachfront bar. The only downside is the room views, but the quality of the hotel is outstanding.
Second time we went, we stayed at Fiesta Americana. It's a little farther south, but it's easier for the dive boat to pick us up. All the room except for the casitas are ocean facing which is a major plus for us. The rooms and hotel itself is first rate. We leave in two weeks for Cozumel and are staying there again.
We dive with Raul from bottomtimedivers.net soley because he has a nice fast boat and only has room for about 6 divers. His prices are fair and he takes care of your equipment after the dives. If you are doing multiple day dives, he will have your stuff ready to go when he picks you up.
As for dive sites... they are all great. This time I want to hit up the C53 and do two more night dives.
Food... Coconuts, Primos, and all the other places on the island are great. Across the street from Dominos east of town, there is a small chicken shack with the greatest chicken.

[georoc01]

I have been to Coz three times as the infamous pod people from a cruise ship. So the last time we did stay there at Hotel Allegro. I understand why people like staying downtown, but as an all inclusive the food was good, and to be able to literally hop on a dive boat and be at the dive site in less than 5 minutes has its appeal. And since they just shuttle back and forth to the dock and back, you get to schedule your own surface interval.
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<DIV>Next visit is to Casa Del Mar with singledivers.com. I'll post on that when we return (Plus a stop at Holbox to snorkel with the whalesharks!).</DIV>

[rainmaker]

I've been to Coz twice. Last time was in January 2007, and stayed for 2 weeks. We stayed at the Caribe Blu and I dived with Blue Angel. I paid for 10 boat dives, and didn't have to pay anyone for anything for the 39 shore dives I made on the little recovering reef (it got hit hard by Hurricane Wilma) near the hotel. This gave me the opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do, but couldn't do on boat dives; get down on my knees beside a coral head and just watch everything that goes on. It was amazing.
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<DIV SuperAdBlocker_DIV_Elements="0" SuperAdBlocker_OnMove_Hooked="0" SuperAdBlocker__Hooked="0" SuperAdBlocker_DIV_FirstLook="0">This was the dive trip that all future tripswill bemeasured against!</DIV>
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[Willar]

We stayed at Scuba Club Cozumel with a group of about 20 and had a great time. I would not want to be down the coast at the bigger resorts as the short walk to downtown from SCC or Hotel Cozumel is so nice. SCC was very clean, the dive guides excellent, the service excellent and the food retty good. I did hear some picky eaters didn't like the limited menu but I felt the choices were good and everything I ate there was very good. I will return to Scuba Club Cozumel as soon as I can.

[dannybot]

Stayed at Hotel Cozumel inDecember, dove with Dive Paradise. Had a good time, I enjoyed the fresh fruit, in fact thats mostly what I ate the whole week. Didn't like the milk at all. My teenage boys didn't like the food much and were pretty bored, so the don't go on diving trips anymore. Too bad they don't want to share paradise with me.
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<DIV>Maybe since it was my first dive trip and my first real vacation ever, I enjoyed! But for the kids, maybe one of those resorts further down to the south. I don't know if the food is more to their liking, but there seemed to be more teenage girls for them to chase. </DIV>
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<DIV>I think Hotel Cozumel is great for diving if that's all you want to do, that's all I did.</DIV>

[cb101]

could you email me the names of some hotels you would recommend. i have never been to Cozumel. and am going some time next month. email me at
cartbart@gmail.com

[94GTStang]

The distance to downtown has never been a major concern. Just rent a car from LessPay and drive around anywhere you want to go. Sure walking to town is fun, but it's tough to get a cab to take you to Coconuts.