A place to stay in cozumel

[sealskin98]

Barracuda is a no-frills diver's hotel, right on the beach. I haven't stayed there, but on a couple of trips with my former Instructor when we stayed further from the beach we hung out there quite a bit. He used to stay there a lot and knew the staff. Don't have any experience with the other two hotels.

I'm surprised Gordon didn't say anything about Caribe Blu/Blue Angel. Although Coz. isn't know for shore diving we saw several reef fish and two barracuda on a shallow shore dive just behind the hotel last time.

Here is Christi's restaurant list although it doesn't have La Veranda or Capi Navegante on it. It would be almost impossible to list all of the good restaurants there. La Choza, El Moro, Parrilla Mission, Prima's are places I usually hit when down there. It will take you several trips to have time to go to all of the good places to eat.

Have fun on your trip. Well, that goes without saying.

 

[sharky60]

The locals don't even drink the tap water! That should tell you something. Most people even use bottled h20 to brush with.

All the ice is made from purified water so it is safe.

I think any of the three hotels would be a suit you, Scuba Club is more private, a beautiful little hacienda with no phones or tv's, but everyone that likes that sort of thing love S.C. It is one of the few places that have fairly decent shore diving, Wilma kind of messed up what good shore dives we had, but I think it is still one of the best places to spot seahorses.

Hotel Cozumel is the largest of the properties and the closet to a "resort" style place, beautiful, huge pool area, it is the only one of the three that is not a beach front property. I think they have both All-inclusive and non-AI packages also.

It seems they do a lot of poolside activities also, bingo and the like, at least they have been the past couple times I've been on property, so if you're not into that "cruise ship" activity thing may, it may not be for you.

Barracuda is the closest to town, actually it is somewhat in town, although all three are within easy walking distance form town. don't know a whole lot about it, but again folks that stay there seem pretty high on the place. It seems like a lot of solo travelers stay here so it may be what you're looking for.

 

[Dave Zimmerly]

I was at the Scuba Club a few weeks ago...found the shore diving from there to have an amazing abundance of critters. Granted, mostly small but diverse and interesting. I also saw the only trumpet fish ever in over four visits to Coz.

Also, you can do a shore dive from there whenever you want.

Dave (aka "Squirt")

 

[Scuba Sciences]

Hi,

I have been to Cozumel many times (not in the past 2 years though..) I have stayed at the Iberostar, Allegro, and the Reef Club. All of these hotels are all-inclusive with dive shops on site. I think Dive Palancar has to be my favorite for the diving. Their divemasters were great and took us were WE wanted to go (usually away from the crowds).

Has anyone been recently to hear how the conditions are since the hurricanes?

Tina
Scuba Sciences, Inc.

 

[Cozdreamer]

We've stayed at Hotel Coz and Barracuda, so I can only speak for those 2. I agree with Sharky60 comments about both of them. Personally, if I were going to return solo, I'd pick Barracuda of the 2 because it's right on the water. They also have an easy shore entry area, the new pool, new on-site No-Name bar, and it's a divers hotel so there will be lots of divers sitting around swapping stories in-between dives. You'll save cab ride fare into town b/c it's a safe easy 5-8 blocks from town to walk. The room is basic, clean, has TV, mini-fridge. To us, Hotel Coz was more resort like and we disliked the walk across the street to dive each AM compared to the ease of Barracuda's easy access and only a few foot steps from the lobby! Most all dive op boats pick up from both these hotels. Since I've never tried Scuba Club, I can't give my opinion. Have fun! If you can't locate enough restaurant ideas on this site, you should check out www.travelnotes.cc and go to the Cozumel chatters page. Lots of restaurant reviews there scrolling down the right hand side of the screen under the Cozumel General Discussion forum.

 

[boomer68]

You may want to look at Casa Del Mar - Right across the street from the ocean with an over the road walk way. Nice clean, no frills basic hotel. Delmar Aquatics was a great dive op. Hope this helps.