COZUMEL 2019 TRIP REPORT You won't believe this.

[MrBigfins]

We stayed at Allegro and dove with prodive for a week in early October. Our experience was quite different than yours. The resort is less frills than higher end (and higher priced) AI's we have stayed at. However I was there to dive, so with 4 dives everyday except 2 I didnt spend much time with the amenities. My wife did not dive and was pleased with the quality of service and tickled they actually Captain Morgan. The food was mediocre, as has been my experience in every AI of every price range. The superior room is actually their base room package. Superior premium is next. Then First club suites. We were booked to superior premium and they upgraded our rooms to First club. Spacious, clean rooms, mini bar stock rd d regularly. Access to bathrooms and self serve bar and finger food 100 yards from dive shop and rooms closest to ocean. To be honest it's about what I expected as it was one of the cheapest options for AI in cozumel. It was clean, staff were friendly, amenities were less than other places on Cozumel and elsewhere we have been but the price reflected that. The beach was phenomenal for my non diving wife. Beaches that nice aren't found up towards town. We were pleased with the value we received and would stay again.

My son and myself both dove with prodive for a total of 25 dives in 6 days. We had Karina as our DM for most dives and she was great. Always ascended on dsmb to safety stop, dsmb deployed by DM as buddy team when you or your buddy reached 700 psi. Always carried my own dsmb, but DM preferred to deploy theirs so they could insure location of all divers in group Rest of group continued until they reached their own air limit. Knowledgeable about sites and conditions. Flexable on adjustment to dive plan based on skills and wants of group doing dive. Average groups were 4:1 ratio. They accommodated our needs fairly well including rental of 15l tank from another shop for me (6'7 250lbs air hog). I went from averaging 50 min on the 12l to 65-70min dives with a bit more reserve nitrox as a safety buffer. We did have to stop off occasionally to pick up or drop off divers in between dives. The thing is its 15 min max to 90% of the dive sites on west side, so it was done during our surface interval and no imposition. Boat staff and captain were always accommodating and friendly, thanks Taco. All in all I was pleased with the dive experience. While it wasnt valet diving there was good value in the diving.

 

[Mark Rappaport]

We have stayed all over Coz and keep going back because of the diving. We have stayed at minimalist places like Blue Ange which is fine if you don't care about luxury. The rooms are just a place to sleep. They have food there that was pretty good but your not locked into eating at the same place if you don't want to, and you have good access to the local places. Their dive op is good. We also stayed at Sabor and Secrets, AI. They are Ok especially if you want the convenience of always having food available, but we got sick of the food after a few days and longed for the local fare. The on site dive op is just OK. We have done AirBnB and this year found a great condo - Miramar. The past several years we have been diving w Scuba Mau. I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS OP. Personalized .professional, and friendly service. GREAT DM's, captains, and Tau is a great boat! You can hire them from anywhere if you are at an AI, they will come get you at the pier...

 

[Hatul]

We stayed at Occidental and used their Pro Dive and would not recommend it. My main complaints are 1. The place was mosquito infested, so much so that you could not go outside to go for a walk. And 2. Pro Dive dives were all shallow dives good for novice but not satisfying for an experienced diver.

 

[DandyDon]

I'm seeing that one can rent a compact at CZM right now for literally 8-10 bucks a day, then you could drive down and back from the marina and save the expensive cab rides.

Bait & switch!

Car rental is 8 to 12 dollars but you must take the insurance.
Credit card insurance only covers CDW
You need liability insurance also.
Check with the rental company for actual total price.

You don't want to risk ruining a vacation trip by not take full insurance - collision and liability. Yeah, your credit card promises to cover your CDW, but you'd have to pay first, take receipts in Spanish home, file the claim, and hope for the best. As an English speaking tourist, you can expect to be overcharged plus everything else that might go wrong certainly will. You can't leave the island and may not get out of jail until you pay.

Liability coverage is more important even. As a tourist you are automatically at fault, you will be told how much, and it's pay or else.

Price vehicle rentals that include full insurance, keep in mind that you are not allowed to take the vehicle off of paved roads (severe penalties risked), and then there are the gas station games and the occasional bad cop experiences.

 

[gotdogs?]

I can understand why so many people are less than truthful about their health history on the medical questionnaire. I can comprehend the questions about epilepsy, diabetes etc, but back pain, headaches, sinusitis, motion sickness etc. most of us would end up grounded until medical clearance(possible kickbacks involved which requires another forum)is granted. I would be livid by such a demand/requirement and change dive ops immediately!

 

[Manatee Diver]

Bait & switch!

You don't want to risk ruining a vacation trip by not take full insurance - collision and liability. Yeah, your credit card promises to cover your CDW, but you'd have to pay first, take receipts in Spanish home, file the claim, and hope for the best. As an English speaking tourist, you can expect to be overcharged plus everything else that might go wrong certainly will. You can't leave the island and may not get out of jail until you pay.

Liability coverage is more important even. As a tourist you are automatically at fault, you will be told how much, and it's pay or else.

Price vehicle rentals that include full insurance, keep in mind that you are not allowed to take the vehicle off of paved roads (severe penalties risked), and then there are the gas station games and the occasional bad cop experiences.

I love Mexico, I've met a lot of good people there, but every time I go there stuff like this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[ReadyDiverOne]

Oh my this is such baloney. Yes, under Mexican law you are required to buy liability insurance BUT your US insurance is still excess AND any good credit card will give you enough CDW insurance. I’ve rented cars in CZM on several occasions and never had an issue.

 

[Rob9876]

You may want to double-check with your insurer. Ours does not cover Mexico at all. I believe credit card insurance coverage takes a while to process, and I hear you can't leave Mexico until you've fully paid for any damage to the car. While many big name car rental agencies show very low prices for Mexico, they usually don't include insurance. All said, it's hard to beat Rentadora Isis.

 

[DandyDon]

I love Mexico, I've met a lot of good people there, but every time I go there stuff like this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

It's a different culture, different history. A lot can be learned thru exposing ourselves to differences thru travel. There are crooks everywhere, just different from those at home. It's generally best to be prudent.

Oh my this is such baloney. Yes, under Mexican law you are required to buy liability insurance BUT your US insurance is still excess AND any good credit card will give you enough CDW insurance. I’ve rented cars in CZM on several occasions and never had an issue.

What does "your US insurance is still excess" mean?

Tell us about your experiences filling claims with your credit card insurance after incurring damages in Cozumel?

You may want to double-check with your insurer. Ours does not cover Mexico at all. I believe credit card insurance coverage takes a while to process, and I hear you can't leave Mexico until you've fully paid for any damage to the car. While many big name car rental agencies show very low prices for Mexico, they usually don't include insurance. All said, it's hard to beat Rentadora Isis.

As I said, don't risk ruining a pleasant vacation.

 

[Manatee Diver]

It's a different culture, different history. A lot can be learned thru exposing ourselves to differences thru travel. There are crooks everywhere, just different from those at home. It's generally best to be prudent.

I've been all over the world yes there are scams everywhere including in the US, but Latin America is the only place I've been where screwing tourists comes not from rogue actors but actual reputable companies as part of policy. And it doesn't need to be that way, they all have about the same price after insurance, just advertise that.