This is report will be focused on the diving, the hotel, the dive operator, the taxi and money scams, and I’ll compare my observations of the reef health from my trip in October 2023 and February 2024. We were a group of three, two divers and one non-diver. Out of 10 days on the island, we only got to dive 5 days due to the extreme wind and the port being closed.
The Hotel-Casa Mexicana (CM). This was a first-time stay at CM. Our rooms were #505 and #507, which the balcony faces the open atrium above the restaurant. Unbeknownst to me during the booking process in August 2023, we were there during the Carnival. It was a PITA for the road closures, taxi service, and overall late night noise and music till 1 a.m. The two parades on Sunday and Tuesday were nice to watch for awhile, but it lasted for six hours, starting at 6 p.m.
The rooms, restaurant, and public spaces were impeccably clean, the staff were friendly, and the breakfast buffet (7 a.m.-11 a.m.) was very good each morning, though a little more variety in food choices would have been nice. CM claims you can drink the water from the tap in the bathroom of your room, but there’s no way I’d ever drink any tap water anywhere in Mexico. There’s a little sticker above the faucet that says the water is filtered. The shower was not great for water pressure, but it was as hot as you needed. There are only two double plug outlets in the room and one GFI-protected outlet in the bathroom. I’m glad I brought a plug extender. The bed was very firm, but I travel with a blowup camping pad and that helped for not getting a sore back. The balcony was spacious with two chairs and a table.
The Dive Shop-Jungle Divers (JD). I chose Jungle Divers this trip because of the bigger boat with a giant stride platform. The sacrifice for a larger boat is it took 1 hour or more to get to the dive sites, with a couple of pier pickups along the way. Alex and Steph are the owners, and they were very easy to deal with. Because of our daily taxi rip-offs, Steph was kind enough to offer us a ride back to CM a couple of the days. Richard and Steph were our guides on alternating days and did a great job.
We liked having an included lunch on the surface interval with included beverages. The website says you’ll get water (it was bottled), juices, soft drinks, and beer. Small detail, but there was no juice or beer. It would have been nice to have a cold beer for the long boat ride back to the marina. Otherwise, the lunch was good with a nice spread to make your own sandwiches and fresh-made guacamole and chips. Fresh fruit was also included.
Small observation, the picture of the boat on their website is not what we got. What I learned was a new concept of diving that I had never run across before. Jungle Divers does not own their own boat, but, instead, leases the spaces from Dive With Charro. That meant we had different dive shops/operators with their own customers on the boat, and we were all dropped into the water at different time intervals. That also meant when we surfaced, we were very far apart from the other groups, so we were on the surface for 10-15 minutes waiting for pickup in not-so-calm surface conditions.
We were on three different boats, Mytay, Myway (not sure of the spelling), and Estella, each ranging in different size and comfort. Our last day of diving before the port closed for good before the end of our trip, the captain and crew seemed to be unknown to the JD people because introductions were made as if they had never met. The camera bucket was filled with dirty water, so they filled it with clean water at my request.
We dived on Nitrox. One of my second tanks was only half full, so they had to meet up with another boat to swap tanks. A couple of the fills were only 2800 pounds, but, for the most part, it was a 3000-pound fill at 32%, even though their website says you'll get 34% to 36%.
If you pay cash at the end of your trip, you’ll avoid the 5% credit card fee. JD includes the marine park fee in their pricing. Nitrox is $10 per tank.
The Diving-Southern Sites. When I was there in October 2023 (as a solo diver), I was very shocked and disappointed at the condition of the reef. The water temps were in the mid-80s. The hard corals were bleached white so much that it looked like a blanket of snow on the bottom. There was substantial red algae and green algae, a lack of color and fish, and, overall, a bummer of a trip. If I had not already had my friends coming and vacation time reserved for this trip in February, I would have cancelled it.
So, four months later, what I observed was some of the hard corals got a little of their color back, the red and green algae has reduced, but it’s still a problem. The ocean floor doesn’t look like snow now, but there’s still a lot of recovery to be made. The fish population is still down. We saw only one nurse shark, a few eels, a few turtles, but the highlight was the eagle rays. We got some close encounters that were just awesome, close enough that you could see their gills moving as they breathed.
The sea is quiet in Cozumel. And what I mean by that is the crackling sounds of life underwater is muted. Having been to Indonesia a couple of months ago, the crackling sounds in the ocean are loud, signaling a lot of marine life doing their thing. Cozumel is very quiet, signaling a dying ocean. It’s a stark contrast between the two, and I would have never noticed it if I hadn’t been diving in Asia.
In October, I lost 5 days of diving and had the first Norte of the season hit. This trip, we lost 5 days of diving due to the wind.
Taxi Scams and Money Cheating. I started a thread called “Are you Tired of the Taxi Rip-off?” while I was there, so I won’t repeat those experiences. I just couldn’t get a handle on how to beat the taxi scams, so what we did with the taxis is know how much it would cost, have the exact pesos ready, and pay them that amount regardless of what they said the amount was, and walked away. Each time, we were called out on it, but since they refused to show us the rate card, they made no further actions against us.
What I learned further is that there are three taxi rates, one for locals, one for on-island tourists, and one for cruise ship tourists. But the taxi drivers charge all tourists the cruise ship rates when the ships are docked. That’s another reason to know what to pay before you get in the taxi.
At both Mega and the 7-11 at CM, I paid pesos for small purchases, and I was short-changed by the cashiers both times, so I went to using the credit card even for a dollar purchase. I called both cashiers out to give me the correct change. Steph at JD enlightened us to many of the money scams that are pervasive here and wasn’t surprised to hear my story.
I don’t care if it’s a small amount of money each time. It’s the principle of not accepting the deception and the cheating. By not fighting back, you let them know you’re okay with being ripped off and they will continue to do it. I really feel for non-Mexicans that have businesses here. The corruption is so prevalent. I don't know how you put up with it.
Final Thoughts. We didn't like the way JD operated on a leased-space basis. It was not fluid and seamless. I'm sure it's fine for some folks. It was just not for us.
My non-diving friend was really bored. We warned him this was a dive-centric location, but he still wanted to come along. He did some bike riding and rented a scooter, but, otherwise, just hung out at CM. So if you have non-divers, there's not much to do here.
Having to deal with the constant cheating, the below average diving, and the blown-out days because of port closures, we were a bit deflated at the end of the trip. I’ve been to Cozumel many times and dived all over the Caribbean, which is also suffering from dying reefs. Given the distance and time it takes to travel from Oregon only to be disappointed time after time, Mexico is in my rearview mirror, and I’ll be diving in Hawaii, Fiji, the South Pacific, and Asia for the foreseeable future.
Edit: For anyone making plans to stay downtown, there is a lot of construction going on a couple blocks north of Casa Mexicana, right in front of Thirsty Cougar. There's a lot of noise and dust from tearing up the street.
The Hotel-Casa Mexicana (CM). This was a first-time stay at CM. Our rooms were #505 and #507, which the balcony faces the open atrium above the restaurant. Unbeknownst to me during the booking process in August 2023, we were there during the Carnival. It was a PITA for the road closures, taxi service, and overall late night noise and music till 1 a.m. The two parades on Sunday and Tuesday were nice to watch for awhile, but it lasted for six hours, starting at 6 p.m.
The rooms, restaurant, and public spaces were impeccably clean, the staff were friendly, and the breakfast buffet (7 a.m.-11 a.m.) was very good each morning, though a little more variety in food choices would have been nice. CM claims you can drink the water from the tap in the bathroom of your room, but there’s no way I’d ever drink any tap water anywhere in Mexico. There’s a little sticker above the faucet that says the water is filtered. The shower was not great for water pressure, but it was as hot as you needed. There are only two double plug outlets in the room and one GFI-protected outlet in the bathroom. I’m glad I brought a plug extender. The bed was very firm, but I travel with a blowup camping pad and that helped for not getting a sore back. The balcony was spacious with two chairs and a table.
The Dive Shop-Jungle Divers (JD). I chose Jungle Divers this trip because of the bigger boat with a giant stride platform. The sacrifice for a larger boat is it took 1 hour or more to get to the dive sites, with a couple of pier pickups along the way. Alex and Steph are the owners, and they were very easy to deal with. Because of our daily taxi rip-offs, Steph was kind enough to offer us a ride back to CM a couple of the days. Richard and Steph were our guides on alternating days and did a great job.
We liked having an included lunch on the surface interval with included beverages. The website says you’ll get water (it was bottled), juices, soft drinks, and beer. Small detail, but there was no juice or beer. It would have been nice to have a cold beer for the long boat ride back to the marina. Otherwise, the lunch was good with a nice spread to make your own sandwiches and fresh-made guacamole and chips. Fresh fruit was also included.
Small observation, the picture of the boat on their website is not what we got. What I learned was a new concept of diving that I had never run across before. Jungle Divers does not own their own boat, but, instead, leases the spaces from Dive With Charro. That meant we had different dive shops/operators with their own customers on the boat, and we were all dropped into the water at different time intervals. That also meant when we surfaced, we were very far apart from the other groups, so we were on the surface for 10-15 minutes waiting for pickup in not-so-calm surface conditions.
We were on three different boats, Mytay, Myway (not sure of the spelling), and Estella, each ranging in different size and comfort. Our last day of diving before the port closed for good before the end of our trip, the captain and crew seemed to be unknown to the JD people because introductions were made as if they had never met. The camera bucket was filled with dirty water, so they filled it with clean water at my request.
We dived on Nitrox. One of my second tanks was only half full, so they had to meet up with another boat to swap tanks. A couple of the fills were only 2800 pounds, but, for the most part, it was a 3000-pound fill at 32%, even though their website says you'll get 34% to 36%.
If you pay cash at the end of your trip, you’ll avoid the 5% credit card fee. JD includes the marine park fee in their pricing. Nitrox is $10 per tank.
The Diving-Southern Sites. When I was there in October 2023 (as a solo diver), I was very shocked and disappointed at the condition of the reef. The water temps were in the mid-80s. The hard corals were bleached white so much that it looked like a blanket of snow on the bottom. There was substantial red algae and green algae, a lack of color and fish, and, overall, a bummer of a trip. If I had not already had my friends coming and vacation time reserved for this trip in February, I would have cancelled it.
So, four months later, what I observed was some of the hard corals got a little of their color back, the red and green algae has reduced, but it’s still a problem. The ocean floor doesn’t look like snow now, but there’s still a lot of recovery to be made. The fish population is still down. We saw only one nurse shark, a few eels, a few turtles, but the highlight was the eagle rays. We got some close encounters that were just awesome, close enough that you could see their gills moving as they breathed.
The sea is quiet in Cozumel. And what I mean by that is the crackling sounds of life underwater is muted. Having been to Indonesia a couple of months ago, the crackling sounds in the ocean are loud, signaling a lot of marine life doing their thing. Cozumel is very quiet, signaling a dying ocean. It’s a stark contrast between the two, and I would have never noticed it if I hadn’t been diving in Asia.
In October, I lost 5 days of diving and had the first Norte of the season hit. This trip, we lost 5 days of diving due to the wind.
Taxi Scams and Money Cheating. I started a thread called “Are you Tired of the Taxi Rip-off?” while I was there, so I won’t repeat those experiences. I just couldn’t get a handle on how to beat the taxi scams, so what we did with the taxis is know how much it would cost, have the exact pesos ready, and pay them that amount regardless of what they said the amount was, and walked away. Each time, we were called out on it, but since they refused to show us the rate card, they made no further actions against us.
What I learned further is that there are three taxi rates, one for locals, one for on-island tourists, and one for cruise ship tourists. But the taxi drivers charge all tourists the cruise ship rates when the ships are docked. That’s another reason to know what to pay before you get in the taxi.
At both Mega and the 7-11 at CM, I paid pesos for small purchases, and I was short-changed by the cashiers both times, so I went to using the credit card even for a dollar purchase. I called both cashiers out to give me the correct change. Steph at JD enlightened us to many of the money scams that are pervasive here and wasn’t surprised to hear my story.
I don’t care if it’s a small amount of money each time. It’s the principle of not accepting the deception and the cheating. By not fighting back, you let them know you’re okay with being ripped off and they will continue to do it. I really feel for non-Mexicans that have businesses here. The corruption is so prevalent. I don't know how you put up with it.
Final Thoughts. We didn't like the way JD operated on a leased-space basis. It was not fluid and seamless. I'm sure it's fine for some folks. It was just not for us.
My non-diving friend was really bored. We warned him this was a dive-centric location, but he still wanted to come along. He did some bike riding and rented a scooter, but, otherwise, just hung out at CM. So if you have non-divers, there's not much to do here.
Having to deal with the constant cheating, the below average diving, and the blown-out days because of port closures, we were a bit deflated at the end of the trip. I’ve been to Cozumel many times and dived all over the Caribbean, which is also suffering from dying reefs. Given the distance and time it takes to travel from Oregon only to be disappointed time after time, Mexico is in my rearview mirror, and I’ll be diving in Hawaii, Fiji, the South Pacific, and Asia for the foreseeable future.
Edit: For anyone making plans to stay downtown, there is a lot of construction going on a couple blocks north of Casa Mexicana, right in front of Thirsty Cougar. There's a lot of noise and dust from tearing up the street.
