Cozumel Trip Help

[Rhodesaz]

Schoolteacher,
I also vote for the Occidental Grand. But you're going to have to ask her what she wants to do while you're out diving. As said above, snorkeling from a dive boat will be boring (for the reasons given).
If she wants a party night, shopping, etc, then closer to town will be a good bet. If she wants a great sandy beach, a more quiet laid back evening, then south resorts may be a good bet.

Here is a picture of the beach from the Occidental Grand beach restaurant. It also shows the roped off area for swimming and snorkelers. As a diver I have not swam in this area, but I see snorkelers in there all the time.

I have stayed at the OG 3 times this year and have NEVER been bitten by mosquito's. I go back in 14 days. WOOHOO!!

As said, the rooms are very nice but there is a 5 minute walk to the beach through a mangrove not a lagoon. The actual walk (in the mangrove) is on a wooden bridge and takes 30 seconds. But look down for all the turtles begging for food.




Dive Palancar dives 4 times a day. Which I really enjoy.

If you want closer to town try looking at the Casa Del Mar. They are a 3 star resort, do 2 tank boat dives, are an AI and much closer to town. But they do not have a nice beach or a very large pool.

Everything is a trade off!!

 

[nodakdive]

If you want closer to town try looking at the Casa Del Mar. They are a 3 star resort, do 2 tank boat dives, are an AI and much closer to town. But they do not have a nice beach or a very large pool.

Everything is a trade off!!

I would clarify this by saying that Casa del Mar has an AI option. It was/is $39 per day. With the new taxi rate increase the fare to town will be about 96 pesos. ($8+ US?) In addition, the onsite dive op, Del Mar Aquatics, also offers a 1 tank afternoon dive on Paradise reef and/or Chankanaab reef. Not completely sure about Chankanaab. They may have some small boats, but all I've seen is large boats. The shore diving there, while maybe not the best shore diving on Cozumel, isn't horrible. I've seen just about anything you can see there. Pre Hurricane Wilma, the snorkeling there was really quite good. It's recovering, but not what it was, at least not as of last March. I've stayed there many times, and my diving and non-diving friends really like it. The all inclusive there is not a buffet, with the exception of breakfast. You order off their menu for lunch and dinner. This is a big plus imho. I think there's probably an up-charge for lobster. In a two week stay, I'll probably eat at their restaurant a few times. The food is fine but I, like others, love all the restaurants in town. The pier is owned by Casa del Mar, and they allow pick up by other dive ops and there has never been a charge. Another plus over the southern AI's is that they are at the northern edge of the marine park, so if you use a fast boat dive op, all the marine park sites are a possibility. I've heard that if you stay at a (some) southern resort/s, the northern shallow dive sites aren't as convenient to access so you might not get to some of them. If it's your first Cozumel dive trip, this isn't much of a consideration.

Finally, there are a couple of restaurants really close to Casa del Mar and an OXXO about 1 block away, and the Atlantis submarine is right across the street. And I think the Fury Catamaran shop is right there too. They do snorkel trips on big catamarans.

Have fun!!
-Blair

 

[Rhodesaz]

Nodakdive,
You're right. Dive Palancare does not go to the Paradise dive site, (Or any other far North dive sites) which I think is one of the prettiest shallow dive sites there is. The last time I stayed at Casa Del Mar, they did not do an afternoon dive. I'm glad they do now.
I don't care how fast the small boats are, it is still a 30 to 45 minute boat ride to most of the dive sites. For some one who "may" get sea sick, I perfer the 5 to 10 minute boats rides from the south resorts.

Also, if you're outside at the pool or eating, you will hear a lot of road noise. I never heard road noise in any of the rooms. The rooms are nice, but basic. Just like a lot of places.
I found the food OK. Better at the OG.

The staff at the CDM are great, just like the majority of the residents are in Cozumel. Except for the TSA people at the airport, I have always been treated great by the people of Cozumel.

 

[nodakdive]

Nodakdive,
You're right. Dive Palancare does not go to the Paradise dive site, (Or any other far North dive sites) which I think is one of the prettiest shallow dive sites there is. The last time I stayed at Casa Del Mar, they did not do an afternoon dive. I'm glad they do now.
I don't care how fast the small boats are, it is still a 30 to 45 minute boat ride to most of the dive sites. For some one who "may" get sea sick, I perfer the 5 to 10 minute boats rides from the south resorts.

Also, if you're outside at the pool or eating, you will hear a lot of road noise. I never heard road noise in any of the rooms. The rooms are nice, but basic. Just like a lot of places.
I found the food OK. Better at the OG.

The staff at the CDM are great, just like the majority of the residents are in Cozumel. Except for the TSA people at the airport, I have always been treated great by the people of Cozumel.

I've stayed at Ramon's Village on Ambergris in Belize. Sort of the equivalent of a Coz southern resort. It was crazy great having surface intervals back at the resort. I can see how, for some, this is a big plus of the south AI's on Coz. And you're correct, there is some road noise at CDM, and it's never been an issue, but not the same experience as sitting in a nice quiet restaurant on a secluded resort property. For some, the AI's down south fit the bill nicely. If taxi money was no object and access to all the marine park sites were possible, I'd consider it. For me, there's a world of difference between buffet food and nice, fresh restaurant food.

I've never actually timed the rides to and from the dive sites. I use a small boat op, Deep Blue. What I do know is that my trips, including dives of about an hour and at least a 1 hour surface interval take about 3.5 to 4 hours from Casa del Mar. I get picked up anywhere from 9:15am to 9:30, and we're back by about 1pm. Sometimes a little after, sometimes a little before. I also see us whizzing past the big boats on the way out. Unless our 2nd shallow dive is a southern site, I have to be on my game to get my gear off and packed before we get back. And on the way out, I get on the boat, set up my gear, and I have maybe 10 minutes (?) until we're getting briefed. Whatever it is, it goes by really fast. This changes, of course, depending on pick-ups and drop-offs. I learned early, though, that after that second dive I need to deal with my gear and then chill, not the other way around. It is not, though, the same experience as having SI's back at the resort. If I were to estimate, I think the trips out and back average about 20 minutes each way? Anybody know if that's accurate from Casa del Mar to say, Palancar?

Yeah, the CDM staff is really great. Like, all of them, including the gardeners, maintenance people and security. Oh, another nice change at Casa del Mar as of 2 years ago, Del Mar Aquatics let's CDM guests use lockers in their shop. I guess the owner or the manager made arrangements with the dive shop. This is a big step up from hauling stuff between the room and the dock.

-Blair

 

[KJSmith84]

i never hear anyone say to stay at fiesta americana on any of these type of threads?
why is this?

im heading there on thursday and making sure i booked a ok spot to stay and then dive there at their on site dive house.

 

[fishi]

i never hear anyone say to stay at fiesta americana on any of these type of threads?
why is this?

im heading there on thursday and making sure i booked a ok spot to stay and then dive there at their on site dive house.

Lots of people like FA and Dive House. No worries.