Easy Coz Diving

[phxcamera]

Thanks to all for the great info in all these posts. We've booked the reservations for Coz in July, and are now searching for dive shops.

However, similar to Wolfgirl's thread, my wife and I are looking for info on which dive shops might cater more to the novice divers...We've only got a hand-full of open ocean dives.

I'd love to do the 130' Devil's Throat, but to keep my buddy (and more importantly, my wife) happy, we need to keep it a bit shallower.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated!

 

[phxcamera]

Hi All,

I'm slowing receiving information from several dive shops. Does anyone have any experience with Divehouse, located at the Fiesta Americana hotel?

Thanks!

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi phxcamera,

I've been to many of the resorts/dive ops on Coz in my 17 trips there. Dive House is fine, but the Fiesta Americana is so far south out of town it's inconvenient & a $12 r/t cab ride to town to boot.

A good op for newbies that is closer to town is Papa Hog's (www.papahogs.com). Deal with Mama Hog (aka Margaret), a very nice Canadian ex-pat. Her husband, Mike, can be brusque. Tell her your status.

Have fun.

DocVikingo

 

[Tom]

I stayed at Fiesta Americana a few weeks ago. Wasn't real impressed. Food wasn't the greatest and wasn't really available after about seven in the evening. We had five people so we needed two cabs to get to town. Seven bucks each one way. If you want some entertainment or some night life, better get your fill by about eight. It's all over by then. No beach - all rocky shore.

The rooms were as good as most. We snorkeled in the evenings off the shore and had a good time.

Probably won't go there again.

Don't know much about Dive House. We dive with Anita Divers. They don't have a shop. You meet the boat at the marina. We used them for our first ocean dives and have been going back to them ever since. We took our son with them for his first dives a few weeks ago. Contact me if you want more info on them.

Tom

 

[joewr]

I thought I had responded to your question yesterday, but it seems that cyberspace has swallowed the response--but if two show up, pardon my verbosity....

We usually stay at the Fiesta and like it alot. Actually we prefer its out of downtown location! The food at the Fiesta is okay, but we usually just eat breakfast there and go into town for dinner. The taxi ride is $5.00 one way in our experience, but maybe that is because I speak Spanish..I don't know. We were there last in November and I cannot imagine that rates have gone up so fast, but... The cost of meals downtown is very reasonable, so I do not consider the "extra" cost of the taxi prohibative. We really like a restaurant called the French Quarter, and think it is the best in Coz, but not everyone on this Board agrees with that assessment.

We do not miss the night life in town. Maybe that is because we are in our 50's--but not yet ready for the geriatric ward--we go on dive trips 4 times a year and typically log 75+ dives a year.

It is true that Fiesta really does not have much of a beach, but the pool is great! And their are lots of chaises for the sun lovers--many down near the shore where there is access to the ocean.

Also, the shore dives at the Fiesta are great! We usually make our first dive in Coz a shore dive at the Fiesta--max depth of ca. 25 feet--and have seen lots of sea life including eels, crabs, French Angels, Queen Angels, Gray Angels, Yellowtail Snappers and all the other "usual suspects".

We have dived with the Dive House and find them to be quite good. If you stay at the Fiesta and dive with the Dive House, you can get a locker for your gear near the dock--a great convenience. A company called Island Dreams can arrange a very cost effective package for the Fiesta/Dive House.

We usually dive from a boat that caters to more advanced divers, but we did some dives with the Dive House last November and found them to be, as I noted, quite good. They seemed to do very well with less experienced divers...

But, my guess is that whomever you go with and where ever you stay, you will enjoy Coz: it is a wonderful place to dive! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy...

Joewr

 

[phxcamera]

Tom, DocVikingo, and Joewr,

Thanks for your thoughts. We'll take them into advisement in researching all the dive shops in Cozumel....