Iberostar & Dressel Divers Review

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adamgiles

Registered
Messages
8
Reaction score
14
Location
Minnesota
# of dives
200 - 499
My wife and I just returned from a wonderful dive trip to Cozumel. Dates of stay were February 26 through March 2 2018. We really enjoyed the Iberostar Resort and diving with Dressel Divers, the on site dive shop. First let me review the dive shop and the diving:

Dressel Divers: From what I read here on scubaboard I knew to ask for a room near the dive shop. Once we checked in and dropped our stuff off at the room we headed right down to the dive shop. It was maybe 100 yard walk. We talked with the folks at the dive desk and got our dives all lined up for the next day and the days following. We had brought a lock, also got this info here, and grabbed a locker to put some of our stuff in. We used the lock we brought from home to lock up our locker. The front desk did a nice job of explaining everything to us, helping us make sure our paperwork was accurate, and filling us in on how the week would go.

Day 1 of diving had us doing two dives. The following Days we did up to four dives a day. The water clarity, weather, and ocean conditions in general were awesome all week. We really enjoyed the free Nitrox and dove all of our dives taking advantage of this. I have been Nitrox certified since the early 2000’s, but my wife took the PADI certification in anticipation of this trip. Normally I would not cough up the $10 a tank but being it was free we took advantage of it.

Throughout the week we managed to get in 17 dives, one of which was a night dive. We were very impressed with the dive masters, the accommodations of the dive boats, and we absolutely love the five minute ride to some of the best dive sites Cozumel has to offer. The way it worked was there were three groups of 6 to 7 Divers per large dive boat. Each group had their own DM, and would get dropped off separately so the groups did not run over each other. I really enjoyed this. It gave us an opportunity to meet different DM‘s and lots of divers. The boat had plenty of room for all and although it did get chaotic at times once we figured out the routine it was a great way to dive. We liked the fact that the boat returned to the resort between dives for our surface intervals.

Another thing we appreciated was the fact that we did not have to end our dive until we were at 700 psi or 60 minutes. When the first person would get to 700 psi the DM would launch a smb and the first group would go up and do their 15 foot three minute stop. The rest of us would keep on diving. Because we were the first group in the water every time due to the fact that the Nitrox tanks were at the back of the boat, the 60 minute max time was not strictly enforced. However with my air consumption we were usually up at that 60 minute range anyway.

So overall we were very happy with Dressel Divers. We just booked another trip for October and this time we are going to stay in town and try a little different type of trip. I will say that I would not hesitate to book with them again. The whole experience was pleasant and everyone we dealt with were friendly and professional.

Iberostar: A little bit on the resort itself. The grounds are gorgeous, the beach is very large with tons of chairs and umbrellas. We thought the food was excellent, and the drinks were good and strong at most of the bars. The service was great, and the people were very friendly. It is a tropical park like setting that was very laid-back. We really enjoyed the free roaming flamingos, peacocks, parrots, wild boar, and even a couple of cats. We kept thinking our kids really would’ve enjoyed that. It was kind a like being at a tropical zoo. Pricing is probably 2 times what you’ll pay in town at some of the boutique hotels but with the food and drinks included and atmosphere we thought it was well worth the money.
 
Glad to see your report. Putting aside the 'in town for the best food eating out' vs. 'A.I.-convenience and upfront paid-for cost' debate from other threads, it's nice to see a report on one of them, and its onsite dive op. Especially from the angle of what your kids would've liked.

I'm hopeful in the future we'll see more comparative reviews of some southern A.I.s (such as Iberostar, Occidental and Grand Park Royal, which seem to get mentioned pretty often), including a 'family perspective' (i.e.: how they'd compare against each other if you've got one or more kids, especially grade school age).

Cozumel offers such a range of choices you can do about anything (e.g.: budget vs. upscale, solo vs. buddy vs. group, downtown vs. A.I. with beach, onsite shore diving or not, just diving or add land excursions). I imagine some of those southern A.I.s would appeal to families with kids, where maybe 1 (or both) parent(s) dive and the rest need onsite entertainment and good food, all with a need for cost control.

You mentioned up to 4 dives/day. Was that 3 day dives & a night dive? If you went just to dive, and wanted to dive as much as possible, would 4 dives/day be possible most days? If so, figuring in free nitrox is a nice perk!

And the Iberostar...did they have entertainment performances in the evening, or was it mostly about lounging around beaches enjoying the ambience?

Richard.
 
Nice report. Curious as to if you booked a dive package ahead of time with Dressel to get the 20% off, or if not, did you get a discount because you stayed at the resort?

Had a day pass for the Iberostar on the day I dove with Dressel and I agree the food was really good!
 
The reviews of the AIs on this site are limited because I think people get shouted down for "doing it wrong".

I've stayed at the Iberostar twice and arriving Sat for trip #3. My family and I love the hotel but I also go downtown 2-3 times during the week for dinner.

It is easy to dive 4-5 times a day with their op since the hotel is basically next to all the reefs. You have a 5 min ride to the sites and your SI are at the resort. You spend very little time away from the hotel while diving and this makes it awesome for families with divers and non-divers. I literally stop by the pool to say HI between dives.

For a change/experiment, this next trip I am diving with Tres Pelicanos in the morning and the site op in the afternoon. I only dive 4 times a day because 5 (i.e. a night) is too exhausting.

There is entertainment at night but I've never been awake to watch it :wink:
 
The reviews of the AIs on this site are limited because I think people get shouted down for "doing it wrong".
Au contraire. I am not interested in AI, and I am not shy about stating my reasons, but I have no beef with those who prefer it. I believe that's the attitude of most/all who feel the same as I do. DSFDF.
 
Had my dive with them in both Cozumel and Playa del Carmen and Tulum (cenotes) ...the organization is amazing, you are really taken by hand and never left alone until you're in the water, it's a top notch service, and the day pass is awesome too (you can use all the Iberostar services like any other guest, including unlimited food and drinks: it's so well prepared and the choices are so many that is like being in a top restaurant everyday).
What I didn't liked (but that could have been just those days) it's the number of divers: we used big boats with too many people in the water for my taste.
And other cons... it's, well the price: if you want all that stuff you will have to pay, and it's really a lot (but if you don't have problems of budget...).

Another episode also concerned me a little: at the start they didn't have me the daily passes and pretended me to pay an additional fee .. I had to repeat them that the passes were included and they had to call in Spain to get the confirmation (while it was clearly written on my booking), but they sorted it very fast.
 
Au contraire. I am not interested in AI, and I am not shy about stating my reasons, but I have no beef with those who prefer it. I believe that's the attitude of most/all who feel the same as I do. DSFDF.

But this is exactly my point. The non-AI crowd is not shy about telling people the cons (with out discussing pros) and so the pro threads have dried up.

Ask yourself why you even responded and what you just added to this thread about the Iberostar....
 
We really enjoy the AI at the Occidental! So cheap that eating off premises ain't no big deal...and food good enough on site to be complacent! Add that to free Nitrox with ProDive onsite, you have one really enjoyable holiday!
 
Au contraire. I am not interested in AI, and I am not shy about stating my reasons, but I have no beef with those who prefer it. I believe that's the attitude of most/all who feel the same as I do. DSFDF.

Agree completely. I can think of any number of reasons why someone else might prefer the AI experience - going as a family with kids, likes to drink a lot and wants the alcohol paid for up front, wants to do nothing but eat, sleep, dive and chill, with no decisions to make and no taxis to pay, has no interest in exploring the local culture or meeting locals, etc. - but none of those reasons apply to me, personally, so I don’t do AI on Cozumel. That’s not to say I’m totally against AI, I’ve done it in other destinations, and in some destinations, it’s the only thing that makes sense. Just not in Cozumel, based on what I want. But if your vacation objectives are different than mine (and why wouldn’t they be?), hey, do AI. Why should I be bothered or offended just because your preferences are different from mine? No reason at all.
 
I won't try to give a review of the Iberostar or Dressel because my 2 stays were a long time ago & things can change. That said I had excellent service from both & other than the fact my wife prefers to stay in town so she can explore while I dive I'd stay there again over any of the 3 other southern AI's.
As to AI's & heavy drinking making it a better deal that's not a valid argument. Mixed drinks aren't free at non AI's & nor are soft drinks nor beer but they are all very close in price at any given resort. Getting a glass of Lemonade or something with alcohol is very convenient at an AI but if you're going the non AI route it's less convenient & may cost about the same or be a lot of extra trouble unless there is a convenience style store near by.
One more point for the AI route is you do get a beach (a real beach, not sand well away from or high above the waterline) if you pick one of the 4 southern resorts. That's really important to a lot of people who vacation to be at a beach. We don't all live near a nice beach that's easy to plan a day trip to get to & enjoy.
 

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