Iberostar & Dressel Divers Review

[Dogbowl]

Not specific to Coz but sometimes the “vacation arm” of airlines will have air + AI packages that are such a good deal that it almost makes no sense to book airfare + hotel separately.

We cruise and like AI for the ease of everything. I can leave my brain at home and still get fed and happy. But as we get older, our taste in food and alcohol have changed to a point where we can only eat at “extra charge” specialty restaurants on cruises and no matter how good an AI’s restaurants are, we end up getting bored quickly. That, plus I quit alcohol so AIs no longer make sense for us as a couple. If we were going with friends and family, that’s a different situation.

While I would love to roll out of bed and onto a dive boat, I do not like boats that take lots of divers. I really do prefer small backroll boats. So I do compromise cushiness and ease of the AIs for eating in town and smaller boats.

Edit: I wonder if 3Ps will pick up at a southern AI. Wouldn’t mind trying this option if the package deals are too good to pass up.

 

[flyboy08]

We pay/paid $1080 for 8 nights at the Occidental twice....so that's $67.50 each...wife and I. Can't ask for much more than that with numerous restaurants and free drinks galore....a nice beach, free Nitrox with a ProDive on site...wonderful room, great grounds and an awesome beach. Paid a bit more for a single room for our daughter...

Both dates were the week prior to xmass.
Diving was $32/dive

 

[npole]

Are y'all doing non-AI trips down there for less money than that? Or is it that you pay as much or more, but you feel like you are getting more for your money (e.g. better food and drinks)?

This is really my first trip to Cozumel, so I am all ears on a way to do it "better" next time.

The month! ...what you are paying in April is a tiny fraction of what you would pay in December/January ...so yes, I have seen offers in April/May for the Iberostar in Cozumel that have been better of anything else, but if you travelling in the high season forget those prices, you gonna spend thousands dollars.
When people (including me) saying the Iberostar is expensive, we're referring to the most crowded months, in April is perfect fine (and I would chose it too...!).

 

[stuartv]

Edit: I wonder if 3Ps will pick up at a southern AI. Wouldn’t mind trying this option if the package deals are too good to pass up.

3P is picking me up from the beach (not the pier) at Iberostar...

 

[Dogbowl]

3P is picking me up from the beach (not the pier) at Iberostar...

Let us know how everything goes! Have fun!

I’m on my way to Belize...

 

[stuartv]

Let us know how everything goes! Have fun!

I’m on my way to Belize...

Likewise!

 

[Streydog]

3P is picking me up from the beach (not the pier) at Iberostar...

Just remember to not splash the water too much wading out. You don't want to attract the crocs that far south.

 

[kmarks]

Are y'all doing non-AI trips down there for less money than that? Or is it that you pay as much or more, but you feel like you are getting more for your money (e.g. better food and drinks)?

No and yes. My wife and I have only done two weeks in Cozumel, both in December. We did the first at Sunscape Sabor, way down south, and had a great time. The price was pretty good. I think we paid about $1000 each for the week, including airfare, and you don't get anywhere from where we live for under $600. My upcoming trip was about $630 to Cozumel. The food was decent, accomodations were a bit run down, but our room was conveniently located right next to the pool, snack bar, and another bar, and had a beautiful beachfront view. And we were paying about $50 per person per day, for the room, food, and drinks after you account for airfare, so it was pretty cheap. I wouldn't stay there again, though. Maybe another AI if I were with family and had non-divers who wanted drinks and a beach to swim in.

A year later, we went back to Cozumel, this time electing to stay at Suites Bahía in town. When we were at Sabor, we felt like we missed out on the real experience that Cozumel has to offer be being secluded away in a beach resort for the week and it was about $20 for a taxi to town. Our week at SB cost pretty much the same as Sabor once you factor in food and drinks, but my wife doesn't drink and I am not a heavy drinker, especially while diving (one a day, maybe). The real benefit of staying in town was the experience. We had no beach and no pool (it was too cold to swim in the pool in December anyway), so we would walk around town, the selection of restaurants is so great you could eat at a different place every day for over a month and not be unhappy with any of them, and it just felt more like we were in San Miguel de Cozumel and not at "Beach Resort #112, Caribbean, Mexico." I'm going back to Cozumel by myself in a couple of months and will be staying just on the edge of centro in a hotel that offers little more than a safe bed and bathroom, and that's good enough for me.