Need advice for our family dive trip?

[Cali_diver]

We are going in April and this will be our first land based dive vacation to Cozumel. We are a family of four all certified and the youngest will be 12 when we want to go.

Where should we stay? I know we don’t want AI, and trying to avoid the big resort expense and feel, so we really liked the sound of the Aldora villa. Is this a place where kids can have fun? They love to snorkel and swim so I would love to find a place that has easy access to snorkeling. If anyone has any other suggestions I would so appreciate your input.

(Our other concern is that we have another family who does not dive that is thinking about coming with us. This is not for sure, but if we find the right place they might tag along. )

I am also looking for a dive company that takes smaller groups since I will have a 12 year old. He will dive a few times before this trip so hopefully he will have more experience than now.

Thanx for your help!!

 

[pidgiepoo]

I'll let you know when we get back from Coz. We're going August 14-21 and taking our 12 and 15 year old grandsons. We stayed at the Iberostar last summer with them and they found loads to do with the daily entertainment schedules, night stage performances and two dives/day. We prefer the AI because the 15 year old is a "bottless pit" and he can go to the buffet or beach restaurant all day. I don't think we could afford to feed him otherwise..LOL.
We dive with Martin..small boats, good prices, and they really watched the kids on their first dives until they were comfortable with their skills. Don't think you can go wrong with them..but there are other ops just as good to choose from.
The 15 year old is going for his AOW this trip..so I'll let you know how that goes,too.
If you really want some good info..ask Christi..she's very knowlegable about Coz

 

[Cali_diver]

I hear you on the 15 year old. My 14 year old eats us out of house and home! AI is not completely out of the question, I just don't want to be limited. My husband and I love to try different restaurants and we love mexican food, so we cant wait to try some of the regional food!! I have already checked out Cristi's restaurant list

Thank you for the advice on Martin. Please let me know how your trip goes since my boys will be the same age and my older wants to go for his advance open water as well. Every little bit of info helps!

 

[johnnc]

I Just Got Back From Coz With My Family,15,13,12 And My Wife And Me. We Had A 2 Bedroom Suite At The Coral Princess That Was Huge And Dove With Scuba With Alison. The Princess Is North Of Town Right Next To The Adora Villas. It Is A 3 Dollar Taxi Into Town And A 9.00 Dollar Taxi To The Caleta Marina. Alison Let Us Have Some Flexibilty Scheduling Dives. We Would Meet Her At The Marina And Go Out And Do 2 Dives. We Were The Only Ones On The Boat Except For 1 Day When We Had 2 Others. This Was My 12 Y/o First Ocean Dives And She Did 10 And A Night Dive In 4 Days. The Hotel Was One Of The Cleanest I Have Stayed In. The Only Down Side Is They Will Try To Get You To Look At The Time Share Program. One No Was All I Had To Tell Them. For Famalies I Think It Is Worth A Look. The Snokling Was Great Right At The Hotel. They Have A Resturant And A Couple Of Bars. It Was Pretty Quite At Night. Just Had A Great Week (except For Dolly)

 

[MGW1979]

Since you have non-divers, AI might be the way to go. I was kinda of the idea that the AI resorts were on the nicest beaches but I could be wrong. I dive with Troy from Pelagic ventures, this last year my Fiance and I were the only people on the Boat! He picks us up at the resort then we go dive whatever site we haven't done in a while, plus his prices are great.

 

[DiverMo]

I take my family to Coz every year, and we stay at the Aldora Villa. For us, it's a perfect set up. It's north of town, so it's very quiet, yet only a very short cab ride into town. If you want to walk, it's not all that far (I think about 3/4 mile or so). We walk into town and cab it back. We usually start by going to the market and stock up on some food and drinks. We usually have breakfast and lunch at the villa, and dinner in town. But we will eat breakfast and lunch there as well on a couple of days.

Staying at the villa is very convenient, but keep in mind you must dive with Aldora. They will pick you up literally 20 steps from your front door. The snorkeling right in front is great (for Coz). They have a sea kayak there for you to use, and they have a couple of mtn bikes, as well.

We have done the AI thing before, the Occidental Grand, and while it was nice, we prefer staying at the villa and being able to do whatever, wherever, whenever. Doing the AI, we found ourselves mostly just laying around because that is all you have to do - the food is right there, the drinks are right there. For some that's great, but we find that we are more active and involved with the locals and such by staying at the villa. We try new restaurants every year, hit new stores every year. Even though it's Coz, it's like a different vacation every time. And we do it cheaper than AI, as well.

 

[TSandM]

I agree about Aldora, although they don't have all the organized activities to keep the kids occupied that the AI resorts do. We stayed in the North Suite, which has a full kitchen and two bedrooms, so the adults could have the master bedroom and the kids share the second one. They pick up right in front of the villa, and there is a covered seating area where people would gather for drinks in the afternoon. There is a small pool, and you can get right in the water from the villa. We did some "shore diving" there, if you can call paddling around in 8 feet of water diving. (We did find some interesting things!)

For a family (or a large group), having the kitchen saves a lot of money. Just being able to do breakfasts and lunches there helps quite a bit.

Aldora's boats are six packs, so with four, you'll almost have your own boat. I really liked the boats and Mateo, the DM who led us for the majority of our days. If I were to go back to Coz, I'd dive and stay with Aldora again.

 

[Dan Kom]

We will be glad to help you out!!

 

[mstevens]

Me myself personally if I were me, I would never stay at an AI in Cozumel. There are just too many wonderful places to eat in San Miguel and around the island. Most of the ones we love are not at all pricey. For example, if we didn't stop for tortas de cochinita sold out of that couple's backyard, my wife and kid would probably string me up, but they're dirt cheap. You get the idea. I really can't help you with family activities for non-divers since we don't have any.

 

[jayjoans]

El Cantil luxury condos. Best place ever.

El Cantil is located *just* south of town, an easy walking distance to all of the great restaurants (as in blocks, not portions of miles). It is on the beach side of the main drag, directly across that street from a huge Wal-Mart type of store (Chedraui) and movie theaters. The pool area is great, heated pool (great after a couple of dives), hot tub and sandy area. There is a private dock there for pickups by your dive op. There are locking cages in the basement for dive gear (if you use an op that doesn't keep your gear, rinse it and set it up for you the next day), and underground parking if you rent a car.

The condos are gorgeous, full kitchens (save a bunch of money on breakfast and make your own lunches if you want), the ones we visit are 4 bedrooms, each with their own HUGE private bathroom. Large central area where all can sit and play games, watch the flat screens or just chill. We have found that when traveling with a large family or group, it is a real bummer to all congregate in someone's bedroom all sitting on their bed, or choose not congregate at all. Some units have laundry facilities available, and most have daily maid service. The views are great, there is a hot tub on the big balconies too. On the roof of one of the towers is the Wynston, I hear that it is a great restaurant too, with good views I'm sure.

We're not big believers in AI since the food in Cozumel is really getting to be world class, in addition to the fact that we're not drinkers, so paying for "free" drinks at an AI included in our fee doesn't make sense for us. Food left out on warming or cooling trays in the Mexican sunshine does not make me too comfortable.

As for a dive-op, my kids have been certified by BlueXTsea and we can wholly recommend Christi and her crew. My 14 yr. old and the rest of my family was Nitrox certified by Christi herself, and she is a great teacher. No doubt there are other great ops on the island, we've just never felt the need to look anywhere else, BXTS is everything we're looking for.

We'll be in Coz next week, and we're staying at the El Cantil, diving with BlueXTsea and eager to try out some new dishes at our favorite restaurants. Our memories of the food in Coz is starting to push out our memories of the dives.... There are few things better in the world than diving the reef, getting dropped off at the El Cantil pier, walking 20 steps to the heated pool, then up the elevator to the hot tub, into your personal gigantic shower, and then off to a delicious dinner.

For our group of 4, we have a 4 br condo at El Cantil that works out to $61 per night per person (for 7 nights). Just try to beat that for what you get. It would cost us twice that for a single room at Casa Mexicana in town, and you don't get the dock, pool, kitchen, private bath, flat screen, wireless internet, free US calls, private room with king bed, gear locker, hot tub, etc.

As for the non-divers in the group, the El Cantil "beach" area is nice, but it likely would not be enough to keep somebody satisfied for multiple days. I would recommend they go to a beach club anyway, there are MANY things for beachers to do at those clubs. Who comes to Coz for the beaches?


..and Christi turned us on to El Cantil too.