Novice diver looking for 4/5-day trip to Cozumel

[LowDrag]

You are getting alot of good info here. My wife and I are going to Coz in April and we have found a ton of info here also. I have a friend that is all about Blue Angel, she stays there every time she and her hubby go to Coz. We will be staying at Scuba Club for our first dive trip visit to Coz. We are going with our LDS as a group, it should be a fun and interesting trip.

Good luck on your trip!

 

[DandyDon]

I would think if you are going AI and not diving everyday, I would head south to like the Occidental Grand or something in the Sabor etc place that was Wyndam. Get the really AI feel with a fair beach and liquor. Iberostar was nice, but the SOBs charge dive ops 60 or 80 bucks to pick you up from the dock. Some ops are having people wade to the boat. (good for them!!) (#stillforboycottingIberostar)

My first Coz trip was a short stay at an AI in the south. It was a nice introduction and a learning experience. I'd never do it again, but I did a few before giving up on those.

 

[lrw3gww]

Scuba Club doesn't have availability for our weekend. My friend is checking on Casa del Mar, because she stayed there (13) years ago. I know nothing about it. She's more experience than I am. I would prefer not to be on a bus, per se, but a little more concierge so Allison is appealing to me. there are so many options from AI, to hotel & dive ops...just trying to make it easy and book it. I just dove in Key Largo this fall and dive op there had 2 charters per day (2-tank AM, and 2-tank afternoon). It seems most in Cozumel are just AM and then night dives. I'm not ready for the dark. So having afternoons to lounge or poke about town sounds good I guess.

 

[cicopo]

Dive Paradise & Aqua Safari usually have afternoon dives and at a good rate if you've done the mornings with them. In the southern hotel zone Dressel always had afternoon dives (they are at the Iberostar) which makes me think the other in house ops would do the same.

 

[DandyDon]

Scuba Club doesn't have availability for our weekend. My friend is checking on Casa del Mar, because she stayed there (13) years ago. I know nothing about it. She's more experience than I am. I would prefer not to be on a bus, per se, but a little more concierge so Allison is appealing to me. there are so many options from AI, to hotel & dive ops...just trying to make it easy and book it. I just dove in Key Largo this fall and dive op there had 2 charters per day (2-tank AM, and 2-tank afternoon). It seems most in Cozumel are just AM and then night dives. I'm not ready for the dark. So having afternoons to lounge or poke about town sounds good I guess.

Bus...??

The southern resorts have nice AIs, nice beaches, close to the park reefs, and often dive all day - going back to their own docks for SIs. Going to town for an afternoon is pricey tho as the taxis are expensive.

Casa del Mar is closer to town so cheaper taxi fares, but a long boat trip to better reefs if you take one of their slow cattle boats. They may have nicer boats now as it's been years since I tried them, but their short menu can get boring after a few days AI.

Six one, half a dozen the other - choose this or that? Alison has a wonder boat and is great to dive with, but she doesn't pick up in town - so again with car rental or taxis.

 

[nodakdive]

It's been almost a year since I've been there, but Casa del Mar had a couple options for diving. One is Del Mar Aquatics, which was their house op, but for the last couple years or so, they've had a "dive concierge" down on their pier which services 3 different ops. I think one was Pro Dive, another was Dive Paradise, but that changed, and I can't remember the 3rd. A taxi from Casa del Mar to "downtown", it's 80 pesos, or about $7us one way for 3 or less people. CDM let's you use the pier for pick-up without charge. They also have dive lockers that you can use with your own paddle lock.

It can be a good option as it's small, has a little bit of "resort" feel and isn't too far from town. For a short trip, you could eat at CDM one night, eat at Ernesto's across the street one night, eat downtown two nights and at Paprika one night. Another plus is the shops that leave from the caleta, but will pick up at CDM, which is about the same as the Park Royal and El Cid which are just north of the caleta. Lunch at any of those places works too, for a short trip.

If you can find a way to do it, you should go for a week. You've already spent the airfare and are dealing with the hassle of travel. It's a nice little "schedule" with more package deals on air/hotel and diving. Many do the 5 two tank trips over a week and have a day off in addition to every afternoon. If you like to dive, you're in the right place to do it. For many divers, non dive days on Cozumel are akin to being at Disney World and sitting in the parking lot.

 

[ggunn]

Scuba Club doesn't have availability for our weekend.

You might take a look at Blue Angel as well. That's where I always stay; the onsite dive op of the same name is excellent and there is a pretty good, easy to do shore dive right there.

 

[crabbyfiddler]

Throwing my 2 cents in....Living Underwater with Jeremy Anschel for dive op. He takes incredible care of his customers, and is extremely attentive/aiding in improving buoyancy and dealing with current...pointing out the macro. Long dives with steel 120s. I have stayed in some AIs in the south, on up to the Palace. Jeremy does dock pickups and takes great care of the gear.

Hope you iron it all out and have a great time!

 

[cvchief]

Bus...??

I think he was talking about dive boat. I love that big double decker with the two ladders in the back. It must be able to handle like 32 or more divers. That is a bus!!

 

[silas99]

Let me chime in. I just returned from a great trip to Cozumel. I stayed at Iberostar and dove with Tres Pelicanos. I had the best of both worlds but when I was BRAND new (I still consider myself new, just not completely green) I would have prefferred to make the logistics as easy as possible. So from that perspective, I don't think you would be unhappy if you stayed at Iberostar and dove with their in house op, Dressel.

Iberostar is a very nice brand of all inclusive. The grounds are beautiful with a tropical jungle theme. The food is plentiful and really good, and always available. If you like to lounge poolside and imbibe in a few adult beverages like us after a couple morning dives this is where you want to be!

We stayed at Iberostar in Riviera Maya last year and I was certified by Dressel and dove with them a couple times post certification. I was not disappointed at all. For the trip to Cozumel I again wanted to stay at Iberostar but chose a smaller dive op and that worked great for what I wanted. Also, coincidentally, two Dressel instructors from last year are in Cozumel now and they remembered us both from a year ago, and treated us like old friends, even though I wasn't diving with them. (So much so that we both ended up diving with them as well).

Dressel will actually provide some great deals if you pre-pay online. Their website is kind of clunky and reservations are made through email with the home office in Spain but it will save you 10 or 20 percent, I forget exactly.

Their boats are big and do accomodate a lot of divers but they also send a lot of staff so the diver to divemaster ratio is very good. Their divemasters watch you closely, assign buddy pairs, keep an eye on your air and send you up in couples if you are running low prior to the rest of the group. Exactly what I needed when I was brandy new. I don't think you need a private divemaster. I have no idea how comfortable you are but you are a certified diver with an experienced buddy.

Dressel has adequate scubapro rental gear. Probably not anything you are concerned with yet but your buddy may like that they have FREE NITROX available if that's your thing!

Check out Dressel and Iberostar, you may find they are exactly what you want at this stage.