why is Cozumel so popular? Bad experience or just over rated expectations?

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If you want to spend an entire dive looking for little critters on a small patch of reef, Cozumel will never be a great choice for you. There are places where you can do that, but it's unlikely you could make an entire trip of it. That's what Bonaire and Little Cayman are for. Cozumel is really about going with the flow. That's not just a reference to drift diving, where going with the flow is essential, but also going to the sites that offer the best opportunities on any given day, which can vary widely depending on weather and currents. I've done about 200 dives in Cozumel and have had bad viz, meaning less than 60 feet, on about five dives. It can happen, but it's very rare. I've had dives in Coz that are all about reef structure and others that are all about critters and fish. I like the variety. I think you would be more likely to enjoy diving with one of the ops often mentioned on the board that have small, fast boats and will choose sites to cater to those on the boat that day. I understand the "stop and smell the coral" approach and had a great time doing that in Bonaire. If that's really what you want and you want it on all your dives, Cozumel may not be the best place for you.


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Ditto... we have 200+ dives in Cozumel and love it for the variety of fishlife and coral structures. We have had maybe 5 dives that have had bad vis. We have done 2 trips in March and liked it the least of any month we have visited due to rougher seas, getting on an off boat was tough and surface interval chilly due to winds.
That said, I have been lots of places, and IMHO Cozumel has the best overall diving of any place in the Caribbean. Can't beat the topside, either. People and Mayan culture are fabulous 100% of time. Never disappointed.

Now... the trip we did a few years after hurricane Wilma was less than stellar! But that was due to all the reef damage and lack of fishlife at that point. It has ALL returned, each year we have seen an exponential improvement.

To the OP.... who did you dive with? What reefs did they take you to? How many dives? There are so many spectacular dives, I find it hard to believe every dive was bad.
If you want to sit and watch the fish, it is easier at places like Bonaire, but I find the reefs there all look the same so I get bored after a few days. Yes, I am a fish nerd, but I am a reef nerd too and Cozumel reefs blow the Bonaire reefs away! I have tons of photos and videos on my website, if you want to check them out to see MY perspective. I'd love to hear your feedback.

robin
 
If you had vis of "40 ft at best", you hit a VERY unusual day in Cozumel. I've been going to Cozumel regularly, at least once a year, often 2 or 3 times, since I got certified in 1990. From 1992 to 2004, I went for a week every March, staying at a timeshare in the old Plaza Las Glorias (now the Cozumel Palace), diving at least 5 days, usually 6, in those weeks. I estimate that I have over 350 dives on Cozumel, and I can count on one hand the dives where vis was less than 100' plus.

Why do I like Cozumel? First, it's incredibly convenient for me - I live in Dallas, and Coz is only a 2 hour 20 minute flight each way, and in most of the years I've been going there, I could always find very cheap flights. In the early years, when vacation charter companies were much more active, companies like FunJet, Apple Vacations, WorryFree, etc., I could occassionally take 3 or 4 day weekend trips to Coz with RT Air at $149 or lower. Those days are over, but you can still find bargains from DFW if you look. Second, I'm old, fat and out of shape, and I LOVE drift diving. The most relaxing, easiest, least exerting diving there is. Yes, I've been diving in other locations, from Moorea in French Polynesia (great pelagic life - sharks and Mantas on nearly every dive, but hard work doing fixed mooring dives), Grand Cayman (GREAT visibility, but VERY expensive to stay, eat and dive), U.S. Virgin Islands, Martinique, but Coz is my favorite. Third, I really, really like the diving, and not just because drift diving is easy. Coz has a wide variety of dive sites, with comparatively good coral life (yes, the coral really took a hit with Hurricane Wilma in 2005, but its really coming back), great structure (like Palacar Caves and Palancar Bricks), and a lot of wonderful sea life, like the Hawksbill Turtles, the Morays, the Toadfish, and a wide variety of reef fish - I still get excited over seeing a juvenile Trunkfish, looking like a little dark blue die, shaped like a cube and with those bright spots. Fourth, Coz has a lot of choices for both Hotels and dining in nearly every price category. I've done the super bargain trips to Coz, where I stayed at $19 a night hotels, ate three meals a day on $25 or less, and spent most of my money diving with Aldora, a higher end Valet Dive Op with steel 120 tanks and 1 hour plus bottom times. And Coz has some (many!) really wonderful restaurants, to the point where I can stay 10 days, never eat in the same restaurant twice, and still miss some of my favorites. Finally, but definitely not lowest on my list, Cozumel is one of the friendliest, most genuinely warm (emotionally, not temperature) vacation places I've ever been to. I go back year after year, seeing the same people at favorite restaurants, and they greet me not like a tourist with money to spend, but like a friend. You can't buy that.
 
Djdiverdan sums it up fantastically well. It really sounds like you had a very bad experience with a bad op or a really bad DM. I would try it again with a more researched and recommended op. I, like others, have more than 150 dives in Cozumel and only a couple of times has vis been below 60 feet and it usually coincides with very heavy rains. If you want a great dive site to shoot micro, get to Columbia Shallows, max depth is in the upper 30 foot range, with a huge abundance of little critters and light currents normally. It is one of my favorite dive sites on the island.
 
Criticizing Cozumel diving in the Cozumel Forum is rather brazen and I'm surprised you haven't been flamed by some our hot headed buddies.

While Cozumel is not the ultimate dive destination in the World, it ranks highly in many, many categories. Cozumel is easy to get to from the US, affordable, and safe. Unlike so many other dive locations, the fish are large and plentiful in the Marine Park. Take a peek at my trip reports and pictures; I think you might enjoy them.

I'm a been-there-done-that-diver who returns to Cozumel at least once a year and will continue to do so for as long as I can strap on my fins.

In any case, "different strokes for different folks" is appropriate.

Dive safely and often,
Jim
 
Almost everyone seems to feel Cozumel is one of the most outstanding dive places in the Carrib. We gave it a try and yes I will admit we were budget minded. I won't go into entire story since it is on worst of Cozumel thread but we were very disappointed. Vis 40 ft at best (March) horrible current and lack of coral and sea life....maybe we set our expectations to high but maybe we just screwed up and should try it again. What do we want in a dive? Micro is nm one...colors and corals nm 2...macro is also fun ... we are both experienced divers and have been certified since the late 70's. Drift diving to me is ok at best...I like to be able to stop and smell the coral if I want. We are doing Little Caymen in two weeks....Bonaire in April and now talking about the trip after that. Should we give it a try again and if so stay where and what dive operation? If its not for us lets me know that also. I want and I need your input...I had written off Cozumel but then I do not want to miss out due to one bad decision. Thanks Bill

Who'd you dive with, how many days did you dive and what sites did you dive?
 
Love the island....like the diving. Cozumel is one of my favourite places to spend time and enjoy culture and food anywhere I've been. You can get such amazing food at reasonable prices and the locals seem genuinely glad to have you on the island. The diving is good, visibility ranges from great to greater! It's the drift that I am not as thrilled with...it can be a riot to fly atop the reef and not have to fin but I am a bit of an explorer when I reef dive and like to hover areas to see the small stuff people often miss. That's tough to do on Coz (but not impossible). A good tip is to never get down current of the divemaster...he/she WILL spot really cool things and if you have to swim against the current to get to him/her you will go through your air in a hurry.
 
Almost everyone seems to feel Cozumel is one of the most outstanding dive places in the Carrib. We gave it a try and yes I will admit we were budget minded. I won't go into entire story since it is on worst of Cozumel thread but we were very disappointed. Vis 40 ft at best (March) horrible current and lack of coral and sea life....maybe we set our expectations to high but maybe we just screwed up and should try it again. What do we want in a dive? Micro is nm one...colors and corals nm 2...macro is also fun ... we are both experienced divers and have been certified since the late 70's. Drift diving to me is ok at best...I like to be able to stop and smell the coral if I want. We are doing Little Caymen in two weeks....Bonaire in April and now talking about the trip after that. Should we give it a try again and if so stay where and what dive operation? If its not for us lets me know that also. I want and I need your input...I had written off Cozumel but then I do not want to miss out due to one bad decision. Thanks Bill


Wasn't it established that you dove with an unknown (meaning no one in the thread (including me an actual Coz dive operator) had ever heard of) operation from Playa del Carmen that farmed you out to someone for the day?

In all of my years of diving here I have seen a 40 foot vis day MAYBE 3 times - and those times were right after major storms.

Lack of coral and sea life? This tells me that you had a guide that was racing you through the reef and/or you didn't stick with the guide

All dives here are drift dives - that's just the way nature intended it to be - nothing anyone can do about that. However, there are some dives with very mild to little current and several people would be able to rival your claim to no macro life - check out jlyles trip reports/galleries for starters.

I'd say give it another try - but give it a chance for more than 1 day as a day trip. Book a 5 - 7 day trip with one of the highly rated operations that are actually based in Cozumel and who have a proven track record - a real op and not a fly by night DM/op who has gone off on his own (may be a great DM, but has no business sense or infrastructure or boat for that matter) - several ops have been in operation for more than a decade or two and have proven through the years to provide professional, safe and quality service!
 
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Funny we had a dive last March that quickly had the current drop and then the viz went to like 30'-40' at most. Maybe you were at the same place same time? The rest of other 9 days of diving were good to great.

What we liked were:
Steel 120's
No rental car (a first in many years)
Decent priced accomidation
Quick to and from airport
Lot and lots of eating choices priced high to low
availability of supermarkets.
safe

What we didn't like:
Drunken Cruisers (it was march break after all)
taxi mafia with pricing all over the place
Aggressive hawkers (never bought anything from them)
Culture of trying to get as much $$ out of the gringos as possible, ie- trying to pay our dive op took several recalculations to make sure we were billed what we were promised for US cash. Even at the airport duty free the price at the register was higher than advertised!!!! On this trip I didn`t have the Pemex scams to deal with due to no car but that`s not a fun experience. We avoided Mexico for several years as I had had enough. Used to go to the RM every year.

We will go back to Coz but I really want to go to Dominica first so it will be a few years before we revisit.
 
I can't wait to try Cozumel. Hoping for current, Bull Sharks, and Toadfish. Bummed you had a bad dive. Every dive is a new adventure, don't let one bad day ruin your impression of an area.

Be careful of LC, if it blows too much you'll get the same conditions you had in Cozumel and we may hear about it in the Cayman Forum. Cheers
 
I have been to Bonaire and Little Cayman. Two dives in Little Cayman. Maybe several days in Bonaire. All were fine but I have not been back to either. Cozumel on the other hand many times.

If what Cozumel offers does not suit your needs then go to places that do. It does not hurt my feelings that you may never return. Just don't blame Cozumel if you chose a dive op poorly.
 

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