As a special winter time treat, my wife and I made our third annual trip to Cozumel. It is a wonderful getaway during the grey of winter and a chance to celebrate our wedding anniversary, which falls on New Years Eve. Why Cozumel? The simple answer is the wonderful diving and the relaxed atmosphere. The diversity of dive sites offers something for everyone, deep reefs with towering coral buttresses, as well as, shallow reefs teeming with marine life. Unlike many popular diving areas, Cozumel provides a much more intimate experience. Most operators use small fast boats that hold an average of six divers, which allows for a more natural experience without being surrounded by wall to wall divers.
As many already know, Cozumel was recently hit by Wilma, a particularly nasty hurricane. However, in a truly amazing recovery effort, the island is back in good shape. Yes, there are still signs of damage particularly to the North and South of town. However, the downtown is thriving, shops and restaurants are open, and most importantly, dive operations are taking out divers to Cozumels spectacular reefs.
This trip we decided to book with Deep Blue, one of the more well known of the fifty or so dive operators available on the island, and one that specifically caters to more experienced divers. We had scouted out this operation on our last visit and decided to give it a try. The owner, Deborah, was helpful, courteous and prompt in all of her correspondences with us in the months before our arrival. It is always best to book your chosen dive operation well in advance, as they can fill up quickly.
When we arrived we were warmly welcomed and introduced to Sandro, our dive master. He quizzed us about our experience and the sites we wanted to visit. Luckily, there were several other advanced divers and he was able to assemble a compatible group. Thanks to both a great group and excellent weather, we had the opportunity to explore many of Cozumels more challenging sites. Over the following three days, we visited Punta Sur (Devils Throat), Maracaibo, Planacar Caves, Paso De Cedral, Las Palmas and La Francesa. On the fourth day, we visited Barracuda and San Juan Reef. Barracuda was an incredible experience. Normally the currents are quite fast, sometimes reaching six knots, but the day we went it was quite mild. The reef was absolutely pristine with life everywhere.
As of this writing, hotel capacity on the island is lower than usual. Unfortunately, many of the big beach front resorts did suffer damage and will take some time to reopen. However, there are still many places that are open and can provide nice accommodations. We stayed at the charming Hacienda San Miguel. Its colonial architecture and beautiful courtyard provided a nice relaxing place to spend some non-diving hours. They have eleven rooms that range from a two bedroom suite to studios.
There are plenty of excellent restaurants to satisfy just about every taste and price range. On the upper end of the scale is La Prima Trattoria. We ate there for New Years and the food was simply incredible. Their wine list is quite good and contains a variety of international wines. They had this truly amazing lobster bisque that should not be missed. However, expect to pay the same rates as you would for a similarly comparable restaurant in the U.S. On the median of the scale there is La Choza. It has a nice selection of truly authentic dishes of the Yucatan, but beware of their margaritas, they are potent! On the lower end is an excellent restaurant called Las Palmas (not to be confused with Las Palmeras) on the corner of Calle 3 and Avienda 25 . This is a restaurant frequented by locals and is both cheap and very, very good.
On the second night of your stay we had a lovely dinner at Guidos with several other divers from Scubaboard, including Christi from Blue XT Sea and her friend Sally of Barefoot in Cozumel. We had a lot of fun discussing the latest happenings and getting great information on where to eat. When we found out that Sally was a massage therapist, we booked massages for anniversary. She was so good that we plan on adding her massages to our annual visits.
Cozumel is a place that we love and plan on returning to again and again. Hopefully, you will enjoy it just as much as we did. See you there next time!
As many already know, Cozumel was recently hit by Wilma, a particularly nasty hurricane. However, in a truly amazing recovery effort, the island is back in good shape. Yes, there are still signs of damage particularly to the North and South of town. However, the downtown is thriving, shops and restaurants are open, and most importantly, dive operations are taking out divers to Cozumels spectacular reefs.
This trip we decided to book with Deep Blue, one of the more well known of the fifty or so dive operators available on the island, and one that specifically caters to more experienced divers. We had scouted out this operation on our last visit and decided to give it a try. The owner, Deborah, was helpful, courteous and prompt in all of her correspondences with us in the months before our arrival. It is always best to book your chosen dive operation well in advance, as they can fill up quickly.
When we arrived we were warmly welcomed and introduced to Sandro, our dive master. He quizzed us about our experience and the sites we wanted to visit. Luckily, there were several other advanced divers and he was able to assemble a compatible group. Thanks to both a great group and excellent weather, we had the opportunity to explore many of Cozumels more challenging sites. Over the following three days, we visited Punta Sur (Devils Throat), Maracaibo, Planacar Caves, Paso De Cedral, Las Palmas and La Francesa. On the fourth day, we visited Barracuda and San Juan Reef. Barracuda was an incredible experience. Normally the currents are quite fast, sometimes reaching six knots, but the day we went it was quite mild. The reef was absolutely pristine with life everywhere.
As of this writing, hotel capacity on the island is lower than usual. Unfortunately, many of the big beach front resorts did suffer damage and will take some time to reopen. However, there are still many places that are open and can provide nice accommodations. We stayed at the charming Hacienda San Miguel. Its colonial architecture and beautiful courtyard provided a nice relaxing place to spend some non-diving hours. They have eleven rooms that range from a two bedroom suite to studios.
There are plenty of excellent restaurants to satisfy just about every taste and price range. On the upper end of the scale is La Prima Trattoria. We ate there for New Years and the food was simply incredible. Their wine list is quite good and contains a variety of international wines. They had this truly amazing lobster bisque that should not be missed. However, expect to pay the same rates as you would for a similarly comparable restaurant in the U.S. On the median of the scale there is La Choza. It has a nice selection of truly authentic dishes of the Yucatan, but beware of their margaritas, they are potent! On the lower end is an excellent restaurant called Las Palmas (not to be confused with Las Palmeras) on the corner of Calle 3 and Avienda 25 . This is a restaurant frequented by locals and is both cheap and very, very good.
On the second night of your stay we had a lovely dinner at Guidos with several other divers from Scubaboard, including Christi from Blue XT Sea and her friend Sally of Barefoot in Cozumel. We had a lot of fun discussing the latest happenings and getting great information on where to eat. When we found out that Sally was a massage therapist, we booked massages for anniversary. She was so good that we plan on adding her massages to our annual visits.
Cozumel is a place that we love and plan on returning to again and again. Hopefully, you will enjoy it just as much as we did. See you there next time!
