reef club cozumel

[garrett58]

going to cozumel in aug 6th thru 13th we will be staying at the reef club.i have been reading trip reports on a few other sites. most gave good reports some reported bad food at the all inclusive resort one reported getting salmonella or some such organism causing food poisoning others reported a sewer smell . i take anonymous reports with a grain of salt. has anyone here been to the reef club and seen any of this.if we get there and find the food questionable what are some good restaunts in town we should go to instead any information would be appreciated

 

[sasscuba]

going to cozumel in aug 6th thru 13th we will be staying at the reef club.i have been reading trip reports on a few other sites. most gave good reports some reported bad food at the all inclusive resort one reported getting salmonella or some such organism causing food poisoning others reported a sewer smell . i take anonymous reports with a grain of salt. has anyone here been to the reef club and seen any of this.if we get there and find the food questionable what are some good restaunts in town we should go to instead any information would be appreciated

Buddy of mine stayed there before hurricance and loved it! He does not dive but said food was good.

 

[wnctarheel]

we have stayed at the reef club several times and we like it. It is close to the reefs and the member side is nice. the hotel side is good but just not as nice. The food is better than it was several years ago. It still is not like eating in the states but it is still o.k.. I have not been down since the hurricanes but from what i have heard they have did some nice upgrades on the resort.

 

[charlesml3]

I just can't understand why anyone would want to do All-Inclusive when there are SO many wonderful restaurants in town.

Next to the spectacular diving, the best part of being in Coz is walking downtown to have dinner. Sometimes it seems that every meal is the best you've ever had...

-Charles

 

[bfisher]

Garrett,

I was just at the Reef Club in May and the food was pretty decent at the pool snack bar. and very very good at the main restaurant. In fact, the ribs (barbecued) were incredible. Fear not the food my man.

As for the sewer smell? Yeh, I got a whiff of it once in a while. I think it's due to some standing water. Although a bit of a nuisance I didn't let it ruin my vacation. It's not like you are wallowing in it.

What did bother me some was that they were having problems with the pool and constantly draining it for repairs. A couple other things. The on site dive op, Snad Dollar, was without a base of operatons. Their shop was being used as the main lobby for the resort and they had no place to store tanks, equipment or even have decent rise basins. We had to carry our gear to our rooms and rise it there. Here again, things were improving quickly and the main lobby was about to be in operation just about the time we were leaving (May 14) so things should be pretty good for both the resort and hopefully the dive op. Sand Dollar did do a good job for us considering their handicap. It is one of the few that I have dove with that only give two tanks a day, though. The others I've used gave us three tanks off the boat per day. And no shore diving at the Reef Club.

Eat in town? It's a long ride. About 15-18 miles one way. If you've never been in town then you owe yourself the pleasure. Especially sunday evening at the square. You'll see!!!!!

For future trips look at the Hotel Cozumel and Resort/ Paradise Divers. A little less money, walking distance to town, clean/huge pool, good food (buffet style) although not as good as last year, and all inclusive rates. The dive op is very good. Although $6 extra per tank you can do some shore/night dives at your leisure.

Hope this helps.

 

[Firefyter]

Eat in town? It's a long ride. About 15-18 miles one way.

Not quite. According to several websites, it's only 10 miles S of downtown. Still too far to hike comfortably, but not too bad in a taxi.

If you've never been in town then you owe yourself the pleasure. Especially sunday evening at the square. You'll see!!!!!

Agreed, downtown is really nice, especially Sunday evening.

 

[garrett58]

thanks for the info im feeling reasured .i could put up with just about anything and still have a good time [no electricity/no shower water /bad air conditioner /bad room] but getting sick from the food would sure ruin the diving exp
thanks

 

[bfisher]

garrett,

Although I have a cast iron stomach and have drunk (tense?) the water I'd advise you to drink bottled water when possible. The Reef Club uses purified water in the restaurant and that's OK. Watch the salads. Anything cleansed in tap water can do a number on you (Montezuma's Revenge) and if I remember correctly all the fruit was peeled. Besides, there's nothing wrong with a beer once in while either---LOL. Especially at an All-Inclusive.

Just some advice to make your trip all that much better. Better safe than sorry.

 

[bfisher]

OK, I just remembered a bad spot---one of the few. Watch the shower in your room. Don't know if they have it corrected, but the shower would pulse, getting real hot and then cool off. I mean HOT and in a hurry. I just got to where I just used cold water for a shower and it wasn't that cold anyway---and I'm a whoos (speeling) when it comes to cold showers.

Hope this helps.

 

[loudives]

Reef Club had some problems about 6 years ago and corrected them with a new management team back then. People are still giving it a bad rap and they have not been there in the last few years. I've been going 2 a year for 6 years now and the place has gotten better every year.
Bfisher is right about the ribs, They built a new snack bar 2 years ago and introduced the ribs at the opening. Fall off the bone tender and a great sauce. I'll be there in Oct and can't wait to see the improvements made since Wilma. They had planned 2 million in upgrades be for the storm and combined it with the insurance pay out to redo much.