Tim Ingersoll
Contributor
Okay. . first time back to Cozumel since Wilma hit. I'm torn between my desire to be brutally honest and my desire to protect my friends in Coz whose livelihood depends on the dive tourism dollars.
Coral Princess. Nice place. Good overall bargain. Clean, quiet, friendly, everything was as advertised. Great place for families. If you are looking for a two bedroom condo with a good air/hotel package price it is a good deal. There is a nice pool, decent food (although not worth eating there for more than breakfast and snacks) and a very friendly staff. If you are going make sure and take a portable DVD/CD player. Once again, mind your manners. Call the staff by their names, ask how they are doing, ask about their families. Make a friend. Work on your Spanish. You would be surprised how many ugly Americans treat the staff like s**t and then complain that they don't get good service. What a surprise! Be an exception not the rule. It doesn't take much effort to stand out from the crowd of cruseros and touristas.
Aldora Divers. Coral Princess was within walking distance from Villa Aldora. They picked me up and dropped me off there. We were invited to a staff Super Bowl party at the house and throuroughly enjoyed the experience. My family (non-divers) was made to feel welcome and I think everyone made a point of talking about something else besides diving in order to make them more welcome. I dove with the DM I chose (Bill "Memo" LaRosa) all week. More of a very close friend now. Met some cool fellow divers and one or two not so cool divers. I ultimately dove the sites I wanted to. I was asked for my opinion and as always felt like I was in charge of my own dive experience from soup to nuts. All dives were over an hour and a couple approached an hour and a half. Profiles were relatively conservative but divers had the freedom to establish their own as long as you didn't impinge on the rest of the group's experience. My son (10 yrs. old) did a Discover Scuba course and discovered that scuba might not be for him. He might try again in a few years. I won't push it. Overall high marks for Aldora all around. As usual no complaints whatsoever. I've never dove with anyone else in Coz and don't feel a need to try any other op.
The Diving. I did the following dives: Cedral, Palancar Gardens, Palancar Caves, Delilah, Tormentos, Yucab, San Francisco and Santa Rosa. To tell you the absolute truth it broke my heart. I have probably a dozen pre-Wilma dive trips into Cozumel. I know what is missing. The shallow reefs are not what they were. I told my wife that it was like looking at the most beautiful flower garden you have ever seen with two inches of snow covering it. Its still pretty but . . . The shallow reefs are dusted with a coating of sand that obscures a lot. Don't get me wrong, its still good diving, and if you have never been to Cozumel you won't know the difference. We still saw all the usual suspects as far as big marine life (lobsters, turtles, morays, nurse sharks, rays, etc.) but the fish count is down (seasonal?) and the reef is badly damaged. Would I go again. . .absolutely. Will ever be what it once was . . .maybe, but it will take years to come back.
Coral Princess. Nice place. Good overall bargain. Clean, quiet, friendly, everything was as advertised. Great place for families. If you are looking for a two bedroom condo with a good air/hotel package price it is a good deal. There is a nice pool, decent food (although not worth eating there for more than breakfast and snacks) and a very friendly staff. If you are going make sure and take a portable DVD/CD player. Once again, mind your manners. Call the staff by their names, ask how they are doing, ask about their families. Make a friend. Work on your Spanish. You would be surprised how many ugly Americans treat the staff like s**t and then complain that they don't get good service. What a surprise! Be an exception not the rule. It doesn't take much effort to stand out from the crowd of cruseros and touristas.
Aldora Divers. Coral Princess was within walking distance from Villa Aldora. They picked me up and dropped me off there. We were invited to a staff Super Bowl party at the house and throuroughly enjoyed the experience. My family (non-divers) was made to feel welcome and I think everyone made a point of talking about something else besides diving in order to make them more welcome. I dove with the DM I chose (Bill "Memo" LaRosa) all week. More of a very close friend now. Met some cool fellow divers and one or two not so cool divers. I ultimately dove the sites I wanted to. I was asked for my opinion and as always felt like I was in charge of my own dive experience from soup to nuts. All dives were over an hour and a couple approached an hour and a half. Profiles were relatively conservative but divers had the freedom to establish their own as long as you didn't impinge on the rest of the group's experience. My son (10 yrs. old) did a Discover Scuba course and discovered that scuba might not be for him. He might try again in a few years. I won't push it. Overall high marks for Aldora all around. As usual no complaints whatsoever. I've never dove with anyone else in Coz and don't feel a need to try any other op.
The Diving. I did the following dives: Cedral, Palancar Gardens, Palancar Caves, Delilah, Tormentos, Yucab, San Francisco and Santa Rosa. To tell you the absolute truth it broke my heart. I have probably a dozen pre-Wilma dive trips into Cozumel. I know what is missing. The shallow reefs are not what they were. I told my wife that it was like looking at the most beautiful flower garden you have ever seen with two inches of snow covering it. Its still pretty but . . . The shallow reefs are dusted with a coating of sand that obscures a lot. Don't get me wrong, its still good diving, and if you have never been to Cozumel you won't know the difference. We still saw all the usual suspects as far as big marine life (lobsters, turtles, morays, nurse sharks, rays, etc.) but the fish count is down (seasonal?) and the reef is badly damaged. Would I go again. . .absolutely. Will ever be what it once was . . .maybe, but it will take years to come back.