gdrossart
New
My first time posting. I have gone diving to different Caribbean locations about every 3-5 years. 4th time back to Cozumel since 1984. I read the forums to see others comments and since I found them useful when researching this trip, thought I'd post my trip report in appreciation. We were there 12/31/09-1/9/10. My family consisting of my two sons (17 & 20) and my wife. My sons and I did the majority of the diving. Overall, had a great time.
Weather and viz. We weren't able to dive for 2 days due to Northerner's. Rented a jeep on one of those days and drove around the island, which was a fun time. On quite a few days, the wind was somewhat northerly, so it was wavy. If the port was open, we went and loved it. Can get kind of cold on the dive boats, so recommend a wind breaker or we took towels from the hotel to help stay warm. Viz was good (most of the time ~ 80 ft.), but, not great. Compared to diving in Wisconsin, it's heaven.
We stayed at the Park Royal and very much enjoyed it there. I would rate it a 4 star hotel. The rooms were excellent. Clean, spacious, beautiful view from the balcony. I know there's mixed posts on the food, but, we enjoyed it. Overall, the staff at the hotel were very nice. I also agree that the timeshare sellers who inhabit the hotel lobby which everyone must go through to exit or enter the hotel were bothersome. Just have to say firmly "No". One guy was starting to sound helpful about finding a deal on a day-trip to Chichen Itza and then he added, "I just would like to meet with you over breakfast.". Been there on other vacations, done that, not doing that again. I'd recommend just saying "no" from the start and indicating that you have all of your plans together and don't need any help, then they have no "hook". They're nice people, just can be bothersome. One other note is the rooms of some people we met were broken into and had their underwater cameras, ipods, etc. stolen. We felt very secure at the hotel, so this was unfortunate. My advice, use the in-room safe's for everything that's valuable and fits in it! I chose this hotel because my wife is getting a little spoiled and wants an upper end hotel since she doesn't dive all the time, this hotel in South of town and closer the reefs, yet still very close to town. This hotel definitely met our expectations and we would go there again.
We dove with Blue Bubble Divers, aka Scuba Shack, aka Robertas Eco Dive Cozumel. I feel pretty strongly about diving with an op close to where we stay. Blue Bubble is adjacent to the Park Royal, couldn't be more convenient and we walked back and forth quite a few times. Since I left my dive locker key in my hotel room before a dive, this again proves to be a good idea. We liked the dive masters, boat captains and people we met there. Servando is particularily a great dive master. He really helped my wife get acclimated on her first dive. Jorge was my other primary dive master. Not quite as friendly as Servando, but, did a good job. My only complaint was a night dive that we did. Our dive master was Juan. They put us in the water right behind another large group of divers. Guess what, they chased everything into a hole before we got there. I would have thought they would have adjusted for that and put us in a different spot on Paradise reef or take us to a less crowded reef. Blue Bubble's boats are small and fast with either 1 or 2 150 hp 4 strokes. Max of 8 divers on any boat we went on. Dive Masters pointed out the marine life and definitely knew the reefs and gave us a good tour. Saw a surprising amount of sea turtles (I'd estimate about 6 of them or more over our stay). Servando took us through a swim through and there was one within arms reach munching on a sponge. Not as many large groupers as I recall last time. Also saw some large eels, 2 huge puffers, lots of spotted eels, small octopus at night, sea snake. My sons and I went on about 13 dives on a majority of the reefs. 10 days wasn't enough to do them all with the side-trips and the couple days the port was shut down. 3 years ago, we dove in Bonaire and the 3 of us agree that the diving is better in Cozumel because of the larger sea life. Don't get me wrong, we loved Bonaire too. Just our opinion. In Cozumel, the coral pinnacles and swim throughs are just a whole different experience.
Our favorite reefs were probably Palancar: La Francesca because of the prodigious marine life and Palancar Caves (swim throughs, turtles, eels). But, as other people usually note, every site is different every day and that may have just been the luck of the draw. We also dove Paradise (day and night dive), Chankanaab, Tormentos, Yucab, Cedar Pass, Palancar Gardens, San Clemente, Columbia Wall, Palancar Horseshoe, and in front of the hotel on checkout and night dives.
Other things we did. Visited Mayan ruins. San Gervasio on Cozumel is pretty impressive which we visited on the day we rented the jeep. We hired a guide there and would always recommend doing so in order to understand the history. Also stopped at Coconuts on the East side of the island which is the highest point on the island. Nice view. Expensive drinks, but, I'd recommend it. Also took a tour to Chichen Itza on the mainland the day before we left. Extremely impressive place. I guess it can be really hot there, but, our day was perfect.
Gerard Drossart
Weather and viz. We weren't able to dive for 2 days due to Northerner's. Rented a jeep on one of those days and drove around the island, which was a fun time. On quite a few days, the wind was somewhat northerly, so it was wavy. If the port was open, we went and loved it. Can get kind of cold on the dive boats, so recommend a wind breaker or we took towels from the hotel to help stay warm. Viz was good (most of the time ~ 80 ft.), but, not great. Compared to diving in Wisconsin, it's heaven.
We stayed at the Park Royal and very much enjoyed it there. I would rate it a 4 star hotel. The rooms were excellent. Clean, spacious, beautiful view from the balcony. I know there's mixed posts on the food, but, we enjoyed it. Overall, the staff at the hotel were very nice. I also agree that the timeshare sellers who inhabit the hotel lobby which everyone must go through to exit or enter the hotel were bothersome. Just have to say firmly "No". One guy was starting to sound helpful about finding a deal on a day-trip to Chichen Itza and then he added, "I just would like to meet with you over breakfast.". Been there on other vacations, done that, not doing that again. I'd recommend just saying "no" from the start and indicating that you have all of your plans together and don't need any help, then they have no "hook". They're nice people, just can be bothersome. One other note is the rooms of some people we met were broken into and had their underwater cameras, ipods, etc. stolen. We felt very secure at the hotel, so this was unfortunate. My advice, use the in-room safe's for everything that's valuable and fits in it! I chose this hotel because my wife is getting a little spoiled and wants an upper end hotel since she doesn't dive all the time, this hotel in South of town and closer the reefs, yet still very close to town. This hotel definitely met our expectations and we would go there again.
We dove with Blue Bubble Divers, aka Scuba Shack, aka Robertas Eco Dive Cozumel. I feel pretty strongly about diving with an op close to where we stay. Blue Bubble is adjacent to the Park Royal, couldn't be more convenient and we walked back and forth quite a few times. Since I left my dive locker key in my hotel room before a dive, this again proves to be a good idea. We liked the dive masters, boat captains and people we met there. Servando is particularily a great dive master. He really helped my wife get acclimated on her first dive. Jorge was my other primary dive master. Not quite as friendly as Servando, but, did a good job. My only complaint was a night dive that we did. Our dive master was Juan. They put us in the water right behind another large group of divers. Guess what, they chased everything into a hole before we got there. I would have thought they would have adjusted for that and put us in a different spot on Paradise reef or take us to a less crowded reef. Blue Bubble's boats are small and fast with either 1 or 2 150 hp 4 strokes. Max of 8 divers on any boat we went on. Dive Masters pointed out the marine life and definitely knew the reefs and gave us a good tour. Saw a surprising amount of sea turtles (I'd estimate about 6 of them or more over our stay). Servando took us through a swim through and there was one within arms reach munching on a sponge. Not as many large groupers as I recall last time. Also saw some large eels, 2 huge puffers, lots of spotted eels, small octopus at night, sea snake. My sons and I went on about 13 dives on a majority of the reefs. 10 days wasn't enough to do them all with the side-trips and the couple days the port was shut down. 3 years ago, we dove in Bonaire and the 3 of us agree that the diving is better in Cozumel because of the larger sea life. Don't get me wrong, we loved Bonaire too. Just our opinion. In Cozumel, the coral pinnacles and swim throughs are just a whole different experience.
Our favorite reefs were probably Palancar: La Francesca because of the prodigious marine life and Palancar Caves (swim throughs, turtles, eels). But, as other people usually note, every site is different every day and that may have just been the luck of the draw. We also dove Paradise (day and night dive), Chankanaab, Tormentos, Yucab, Cedar Pass, Palancar Gardens, San Clemente, Columbia Wall, Palancar Horseshoe, and in front of the hotel on checkout and night dives.
Other things we did. Visited Mayan ruins. San Gervasio on Cozumel is pretty impressive which we visited on the day we rented the jeep. We hired a guide there and would always recommend doing so in order to understand the history. Also stopped at Coconuts on the East side of the island which is the highest point on the island. Nice view. Expensive drinks, but, I'd recommend it. Also took a tour to Chichen Itza on the mainland the day before we left. Extremely impressive place. I guess it can be really hot there, but, our day was perfect.
Gerard Drossart
