Honeymooners/First time and second time diver - Cozumel October

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Austin, TX
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Hi Everyone,

My lady and I are doing our honeymoon in Cozumel October 12-19th. We're planning on staying at Villas el Encanto, and I'm curious if anyone has stayed there/heard about it? Is it a nice part of town? Walking distance to quality restaurants and bars?
Villas El Encanto Cozumel - Cozumel - Mexico

Is a moped enough to explore the entire island, or do the roads warrant a Jeep?

This will be my second dive trip and my queen's first (she's getting certified now). What dives/shops do you recommend for novice divers?
 
First....do not rent a moped. If you need private transportation...get a car/four wheel vehicle.

Bottom of Box C of this link

Cozumel, Mexico map with hotel locations

You are two blocks to the water...no beach. Is that what you want?

Look into El Cantil or similar to be waterfront but walking distance to town.

Also note that near town means no REAL sand beach.
 
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Is a moped enough to explore the entire island, or do the roads warrant a Jeep?

This will be my second dive trip and my queen's first (she's getting certified now). What dives/shops do you recommend for novice divers?

The roads are fine. The jeeps have the 4WD disconnected to keep you from offroading. Good advice on avoiding the mopeds, though.

Scuba with Alison is our op and very good with newbies.

Looks like that hotel is on the first block off the water? 21 between Melgar and Ave 5? I guess it would be the second block if it was on the other side. A little south for my tastes, with not much around there. What are you paying? The online rates look terrible if you are paying close to that. I happen to know you can get a condo in town, near the square and all for like 900 a week with lots of room, a pool, washer dryer etc. Maybe even a newlywed deal. wink wink nudge nudge.
 
You won't find any mopeds on the island. Well, I have seen *one* moped in my time on the island. However, there are tons of scooters.

It is unwise to ride scooters on the island unless 1) you have a motorcycle endorsement and 2) you regularly ride a scooter at home and 3) you are intimately familiar with the roads and 4) you don't mind the risk of a crash with serious injuries on your honeymoon. It's pretty unwise even then.

Consider this: the Cozumel insurance agent with whom we have been trying to insure the two scooters and one motorcycle we keep on the island won't ride a scooter nor is anyone in her family allowed to. It costs more for minimal liability-only coverage with maximum deductible on a scooter literally bought at a grocery store than for full, gold-plated, maximal coverage with minimal deductibles on a brand-new car. That should tell you something.

And yes, the roads are fine and there are practically no hills. Or curves, for that matter. You don't need a Jeep, nor will you ever find a 4WD one to rent.
 
You don't need a Jeep, nor will you ever find a 4WD one to rent.
Somebody needs to tell the OP's hotel...:D Or more likely their web designer.

Unleash the adventurer whithin “You”, and at the wheel of a 4x4, explore the island visiting such exotic places as the Ecological Park and Natural Reserve of Punta Sur or the San Gervasio Mayan Ruins .
 
Well, I guess it is semantics. You are still at the wheel of a 4x4 even if only two work?
 
Hello. Yes, it is in a lovely and particularly quiet part of town with very little traffic....in the back part of the Corpus Christi area which is a development by Americans as large residences before the US recession which could also be rented out. Area is known by some as "Gringo Gulch". I have ridden my bicycle past and the property looks very nice (there used to be a lovely interior decor store next door but not sure if it's still open...it was closed every time I have ridden past it of late). You are a short walk (couple of blocks) to Chedraui, which is kind of a big Walmart. There's a theater in the complex with very inexpensive, new movies in English (with Spanish subtitles) . Wednesday matinee is a killer deal. It would be about a 10 or 15 minute walk to the town square but taxis are plentiful and relatively inexpensive. However you are within a couple of blocks of lots of places to eat/drink along Melgar or up 11.

What IS going to be a challenge for you is getting to your dive op. A couple of ops pick up in town at the Aldora pier (Living Underwater, Aldora, Deep Blue, and Blue X-T-Sea are 4 I know of), and if you are diving with Aqua Safari, from their pier in town. That will be about a 50 peso trip (or $5 in U.S. currency) each way. If you decide to do that, think long and hard about booking with an op that will also look after your wetsuits (Living Underwater is the only one I know of). Most don't, and it gets really old fast if you have to schlepp your wetsuit around town if you decide to stop someplace for lunch, a drink or do a bit of shopping before you head back to your house. Believe me. Been there, done that. Not pretty if you are like me and wear a LOT of neoprene.

Many ops will pick up at El Cantil, Cozumel Palace, Scuba Club etc. but only if you are a guest at the hotel. So if you aren't diving with an op that picks up in town, you will need to go to the Caleta (boat harbour most ops leave from) which is, last I paid which was before the latest price increase, one way $90 pesos or $9 in US currency. So it's probably about $10 now. That is starting to make the car rental thing look more attractive.

If I were going to rent a vehicle (what others have said about scooters as every health professional on the island has gruesome stories about tourists and scooters), I would just get a car. The jeeps are open to the elements and there is often brief but heavy rainfall and the streets fill up with water making scooters even more treacherous in addition to wet. (I was sitting in front of my house one day under shelter from the downpour and saw a young, tourist couple on a scooter coming down my one-way street the wrong way; she was bawling loudly and he had a grim look. I think they were having a very bad day.) Book in advance for a better rate and buy the insurance. Roads are good, and especially so around the island. Just one other observation about renting a vehicle is parking it. Street parking in the main part of town is tricky and there are places you cannot park. They are NOT well marked and those that are marked are in Spanish. And it is enforced by impounding your vehicle. Big fees/tips required to get them back. If it were me, I'd rely on taxis for longer trips and go by foot or bicycle (I saw they had some on the website). Presumably they have locks because you will need them. I have a bicycle and use it a lot for day-time travel.

As to ops, nearly all are good with new/inexperienced divers as there are a lot the arrive on the island and especially from the cruise ships. If you book with an op with multiple boats you MIGHT get grouped with other divers more to your ability...or you might not. See linked review. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/co...parison-between-living-underwater-aldora.html Sometimes people suggest that brand new divers book their own personal DM to accompany them (separate and apart from the regular DM and other divers on the boat) for at least the first dive or two as there is a lot of stuff to remember and your depths may be restricted initially to 60 feet. (At least I think that is what PADI suggests until you get your AOW.) Cost is about $50 over and above the regular fee. Discuss that with the operators you contact in advance. There was just recently a thread with some experienced Coz divers noting they aren't certified AOW, but I thought I would just mention this to you since most of the diving in Cozumel is in the 60-100 foot range.

Lots of people have good things to say about the operators with multiple and/or big boats. But I prefer the more personal experience of a small, valet-type operator. You get to know the DM and captain one of whom may well be the owner and often become life-long friends and loyal customers. There are a few of those referenced periodically on this board.

I hope you have a great time and if I can try to answer anything else for you, drop me a PM. (I live on the island part-time, but don't expect to be there in October.)

Hi Everyone,

My lady and I are doing our honeymoon in Cozumel October 12-19th. We're planning on staying at Villas el Encanto, and I'm curious if anyone has stayed there/heard about it? Is it a nice part of town? Walking distance to quality restaurants and bars?
Villas El Encanto Cozumel - Cozumel - Mexico

Is a moped enough to explore the entire island, or do the roads warrant a Jeep?

This will be my second dive trip and my queen's first (she's getting certified now). What dives/shops do you recommend for novice divers?
 
Another advantage to picking someone with more than one boat is that you can be grouped with others with similar skill levels.

Many sites allow different dive profiles if you have your own dedicated divemaster but I would not expect that you would do that for your entire trip.
 
Or with one boat you get the BEST DM and Capi that op has to offer, the one they are known for and all that. You also know which boat you are going to be on. I like a comfortable, FAST boat that isn't small.

And when we showed up as newbies, our DM just took care of us. We didn't know or consider the extra dm and we didn't dive a different profile. We just dove with the group and the DM took care of us. Thankfully we did not over think it. Of course we were lucky in the choice of OPs based on reviews here.

But really, many people love every op listed here and you probably don't have enough experience to judge which you would like better on these distinctions. Most OP you communicate with will sort you out.
 
Hi Everyone,

My lady and I are doing our honeymoon in Cozumel October 12-19th. We're planning on staying at Villas el Encanto, and I'm curious if anyone has stayed there/heard about it? Is it a nice part of town? Walking distance to quality restaurants and bars?
Villas El Encanto Cozumel - Cozumel - Mexico

Is a moped enough to explore the entire island, or do the roads warrant a Jeep?

This will be my second dive trip and my queen's first (she's getting certified now). What dives/shops do you recommend for novice divers?


I have stayed at Villas El Encanto and loved the place. It's close to town and in a beautiful area. Ana, the owner lives on the property and is very helpful. She grew up in Cozumel, moved to Argentina and has been back on the island for a number of years. The property is very pretty, has a nice pool, a few peacocks and Ana's dogs. I stayed a month in one of the rooms with a shared living room and kitchen. The room had a small fridge and a safe. Kitchen was clean and had enough stuff for me to cook breakfast in the morning. There is WiFi. When I was there it only worked in the first building on the left as you enter. It's about a 10-15 minute walk into town right down the Melgar for dinner.
As far as dive ops, I have always used Albatros Charters | Cozumel Mexico they also pick up in town. If you did not have a car, they do pick up a Dive Paradise pier accross from Hotel Cozumel that's in walking distance. I have seen some other OP picking up at that pier as well.
Rent a car not a scooter. Much safer.
Happy to answer any other questions you might have on Villas El Encanto
 
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