Resort in cozumel!

[yvesperr]

My family and I are planning a week in Cozumel in february. It will be my first time in Cozumel. Can anybody suggest a good resort for a week in Cozumel. I want have plenty of diving on-site. I am travelling with my wife who is not a diver and my two kids (four and six years old). There has to be activities for them. The food must be of good quality.

Thanks for your input!

Yves

 

[rrunyan]

How experienced a diver are you? Your answer will determine which resort would be recommended.

Also, check out http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g150809-Cozumel_Yucatan_Peninsula-Hotels.html for more reviews than you care to read.

That said, my wife and I like the Iberostar. Probably one of the top three resorts on the island. Lots of activities for your kids. Lots of sun for your wife. Close to the dive sites for you.

Ron is SoCal

 

[Viscya]

My family and I are planning a week in Cozumel in february. It will be my first time in Cozumel. Can anybody suggest a good resort for a week in Cozumel. I want have plenty of diving on-site. I am travelling with my wife who is not a diver and my two kids (four and six years old). There has to be activities for them. The food must be of good quality.

Thanks for your input!

Yves

My wife and I love Iberostar also. We don't have kids, but it is obvious that they cater to them. We've been going there for years, and love it. Food is great, staff is great. We look forward to it. My wife does not dive either, but loves the beach and activities.

What ever you do, hope you have a great time!

 

[yvesperr]

I am a new diver, certified in august 2004, 15 dives in cold water in Quebec and in the Carribean.

Iberostar or Allegro in Cozumel?

Yves

 

[Grajan]

Yves,
I'm sorry if this sounds negative but I don't think Cozumel is a good dive spot for that level of training. I made the mistake of taking my (perfectly competent) wife to Coz after less than twenty dives and we both had a miserable time.

It is almost impossible to get a dive op to do only shallow dives. They are set in a routine of deep dive followed by a shallow dive and that is what they do. The deep dives can have blue water descents, unlimited bottoms and strong currents. even the shallow dives can have strong and unpredictable currents. without the experience to manage attitude and trim it is, at best, no fun and at worst, downright dangerous.

There are many other Carribean destinations that do not present these challenges (We like the BVI and the Florida Keys provides great low experience diving conditions).

If you are committed to Cozumel I would consider diving with a resort boat. These are not generally the best dive ops but they have the enormous benefit for you of being able to pick dives during the day based on your level of experience as they have a published schedule of the type of dives they plan to do (avoiding the tricky ones until you are ready for them).

We just got back from staying at the Grand Cozumel by Occidental and would recommend it in every possible way. Great rooms, food and facilities. I would not recommend the in-house dive op (Palancar Diving) to an experienced diver but it would probably work fine for your first visit. Because the Hotel is on the south end of the island boat trips are short and there is a real beach. since the huge influx of cruise ships the town is not up to much anyway and you can always get there by taxi.

With another fifty dives under her belt and some more training my wife had a great time this trip.

Funjet.com has great deals.

I hope this is helpful

I am a new diver, certified in august 2004, 15 dives in cold water in Quebec and in the Carribean.

Iberostar or Allegro in Cozumel?

Yves

 

[Carlos Danger]

The Occidental Grand is the nicest all-inclusive resort on the island, but it's also the most expensive.

http://www.grandcozumel.com/main/html/multimedia.html

http://www.grandcozumel.com/main/index.html

They have their own dive shop and a new pier. However, the shop, Dive Palancar, tend to cater to large groups. So, we used "Dive with Martin" instead, because they only dive in small groups and have small fast boats. Plus, they include equipment, night dive, and video in their very competitive pricing. Additionally, they dive earlier in the morning than most other operators, and they'll pick you up/drop you off at the resort's pier, and you can book through it all through the resort.

We stayed for 10 days, and had a blast. Very luxurious accommodations, and the grounds are just beautiful. They also have very nice facilities for kids with people to watch over them with plenty of activities. I suppose the only bad part is that it's a-ways from town, but that wasn't that big of an issue for us.

Check'm out, and best of luck to you. Hope you have great trip!

 

[rrunyan]

I would recommend the Iberostar. Their on-site dive op (Dressel Divers) deals with new divers every day of the week. They pretty much plan their days around the new diver.

Nice resort. Decent food. Dive op works well with newbies.

My wife and I will be back there the week of Nov 7th for the third time this year.

Ron in SoCal

 

[mbeerski]

I stayed at the reef club. They have a dive shop onsite called "Sand Dollar Sports". They did shallow dives and were not too bad. My wife is starting to dive. This is where I want to take her for her first set of dives.

 

[ggunn]

Yves,
I'm sorry if this sounds negative but I don't think Cozumel is a good dive spot for that level of training. I made the mistake of taking my (perfectly competent) wife to Coz after less than twenty dives and we both had a miserable time.

It is almost impossible to get a dive op to do only shallow dives. They are set in a routine of deep dive followed by a shallow dive and that is what they do. The deep dives can have blue water descents, unlimited bottoms and strong currents. even the shallow dives can have strong and unpredictable currents. without the experience to manage attitude and trim it is, at best, no fun and at worst, downright dangerous.

My wife and I went to Cozumel as rank novice divers 11 years ago (we both had been cert'ed for only a week and had had no "real" dives) and had a totally different experience. We had no trouble at all getting the dive op (Cozumel Equalizers) to take us on exclusively shallow dives for the first couple of days. Dealing with the current was a little tricky at first, but we had expert help, and after only a couple of dives, it was no big deal. Even our first dive (maybe even especially our first dive; I'll never forget it) was an ecstatic experience.

No op there will drop you off in a "bottomless" environment; all the wall dives start out over sand where you descend and get your buoyancy set before going out over the wall. An exception to this is Maracaibo, where the top of the wall is over 100 feet deep, but a novice diver has no business going there.

IMO. Cozumel is a great destination for a new diver, provided the dive op you go with is well informed of the newbie factor and is experienced in dealing with new divers. The great thing about Coz diving (aside from the spectacular scenery and the warm, clear waters) is that there is diving there for everyone regardless of experience level.

 

[mbeerski]

My wife and I love Iberostar also. We don't have kids, but it is obvious that they cater to them. We've been going there for years, and love it. Food is great, staff is great. We look forward to it. My wife does not dive either, but loves the beach and activities.

What ever you do, hope you have a great time!

Cozumel is great and my wife loves it too. Last time we stayed at the Reef club and it was ok. The reason is that the club is partially a "time share" so they try to sell you the tour all the time.
Does the Iberostar have a dive shop onsite? If so how is it? Does it cater to novice or more experienced divers? Are they strict in terms of dive planning?