michaelp68
Guest
My wife and I took our first trip to Cozumel last week.
We only stayed 4 nights, which was the most we could get away while leaving our young son at home.
We stayed at Fiesta Americana and we had 3 days of diving with Christi's operation, Blue XT Sea Diving.
Diving
We loved the diving and thought that Christi's dive operation was great. As others have written, her boat, Shamu, picked us up at the pier in front of our hotel every day exactly when Christi told us it was going to be there.
The boat was small, so there are no large groups. There was plenty of shade on the boat, and the boat was quite fast. We usually passed a number of boats on the way to our dive sites.
The divemasters (Javier on the first day and Pedro on the 2nd 2 days) were always making an effort to be helpful. The boat captain, Hector (nicknamed Mago), was also very helpful. Ask him to try his magic tricks for you.
The boat was always right there when we surfaced. We had good bottom times on all of our dives governed only by NDL limits and air consumption. Nothing was predetermined or limited.
Snacks, beverages, dry fluffy towels and nice parkas for all of the surface intervals were an enjoyable bonus. Our surface intervals were long and relaxing on the beach. I was glad to have conservatively longer surface intervals for safety reasons.
The dives themselves were amazing. My only disappointment was not seeing any eagle rays. Oh well, I'll just have to go back on another trip....
We saw some pretty big nurse sharks and sea turtles. It was the usual cast of characters for the area, and it was great seeing all of them, especially for first-time Cozumel divers like us.
The other reason we'll have to go back sometime soon is because we did not get to meet Christi. She was sick. Christi, we hope you're feeling better.
Ahead of time, my wife was a little nervous. We're both new divers, but she's even less experienced than me. Ahead of time, she was concerned about depths and currents. She thought the dive police would be hanging out at 60 feet to arrest her and that any currents were going to sweep her away.
Aside from her doing great and enjoying all of her dives tremendously, she did not find anything challenging or scary once she was in the water. What we learned is that we really loved the currents and the drift diving, and that they were nothing to worry about. We just relaxed and enjoyed.
Remember to have your equipment serviced regularly. One of the connections on my bc inflator hose loosened while I was at 75 feet and air bubbles were suddenly swooshing all around me. I just disconnected it, tightened what loosened, reconnected and proceeded. Fortunately, I did not lose much air because I disconnected it quickly. But, this might not have happened at all if I'd been better about having my gear serviced....
Travel
Our travel experience was a bummer. The airline lost one of our bags. I had a carry-on with my regs and computer. We each had a checked bag with clothes and toiletries. We also had a 3rd checked bag with the rest of the scuba gear. The bag with my clothes and toiletries was lost. At least U.S. Air lost the correct bag out of the 3 of them.
Hotel
Fiesta Americana was nice. Our room was clean and spacious with a nice ocean view. The staff was friendly and helpful.
We did not do the all-inclusive package. We ate breakfast and lunch on the property every day before and after the diving because it was quite convenient to do so. The food wasn't great, but the lunches ordered off of the menu were good and the breakfast buffet was decent.
The pool area was nice, and the beach area was nice as well.
The taxi ride into the downtown area cost $6 U.S. each way.
Dinner
We went downtown for dinner every night. We ate at La Choza, Primas, La Pearlita and another restaurant recommended by Christi although I can't remember its name. Christi?
La Choza was in the downtown area so it was mostly tourists, but it was good for people watching. The food was great Mexican food. They had the best sauce for their tortilla chips I've ever had.
Primas was also in the downtown area and was all tourists. The food was good here, as well.
La Pearlita was off of the beaten path. In fact, while the taxi was taking us there, I was wondering where the heck we were being taken. However, this was, by far, the best meal we've had while traveling in a long time. My wife and I highly recommend this place. This was all Mexican dishes and fresh seafood. Awesome meal.
The last restaurant, which Christi had mentioned was her favorite on the island, was also fantastic. The food at this little restaurant was outstanding, and this was also a bit off of the beaten path. I strongly recommend this restaurant, too, and I'll hopefully provide the name once my brain starts working again or Christi helps out.
Anyway, the food was great and I definitely recommend eating dinner in town as opposed to on the resorts.
Overall , this was a great trip and was definitely not long enough. But, it was nice getting away for a few days and we cannot wait to return. Now we have our next trip to look forward to, which will be to Mont Tremblant in Canada for a ski/snowboard trip in a few weeks. Talk about extreme opposites. Brrrrrr!
Michael
We only stayed 4 nights, which was the most we could get away while leaving our young son at home.
We stayed at Fiesta Americana and we had 3 days of diving with Christi's operation, Blue XT Sea Diving.
Diving
We loved the diving and thought that Christi's dive operation was great. As others have written, her boat, Shamu, picked us up at the pier in front of our hotel every day exactly when Christi told us it was going to be there.
The boat was small, so there are no large groups. There was plenty of shade on the boat, and the boat was quite fast. We usually passed a number of boats on the way to our dive sites.
The divemasters (Javier on the first day and Pedro on the 2nd 2 days) were always making an effort to be helpful. The boat captain, Hector (nicknamed Mago), was also very helpful. Ask him to try his magic tricks for you.
The boat was always right there when we surfaced. We had good bottom times on all of our dives governed only by NDL limits and air consumption. Nothing was predetermined or limited.
Snacks, beverages, dry fluffy towels and nice parkas for all of the surface intervals were an enjoyable bonus. Our surface intervals were long and relaxing on the beach. I was glad to have conservatively longer surface intervals for safety reasons.
The dives themselves were amazing. My only disappointment was not seeing any eagle rays. Oh well, I'll just have to go back on another trip....
We saw some pretty big nurse sharks and sea turtles. It was the usual cast of characters for the area, and it was great seeing all of them, especially for first-time Cozumel divers like us.
The other reason we'll have to go back sometime soon is because we did not get to meet Christi. She was sick. Christi, we hope you're feeling better.
Ahead of time, my wife was a little nervous. We're both new divers, but she's even less experienced than me. Ahead of time, she was concerned about depths and currents. She thought the dive police would be hanging out at 60 feet to arrest her and that any currents were going to sweep her away.
Aside from her doing great and enjoying all of her dives tremendously, she did not find anything challenging or scary once she was in the water. What we learned is that we really loved the currents and the drift diving, and that they were nothing to worry about. We just relaxed and enjoyed.
Remember to have your equipment serviced regularly. One of the connections on my bc inflator hose loosened while I was at 75 feet and air bubbles were suddenly swooshing all around me. I just disconnected it, tightened what loosened, reconnected and proceeded. Fortunately, I did not lose much air because I disconnected it quickly. But, this might not have happened at all if I'd been better about having my gear serviced....
Travel
Our travel experience was a bummer. The airline lost one of our bags. I had a carry-on with my regs and computer. We each had a checked bag with clothes and toiletries. We also had a 3rd checked bag with the rest of the scuba gear. The bag with my clothes and toiletries was lost. At least U.S. Air lost the correct bag out of the 3 of them.
Hotel
Fiesta Americana was nice. Our room was clean and spacious with a nice ocean view. The staff was friendly and helpful.
We did not do the all-inclusive package. We ate breakfast and lunch on the property every day before and after the diving because it was quite convenient to do so. The food wasn't great, but the lunches ordered off of the menu were good and the breakfast buffet was decent.
The pool area was nice, and the beach area was nice as well.
The taxi ride into the downtown area cost $6 U.S. each way.
Dinner
We went downtown for dinner every night. We ate at La Choza, Primas, La Pearlita and another restaurant recommended by Christi although I can't remember its name. Christi?
La Choza was in the downtown area so it was mostly tourists, but it was good for people watching. The food was great Mexican food. They had the best sauce for their tortilla chips I've ever had.
Primas was also in the downtown area and was all tourists. The food was good here, as well.
La Pearlita was off of the beaten path. In fact, while the taxi was taking us there, I was wondering where the heck we were being taken. However, this was, by far, the best meal we've had while traveling in a long time. My wife and I highly recommend this place. This was all Mexican dishes and fresh seafood. Awesome meal.
The last restaurant, which Christi had mentioned was her favorite on the island, was also fantastic. The food at this little restaurant was outstanding, and this was also a bit off of the beaten path. I strongly recommend this restaurant, too, and I'll hopefully provide the name once my brain starts working again or Christi helps out.
Anyway, the food was great and I definitely recommend eating dinner in town as opposed to on the resorts.
Overall , this was a great trip and was definitely not long enough. But, it was nice getting away for a few days and we cannot wait to return. Now we have our next trip to look forward to, which will be to Mont Tremblant in Canada for a ski/snowboard trip in a few weeks. Talk about extreme opposites. Brrrrrr!
Michael
