Hotel Cozumel Resort and Dive Paradise

[swsurgeon]

I was there for a week of diving in January, 2005. I may write this in a couple segments because I'm having a few problems posting. Here's the summary: (1) Dive Paradise Operation: Generally very good. (2) Hotel Cozumel Resort Rooms/Facility: Good. (3) Hotel Cozumel Food: Problematic.

The Dive Paradise operation is right across the street from the Hotel and a tunnel provides easy access. The office staff, boat crews, and divemasters all seem quite competent and well organized. They are very safety conscious and our group felt well cared for. We had over 60 divers on 3-4 different boats, so the fact that they kept the group organized and safe is pretty high praise. We had a lot of good sightings and I enjoyed the dive sites that were chosen with the guidance of the staff.

The boats were well maintained and never failed. All the tanks had consistently good charges on them. I'm a bigger guy and it always ticks me off when most of the tanks are 200psi below what I'm used to.

Each boat of 15-20 divers was broken down into several smaller groups. Each smaller group had its own divemaster. My only complaint for the whole week was that on one dive they called the number of my group prematurely and I got dropped with the wrong group. However, we corrected the problem and it was just an annoying error. The rest of the dives went smoothly.

 

[swsurgeon]

The most serious problem of the trip occurred on account of the food at the resort. I ate exclusively at the resort, so I'm certain that the problem did not originate elsewhere.

The resort price for our group included food and a substantial assortment of bar items. Much of the food is served buffet style, in large heated catering trays. I believe the problem is that a number of dishes are repeatedly heated and cooled. I suspect that the controls on temperatures and food storage conditions are not nearly tight enough. The bad news was that I got a pretty nasty case of food poisoning. The good news (such as it is) is that I didn't get it until six hours after the last dive and it wasn't as bad as the case that afflicted my dive partner.

The problem I developed was not the typical Montezuma's Revenge/Tourista Trots that many of us have probably experienced in Mexico. This food poisoning started with bloating and vomiting and then led to diarrhea. It was pretty unpleasant and I was down for a day and a half. However, I recovered enough to fly home after that period.

 

[swsurgeon]

My dive buddy was fortunate enough to get sick after all the dives and within access to American healthcare. However, those are about the only positive points. On the final morning of the trip, he ate at both the resort and another facility. As a result, we can't say for sure whose food got him.

In any event, my partner was OK when he got on the plane but passed out and collapsed in the airport in Dallas. His pulse rate and blood pressure dropped so low that the paramedics thought he was having a heart attack and were about to jam one of those big needles into his heart. Luckily, they were able to get him to the ambulance and emergency room without doing that. He soon showed the same symptoms I had. After eliminating other potential causes, the physicians reached the same conclusion.

The paramedics who picked up my partner told him that they collect an average of around 100 food poisoning cases per month from Cozumel at Dallas Airport. They said the number increases to closer to 200 around the holidays or Spring break. In their experience, many more people develop food poisoning coming back from Cozumel than Cancun, although they didn't have a theory as to why. Maybe more of the Cozumel resorts offer "food included" packages that feature a lot of re-heated buffet style chow. I don't know.

My friend (a competitive triathlete) recovered enough by the next evening to fly home. However, he was weak for days after that.

If you go to a resort with a "food included" plan, I recommend that you don't eat anything that was not cooked in front of you. Although I'm not sure it would keep you 100% safe, there was usually a grill or BBQ at which you could watch them cook fresh food for you. I'm pretty sure it was a stew/casserole type dish that got me (I was the only one at the table to eat that particular dish and the only one to get sick that day).

 

[scubajim]

Thanks for the report. I've always had great luck with DP. Apple, the owner is a quite a gal. I've never stayed at an all inclusive. Cozumel has some great places to eat inexpensively and in my 5 trips I've never had a food problem

 

[Christi]

The paramedics who picked up my partner told him that they collect an average of around 100 food poisoning cases per month from Cozumel at Dallas Airport. They said the number increases to closer to 200 around the holidays or Spring break. In their experience, many more people develop food poisoning coming back from Cozumel than Cancun, although they didn't have a theory as to why. Maybe more of the Cozumel resorts offer "food included" packages that feature a lot of re-heated buffet style chow. I don't know.

I'm sorry, but I have to say that is an outrageous allegation. So they are saying that they pick an average of 3 to 4 people per day up at the Dallas airport alone, coming in from Cozumel with food poisoning?

I have lived in Cozumel for 4 years and I deal with tourists every single day. I havent even seen 100 cases of food poisoning in four years!

Often other ailments are misdiagnosed or improperly blamed on food poisoning. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but not on that scale. I'm also surprised that medical professionals would make such an outrageous claim.

 

[Ron Brandt]

Often other ailments are misdiagnosed or improperly blamed on food poisoning. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but not on that scale. I'm also surprised that medical professionals would make such an outrageous claim.

I agree with Christi on that one.I have friends in the industry as well and I'm sure they would agree.

Sure it wasn't DCS ?

Ron

 

[chuck86]

Does this sceneario sound all too familiar, food poinionsing, hmmmmm where have I heard that before. Oh yeah it was just before my first Chamber ride in Cozumel.

I would certainly keep tabs on my friend to be sure there are no after effects that should be treated.

Just my $.02 but dry diving is not a fun deal.

 

[swsurgeon]

I was also pretty surprised to hear that number. It sounded very high to me as well. I did not hear it directly from the paramedics but in a phone call from my partner when he was in the hospital (I was on a flight through Houston).

On the positive side, I heard good things about the restaurants that a couple of people in our group went to. Regardless of the paramedics' number, on my next visit I'd prefer to avoid the "all inclusive" plans and hit restaurants. I'm not going to let the negative food experience deter me because the dive operation, underwater scenery, rooms, weather, etc. were all good.

 

[maggs_the]

Gee... I am trying to keep an upbeat and positive attitude for my upcoming trip to Hotel Cozumel (all-inclusive) and Dive Paradise (cattle boat). Then again, everyone warned me not to go to Waikiki (go to Maui instead) and I wound up having one of the best vacations of "my" life... maybe I should just stop reading the posts

 

[SoCalOffshore]

I had similar symptons on my trip to Cozumel, turns out I was just hung over.