D_O_H
Contributor
I'm feeling a little guilty for not posting a trip report from my February trip to Coz, so I thought I'd at least do a short post giving due credit to everyone who took great care of us down there.
The Good:
Blue XT~Sea. Christy's reputation on this board was well deserved. Her boat (as well as the big one she borrowed for us when the harbor was closed to small boats) was in nice shape, faster than most of the other boats and set up perfectly for diving with small groups. Her staff (especially Javier) was professional and really fun to dive with (though Javier could use a slightly larger speedo). I cannot think of any way our diving experience could have been better. Christy is also an invaluable source of information while on the island (especially for restaurant recommendations and setting up tours on the mainland).
Villa las Glorias rented through At Home in Cozumel. This place is exactly as advertised (it's actually a little nicer than it looks on their website). It's well maintained, nicely appointed and had plenty of room for our group of 10 people (every couple had a bed and 3/5 bedrooms have a private bathroom). The total cost per person was something under $500 for the week, which is not bad at all for such nice digs. At Home in Cozumel was great as well - I'd definitely recommend them if you're looking to rent a villa. If I had it to do over again, I'd have stayed at Villa Alegria. It's right next door to Villa Glorias, but looks even nicer (I spent more than a few minutes staring enviously at their huge 3rd floor deck with hammocks). You can't go wrong with either place. The only possible gripe is these houses might not be the best for someone looking for seclusion. There are 3 huge rental houses crammed together townhouse style. It wasn't a problem for us, though, and our neighbors were great. Actually, our neighbors in Villa Dos on the other side were more than great - they were 8 or so bikini (and a little less than bikini, on occasion) models on a photo shoot. We even generously allowed them do some shoots in our backyard.
The Food. I was very impressed with the overall quality of the restaurants in Coz. Favorites were: Especias (interesting food and very nice owner/operator who chatted us up and bought us a round of drinks), Guidos and El Moro for lunch (it was so good we went back twice). The rest of our group loved Mesa 17, though I had some unfortunately timed severe food poisoning hit right as we arrived and ended up spending most of the meal discretely excusing myself to the restroom to barf (needless to say, I didn't get to try the food at M17). I'm not sure what made me sick - I'm guessing the spicy salsa at Coco's, since it's the only thing I ate that nobody else in our group touched (I piled it on everything at breakfast that morning), but I really have no idea. The people and food at Coco's were great, so I don't want disparage them unjustly, but you can bet I will not be eating that salsa on my next Coz trip.
The OK:
Tulum. I'm probably not the best person to trust on whether Tulum is worth a visit, since I got drug along and didn't really want to go. Christy set us up with a driver to take us to Tulum and show us around. If you're going to go to Tulum, I highly recommend having Christy set it up, as our driver was awesome and I think the price was pretty good. Tulum itself was neat, and I suppose I'm glad I went, but I would have rather spent the half day it took to get there doing something else. As others have mentioned, if you're going to go, bring your swimsuit - there is a spectacular beach and great swimming that would be a perfect conclusion to the Tulum tour. My favorite part of the trip was actually a side trip to Aktun Chen (note: I think the website has sound, so if you're at work, you may want to adjust volume). Exploring the above-water portions of this cenote was cool, but the best part for me was all the animals. I got to play with a friendly monkey (looking for food, I'm sure, but I think he really liked me) and interact with all kinds of native birds and animals. In case anyone else reading this is a compulsive animal petter like me, do not try to pet the wild javalina - they don't like it and they are quick to communicate this with their teeth!
The Bad:
Getting to Cozumel from SF is something of an ordeal, but other than that, I can't think of anything bad.
The Good:
Blue XT~Sea. Christy's reputation on this board was well deserved. Her boat (as well as the big one she borrowed for us when the harbor was closed to small boats) was in nice shape, faster than most of the other boats and set up perfectly for diving with small groups. Her staff (especially Javier) was professional and really fun to dive with (though Javier could use a slightly larger speedo). I cannot think of any way our diving experience could have been better. Christy is also an invaluable source of information while on the island (especially for restaurant recommendations and setting up tours on the mainland).
Villa las Glorias rented through At Home in Cozumel. This place is exactly as advertised (it's actually a little nicer than it looks on their website). It's well maintained, nicely appointed and had plenty of room for our group of 10 people (every couple had a bed and 3/5 bedrooms have a private bathroom). The total cost per person was something under $500 for the week, which is not bad at all for such nice digs. At Home in Cozumel was great as well - I'd definitely recommend them if you're looking to rent a villa. If I had it to do over again, I'd have stayed at Villa Alegria. It's right next door to Villa Glorias, but looks even nicer (I spent more than a few minutes staring enviously at their huge 3rd floor deck with hammocks). You can't go wrong with either place. The only possible gripe is these houses might not be the best for someone looking for seclusion. There are 3 huge rental houses crammed together townhouse style. It wasn't a problem for us, though, and our neighbors were great. Actually, our neighbors in Villa Dos on the other side were more than great - they were 8 or so bikini (and a little less than bikini, on occasion) models on a photo shoot. We even generously allowed them do some shoots in our backyard.
The Food. I was very impressed with the overall quality of the restaurants in Coz. Favorites were: Especias (interesting food and very nice owner/operator who chatted us up and bought us a round of drinks), Guidos and El Moro for lunch (it was so good we went back twice). The rest of our group loved Mesa 17, though I had some unfortunately timed severe food poisoning hit right as we arrived and ended up spending most of the meal discretely excusing myself to the restroom to barf (needless to say, I didn't get to try the food at M17). I'm not sure what made me sick - I'm guessing the spicy salsa at Coco's, since it's the only thing I ate that nobody else in our group touched (I piled it on everything at breakfast that morning), but I really have no idea. The people and food at Coco's were great, so I don't want disparage them unjustly, but you can bet I will not be eating that salsa on my next Coz trip.
The OK:
Tulum. I'm probably not the best person to trust on whether Tulum is worth a visit, since I got drug along and didn't really want to go. Christy set us up with a driver to take us to Tulum and show us around. If you're going to go to Tulum, I highly recommend having Christy set it up, as our driver was awesome and I think the price was pretty good. Tulum itself was neat, and I suppose I'm glad I went, but I would have rather spent the half day it took to get there doing something else. As others have mentioned, if you're going to go, bring your swimsuit - there is a spectacular beach and great swimming that would be a perfect conclusion to the Tulum tour. My favorite part of the trip was actually a side trip to Aktun Chen (note: I think the website has sound, so if you're at work, you may want to adjust volume). Exploring the above-water portions of this cenote was cool, but the best part for me was all the animals. I got to play with a friendly monkey (looking for food, I'm sure, but I think he really liked me) and interact with all kinds of native birds and animals. In case anyone else reading this is a compulsive animal petter like me, do not try to pet the wild javalina - they don't like it and they are quick to communicate this with their teeth!
The Bad:
Getting to Cozumel from SF is something of an ordeal, but other than that, I can't think of anything bad.
