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The location is no secret - plenty of information here and elsewhere on the internet regarding hotel locations, which hotels have beaches vs. iron shore, street noise, etc. I have heard that the time share sharks are present, but every report I've heard from guests staying there is that a simple "no thank you" - or "no gracias" keeps them away.On arrival, we were a little let down on the location and the overall condition of the resort but it wasn't the end of the world. Then we started getting hit by the timeshare people right away. While we were waiting for our room to be ready, we got the walk around and the sales pitch. Not too big of a deal.....until we went to our room in the new tower! We had booked a garden view room thru Travelocity and we didn't see any garden in sight....just the highway, a dirt lot with some vehicles and the El Cid...oh, and some highway noiseWe immediately called the front desk to complain and were then taken to another room in the older building, which seemed alright unil we realized it was right down the hall from a travel booking desk! Our room was filled with the sound of phones ringing and people talking loudly....not pleasant and forget about taking a quick siesta.
Again, no secret that the cruise ship pier is right across the street. Sounds as if you a are a light sleeper, I would suggest ear plugs if you are so easily disturbed by environmental noise.
Surely you understand that this can happen anywhere and at any hotel - regardless of the price tag. No one can buy class and some of the most obnoxious people I've ever met were very wealthy and had some sense of false entitlement because they have more money than others. The Grand is not immune from this, you were just lucky when you were there.
Interesting complaint. Considering the heat in Cozumel, most pools are like bath water or worse - I personally find it refreshing to have a swimming pool with water cooler than the air - to each is own.
This was one of the most disturbing part of your post to me. Any research on the island would have given you plenty of warnings about the danger of scooter rentals - glad you made it safely and had no incidents with this.
While their boats may not be the most cosmetically appealing, they are mechanically sound and very sea worthy for our waters. Sorry you ere unimpressed with the paint job. Again, these are the types of boats used by many of Cozumels top tiered operations and many like them - again, to each is own.
They must have made an exception for you - they are known for (and don't hide it) diving the tables and not doing computer dives (I know numerous people that work for or who have worked for them at some point). Not that this is a "bad" thing for some, but they do adhere to strict schedules based on their model of going out one tank at a time with pre-set dive plans/sites. While you may be close to some of the dive sites, there are many great ones that are not even an option for you when staying that far south - just for future reference. Again, some people like this set-up, but I've found that most seasoned divers do not - sounds like you ere looking out for your wife to keep her in the sport - good on you for that - but the more "exotic" dive trips you take her on in the future - the further you/she will venture from your "Americanized expectations/standards." For what it's worth, I think Cozumel does a really great job of catering to the demanding American market considering the limited resources available here.
Agreed!
To you perhaps, but not to everyone. It's about knowing what you want, finding it within reason, setting realistic expectations, and learning to relax/unwind and roll with the flow when necessary.
Totally disagree - my opinion is based on 10 years of living and running a business on the island. See above again.
I take some offense to this one. The Mexican food in Cozumel is TRUE MX food - and it's regional. What you get in CA is Americanized TX-Mex/SW food - not true MX food. As a Texan - I understand this as ell as anyone - but I don't try to compare TX-Mex to true MX food. You never mentioned any of the restaurants you tried in Cozumel - would love to know where you ate outside of the hotels. Again, there is a plethora of information on this site and others regarding favorite eateries in Coz, including the FAQ sticky at the top of the Coz forum - sorry you missed those - truly your loss.
Well of course - they are tourist traps - no secret there. Again, a small amount of research would have given you this information.
But you also miss many great sites
Probably the most confusing comments to me. Of course no one wants to eat the same type of food everyday anywhere, even on vacation. What on earth gave you the impression that Cozumel had only MX food to offer? In no particular order, here are just a few "non-MX" options (BTW - ALL of these have been around for AT LEAST 5 years):
Maybe we can get this back on track as a true discussion thread posting like adults and offering up informative help and advice. We can discuss things like adults and not have thin-skin attitudes and help others make an informed decision when trying to find what suits them best in Coz having no prior experience there. Like I said, the diving is outstanding and there are plenty of options to suit different preferences/price points. Lets just get it out there like adults and maybe help people have a pain-free vacation experience based on their wants and needs......not yours
Yeah, I always start with sidestep.com who will compare many vendors even if my hope is to use Orbitz. Many claims lowest price guarantee, but you got to watch 'em, then hold their feet to the fire at times.
A lot of people have posted in here saying they have received helpful info or have made respectful posts with other viewpoints or advice (even with some funny stuff about cops vs firemen)....all while not resorting to being disrespectful, rude nor namecalling. Thats what reviews are for, aren't they???????
As always, cops saving fireman.....)
Are you happy? olice:
Wow...you're a real piece of work aren't you....come piss in sombody's post that has a honest description of how we saw things in relation to what our preferences are, you drop some crappy language, and then imply that I'm inexperienced and haven't taught my wife how to dive properly. Are you always a tough guy over the internet???? Anyone can embellish anything on the internet...i prefer to be honest and realistic. You probably do have more dives than I do....I'm sure a lot of people do and tons of people have a lot less but I will say anywhere in the 300-500 bracket is still a lot of diving. Who knows what people's priorities are in life or how many hobbies they participate in. As for me, most of the time I was actively working as a diving instructor, I was also a waterskiing instructor. Diving wasn't my only focus and I had some "exclusive engagements" as employment through my contacts in the waterski and boating industry, so I wasn't working in a typical resort settting dealing with the public, although my very first job was working in a dive shop (Sport Chalet in So Cal). I also did very little diving for many years as I accomplished a number of travel goals related to big game hunting. If you think diving is expensive, try international hunting trips
It takes a lot of dive trips to get over 500 dives doing maybe 20-25 dives per trip as an average. You must be independantly wealthy, be an old retired guy, or save up a lot of money living in your Mom's basement acting like a know-it-all tough guy on the internet. Me......I have to work and have always had to since I bought my first house at the age of 18...and doing that AND continuing to invest in real estate over the years has allowed me to be able to do all the things that I have checked off of my "bucket list." I'm pretty happy with my accomplishments though they may not seem like much to others here.
As for my wife, she has done outstanding. I could objectively say she is already better than at least 80% of the other divers I have witnessed over the years. Reading is fundamental and obviously you have a hard time seeing the words I have posted earlier about how she did do 2 dives with Blue Bubble and her backrolls were just great. Other than practice in the pool, we hadn't had the opportunity to do a real life backroll due to the boats we had been on up to that point. I also said she prefers to do giant strides and I have also taught her how to do those properly. She doesn't jump like most people and then go completely u/w thrashing about. She does a controlled step-off and keeps her head above water after performing a perfect scissor-kick just as she is entering the water. Her bouyancy control is incredible for her experience level and she is already very "comfortable looking" u/w with an excellent swim profile....much better than most of the people that are usually bumping into each other, crashing into the reefs and stirring up silt. ETA...I forgot to mention that her air consumption is also very good and she has excellent control of her descents/ascents. I hate to break this to you but you might have many, many logged dives but still be a "bad diver" and just not know it. I've seen it every trip and every locale without exception, and it's always those people that are talking the loudest about how many dives they have and how experienced they are (in their own minds anyway
It also seems like I'm not out of line with liking Devil's Throat since I did it only once. And once again you fail on reading comprehension since I said it was "one of the best dives" I have ever been on since I have lots of those when going down memory lane with my log books. Many people have posted they really liked it the first time but then the fondness diminished some after more trips back there. I guess that's why I like to not keep repeating the same locations over and over again...it keeps me happy
And let me further clarify that the wife and I are not interested in going on any vacation trying chase down some sort of a culinary magical experience. I want great tasty food and lots of that is easy to find....ya know...sort of like at a resort where we are staying
So junior, YOU seem to have the know-it-all problem and the potty mouth problem. Continue on with your superior attitude...I know exactly what kind of an internet tough guy you are...you are a dime-a-dozen and a legend in your own mind
Oh, it you take a good helmet with you (I don't know if they ever offer them, but...), are experience at operating a scooter in unpredictable traffic including lost gringos driving rental cars on strange streets with Spanish signs, etc - and feel very adventurous - no never mind, just don't.
