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My review of Scuba Club Cozumel :
The (sad) truth about ScubaClub Cozumel for a first-time experience
I'm back from a week of diving in Cozumel at the Scuba Club Cozumel (SCC) dive resort so here's my review:
THE COST : $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
They call themselves an "All-inclusive Resort", but it's not really one. You can have a package including 5 days of 2 tank boat dives (but excluding the C-53 Wreck dive), meals and room. But no drinks are included, not even soft drinks, and you have to buy your plane tickets separately et take a transportation to the hotel and back, not included. They also "suggest" such a big amount of tips for their staff that adds a lot to the overall price of your vacation.
So overall, it costs a lot of money to spend a week there. If you're really rich and you absolutely don't care about value for money than you might consider it. If money is of any consideration to you, I would think twice about it.
TIPS : An important part of your vacation cost. Here's what they "suggest" (and they tell you about it quite a few times) :
Waiters and restaurant staff : 8-10 US$ per day / per guest
Chambermaids: 4-5 US$ per day / per guest
Divemasters: 6-8 US$ per day / per guest
Boat Crew: 6-8 US$ per day / per guest
It's true and I'm not making this up. It's printed on a sheet they give you when you arrive! (I have the sheet and a picture of it)
Think about it. Let's say you do as they say and pay the Divemaster 7$/day/guest (They say 6-8$). The divemaster handled an average of 8 divers each day. 8 divers X7$ X6 days (they work 6 days a week) makes 336$ US$ a week in tips. In Mexico, that's a BIG salary. And it's not as if they were working their asses off! Our guide Miguel was OK in pointing out interesting things here and there but that's about it. He did not really look out for the divers quite often.
You can do the math with the other employees, and you will come to this conclusion : They don't pay their employees, you pay them with those insane tips. I don't mind tipping for good service, but I don't like having to pay employees for their regular job when it should be included in the fairly high price of my "all-included" vacation.
Chambermaids : 8$ / room / day? Really? Out of 6 days, 2 times the room has not been made at 3 pm. That's not great service.
The only exception : The boat crew. The suggested tip is OK because they are 3 by boat and they provide great service, help, change your tank between dives, etc. They derserve it.
To close on the cost section, there's also the 2.50$ tax for each day. It's OK and mandatory, but you have to pay in cash and it's another extra cost that should be included in the overall cost for the week. Just annoying.
THE DIVING :
Diving in Cozumel is great so you will dive great sites. The problem is that you will have to take a long boat ride every day to dive. It goes from 50 minutes to 75 minutes to get to the Palancar sites. We never got past that. Average is about 65 minutes.
Another thing, you will know which site you'll be diving when you get on the boat, never before. I had sites I wanted to go but I had to go where they decided, and I did some sites 2 times, and Paradise 3 times.
I spent most of my dives (10 of 14) on the Scuba II boat, a real piece of junk. Small, with an engine so noisy you have to shout if you want to have a conversation during the ride. One time, we had to wait for the crew to repair the engine before going back to shore. There's also another boat called Coral Diver, same model as scuba II, another piece of junk, the engine went out one day and our boat had to tow her back to shore. We endend up with all their divers with all the gear piled up over ours.
Here's the deal. If you're a big group or you're a regular client of SCC for many years and give good tips, you'll be on one of the big beautiful boats. I had the big boat 1 day in my week (too few people on SCUBA II) and it made quite the difference. Bigger, faster, more space, quiet. But since we were only 2 first-time clients, and my friend is only OWD with less experience, we were on the piece of junk Scuba II all week.
On the positive side, being so far of Palancar and the good sites means that SCC is near the downtown area, so you can grab a cab or take a long walk and go to the shops, bars and restaurants the rest of the day.
Also, be aware that they take anybody to any dive. So if you're a new diver struggling with your buoyancy, you should ask for shallow dives. If not, they can take you to 90 feet on your first dive, ready or not.
And now my biggest complaint : The C-53 Wreck. This dive was the main reason I went to SCC. The dive is near the resort and it's a beautiful wreck with penetration at 70 feet. I wanted to do it at least once, maybe twice.
On my second day, I asked when were we going to do it? They told me that it's an extra dive (70$) in the afternoon, not included in my 2 boat dives/day package and that they need at least 4 divers, by groups of 4 for a Divemaster. So I gave my name to do it, but for the rest of the week I was alone on the list or with 1 other diver. So I was never able to dive it.
The stupid reason for this : They want to have only 4 divers per DM on this dive. So you understand that they don't want to pay an extra DM for those dive and it's an opportunity for them to take some extra cash from you. They could easily manage that : They could give the chance to every diver to do the wreck once in their week, and have an extra DM for those dives. I've been to many wrecks in various places and they had an extra DM with us, no problem. But not with SCC.
THE RESORT:
Restaurants : Strange thing, this is a resort dedicated to divers, but the restaurant doesn't seem to care about the diver's schedule!
Breakfast : You can have coffee from 6:35, but you can't eat anything before 7:00. I took a banana at 6:45 and the owner told me I had to wait for 7:00. At first I thought it was a joke but he was serious!
So you wait until 7:00 but at 6:55 a line is forming at the buffet so you better get in that line before it's too late. They ask you to chose the meal for your lunch and dinner, then you get to eat.
You have to eat fast, because you have to be all set for the boat at 7:50. So in 50 minutes you have to choose your breakfast, eat, go back to your room grab your things (and hopefully go to the bathroom), get your gear and be ready.
Lunch : Being on the Scuba II junk, we came back from our dives at about 1:30 pm. They serve lunch until 2:30 pm. Yes, that's it. You have to rush to the rinse tanks, rince everything, put the gear in your locker, go to the room, put your clothes/wetsuit to dry, take a shower and be at the restaurant table, in less than an our. Food is OK though.
Dinner: That's the only meal where you won't be stressed out. If you eat relatively fast, that is. And if you do a night dive, you will come back at 9 pm, when the restaurant closes. They will make a special service for the night divers, but you have to eat fast or ignore the fact that the staff looks at you and make you feel bad about extending their day. You only have 3 choices of meal, but it's mostly quite good.
Rooms: The rooms are ok. If you're a long-time client, you'll have one of the big rooms with ocean view. We had the small room in a corner with a very limited view. Also, there was so much dampness in the room that sleeping was diffcult, I kept waking up because the damp sheets were so uncomfortable. 2 days out of 6, the rooms were not made at 3 pm when I came back for a nap. The chambermaids came while I was sleeping so I told them it was too late. Again, it's a resort for DIVERS, we are on the water from 8 am to 3 pm. Plenty of time to make the rooms.
There is no beach so you have to climb down a ladder if you want to go swimming or snorkeling. You also have to pay attention because the SCC pier is located in the swimming area, so you have to watch out for boats. There's also a pool but we used it only once because it's quite small and the water is too hot.
Last thing about the resort : The clients average age is about 55. If you're in your twenties, you might feel a bit out of place.
THE CONCLUSION :
If you're a really rich, older, expert diver/photograph, long-time client of SCC, or with a group and giving lots of tips, expect to be treated well and have a good week.
If not, you could be in for a frustrating week of diving and wishing you had read a review telling you all about it!
The (sad) truth about ScubaClub Cozumel for a first-time experience
I'm back from a week of diving in Cozumel at the Scuba Club Cozumel (SCC) dive resort so here's my review:
THE COST : $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
They call themselves an "All-inclusive Resort", but it's not really one. You can have a package including 5 days of 2 tank boat dives (but excluding the C-53 Wreck dive), meals and room. But no drinks are included, not even soft drinks, and you have to buy your plane tickets separately et take a transportation to the hotel and back, not included. They also "suggest" such a big amount of tips for their staff that adds a lot to the overall price of your vacation.
So overall, it costs a lot of money to spend a week there. If you're really rich and you absolutely don't care about value for money than you might consider it. If money is of any consideration to you, I would think twice about it.
TIPS : An important part of your vacation cost. Here's what they "suggest" (and they tell you about it quite a few times) :
Waiters and restaurant staff : 8-10 US$ per day / per guest
Chambermaids: 4-5 US$ per day / per guest
Divemasters: 6-8 US$ per day / per guest
Boat Crew: 6-8 US$ per day / per guest
It's true and I'm not making this up. It's printed on a sheet they give you when you arrive! (I have the sheet and a picture of it)
Think about it. Let's say you do as they say and pay the Divemaster 7$/day/guest (They say 6-8$). The divemaster handled an average of 8 divers each day. 8 divers X7$ X6 days (they work 6 days a week) makes 336$ US$ a week in tips. In Mexico, that's a BIG salary. And it's not as if they were working their asses off! Our guide Miguel was OK in pointing out interesting things here and there but that's about it. He did not really look out for the divers quite often.
You can do the math with the other employees, and you will come to this conclusion : They don't pay their employees, you pay them with those insane tips. I don't mind tipping for good service, but I don't like having to pay employees for their regular job when it should be included in the fairly high price of my "all-included" vacation.
Chambermaids : 8$ / room / day? Really? Out of 6 days, 2 times the room has not been made at 3 pm. That's not great service.
The only exception : The boat crew. The suggested tip is OK because they are 3 by boat and they provide great service, help, change your tank between dives, etc. They derserve it.
To close on the cost section, there's also the 2.50$ tax for each day. It's OK and mandatory, but you have to pay in cash and it's another extra cost that should be included in the overall cost for the week. Just annoying.
THE DIVING :
Diving in Cozumel is great so you will dive great sites. The problem is that you will have to take a long boat ride every day to dive. It goes from 50 minutes to 75 minutes to get to the Palancar sites. We never got past that. Average is about 65 minutes.
Another thing, you will know which site you'll be diving when you get on the boat, never before. I had sites I wanted to go but I had to go where they decided, and I did some sites 2 times, and Paradise 3 times.
I spent most of my dives (10 of 14) on the Scuba II boat, a real piece of junk. Small, with an engine so noisy you have to shout if you want to have a conversation during the ride. One time, we had to wait for the crew to repair the engine before going back to shore. There's also another boat called Coral Diver, same model as scuba II, another piece of junk, the engine went out one day and our boat had to tow her back to shore. We endend up with all their divers with all the gear piled up over ours.
Here's the deal. If you're a big group or you're a regular client of SCC for many years and give good tips, you'll be on one of the big beautiful boats. I had the big boat 1 day in my week (too few people on SCUBA II) and it made quite the difference. Bigger, faster, more space, quiet. But since we were only 2 first-time clients, and my friend is only OWD with less experience, we were on the piece of junk Scuba II all week.
On the positive side, being so far of Palancar and the good sites means that SCC is near the downtown area, so you can grab a cab or take a long walk and go to the shops, bars and restaurants the rest of the day.
Also, be aware that they take anybody to any dive. So if you're a new diver struggling with your buoyancy, you should ask for shallow dives. If not, they can take you to 90 feet on your first dive, ready or not.
And now my biggest complaint : The C-53 Wreck. This dive was the main reason I went to SCC. The dive is near the resort and it's a beautiful wreck with penetration at 70 feet. I wanted to do it at least once, maybe twice.
On my second day, I asked when were we going to do it? They told me that it's an extra dive (70$) in the afternoon, not included in my 2 boat dives/day package and that they need at least 4 divers, by groups of 4 for a Divemaster. So I gave my name to do it, but for the rest of the week I was alone on the list or with 1 other diver. So I was never able to dive it.
The stupid reason for this : They want to have only 4 divers per DM on this dive. So you understand that they don't want to pay an extra DM for those dive and it's an opportunity for them to take some extra cash from you. They could easily manage that : They could give the chance to every diver to do the wreck once in their week, and have an extra DM for those dives. I've been to many wrecks in various places and they had an extra DM with us, no problem. But not with SCC.
THE RESORT:
Restaurants : Strange thing, this is a resort dedicated to divers, but the restaurant doesn't seem to care about the diver's schedule!
Breakfast : You can have coffee from 6:35, but you can't eat anything before 7:00. I took a banana at 6:45 and the owner told me I had to wait for 7:00. At first I thought it was a joke but he was serious!
So you wait until 7:00 but at 6:55 a line is forming at the buffet so you better get in that line before it's too late. They ask you to chose the meal for your lunch and dinner, then you get to eat.
You have to eat fast, because you have to be all set for the boat at 7:50. So in 50 minutes you have to choose your breakfast, eat, go back to your room grab your things (and hopefully go to the bathroom), get your gear and be ready.
Lunch : Being on the Scuba II junk, we came back from our dives at about 1:30 pm. They serve lunch until 2:30 pm. Yes, that's it. You have to rush to the rinse tanks, rince everything, put the gear in your locker, go to the room, put your clothes/wetsuit to dry, take a shower and be at the restaurant table, in less than an our. Food is OK though.
Dinner: That's the only meal where you won't be stressed out. If you eat relatively fast, that is. And if you do a night dive, you will come back at 9 pm, when the restaurant closes. They will make a special service for the night divers, but you have to eat fast or ignore the fact that the staff looks at you and make you feel bad about extending their day. You only have 3 choices of meal, but it's mostly quite good.
Rooms: The rooms are ok. If you're a long-time client, you'll have one of the big rooms with ocean view. We had the small room in a corner with a very limited view. Also, there was so much dampness in the room that sleeping was diffcult, I kept waking up because the damp sheets were so uncomfortable. 2 days out of 6, the rooms were not made at 3 pm when I came back for a nap. The chambermaids came while I was sleeping so I told them it was too late. Again, it's a resort for DIVERS, we are on the water from 8 am to 3 pm. Plenty of time to make the rooms.
There is no beach so you have to climb down a ladder if you want to go swimming or snorkeling. You also have to pay attention because the SCC pier is located in the swimming area, so you have to watch out for boats. There's also a pool but we used it only once because it's quite small and the water is too hot.
Last thing about the resort : The clients average age is about 55. If you're in your twenties, you might feel a bit out of place.
THE CONCLUSION :
If you're a really rich, older, expert diver/photograph, long-time client of SCC, or with a group and giving lots of tips, expect to be treated well and have a good week.
If not, you could be in for a frustrating week of diving and wishing you had read a review telling you all about it!
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