Looking for Dive suggestions for upcoming Cozumel trip

[RB7]

Hi
I have a trip upcoming later in march to Cozumel and would appreciate some advise/suggestions.

# of people : 2 .. myself and my wife. She is a non diver.

# of days : 7 nights

Trip objective: basically a chance to de-stress for the both of us. For me to get a couple of dives in (5-6) to get a flavor of cozumel diving. Dont plan to do more then 2 or 3 days of 2 tank dives so that my wife doesnt feel neglected . She likes the beach but is otherwise not a water person.

Stay location - booked AI at Secrets. Based on the research i did, it seems to be as close to good sandy beach as possible in Coz. Was looking at the Residensias Reef condo as well on that same beach but then saw the price differential between renting and going for AI was not much so figured yo go with AI. Have heard mixed reviews of the place so not keeping high expectations.. just hoping its clean and we get to enjoy the pool/beach to lounge around amd relax with a drink or two in hand.

Question - does anyone have thoughts on whether its worth upgrading to the preferred room and cost to do it at checkin ? Any tips on how to get upgraded for free ? Not looking for anything fancy.. an ocean view room would be nice to have coffee in the morning

Diving - i consider myself as an intermediate diver.. have approx 150ish dives with at least 100 of these over the last 3-4 years while on liveaboard trips in maldives, fiji, Turks & Caicos and Raja ampat. Have some experience diving in currents in above locations but not too many drift dives per say. Comfortable launching SMB from depth. Looking for a small group dive experience.. not more than 8-10 divers.

Question - i havent heard good things about the Secrets diveshop (dive house?)so they are out. Any other suggestions ? I was thinking either Dive with Martin, Tres pelicanos or prodive. Not sure if i need Nitrox for 3 days of 2 tank dives morning dives ? Also - are there any must-see sites that i should request when i reach out to these diveshops ? Since i only have 6 dives i want to make the most of them. I plan to take my own gear.

For non-diving activities - thinking of renting a jeep for one day and exploring the east side and visiting downtown. Also one day trip to see one of the mayan temples/ruins on the mainland... rest of the time just chilling on the beach/pool.
Anything else really must-see ?

Thanks for your advice !

 

[flyboy08]

Dive with Martin, Tres pelicanos or prodive. All three are good...with Pro, you get Nitrox free.

Hit the tequila factory if you do check out the island

 

[JamesBon92007]

I took my non-diver girlfriend on the dive boat (big boat at Scuba Club) and the next thing I knew she was doing a Discover Scuba and is now certified and loving it. She's even certified to do Coral Reef Restoration. Now she's the one booking the dive trips and asking me if I want to go

Punta Sur is interesting and you'll probably get to see some crocodiles. We hired a taxi driver to take us around the island, drop us off, and pick us up later. It might be cheaper to rent the Jeep but he was also a tour guide. There is a small Maya ruin at Punta Sur but we haven't yet gone to the other one(s).

For us just walking around San Miguel is very interesting, looking at all the stuff for sale, meeting lots of people, and eating great food at the many great restaurants. We don't do anything that is environmentally questionable such as off-roading or captive dolphins.

As mentioned, you can pick a dive op according to your needs/wants. Some include equipment for no extra charge, some include Nitrox, some have small, faster boats and some have bigger, roomier boats with a head.

 

[Rob9876]

The Mayan ruins at San Gervasio are under-rated. San Gervasio is a small town of ruins midway across the island, some ruins are fairly large. Not as big as Coba or Chichen Itza, but still worth seeing. Bring mosquito repellant, sunscreen and water. You can do a self-guided tour or hire a guide.

On the other hand, the ruins in the south, El Cedral, is basically one building about the size of a 2-car garage that they have built a lot of tourist trap shops around (with prices higher than in town) including a tequila shop (expensive tequila, and tequila is not made on the island).

It is nice to rent a jeep or convertible to ride around the eastern (wild) side of the island. If you ride motorcycles the EagleRider Harley tour is actually a lot of fun.

 

[willmann_nc]

Rent car with A/C instead of a jeep. DWM and Tres Pelicanos are great choices for dive Ops, DWM pricing includes BCD, gauges, and fins.

 

[lamarpaulski]

Try to sneak in a night dive. Others advice re renting a car and checking out other side of island is on the money.

I was pleasantly surprised by the variety and number of outstanding outstanding restaurants in town.

 

[ColoDale]

If you want smaller dive groups then the in house dive ops probably are not ideal. Any of the smaller dive ops will work including the ones you mentioned. There is a thread from last tuesday about staying south and Secrets.

Here's a good summary about alot (though my dive op is not in it) - My Research Notes from Planning Cozumel Trip
You might check if the dive op has divers choice or a set schedule of dives sites.
I don't use Nitrox but know plenty who do. Did they not get bent because of it or were less tired? Don't know. It's a personal preference or risk tolerance thing.
March/April I get stung a bit more by jellyfish (not bad though). I don't dive with full wetsuit.

Can't say on must see dive sites since I have no idea what you like. But generally a dive op will have you on an easier dive at first to see how you do then go from there.

That being said, everybody wants to dive the Palancar reefs. Santa Rosa seems to be on everyones list. I like them and I have other favorites that may include looking in sand or grass for a whole dive or maybe north of the island or other walls. I like the mid reefs like Dalila, La Francesa, Cedral pass. San Francisco wall or Cedral wall can be just as good but current can be faster at Cedral wall. And then there is all the rest.

When we stayed at Sunscape or Secrets and rented a vehicle, we went into town in the am, crossed on the transversal, and came back around the south end of the island at the end of the day to avoid traffic in town.
Secrets might be a bit less packed than now and you'll have no issues finding a drink.
Secrets is still charging a pier fee and has a security guy taking boat and/or guest names when we dropped off people there. It seems they expect the guest to pay ($2/day). My friend there this last week told them to pound sand and used the pier anyway. Non-inhouse dive ops know about this situation. There are plenty of threads here on the subject. You should mention where you are staying to the non-inhouse dive op if you use one.

 

[DandyDon]

For non-diving activities - thinking of renting a jeep for one day and exploring the east side and visiting downtown. Also one day trip to see one of the mayan temples/ruins on the mainland.

Renting a vehicle in Mexico comes with many cautions. I've done it a few times, but don't let yourself get into trouble. DO NOT drink and drive. Drive especially defensively. Don't leave anything in your vehicle, but then there is always the risk of having a license tag or battery stolen. The car agency may try to screw you so take photos of every ding when you get the vehicle, including the spare if it has one, or missing. Be sure the gas pump is on zero when you pull up and watch things there carefully, paying in cash and taking a receipt - less they run your card, tell you it failed, then demand payment. I rented at Isis and she told me which stations are best vs worst. Absolutely take the damage insurance, otherwise if there is a bender or worse - it's your fault because you're not local, you cannot leave the island (maybe even jail) until you pay in full, and trying to collect from your credit card coverage with receipts in Spanish sound like a nightmare to me.

I thought the mainland ruins were facinating. Chichen Itza is 113 miles from Playa del Carmen with the new tollway that cuts 20 miles but almost an hour off the driving thru Tulum, so doable. Do it as early as possible to beat the tour buses, then include a 42 miles side trip to Ek Balam ruins before heading back. Long day, but rewarding. We did it an an overnight trip, staying at a lovely hotel at the back gate the night before entering, keeping our hotel on Cozumel with most of our stuff. We carried two quart thermoses of cool water and a can of insect repellent in each backpack.

Coba and Tulum ruins would be closer, so it'd be easier to do Coba ruins as early in the day as possible, then Tulum in the heat of the day as it's by the ocean. Coba is very spread out so we rented bicycles. That would be an easier trip to do the first time.

It might be cheaper to rent the Jeep but he was also a tour guide.

And you can have a few alcoholic drinks with him doing the driving. Buy his lunch as well as paying him for the day.

f you ride motorcycles the EagleRider Harley tour is actually a lot of fun.

Do you have excellent medical insurance? Every tourist should have good trip insurance that include medical and evacuation, like every diver needs to have DAN dive insurance, but unless you are an expert motorcycle rider, that's risky.

Rent car with A/C instead of a jeep.

Yeah, the jeeps are not 4wd anyway, and you are not allowed to take them off road.

Driving and parking in town is especially challenging. Get local advice.

 

[Yellowdog]

The AI hotels don't get much love here but I have stayed at The Cozumel palace ( no experience with Secrets but for future reference ) and it was all positive. The staff 100% friendly and helpful. The room great including ocean front view / balcony and hot tub in room. Top self liquor and very good food. Location is an easy walk into downtown. Diving is included as part of your stay but I dive with ScubaLuis who picked us up at the pier by boat or across the street in his truck. Highly recommend - Small fast boat with 6 divers max. 2nd generation Cozumel dive master. Leaves the dock at 7:30 "to get to the reef before the crowds scare off the marine life" I booked through American Airlines Vacations and basically the air fare was free compared to booking separately. Do the Tequila tour ( probably best on your last day ). Have not rented a car but moving around by taxi is easy.

 

[ggunn]

Secrets is still charging a pier fee and has a security guy taking boat and/or guest names when we dropped off people there. It seems they expect the guest to pay ($2/day). My friend there this last week told them to pound sand and used the pier anyway.

Good for your friend, but it's the dive ops who will bear the brunt of Secrets' retaliation if there is any.