bvbellomo
Contributor
Horrible flight down by Spirit. We took off over an hour late due to a routing problem, then sat a few hours at an unscheduled stop in Tampa as they had neglected maintenance on our water landing kit. They also refused to sell food or water after the first few hours, so I was up at 5am, but didn't eat or drink anything until Play del Carmen after 8pm.
Stayed with Quinta Suites, which I'd recommend, especially with the close distance to Tres Pelicanos. It is more of an apartment than a hotel, so get in touch with the owner ahead of time instead of looking for the reception desk as I did. Would have been much easier had I arrived before 9pm. The owner has a bike he lends out - took me about 1.5 hours to the far side of the island and back, so this was fun and could be useful.
Tres Pelicanos was a very laid back dive op, no strict rules, but there for you if you need them. Dives were much easier than I anticipated, nothing challenging, which I was fine with - especially with a new wing replacing my bcd. Saw a few Eagle rays, a few toadfish and some cool eels. Drift dives were very relaxing and we saw a lot, and Palancar caves and bricks had some really nice scenery. Unfortunately, I got a little sick and skipped my last 3 days of diving. Overall a great time with Tres Pelicanos, I'd use them again, and I understand why they are so popular on this board.
Minor complaints about Tres Pelicanos:
1) No head on the boat. I might never use it if they had one, but I'd be more comfortable knowing it was there. My understanding is very few boats on the island have heads. Restrooms on the dock were overcrowded, and cleaning staff seemed to always be present - I'd hate to try to use this when it was busy before COVID.
2) Gear prep and descent. For some reason, they ask you to put fins on soon, sometimes even before the boat is in the final destination. They also ask you to put gear on before you really need to (forget to rinse your mask first and you have a long hard bend to reach over the side of the boat). You can sit around a while on the boat in full gear. Once you are in, you don't need to do negative entry, but they do want you to go down instead of waiting at the surface, even if other divers are still on the boat. Then after the dive, they want you in the boat quickly. Just my preference, but I'd rather hang out on the surface or gear-free on the boat.
3) Access to your gear or to talk to their staff outside of dives is not easy. Having everything ready for you is great, but if you forget a clip or need to adjust something, you have to do it on the boat. If you want to change your dive schedule, it isn't always easy to find a time the store is open.
4) I always felt like I'd get left behind on the dock trying to find transportation back - this never happened, but it did seem confusing where to meet or who was taking me.
Food recommendations on Cozumel:
El Moro, La Inombrable, La Choza, Casa Cuzamil, Thirsty Cougar, Wet Wendy, Cerveceria Punta Sur
Food recommendations in Playa:
Case Cevich, El Chuleton, INTI beach
I did snorkel at money bar and in Playa, and after the diving, I don't think it was worth it. Money bar has a little coral and a few fish, but nothing compared to what you can see on a dive. Playa was mostly empty with bad visibility.
I found San Gervasio disappointing. The scenery was beautiful, but the ruins were underwhelming.
Flight back was even worse than on the way down. Spirit cancelled my flight after I got on the bus to the airport! Took United home at considerably more money, and nearly 2 hours clearing security in Chicago (Only 7 people working immigration at one of the busiest airports in the world) to miss my connecting flight.
Final seafood meal at Sushi Tequila at the Cancun airport was horrible and way over priced.
In theory, Spirit is great - a cheap direct flight to Cancun. Maybe I just had bad luck, but it doesn't matter how cheap or how fast the flight is if it doesn't actually happen as advertised.
Stayed with Quinta Suites, which I'd recommend, especially with the close distance to Tres Pelicanos. It is more of an apartment than a hotel, so get in touch with the owner ahead of time instead of looking for the reception desk as I did. Would have been much easier had I arrived before 9pm. The owner has a bike he lends out - took me about 1.5 hours to the far side of the island and back, so this was fun and could be useful.
Tres Pelicanos was a very laid back dive op, no strict rules, but there for you if you need them. Dives were much easier than I anticipated, nothing challenging, which I was fine with - especially with a new wing replacing my bcd. Saw a few Eagle rays, a few toadfish and some cool eels. Drift dives were very relaxing and we saw a lot, and Palancar caves and bricks had some really nice scenery. Unfortunately, I got a little sick and skipped my last 3 days of diving. Overall a great time with Tres Pelicanos, I'd use them again, and I understand why they are so popular on this board.
Minor complaints about Tres Pelicanos:
1) No head on the boat. I might never use it if they had one, but I'd be more comfortable knowing it was there. My understanding is very few boats on the island have heads. Restrooms on the dock were overcrowded, and cleaning staff seemed to always be present - I'd hate to try to use this when it was busy before COVID.
2) Gear prep and descent. For some reason, they ask you to put fins on soon, sometimes even before the boat is in the final destination. They also ask you to put gear on before you really need to (forget to rinse your mask first and you have a long hard bend to reach over the side of the boat). You can sit around a while on the boat in full gear. Once you are in, you don't need to do negative entry, but they do want you to go down instead of waiting at the surface, even if other divers are still on the boat. Then after the dive, they want you in the boat quickly. Just my preference, but I'd rather hang out on the surface or gear-free on the boat.
3) Access to your gear or to talk to their staff outside of dives is not easy. Having everything ready for you is great, but if you forget a clip or need to adjust something, you have to do it on the boat. If you want to change your dive schedule, it isn't always easy to find a time the store is open.
4) I always felt like I'd get left behind on the dock trying to find transportation back - this never happened, but it did seem confusing where to meet or who was taking me.
Food recommendations on Cozumel:
El Moro, La Inombrable, La Choza, Casa Cuzamil, Thirsty Cougar, Wet Wendy, Cerveceria Punta Sur
Food recommendations in Playa:
Case Cevich, El Chuleton, INTI beach
I did snorkel at money bar and in Playa, and after the diving, I don't think it was worth it. Money bar has a little coral and a few fish, but nothing compared to what you can see on a dive. Playa was mostly empty with bad visibility.
I found San Gervasio disappointing. The scenery was beautiful, but the ruins were underwhelming.
Flight back was even worse than on the way down. Spirit cancelled my flight after I got on the bus to the airport! Took United home at considerably more money, and nearly 2 hours clearing security in Chicago (Only 7 people working immigration at one of the busiest airports in the world) to miss my connecting flight.
Final seafood meal at Sushi Tequila at the Cancun airport was horrible and way over priced.
In theory, Spirit is great - a cheap direct flight to Cancun. Maybe I just had bad luck, but it doesn't matter how cheap or how fast the flight is if it doesn't actually happen as advertised.