El Cantil - Shore Diving - March/April

[CNYMAD]

We stayed at El Cantil March, 2015 and will go back soon. It's a great place and very convenient to everything. We did dive off the El Cantil pier once to check out some new gear. There is a lot of boat traffic and nothing much to see. Hope you have a great time!

 

[llBuckshotll]

Thanks for the info everyone!
Now that our room is booked I was able to communicate with the owner and ask them. I figured I'd share the info here for anyone else to see in the future as well:

There's a dive shop right next door, Aqua Safari, that rents tanks. You can keep them in the locked storage cage assigned to the condo. That's what we do.

The shore diving at the condo is quite good (I've been diving since 1987). It's not the fabulous reefs that you can only get to by boat, but there's an artificial reef (just to the north) that attracts a lot of fish. I saw the largest school of fish I've ever seen right there. There's also a natural reef just to the south.

There are fresh water rinse tanks on our beach. FYI, the sand beach is built up on a seawall. It looks like a natural beach except for the seawall. Where the water meets the seawall it's about 8 feet. The water gets gradually deeper as you go out. So it's great for snorkeling and shore diving

 

[scorpiofish]

B_D's suggestion is probably best because it is closest. Back in the day, Dive Paradise had a beach location at Hotel Barracuda. If they still do, then this is a much better shore dive than in front of El Cantil/Palace/Hotel Cozumel. Actually it can be a great dive, although I haven't done it in about 8-10 years. Just walk out El Cantil and turn left. It's a short walk.

We just got back from staying at El Cantil. Always wanted to stay there, but we never really needed a bigger unit. They now have "Penthouse" units that are 1-bedroom where Prima's restaurant was. The rooms were just OK. I would never stay there again. The location is fantastic though, we walked almost everywhere.

 

[mikeycanuk]

Are we the only ones not going back to El Cantil?

Location was awesome. A quick run to either supermarket was quick and easy. Maybe it was our ground unit (right in front of the pool) we rented. We are not hang around the pool people and since it was March break the noise right outside was..well noisy!

We visited the Aldora villa's on our last day and I just booked a suite there last week.

I'm sure you'll have a good time, March break and pool level wasn't probably the smartest place to stay..lol

 

[dmoore19]

I stayed at ElCantil and loved it there. Close to everything and very helpful staff. Easy place for groceries or walking almost anywhere to eat.

We didn't need a car. We just hired a taxi for the afternoon and went to the other side to look around. The cab driver took us where we wanted and waited for us while we looked things over. Very nice.

 

[scorpiofish]

Are we the only ones not going back to El Cantil?

No.

This was our 1st time there and our 26th time to Coz. Next time we will try something else. Still searching for the best fit for us since they built the southern cruise ship pier. Next attempt will be one of these: 1) Reef Residence with car rental 2) Cheap B&B near town 3) House rental with car rental in Corpus Christie, 4) Vantanas al Mar on the east side and car rental.

 

[FT]

Stayed at El Cantil a couple of years back; our dive op picked us up from the pier. Several other dive ops appeared to stop by. The location was great. For a couple, staying in one of their studios which was essentially a small hotel room with a microwave and minifridge, it did not represent value for money. The larger apartments looked great if one could share with friends.

 

[PNW Dive Girl]

I stayed at El Cantil in the "newer" Penthouse Unites in November. I loved it!

We are heading back with 2 other couples in April and I've booked a 3 bedroom unit. I checked it out while I was there in November.

Thanks for the tips on shore diving. I'm looking for a place for two divers do do a check out/weight check dive before doing our boat dives (I'll join them too!). Aqua Safari might fit the bill. Years ago, we dove with Dive Paradise and used the Hotel Barracuda for weight checks for newer divers.

 

[BRT]

We will be back in Coz in early February. I want to do as many different shore dives as we can. So far we have done Corona Beach, Villa Blanca and Blue Angel. In this thread it appears we can also dive Hotel Barracuda and possibly Hotel Cozumel. Any other ideas?

I'm not expecting to get the same thrill we get out on the boats but it is nice to just be on our own, taking our own sweet time. and also nice to add dives without the high cost. At home, in cold, current swept waters we do most of our diving from shore and don't take anything for granted so I think we could do that in Mexico too. I also understand that we don't know what we don't know so everything has to be thought out and there is risk. It would seem obvious that any shore dive not associated with a hotel or dive shop would require taking everything in the car into the water with us other than things we were willing to lose. We learned the hard way about locking our car in Mexico.
I would sure like to hear what shore dives others have done or considered in Coz and on the mainland.

 

[sefuchs]

No.

This was our 1st time there and our 26th time to Coz. Next time we will try something else. Still searching for the best fit for us since they built the southern cruise ship pier. Next attempt will be one of these: 1) Reef Residence with car rental 2) Cheap B&B near town 3) House rental with car rental in Corpus Christie, 4) Vantanas al Mar on the east side and car rental.

You might want to check out Las Uvas condos (http://www.cozumelvillas.com/uvascondos.html). Very comfortable,clean & private - close to the Money Bar.