AI versus hotel
- Thread starter Janie88
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imoto
Contributor
It's possible to do 5 dives a day staying at Iberostar and diving with Dressel. However, it's only possible twice a week when they do night dives. Dressel returns to the resort after each dive and there's about an hour break for lunch before they go back out for the afternoon dives.
agree with longhorndvr. hotel coz is a great choice. close enough to town to walk or use the bikes they provide. beautiful pool area. clean rooms. good drinks. great brkfst and lunches. decent dinners but it is nice to go out for dinners.
div paradise dive op is on site and the night diving is easy and shallow with lots of critters to find up and down the shoreline.
if however you are looking to be on the beach you will need to stay at a resort south of town. we have stayed t the iberostar and what was sabor (i believe it is sunscape now?). beach is great. and the dive sites are much closer. but there s no shore diving to speak of and you are quite a ways from town.
div paradise dive op is on site and the night diving is easy and shallow with lots of critters to find up and down the shoreline.
if however you are looking to be on the beach you will need to stay at a resort south of town. we have stayed t the iberostar and what was sabor (i believe it is sunscape now?). beach is great. and the dive sites are much closer. but there s no shore diving to speak of and you are quite a ways from town.
My wife and I have always done the AI when we've gone to Cozumel, twice at the Occidental and once at Casa Del Mar. The diving at the Occidental was closer, usually just a 10-15 minute trip. We dive with ProDive when staying there. We were there in December, did 21 dives over the week. The food quality is not what it was pre-covid but I expected that. It was convenient to leaving our gear at the shop each day, easy to grab lunch between morning and afternoon dives, and nice knowing is I forgot something I could quickly run back to the room. Casa Del Mar was nice in that it was close to town if you wanted to do that, the dock was close so dragging gear back and forth wasn't too bad. The food there was OK but you could always skip and go elsewhere. For either location, not having to worry about cooking was nice, not to mention cleaning up afterwards. We go to dive so that was our focus.
Ignore this. For some reason when I start to reply and change my mind, posting something is the only way I can clear the text buffer.
We have ONLY done AIs in Cozumel, so my answer is going to be more generic. Doing an AI does make things very easy. Lunch is generally available as soon as you get off the boat so you can eat and go for that afternoon dive without having to hunt down a place to grab a bite. No need for rental car, walking somewhere, bringing money for lunch and lugging stuff around during that lunch break. Cozumel offers a wide range of AIs - for me, the next question is which ones offer the best bang for the buck. It can be a hard decision. There are a ton of trip reports on the different AIs. Have fun reading. I did one on Fiesta Americana in December - really liked it. I don't think you can 'go wrong' no matter what you do ... well, we were on a boat with someone who stayed at a lower end place and had to be moved three times due to bed bugs ... so it might be worth it to go mid-grade at least. 
OP
Janie88
Contributor
Thanks Kimela. I don't need to do 5 dives a day, like on a liveaboard, but honestly I do not always go on the night dive anyway, so most of the time I have 4 dives a day which is plenty, with a couple of night dives thrown in.We have ONLY done AIs in Cozumel, so my answer is going to be more generic. Doing an AI does make things very easy. Lunch is generally available as soon as you get off the boat so you can eat and go for that afternoon dive without having to hunt down a place to grab a bite. No need for rental car, walking somewhere, bringing money for lunch and lugging stuff around during that lunch break. Cozumel offers a wide range of AIs - for me, the next question is which ones offer the best bang for the buck. It can be a hard decision. There are a ton of trip reports on the different AIs. Have fun reading. I did one on Fiesta Americana in December - really liked it. I don't think you can 'go wrong' no matter what you do ... well, we were on a boat with someone who stayed at a lower end place and had to be moved three times due to bed bugs ... so it might be worth it to go mid-grade at least.
I can set up my own gear and prefer to do that. It is my life! So I would not assume someone else set up my gear correctly. Plus I just like to do it. The liveaboards we go on, you set up your own gear at the beginning of the week. I feel that "valet" diving is wonderful but you have to balance that with always checking your own gear.
We are not retired, are nurses and work hard. When I go on vacation, I don't want to lug my gear around. Setting up is one thing. And I don't want to be stressed hunting down a place for lunch in order to be ready for an afternoon dive.
We stayed with friends the last time we were in Coz. It was nice, but we met them partway through their vacation. They were renting a house. It was nice, but since it was their rental car, we pretty much did what they wanted. The house was not close to town, so any time we wanted to get something to eat it was a car ride. Nothing wrong with that, but after doing 4 dives, I want the ease of just eating where I am. And I don't want to cook!
We did love the Thirsty Cougar for early afternoon drinks (we had eaten lunch on that little island Aldora's takes you to for surface interval). And I would go there for lunch no problem.
I'll check out Fiesta and Hotel Cozumel. Thanks!
drrich2
Contributor
Since I notice Hotel Cozumel mentioned, and other A.I.'s, and near and far from town, here's a question...do either a sandy beach sloping into the sea for wading, or onsite shore diving, matter to you? If so, either may narrow down A.I. options.
Everyone's desires and expectations are different. For me, diving is a big reason I go to Cozumel, but it's not the only one. I go deep sea fishing, I love the variety of restaurants in town, I hang out in the pool with the family and friends I go there with, I enjoy the excursion around the island... Cozumel is a great diving destination, but it's more than just that.
I'm with you - don't want to work hard on vacation (except for the diving - I'm happy to set up my own gear and even swim against a current now and again - but housework and cooking, no.). We went to Hotel Cozumel during covid but before they were purchased by Wyndham. We were not impressed. For the money, I'd go with FA rather than Hotel Cozumel.
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