Probably our best trip ever! Over the years we have met some great friends on dive boats and we always send them an email to let them know we will be headed to Cozumel if they can break away. Not only are they friends, our diving styles are highly compatible. Jim, Rebecca, and Steve all were able to break away and we arranged to basically have our own boat with my wife and I. We had requested that Jorge..(Little Jorge as opposed to Pony Tail Jorge or Shop Manager Jorge) be our DM and we hit the trifecta. Small boat, awesome divemaster, and a boat of only friends. Jorge was our first DM with Aldora many years ago, we instantly liked him and his eye for micro life is second to none. My wife loved using his magnifying glass looking at everything he pointed out. Absolutely one of the best DM's we have had anywhere. The diving was typical Cozumel amazing, our night dive was full of octopus and we even has one touch my hand with a tentacle and crawl across my wife's hand. That was a bucket list item for her. All dives were 90 minutes (or close enough) except for one that we started deep at Maracaibo and stayed deep for a while.
On our last dive day, we had a photog join our group but Stephanie, a new DM stayed with her most of the dive.
Casa Mexicana was a bit of a letdown this trip. We had requested a king bed but were given two double beds. This has happened before and we were usually moved to a king room within a day or two. The desk clerk was less than accommodating and just said that no king rooms would be available during our stay. We booked this room on Hotels.com. I have had similar issues with hotels booked on discount sites before. One even told me that since I booked on priceline, that whatever I had requested would not be available. I'm not sure if that is the case here or not, but in the future, I will call after booking and confirm a king bed. CM is always OCD clean, the beds are comfortable, and the location is perfect for us. We will still stay there, just will do a better job of locking in a king room after booking.
We took a day off of diving and our friends rented a car and we drove the island, spending time at Punta Sur and Coconuts. In all the years we have been to Cozumel, we had not done this. We will do this everytime from now on.
We also took a day off and dove the cenotes in Playa. If you have not done this....you need to. Its dark, cold, and simply amazing. We dove with Cenote Xperience and I can not say enough good about them. Great dive operation in all aspects. I will write a separate trip report on them.
The only downside of the trip was the deep blue funk that sets in after the last dive. It was much worse this trip. Our friends noticed it, Denise, the new shop manager noticed it, and people I didn't even know asked me if I was ok. Denise gives great hugs, and that helped...but it was harder to leave than ever before.
Our dives with Aldora were great...as always. Communication with the shop was almost immediate. We had a little travel drama due to Houston being fogged in and runway light issues so we were delayed when the flight turned back and landed in Dallas for a while. I sent the shop and email to let them know that we may not be able to drop gear off as scheduled. When it became clear that we would not get in until after 8pm, I sent them an email from Playa and let them know we did not want anyone to wait late as they had done before. They (Matt) responded immediately and just told us to get to the shop early before the dive the next morning.
I drink the Aldora Koolaid. Their shop works best for us in a lot of ways. Great staff, big tanks, long dives, beach club surface interval, and dock pickup by our hotel. We have dove with other ops which I would happily dive with again, but Aldora is our favorite. DM Jorge is just icing on a damn near perfect cake. As I have said before, its not hard to find a great dive op on Cozumel, it just takes a lot of time to find the perfect one for you.
Food wise, we only got outside our list of favorites three times. The standards are Quatro Tacos, The Green Chille and Chicken Burrito at The Thirsty Cougar, and El Coffee Cozumel. Casa Cozumel wasn't bad. Kondesa was amazing and will be a regular stop from now on. Casa Dennis will become a regular stop as well...the sexy shrimp...is worth the plane ticket alone.
Beer wise anyone that has read any of my posts knows Id crawl to the back of a beat up van with spray painted windows if it said "Free Bohemia Obscura Inside" Carlos at the Thirsty Cougar recommended a holiday beer by the same company called Noche Bueno....holy crap, its even better. The staff at the Cougar always treat us like family. Carlos, Christian, Pamela, and Niko keep us coming back.
Day of the dead was great, but we did not get to see as much of it this time.
Safe Travels, If you have any questions about anything, just PM me.
Jay
On our last dive day, we had a photog join our group but Stephanie, a new DM stayed with her most of the dive.
Casa Mexicana was a bit of a letdown this trip. We had requested a king bed but were given two double beds. This has happened before and we were usually moved to a king room within a day or two. The desk clerk was less than accommodating and just said that no king rooms would be available during our stay. We booked this room on Hotels.com. I have had similar issues with hotels booked on discount sites before. One even told me that since I booked on priceline, that whatever I had requested would not be available. I'm not sure if that is the case here or not, but in the future, I will call after booking and confirm a king bed. CM is always OCD clean, the beds are comfortable, and the location is perfect for us. We will still stay there, just will do a better job of locking in a king room after booking.
We took a day off of diving and our friends rented a car and we drove the island, spending time at Punta Sur and Coconuts. In all the years we have been to Cozumel, we had not done this. We will do this everytime from now on.
We also took a day off and dove the cenotes in Playa. If you have not done this....you need to. Its dark, cold, and simply amazing. We dove with Cenote Xperience and I can not say enough good about them. Great dive operation in all aspects. I will write a separate trip report on them.
The only downside of the trip was the deep blue funk that sets in after the last dive. It was much worse this trip. Our friends noticed it, Denise, the new shop manager noticed it, and people I didn't even know asked me if I was ok. Denise gives great hugs, and that helped...but it was harder to leave than ever before.
Our dives with Aldora were great...as always. Communication with the shop was almost immediate. We had a little travel drama due to Houston being fogged in and runway light issues so we were delayed when the flight turned back and landed in Dallas for a while. I sent the shop and email to let them know that we may not be able to drop gear off as scheduled. When it became clear that we would not get in until after 8pm, I sent them an email from Playa and let them know we did not want anyone to wait late as they had done before. They (Matt) responded immediately and just told us to get to the shop early before the dive the next morning.
I drink the Aldora Koolaid. Their shop works best for us in a lot of ways. Great staff, big tanks, long dives, beach club surface interval, and dock pickup by our hotel. We have dove with other ops which I would happily dive with again, but Aldora is our favorite. DM Jorge is just icing on a damn near perfect cake. As I have said before, its not hard to find a great dive op on Cozumel, it just takes a lot of time to find the perfect one for you.
Food wise, we only got outside our list of favorites three times. The standards are Quatro Tacos, The Green Chille and Chicken Burrito at The Thirsty Cougar, and El Coffee Cozumel. Casa Cozumel wasn't bad. Kondesa was amazing and will be a regular stop from now on. Casa Dennis will become a regular stop as well...the sexy shrimp...is worth the plane ticket alone.
Beer wise anyone that has read any of my posts knows Id crawl to the back of a beat up van with spray painted windows if it said "Free Bohemia Obscura Inside" Carlos at the Thirsty Cougar recommended a holiday beer by the same company called Noche Bueno....holy crap, its even better. The staff at the Cougar always treat us like family. Carlos, Christian, Pamela, and Niko keep us coming back.
Day of the dead was great, but we did not get to see as much of it this time.
Safe Travels, If you have any questions about anything, just PM me.
Jay
