First time in Cozumel. We did the puddle jumper from Cancun airport to Cozumel which was a little difficult due to lack of direction from T3 where we arrived. We took the free transfer coach from T3 to T1 and the whole terminal seemed closed, but the Maya Air entrance is on the side where I think it says FBO. I was starving but there was nothing to eat other than what we could buy from vending machine. We managed to get some coins (though they didn't have enough coins so lost out a couple of dollars) and buy a pack of crisps but the couple who arrived later couldn't find any coins from anyone at the waiting area. Have some food somewhere else before making way to T1.
Enjoyed the flight to Cozumel and as there were only two of us I think if we are to return we'd do the same again. There was a spell of el Norte while we were there so we went cenote diving arranged through Blue Angel, and taking gear over to Cancun and coming back were really quite a chore. BTW cenote diving was with Olivier who was excellent. First time for both of us and very much enjoyed the experience at Dos Ojos despite all the snorkellers. I'm a little claustrophobic but didn't feel panicky at all throughout the dive. Probably helped that it was only us two with him so we had his full attention.
Blue Angel was great as I expected. The food was good, and if we were a bit more organised we would have done more shore diving - the brief one we did we saw two spotted moray eels and a lobster and it was literally within a few meters of entry. Dive boats were fast and efficient, and the captains were great at finding us when we surfaced from the dive. I'm not used to drift diving and the current while we were there was quite strong so it was a bit of a learning curve at first. Night dive was at Paradise Reef which was fabulous. I couldn't understand why it was only two of us plus a staff from the hotel. So many octopi.
I did wonder whether they should insist on everyone having a sausage. I'll be definitely be using one there in the future. Tank fill was generally good though I learned the hard way that you should check before leaving especially if diving Nitrox. DMs were great, no pressure on the bottom time and the more experienced divers were left to enjoy the diving. Fruit and muffins were offered during surface interval.
The diving was pretty good generally. The visibility particularly on the first day wasn't great and the current was pretty strong. As I'm a macro fan it was a little frustrating in that aspect. One person in our group spotted a black tip at Palancar Bricks though I'm not sure if I saw it. There were plenty of turtles, couple of green moray eels, juvenile drum fish etc. as well as plenty of small critters. I was glad to see that there doesn't seem to be too many lion fish though we did see a few - but they were mostly quite small. We saw a few people during the week that were spear fishing them and feeding them to groupers and snappers which hopefully will control the population.
The convenience of having both dive shop and a good restaurant was really great. I did wish it was a bit shorter walk to town but we walked to town and rode a cab back which worked generally well. We also bought some fruit and nuts from the supermarket (buy a bottle of iodine to wash the fruits with). We were on the 4th floor and always had good water pressure and hot water, though perhaps the system is more stressed if the hotel is full. My partner is a light sleeper with bad shoulders but he found the bed comfortable and the street noise stopped early enough not to interfere with sleeping. We also enjoyed massage with Dora - amazing touch.
One of the main reason to pick BA was not doing all inclusive and we had some good meals in several restaurants. Our favorite was the lobster sandwich at le Chef. We had dinner there as well (the only repeat visit during the week) which was good but the lobster sandwich was really the highlight. We made it to Buccanos at night as well which has handy reservation system through Open Table. The meal was lovely except wahoo which I tried despite my better judgment - I find it always too dry and while it was better than average wahoo I've had it still was a bit on the dry side. Guido and Kinta were both good, but la Terraza felt a little average. We had pasta and perhaps we should have tried something else.
Overall a great week and great diving despite el Norte. Another convert to BA fan club.
Enjoyed the flight to Cozumel and as there were only two of us I think if we are to return we'd do the same again. There was a spell of el Norte while we were there so we went cenote diving arranged through Blue Angel, and taking gear over to Cancun and coming back were really quite a chore. BTW cenote diving was with Olivier who was excellent. First time for both of us and very much enjoyed the experience at Dos Ojos despite all the snorkellers. I'm a little claustrophobic but didn't feel panicky at all throughout the dive. Probably helped that it was only us two with him so we had his full attention.
Blue Angel was great as I expected. The food was good, and if we were a bit more organised we would have done more shore diving - the brief one we did we saw two spotted moray eels and a lobster and it was literally within a few meters of entry. Dive boats were fast and efficient, and the captains were great at finding us when we surfaced from the dive. I'm not used to drift diving and the current while we were there was quite strong so it was a bit of a learning curve at first. Night dive was at Paradise Reef which was fabulous. I couldn't understand why it was only two of us plus a staff from the hotel. So many octopi.
I did wonder whether they should insist on everyone having a sausage. I'll be definitely be using one there in the future. Tank fill was generally good though I learned the hard way that you should check before leaving especially if diving Nitrox. DMs were great, no pressure on the bottom time and the more experienced divers were left to enjoy the diving. Fruit and muffins were offered during surface interval.
The diving was pretty good generally. The visibility particularly on the first day wasn't great and the current was pretty strong. As I'm a macro fan it was a little frustrating in that aspect. One person in our group spotted a black tip at Palancar Bricks though I'm not sure if I saw it. There were plenty of turtles, couple of green moray eels, juvenile drum fish etc. as well as plenty of small critters. I was glad to see that there doesn't seem to be too many lion fish though we did see a few - but they were mostly quite small. We saw a few people during the week that were spear fishing them and feeding them to groupers and snappers which hopefully will control the population.
The convenience of having both dive shop and a good restaurant was really great. I did wish it was a bit shorter walk to town but we walked to town and rode a cab back which worked generally well. We also bought some fruit and nuts from the supermarket (buy a bottle of iodine to wash the fruits with). We were on the 4th floor and always had good water pressure and hot water, though perhaps the system is more stressed if the hotel is full. My partner is a light sleeper with bad shoulders but he found the bed comfortable and the street noise stopped early enough not to interfere with sleeping. We also enjoyed massage with Dora - amazing touch.
One of the main reason to pick BA was not doing all inclusive and we had some good meals in several restaurants. Our favorite was the lobster sandwich at le Chef. We had dinner there as well (the only repeat visit during the week) which was good but the lobster sandwich was really the highlight. We made it to Buccanos at night as well which has handy reservation system through Open Table. The meal was lovely except wahoo which I tried despite my better judgment - I find it always too dry and while it was better than average wahoo I've had it still was a bit on the dry side. Guido and Kinta were both good, but la Terraza felt a little average. We had pasta and perhaps we should have tried something else.
Overall a great week and great diving despite el Norte. Another convert to BA fan club.
