nodakdive
Contributor
This is a little late in coming but better late than never.
Stayed at Casa del Mar and dove with Deep Blue 1-24-2009 to 2-7 2009.
Hotel - Have stayed there 7-8 times. New to me this time were the in-room safes. Very convenient though I've never had any kind of problem there, as a matter of fact, the only reason I used the safe was to make sure I didn't misplace my passport and visa. On more than one occasion I've had cash apparently fall on the floor as I've found cash on my nightstand after the housekeepers have been in. Though I tip them daily, I'm pretty sure they're not tipping me. The provided breakfast is just fine. Made to order omelets or eggs at the end of the buffet. The buffet is small but has fruit, potatoes, hot dogs, beans, and a few other hot items. There's yogurt, toast, milk, juice, coffee, etc. Small but plenty to eat. I've never used the on-site dive operator, Del Mar Aquatics.
Service at the hotel was great as usual. If there isn't a taxi already waiting, they'll call one for you immediately. Though others have commented that the front desk staff seems a little "cold", I've found them very warm and friendly, and very willing to help with anything I've needed. Favorite hotel memory? One morning I watched the housekeepers harvesting flowers for the rooms and they were giggling and racing to try and get the nicest flowers. They are always so sweet and smiley.
I had an ocean view room on the third floor, which is the top floor, and I was on the north side of the building. There are maybe a handful of rooms that were farther away from the pool and restaurant. Even with that, it took less than a minute and a half to get from my room to the restaurant. This is one of the reasons I keep going back. The hotel is small enough that you can be in a remote room and everything is still basically quick and easy. One Casa del Mar tip - If you dive, you'll want an ocean view room as they have balconies for drying you stuff. Further, on the south side, you can see the Ocean from the second and third floors. On the north side you pretty much need to be on the 3rd floor to see the ocean instead of the cabanas. The upside to the north is that your Ocean View doesn't have the cruise ship obstruction. Personally, I don't mind the cruise ship view, but I did notice that the north view was quite nice. No sunset view, but still nice.
The rooms have great A/C, though I only used mine twice. It was quite cold this trip. The cable tv was changed there after Wilma, and now there's a nice smattering of English language tv channels. There are hairdryers and ironing boards. I haven't tried this lately, but the one thing I'd change would be to allow guests to use (rent) lockers from the dive shop (Del Mar Aquatics). The last time I asked, I was told that I couldn't even rent a locker. Allowing this would make things far more convenient for hotel guests.
The price of a taxi to town has gone up since my last visit (April 2008). This time the posted fare was 80 pesos. The taxistas will gladly tell you $8.00. I made almost daily trips downtown, and only twice was I told $7.00. For the most part, I made sure I had pesos. Last April, the taxi ride was $5.00, on average. For those who've never been, getting a taxi in Cozumel is easy if you're on the main road or anywhere downtown. The taxistas may own the place, but I find most of them to be very friendly and helpful. I consider it a pleasure to go for a taxi ride in Cozumel because they've always been really nice about my caveman Spanish, and very willing to help me improve. I'll try to make a long story short. I left some of my dive gear in a taxi. It was late at night, and some friends were still in the taxi enroute to another destination. I was freaked because I needed the gear to dive the next morning. I remembered the taxi number, thankfully, and I knew that my friends would be coming back on the main road, so I went back out to the road in hope of flagging them down. While I was waiting, (10pm?), I was asked by several taxistas if I wanted a ride. Finally, I told one of them what I was doing. He pulled all the way over, and started trying everything he could do to get the taxi on the radio. He called and called and spoke to the dispatcher and several other taxi drivers to see if they knew where the car was. After some time, I thanked him profusely, gave him a tip, and he said, "Don't worry, the driver will see your stuff and come back." He drove off and I resumed my watch. Not 10 minutes later, he came back flashing his lights and honking his horn. As he went by he pointed behind him, and sure enough, here was the taxi with my gear. That's pretty darn good service given by somebody who didn't even need to care. This is not, by a long shot, the first time I've seen a Cozumelano go above and beyond the call.
Hotel in summary - Clean, secure, food is fine, staff is nice, close to town, nice snorkeling right across the street, very nice "non-beach" beach area, nice dock which allows pick-up from other than the hotel dive shop, close convenience stores, really quick taxi service. Unless you're really bent on having upscale everything, this is a fine place to stay. I work out on the road for a living, and Casa Del Mar is as nice as anyplace I've stayed, and far nicer than several places I've stayed.
Dive Accommodations - Dove, as I have for the past 5 years, with Deep Blue. I did my Open Water referral with them, AOW, and several specialty courses including Nitrox. Having heard about some of the changes that have taken place, I was a little apprehensive about how these changes would affect the shop. Everything was really, really great, as usual. I'm kind of a nose-bleed client. I did 30 tanks with Deep Blue while I was there, so I'm on the phone to the shop confirming dives etc, a bunch. They managed to get me on a boat every time I wanted to go, and helped with much more.
I had the great pleasure of diving with Volrath, Luis, Allen, Tim, and one other divemaster who was also really, great at his job. I apologize, but I think his name was Rodrigo? I believe he's somewhat new to the shop, new to me anyhow. These guys are really impressive, and it's one of the things that keeps me coming back to Deep Blue. In 5 years, they've always had great talent there. This trip, I saw more amazing professionalism. I witnessed Tim turn a situation that could have resulted in a bad (read fatal) accident into a "ho-hum, no big deal". He knew there was a problem before the diver knew there was a problem. I saw Volrath effectively handle some divers that would have had me red faced and screaming. He did this with the most incredible patience. Allen took myself and a very newbie friend on a couple of dives that were perfectly suited to what we needed. (long story there) Luis was his usual great self and the "new" guy blew me away. Where do they keep finding these guys? ALL of the DMs were outstanding. There was also a DM student there, Daniel, who helped me out on occasion and was a pleasure to dive with.
The Captains - Again, very impressive. Captains were Chono, Polo, Nemo and Roberto. Can't say enough good about them. Polo and Nemo were (somewhat) new to me. I was on Polo's boat once or twice in the past, but not since he's full-time Deep Blue. Both these guys are very nice, helpful and do a great job of keeping you dry in spite of waves. I did Barracuda and Canterell with Nemo, and had Polo on a couple windy days. Chono and Roberto are like family to me or something. I get a warm feeling everytime I see them. They've both helped me on many occasions over the years, for instance, Roberto really worked to get us on the shore for the SI on one of the windy days when jumping back in the ocean for a bathroom break was just too cold, and on one trip Chono made a big difference in my buddy's vacation by kindly helping him to understand that a 100cu ft tank was a good idea. Somehow that friendly smile and that warm pat on the shoulder was what was needed, and he did it.
Again, ALL the Captains were outstanding.
The Shop - Over the years, these guys have really taken care of me, and that hasn't stopped. Like I've mentioned, I'm kind of a nose-bleed. I like to dive. A lot. I've done as many as 22 dives in one week. (Nitrox rocks) So there's constant scheduling, and I've almost always got at least one friend along who's new to diving, or finishing their OW or whatever. They really bend over backwards. The personnel in the shop hasn't changed much. My contact was with Deborah (owns the shop, answers e-mails very quickly), Gary, CoCo and Luis (who's also a DM, but picked up the phone on a couple of occasions. I think he fills in when needed?) Most of my contact was with Gary, and he went way above and beyond the call of duty trying to find a special BC for my buddy, as did Scuba Repair. (near 95th?) Coco and Luis were very helpful and friendly when I called, and Deborah, as she has done in the past, was very reasonable about my tab. This is not the first time I've experienced this. Gary has been there for a couple years or more, so I've gotten to know him just a little, and I really enjoy him. We can have a 15 second conversation and we're both on the same page about what my dive plan is going to be. I'm sure this is true of other shops on the island, but I really feel like I'm being taken care of with this shop. They know how much I've been diving, they know if I'm not feeling 100%, etc. I don't mean that one person in the shop knows, it seems that they all know. I developed a lump on my arm that needed to be looked at and I mentioned it to Coco. The next day I saw Deborah, and she said "I heard you went to the doctor? How did it go?" Again, not the first time I've witnessed this. One trip I got a case of diarrhea and mentioned it to the divemaster (Sandro maybe?). When I called the shop that night, whomever it was asked how I was feeling before I could bring the subject up. It's made me wonder if it's common for a whole shop to be communicating with each other about the people diving with them and their specific conditions. In any event, it sure makes a person feel looked after and taken care of.
Dive Shop in summary - Things are really great. My apprehension was for nothing. Deborah has a great team, above and below the water.
Biggest on-board laugh - We were on our way back. As I recall, Roberto made a swoop around to pick up some trash that was floating on the surface. Picked it up, but then the engine killed and wouldn't start again. Anyhow, Tim, with a big smile on his face and his great British accent says, "Oh No! Now we're truly shagged!" They already knew that there was something wrapped around the propeller, and Daniel was on his way to fix the problem, but the way Tim said it without missing a beat was hilarious. I still laugh.
The Actual Diving - It was cold in Cozumel. The air temp was 80 twice during 2 weeks, and a couple days I don't think the high hit 70F. The water was about 77f. The reprieve? There was very, very little current. There was a little current on the North sites, but in almost 140 Cozumel tanks, I've never experienced this. It was really mellow. Of course, my camera sat in my room the whole time because it decided to have a focus error once I got to Cozumel. Figures. Did the Playa cenote trip finally. Dos Ojos. Went with German Yanez. What a treat. He took care of everything. Rode the ferry with us and got the tickets. Only handled gear on and off the ferry. I'd highly recommend doing any cave or cavern diving with him. Nice guy. Great stories. Made the whole thing very easy.
Cozumel in General - Things were slow. Real slow. I sure hope it picks up for the sake of the people, which besides the diving is the other great reason to go to Cozumel. I won't wax on about Sunday nights, yada yada, but when people talk about how nice the Cozumelanos are, it's not a bunch of fluff. Same with the food. Same with the amazing dive industry and the many great dive shops. Cozumel is a special place filled with special people.
Personal - Fought like a bear this trip. A week and a day before I left I had bronchitis. That night I had bronchitis and eye conjunctivitis in both eyes, bad. 3 days later, 6 days before I'm to leave I have bronchitis, eye conjunctivitis and a red hot ear infection. I was given an antibiotic shot that was so painful it took 5 minutes before I could sit or stand without passing out. (Ok, I was really sick, dehydrated and hadn't eaten all day, but still.) I showed up in Cozumel on Saturday night with 2 different antibiotic prescriptions, eye drops and ear drops, but by Sunday I was OK to dive. 3 days later I developed a bad sore throat and the eye conjunctivitis was back. I switch antibiotics, go back on the eye drops and the next day I was back to normal. The night before I left I got food poisoning. Vomitus Explosivitus. My fault. If I'd have stuck to the local fare I'd have been fine but for some reason a "USA" pizza sounded good. They had a nice supper buffet that night at the hotel, I just wasn't bright enough to eat that instead of the pizza. Thankfully, my plane didn't leave until 7pm on Saturday, so by the time we were in the air, the worst of it was over. In any event, this Bear won. I did 33 dives total over the 2 weeks I was there.
If you've been, you get it. If you've been and don't get it, you probably won't get it. If you've never been, try it, it's hard not to like it. After 10 visits to the island, I'm still in awe of the great people, the great diving, and the amazing dive industry with the enormous amount of talented professionals on those dive boats.
-Blair (a dude)
P.S. - Tim, I don't know if you read this stuff, but sorry I didn't make it down on Saturday. I called the shop and Coco said she'd let you know I wasn't going to make it. As you read above, I was totally ill.
Stayed at Casa del Mar and dove with Deep Blue 1-24-2009 to 2-7 2009.
Hotel - Have stayed there 7-8 times. New to me this time were the in-room safes. Very convenient though I've never had any kind of problem there, as a matter of fact, the only reason I used the safe was to make sure I didn't misplace my passport and visa. On more than one occasion I've had cash apparently fall on the floor as I've found cash on my nightstand after the housekeepers have been in. Though I tip them daily, I'm pretty sure they're not tipping me. The provided breakfast is just fine. Made to order omelets or eggs at the end of the buffet. The buffet is small but has fruit, potatoes, hot dogs, beans, and a few other hot items. There's yogurt, toast, milk, juice, coffee, etc. Small but plenty to eat. I've never used the on-site dive operator, Del Mar Aquatics.
Service at the hotel was great as usual. If there isn't a taxi already waiting, they'll call one for you immediately. Though others have commented that the front desk staff seems a little "cold", I've found them very warm and friendly, and very willing to help with anything I've needed. Favorite hotel memory? One morning I watched the housekeepers harvesting flowers for the rooms and they were giggling and racing to try and get the nicest flowers. They are always so sweet and smiley.
I had an ocean view room on the third floor, which is the top floor, and I was on the north side of the building. There are maybe a handful of rooms that were farther away from the pool and restaurant. Even with that, it took less than a minute and a half to get from my room to the restaurant. This is one of the reasons I keep going back. The hotel is small enough that you can be in a remote room and everything is still basically quick and easy. One Casa del Mar tip - If you dive, you'll want an ocean view room as they have balconies for drying you stuff. Further, on the south side, you can see the Ocean from the second and third floors. On the north side you pretty much need to be on the 3rd floor to see the ocean instead of the cabanas. The upside to the north is that your Ocean View doesn't have the cruise ship obstruction. Personally, I don't mind the cruise ship view, but I did notice that the north view was quite nice. No sunset view, but still nice.
The rooms have great A/C, though I only used mine twice. It was quite cold this trip. The cable tv was changed there after Wilma, and now there's a nice smattering of English language tv channels. There are hairdryers and ironing boards. I haven't tried this lately, but the one thing I'd change would be to allow guests to use (rent) lockers from the dive shop (Del Mar Aquatics). The last time I asked, I was told that I couldn't even rent a locker. Allowing this would make things far more convenient for hotel guests.
The price of a taxi to town has gone up since my last visit (April 2008). This time the posted fare was 80 pesos. The taxistas will gladly tell you $8.00. I made almost daily trips downtown, and only twice was I told $7.00. For the most part, I made sure I had pesos. Last April, the taxi ride was $5.00, on average. For those who've never been, getting a taxi in Cozumel is easy if you're on the main road or anywhere downtown. The taxistas may own the place, but I find most of them to be very friendly and helpful. I consider it a pleasure to go for a taxi ride in Cozumel because they've always been really nice about my caveman Spanish, and very willing to help me improve. I'll try to make a long story short. I left some of my dive gear in a taxi. It was late at night, and some friends were still in the taxi enroute to another destination. I was freaked because I needed the gear to dive the next morning. I remembered the taxi number, thankfully, and I knew that my friends would be coming back on the main road, so I went back out to the road in hope of flagging them down. While I was waiting, (10pm?), I was asked by several taxistas if I wanted a ride. Finally, I told one of them what I was doing. He pulled all the way over, and started trying everything he could do to get the taxi on the radio. He called and called and spoke to the dispatcher and several other taxi drivers to see if they knew where the car was. After some time, I thanked him profusely, gave him a tip, and he said, "Don't worry, the driver will see your stuff and come back." He drove off and I resumed my watch. Not 10 minutes later, he came back flashing his lights and honking his horn. As he went by he pointed behind him, and sure enough, here was the taxi with my gear. That's pretty darn good service given by somebody who didn't even need to care. This is not, by a long shot, the first time I've seen a Cozumelano go above and beyond the call.
Hotel in summary - Clean, secure, food is fine, staff is nice, close to town, nice snorkeling right across the street, very nice "non-beach" beach area, nice dock which allows pick-up from other than the hotel dive shop, close convenience stores, really quick taxi service. Unless you're really bent on having upscale everything, this is a fine place to stay. I work out on the road for a living, and Casa Del Mar is as nice as anyplace I've stayed, and far nicer than several places I've stayed.
Dive Accommodations - Dove, as I have for the past 5 years, with Deep Blue. I did my Open Water referral with them, AOW, and several specialty courses including Nitrox. Having heard about some of the changes that have taken place, I was a little apprehensive about how these changes would affect the shop. Everything was really, really great, as usual. I'm kind of a nose-bleed client. I did 30 tanks with Deep Blue while I was there, so I'm on the phone to the shop confirming dives etc, a bunch. They managed to get me on a boat every time I wanted to go, and helped with much more.
I had the great pleasure of diving with Volrath, Luis, Allen, Tim, and one other divemaster who was also really, great at his job. I apologize, but I think his name was Rodrigo? I believe he's somewhat new to the shop, new to me anyhow. These guys are really impressive, and it's one of the things that keeps me coming back to Deep Blue. In 5 years, they've always had great talent there. This trip, I saw more amazing professionalism. I witnessed Tim turn a situation that could have resulted in a bad (read fatal) accident into a "ho-hum, no big deal". He knew there was a problem before the diver knew there was a problem. I saw Volrath effectively handle some divers that would have had me red faced and screaming. He did this with the most incredible patience. Allen took myself and a very newbie friend on a couple of dives that were perfectly suited to what we needed. (long story there) Luis was his usual great self and the "new" guy blew me away. Where do they keep finding these guys? ALL of the DMs were outstanding. There was also a DM student there, Daniel, who helped me out on occasion and was a pleasure to dive with.
The Captains - Again, very impressive. Captains were Chono, Polo, Nemo and Roberto. Can't say enough good about them. Polo and Nemo were (somewhat) new to me. I was on Polo's boat once or twice in the past, but not since he's full-time Deep Blue. Both these guys are very nice, helpful and do a great job of keeping you dry in spite of waves. I did Barracuda and Canterell with Nemo, and had Polo on a couple windy days. Chono and Roberto are like family to me or something. I get a warm feeling everytime I see them. They've both helped me on many occasions over the years, for instance, Roberto really worked to get us on the shore for the SI on one of the windy days when jumping back in the ocean for a bathroom break was just too cold, and on one trip Chono made a big difference in my buddy's vacation by kindly helping him to understand that a 100cu ft tank was a good idea. Somehow that friendly smile and that warm pat on the shoulder was what was needed, and he did it.
Again, ALL the Captains were outstanding.
The Shop - Over the years, these guys have really taken care of me, and that hasn't stopped. Like I've mentioned, I'm kind of a nose-bleed. I like to dive. A lot. I've done as many as 22 dives in one week. (Nitrox rocks) So there's constant scheduling, and I've almost always got at least one friend along who's new to diving, or finishing their OW or whatever. They really bend over backwards. The personnel in the shop hasn't changed much. My contact was with Deborah (owns the shop, answers e-mails very quickly), Gary, CoCo and Luis (who's also a DM, but picked up the phone on a couple of occasions. I think he fills in when needed?) Most of my contact was with Gary, and he went way above and beyond the call of duty trying to find a special BC for my buddy, as did Scuba Repair. (near 95th?) Coco and Luis were very helpful and friendly when I called, and Deborah, as she has done in the past, was very reasonable about my tab. This is not the first time I've experienced this. Gary has been there for a couple years or more, so I've gotten to know him just a little, and I really enjoy him. We can have a 15 second conversation and we're both on the same page about what my dive plan is going to be. I'm sure this is true of other shops on the island, but I really feel like I'm being taken care of with this shop. They know how much I've been diving, they know if I'm not feeling 100%, etc. I don't mean that one person in the shop knows, it seems that they all know. I developed a lump on my arm that needed to be looked at and I mentioned it to Coco. The next day I saw Deborah, and she said "I heard you went to the doctor? How did it go?" Again, not the first time I've witnessed this. One trip I got a case of diarrhea and mentioned it to the divemaster (Sandro maybe?). When I called the shop that night, whomever it was asked how I was feeling before I could bring the subject up. It's made me wonder if it's common for a whole shop to be communicating with each other about the people diving with them and their specific conditions. In any event, it sure makes a person feel looked after and taken care of.
Dive Shop in summary - Things are really great. My apprehension was for nothing. Deborah has a great team, above and below the water.
Biggest on-board laugh - We were on our way back. As I recall, Roberto made a swoop around to pick up some trash that was floating on the surface. Picked it up, but then the engine killed and wouldn't start again. Anyhow, Tim, with a big smile on his face and his great British accent says, "Oh No! Now we're truly shagged!" They already knew that there was something wrapped around the propeller, and Daniel was on his way to fix the problem, but the way Tim said it without missing a beat was hilarious. I still laugh.
The Actual Diving - It was cold in Cozumel. The air temp was 80 twice during 2 weeks, and a couple days I don't think the high hit 70F. The water was about 77f. The reprieve? There was very, very little current. There was a little current on the North sites, but in almost 140 Cozumel tanks, I've never experienced this. It was really mellow. Of course, my camera sat in my room the whole time because it decided to have a focus error once I got to Cozumel. Figures. Did the Playa cenote trip finally. Dos Ojos. Went with German Yanez. What a treat. He took care of everything. Rode the ferry with us and got the tickets. Only handled gear on and off the ferry. I'd highly recommend doing any cave or cavern diving with him. Nice guy. Great stories. Made the whole thing very easy.
Cozumel in General - Things were slow. Real slow. I sure hope it picks up for the sake of the people, which besides the diving is the other great reason to go to Cozumel. I won't wax on about Sunday nights, yada yada, but when people talk about how nice the Cozumelanos are, it's not a bunch of fluff. Same with the food. Same with the amazing dive industry and the many great dive shops. Cozumel is a special place filled with special people.
Personal - Fought like a bear this trip. A week and a day before I left I had bronchitis. That night I had bronchitis and eye conjunctivitis in both eyes, bad. 3 days later, 6 days before I'm to leave I have bronchitis, eye conjunctivitis and a red hot ear infection. I was given an antibiotic shot that was so painful it took 5 minutes before I could sit or stand without passing out. (Ok, I was really sick, dehydrated and hadn't eaten all day, but still.) I showed up in Cozumel on Saturday night with 2 different antibiotic prescriptions, eye drops and ear drops, but by Sunday I was OK to dive. 3 days later I developed a bad sore throat and the eye conjunctivitis was back. I switch antibiotics, go back on the eye drops and the next day I was back to normal. The night before I left I got food poisoning. Vomitus Explosivitus. My fault. If I'd have stuck to the local fare I'd have been fine but for some reason a "USA" pizza sounded good. They had a nice supper buffet that night at the hotel, I just wasn't bright enough to eat that instead of the pizza. Thankfully, my plane didn't leave until 7pm on Saturday, so by the time we were in the air, the worst of it was over. In any event, this Bear won. I did 33 dives total over the 2 weeks I was there.
If you've been, you get it. If you've been and don't get it, you probably won't get it. If you've never been, try it, it's hard not to like it. After 10 visits to the island, I'm still in awe of the great people, the great diving, and the amazing dive industry with the enormous amount of talented professionals on those dive boats.
-Blair (a dude)
P.S. - Tim, I don't know if you read this stuff, but sorry I didn't make it down on Saturday. I called the shop and Coco said she'd let you know I wasn't going to make it. As you read above, I was totally ill.
