Guitarcrazy
Contributor
Trip Report, Cozumel 2017
My wife and I were recently certified in Scuba during our trip to PDC in January of 2017. We both enjoyed it immensely and really wanted to return to do some more diving. We found some affordable tickets on Delta and booked a return. My cousin is also a certified diver, but she had not been diving in 15 years. She decided to accompany us to Cozumel to get back into the sport. The flights to Cancun were much cheaper than Cozumel so we decided to do the bag drag to the ferry. We looked at several options for lodging and dive operators, and finally settled on the Coral Princess and their Pro Dive Package. This included 5 nights lodging, 4 days of 2 tank dives, and free breakfast for two persons. The cost was $1084 before taxes, approx. $1300 after tax.
On the day of our departure the flights were all on time and we had zero issues getting to Cancun. Upon arrival we considered taking Maya Air from Cancun to Cozumel, but in the end it looked to be risky as we would miss the last ferry if we didn’t get on the flight. We ended up in an unmarked taxi (sketchy, I know). I know we were overpaying for the taxi ride, but it was a nice car and the driver went very fast, up to 140 KMH at times. We were a bit scared, and he kept saying he was in Fast and Furious, but we did make it in time for the last ferry ride to Cozumel.
Arrival at the hotel was very easy, and check in was smooth. We inquired about upgrading to an ocean view room, and they accommodated us for only $25 per night. The room was nice, not overly small, and has a small balcony. No complaints on the room. The next morning we had the included breakfast, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, coffee, and refried beans. It was a good breakfast, and the price was right. They don’t let you make any changes without extra charge, but I always enjoyed the breakfast and the service was very good.
We met with the dive operator, Pepe Scuba, and my cousin booked a refresher dive. The dive was conducted right in front of the hotel. Following this, we began our dives with Pepe. Our dive masters were Abdias, Sergio, and Valentine. They were all excellent, and we had great dives. On the first day we encountered a friendly nurse shark who played with us for about 10 minutes. I took several videos and pictures, but unfortunately only one video of the shark survived. The currents were light, and we all enjoyed the fast boats and great dive masters.
We visited Santa Rosa Wall, Palencar Caves, Palencar Horseshoe, Tormentos, Tunich, Delilah, or Dahlia. I am not sure which was the actual name as several divers used both names. We saw lots of fish, turtles, 7 or 8 nurse sharks, 5 or 6 Eagle rays, stingrays, Cozumel toadfish, eels, and lots more. The towering coral at Santa Rosa Wall was really incredible. The only down side was that on the Santa Rosa Wall dive there were so many divers in the area that it was hard to keep the groups separate. My wife started following the wrong group at one point, and luckily I was able to get her turned around before she got too far away. I felt like all of the DMs were excellent, and all allowed the divers to operate at their own pace. We had a couple diving with us who were pretty new to diving as well. The boyfriend was a fairly big guy, about 6’2” and 230, and he went through air like there was no tomorrow. Every dive he was at 600 pounds about 25 minutes into the dive. I was concerned he was going to affect the rest of us, but the DMs, just sent up their bouys and he would follow it to the surface, and then get in the boat and wait for the rest of us. I felt like his girlfriend probably should have stayed with him, but apparently she didn’t feel he needed her so she stayed with us.
After the morning dives we returned to the hotel for a bucket of beer and nachos. The bucket of 4 beers and a huge plate of nachos was only $10. During happy hour you could get two buckets of beer and a plate of nachos for $6. The nachos were excellent, and they were so plentiful that the 3 of us could eat and not be hungry for lunch after. The restaurant had very good offerings, and they were all very affordable. We ate fresh fruit, salads, tons of seafood, and none of us had any issues with our health.
We ate out several nights, and had great meals every time. Our first meal was at La Cocay. It is a bit off the beaten path, and the prices and lack of tourists were well worth the few block walk. The next meal was at Casa Mission, and it was also superb. The last night we ate at Guidos on the main drag, and it was also well worth the visit. Guidos also has small apartments for nightly rental, and that may be something to consider next time.
Overall we had an excellent trip and are already looking to go back. Other than losing our camera on the last day, we couldn’t have had a better time. We ate several meals in the hotel restaurant, had several cervesas and pina coladas by the pool each day, and still our total bill for the hotel, food and drink, and diving was only $1600. Can’t beat that for two persons with diving. One thing to consider, WiFi is not free at the hotel. You can buy a 4 day pass for 3 devices and I believe it was like $35. Not a big deal, but I am so used to free WiFi that it was a bit of a shock to have to pay for it.
I may try a different property and dive operator for the next visit. Not because of any disappointments with Pepe’s or Coral Princess, but just because we like to try everything. Dive with Martin seems to get excellent reviews, and the rental equipment is free, so if we still haven’t bought all of our gear we may go that route.
My wife and I were recently certified in Scuba during our trip to PDC in January of 2017. We both enjoyed it immensely and really wanted to return to do some more diving. We found some affordable tickets on Delta and booked a return. My cousin is also a certified diver, but she had not been diving in 15 years. She decided to accompany us to Cozumel to get back into the sport. The flights to Cancun were much cheaper than Cozumel so we decided to do the bag drag to the ferry. We looked at several options for lodging and dive operators, and finally settled on the Coral Princess and their Pro Dive Package. This included 5 nights lodging, 4 days of 2 tank dives, and free breakfast for two persons. The cost was $1084 before taxes, approx. $1300 after tax.
On the day of our departure the flights were all on time and we had zero issues getting to Cancun. Upon arrival we considered taking Maya Air from Cancun to Cozumel, but in the end it looked to be risky as we would miss the last ferry if we didn’t get on the flight. We ended up in an unmarked taxi (sketchy, I know). I know we were overpaying for the taxi ride, but it was a nice car and the driver went very fast, up to 140 KMH at times. We were a bit scared, and he kept saying he was in Fast and Furious, but we did make it in time for the last ferry ride to Cozumel.
Arrival at the hotel was very easy, and check in was smooth. We inquired about upgrading to an ocean view room, and they accommodated us for only $25 per night. The room was nice, not overly small, and has a small balcony. No complaints on the room. The next morning we had the included breakfast, fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, coffee, and refried beans. It was a good breakfast, and the price was right. They don’t let you make any changes without extra charge, but I always enjoyed the breakfast and the service was very good.
We met with the dive operator, Pepe Scuba, and my cousin booked a refresher dive. The dive was conducted right in front of the hotel. Following this, we began our dives with Pepe. Our dive masters were Abdias, Sergio, and Valentine. They were all excellent, and we had great dives. On the first day we encountered a friendly nurse shark who played with us for about 10 minutes. I took several videos and pictures, but unfortunately only one video of the shark survived. The currents were light, and we all enjoyed the fast boats and great dive masters.
We visited Santa Rosa Wall, Palencar Caves, Palencar Horseshoe, Tormentos, Tunich, Delilah, or Dahlia. I am not sure which was the actual name as several divers used both names. We saw lots of fish, turtles, 7 or 8 nurse sharks, 5 or 6 Eagle rays, stingrays, Cozumel toadfish, eels, and lots more. The towering coral at Santa Rosa Wall was really incredible. The only down side was that on the Santa Rosa Wall dive there were so many divers in the area that it was hard to keep the groups separate. My wife started following the wrong group at one point, and luckily I was able to get her turned around before she got too far away. I felt like all of the DMs were excellent, and all allowed the divers to operate at their own pace. We had a couple diving with us who were pretty new to diving as well. The boyfriend was a fairly big guy, about 6’2” and 230, and he went through air like there was no tomorrow. Every dive he was at 600 pounds about 25 minutes into the dive. I was concerned he was going to affect the rest of us, but the DMs, just sent up their bouys and he would follow it to the surface, and then get in the boat and wait for the rest of us. I felt like his girlfriend probably should have stayed with him, but apparently she didn’t feel he needed her so she stayed with us.
After the morning dives we returned to the hotel for a bucket of beer and nachos. The bucket of 4 beers and a huge plate of nachos was only $10. During happy hour you could get two buckets of beer and a plate of nachos for $6. The nachos were excellent, and they were so plentiful that the 3 of us could eat and not be hungry for lunch after. The restaurant had very good offerings, and they were all very affordable. We ate fresh fruit, salads, tons of seafood, and none of us had any issues with our health.
We ate out several nights, and had great meals every time. Our first meal was at La Cocay. It is a bit off the beaten path, and the prices and lack of tourists were well worth the few block walk. The next meal was at Casa Mission, and it was also superb. The last night we ate at Guidos on the main drag, and it was also well worth the visit. Guidos also has small apartments for nightly rental, and that may be something to consider next time.
Overall we had an excellent trip and are already looking to go back. Other than losing our camera on the last day, we couldn’t have had a better time. We ate several meals in the hotel restaurant, had several cervesas and pina coladas by the pool each day, and still our total bill for the hotel, food and drink, and diving was only $1600. Can’t beat that for two persons with diving. One thing to consider, WiFi is not free at the hotel. You can buy a 4 day pass for 3 devices and I believe it was like $35. Not a big deal, but I am so used to free WiFi that it was a bit of a shock to have to pay for it.
I may try a different property and dive operator for the next visit. Not because of any disappointments with Pepe’s or Coral Princess, but just because we like to try everything. Dive with Martin seems to get excellent reviews, and the rental equipment is free, so if we still haven’t bought all of our gear we may go that route.
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