Guitarcrazy
Contributor
My wife and I just returned from another trip to Cozumel. We were planning to fly into Coz and fly out of CUN. Unfortunately we missed our connection to CZM and were rebooked on the CUN flight so that we didn't lose a day. We were booked through Delta Vacations and I have to say that the agent that helped us was awesome. She got us all rebooked, booked ground transport and even comped the ferry rides. The last trip we stayed at the Coral Princess, which was good. This time we thought we'd try the all inclusive El Cozumeleno up the road.
Check in was after 9 pm and all restaurants were closed. This wasn't a good sign. There is no room service so we were unable to get anything to eat. They then put us in a room that was worse than a Motel 6. It had broken fixtures and lamps that would spark and crackle when you turned them on. There were also bare wires sticking out of the wall in the bathroom. We had no options at 10 that night but I informed the staff that we would be changing to another hotel in the morning. That morning a manager assured me that they would be moving us to a better room in 2 days when the hotel had more rooms available. I declined and informed him that we would be leaving. After some back and forth he offered to let us move to a family suite for $75 additional per night. Being in no mood to miss a day of diving we took the offer and moved into what was a gigantic room with about 60 linear feet of balcony. The balcony alone was twice as large as the first room we were in. This room was still dated, like the rest of the resort, but it was large and in good condition.
The hotel was ok. In terms of all inclusive hotels, it is probably the least upscale that we have visited. My wife and I ate on the property 3 times, and went out to dinner in town for the rest of the nights. They don't offer a can or bottle of cerveza, but only plastic cups for the drinks. They do not stock the rooms either. The beach was pretty good for Cozumel though, so if that is important to you it may be an option. While the hotel was ok, we probably would not choose to go back.
We dove with Island Divers Cozumel, and for the most part enjoyed their op. The boats were fast, and we didn't find the cruise to the southern dive sites to be too long. We saw some Eagle Rays, lots of eels, smaller rays, tons of lobster, and on the last day we found a 10 foot nurse shark resting in a coral cave. It was enjoyable diving with good weather and good conditions all week.
I did have one dive that I did not enjoy however. On one of the days we were sent out with a group of 3 other divers, and the dive master. We were planning to do Santa Rosa Wall. Usually when my wife and I go to Cozumel we are the newbys on the boat. For this dive, my wife and I were the experienced divers. I had 24 dives and my wife had 18 or so. The other divers were all either brand new, or hadn't dove in many years. I was surprised that the dive master suggested Santa Rosa, but I dove it as a fairly new diver so I figured he probably had it under control. One of the divers dove the day prior, and hit 700 pounds after about 25 minutes, which was a concern. The dive master said that safety was number one, so when any diver hit 700 we would all surface. This didn't make me too excited as I knew he would be out of air very quickly, especially that deep. When we descended we immediately went to 110 feet. The dive master was at 110 feet or so, and I was generally within 5 feet of him in depth, and about 10 feet behind. My wife was behind me. The other three divers were pretty much all over the place. One was at least 25 feet deeper than me and the dive master, and the other two were moving forward and outward so much that I lost sight of them on several occasions. During this time the dive master seemed oblivious to it all. He was poking into holes in the coral and looking for smaller wildlife and didn't seem to notice that some of the group was missing. At one point I grabbed my wife and figured that if all went to hell I would launch my SMB and we would take care of ourselves. A few minutes later the diver who used air so quickly hit 700 and we began the process of trying to find the other two divers. Having found them we all surfaced. I had 1900 pounds in my tank when I climbed in the boat.
This was my least enjoyable dive of all the dives I have done. I was stressed the whole time trying to make sure that I could see the other divers, and looked for them when they invariably disappeared from view. The other dive masters were superb. I really enjoyed Miguel, Adrian, and Ernesto, but this one dive master who will be nameless was not one that I would choose to dive with again.
My wife and I are looking to go back in April, and are thinking of going with Casa Mexicana for the next trip. Any suggestions for other hotels more to the south, and other dive ops are appreciated.
Check in was after 9 pm and all restaurants were closed. This wasn't a good sign. There is no room service so we were unable to get anything to eat. They then put us in a room that was worse than a Motel 6. It had broken fixtures and lamps that would spark and crackle when you turned them on. There were also bare wires sticking out of the wall in the bathroom. We had no options at 10 that night but I informed the staff that we would be changing to another hotel in the morning. That morning a manager assured me that they would be moving us to a better room in 2 days when the hotel had more rooms available. I declined and informed him that we would be leaving. After some back and forth he offered to let us move to a family suite for $75 additional per night. Being in no mood to miss a day of diving we took the offer and moved into what was a gigantic room with about 60 linear feet of balcony. The balcony alone was twice as large as the first room we were in. This room was still dated, like the rest of the resort, but it was large and in good condition.
The hotel was ok. In terms of all inclusive hotels, it is probably the least upscale that we have visited. My wife and I ate on the property 3 times, and went out to dinner in town for the rest of the nights. They don't offer a can or bottle of cerveza, but only plastic cups for the drinks. They do not stock the rooms either. The beach was pretty good for Cozumel though, so if that is important to you it may be an option. While the hotel was ok, we probably would not choose to go back.
We dove with Island Divers Cozumel, and for the most part enjoyed their op. The boats were fast, and we didn't find the cruise to the southern dive sites to be too long. We saw some Eagle Rays, lots of eels, smaller rays, tons of lobster, and on the last day we found a 10 foot nurse shark resting in a coral cave. It was enjoyable diving with good weather and good conditions all week.
I did have one dive that I did not enjoy however. On one of the days we were sent out with a group of 3 other divers, and the dive master. We were planning to do Santa Rosa Wall. Usually when my wife and I go to Cozumel we are the newbys on the boat. For this dive, my wife and I were the experienced divers. I had 24 dives and my wife had 18 or so. The other divers were all either brand new, or hadn't dove in many years. I was surprised that the dive master suggested Santa Rosa, but I dove it as a fairly new diver so I figured he probably had it under control. One of the divers dove the day prior, and hit 700 pounds after about 25 minutes, which was a concern. The dive master said that safety was number one, so when any diver hit 700 we would all surface. This didn't make me too excited as I knew he would be out of air very quickly, especially that deep. When we descended we immediately went to 110 feet. The dive master was at 110 feet or so, and I was generally within 5 feet of him in depth, and about 10 feet behind. My wife was behind me. The other three divers were pretty much all over the place. One was at least 25 feet deeper than me and the dive master, and the other two were moving forward and outward so much that I lost sight of them on several occasions. During this time the dive master seemed oblivious to it all. He was poking into holes in the coral and looking for smaller wildlife and didn't seem to notice that some of the group was missing. At one point I grabbed my wife and figured that if all went to hell I would launch my SMB and we would take care of ourselves. A few minutes later the diver who used air so quickly hit 700 and we began the process of trying to find the other two divers. Having found them we all surfaced. I had 1900 pounds in my tank when I climbed in the boat.
This was my least enjoyable dive of all the dives I have done. I was stressed the whole time trying to make sure that I could see the other divers, and looked for them when they invariably disappeared from view. The other dive masters were superb. I really enjoyed Miguel, Adrian, and Ernesto, but this one dive master who will be nameless was not one that I would choose to dive with again.
My wife and I are looking to go back in April, and are thinking of going with Casa Mexicana for the next trip. Any suggestions for other hotels more to the south, and other dive ops are appreciated.
