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nuts4corals
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wow... thanks so much djdiverdan... you have given me some great info. to start my search. I appreciate that. I should be booking something soon.
Cozumel... When and where?
- Thread starter nuts4corals
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nuts4corals
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Thanks guys for all of your suggestions and wealth of info... i booked hotel and air last night so its official i am a cozaholic since this will be my second dive trip there. Im staying very close to downtown and decided to rent a car sinse last time rented a jeep and loved exploring the eastern shores... beaches were incredible. So last piece or two of the puzzel is trip insurance and booking a dive op. Cant wait to visit the downtown for some authentic mex. Food. And of course getting wet and breathing underwater.
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nuts4corals
Contributor
Oh the best part is the slamin deal since i was flexible on dates of travel.
sharky60
Contributor
I don't think there is a BAD time of year to dive Coz. The Spring and early Fall seem to be favorites of the people who live and operate dive ops down there, so March should be very nice for you.
the "best" dive sites? whew! that's a big one. Everyone has their fav's. Mine are ... Deep dives: Columbia Deep, Palancar Bricks and Palancar Horseshoe. All three are great wall dives, with tall pinnacles, ins & outs, swim-thrus and spectacular coral and sponge formations.
Mid-reef and shallow dives: Cedral Pass/Wall is our "turtle town" dive. Your almost guaranteed to see a sea turtle on this dive, we have Hawksbills, Loggerheads and Greens. Hawksbills seem to be the most prevalent. I usually see at least one Nurse Shark on this dive and a lot of times different rays.
Columbia Shallows (often done as a second to C.Deep), is a great "aquarium" dive. Very shallow, if you want to go below 30', bring a shovel. TONS of sealife.
Villablanca Wall is another very cool second dive. Kind of unique, it is just north of the Marine Park. A gentle sloping wall, filled with sponges and lots of places for critters to hide, very cool dive.
Other notables; Santa Rosa Wall, San Francisco, Dalila, Yucab, San Clemente ...
the truth is ALL are dive sites are nice, with a wide variety of landscapes, and all the Caribbean sea life you can handle.
Dive Ops: That's a can of worms right there
Everyone has their favorites and that's who they will cheer for when giving recommendations. I'm no exception, but I do try and give a variety of services and price ranges.
in no particular order:
Blue Angel Resort/Dive Op: My personal dive op for over a dozen years, both six-pack (small, fast) boats and larger "cabin cruiser" types available. Very good dive masters and captains. Plus a nice place to stay. 22 rooms all facing the ocean, big rooms, with mini-fridges and safes. On site dive op and very good restaurant.
Bottom Time Divers: Raul Plates. A single boat operation, Raul is GREAT at finding little critters, super safety minded and a great guy.
BlueXTSea. Boutique diving at it's best. Another purposely small dive op, with great personal service.
Aldora Divers: one of the island's best for sure. Extremely well run DO with Very nice Villas in the northern hotel zone as well.
Dive with Martin: A long time favorite. Great DM's. Very well priced.
Tres Pelicanos: one of my favorite island DM's works here. A very well run organization, again small, 2 very nice, wide beamed boats.
ScubaTony: Again, just a very well run operation.
Dive with Alison: Highly recommended by personal friends.
there are over 70 dive operators on the island, so picking one is very hard. Most people go through several before finding one that suits them, but the majority of all of them do a very good job.
As far as staying "near" the dive sites goes. you would be looking at staying at one of the all-inclusives down south. I've stayed at the Occidental Grand once. Very nice facilities, good food, no nightlife, a long ways from town (this was several years ago and AI's have a way of flocculating in services, take that for what it's worth) . Almost a $20US cab ride one-way to town.
My personal opinion is to NOT do AI's on the island & stay within a reasonable cab ride/walk to town. There are way too many great places to eat in town. You could do a culinary vacation on the island easily nowadays.
if you do stay way down south, boat rides to the reef will be very short, 10 - 15 min. The drawback, is you won't be able to do the more northern dive sites in the Marine Park, because the captains are not going to motor back up north and then back south to drop you off and then back north to go "home".
Boat rides from the piers just south of town will be up to 45 min. if you are hitting the far south dive sites (which you want to do). If you stay at Aldora, it will be a little longer, but they leave a little earlier.
NOTE: Most dive ops pick up at most hotel piers. There are a few exceptions. If you don't stay at a place with an onsite dive op, check with your dive op to see if they will pick up at the hotel/resort/condo where you are staying.
the "best" dive sites? whew! that's a big one. Everyone has their fav's. Mine are ... Deep dives: Columbia Deep, Palancar Bricks and Palancar Horseshoe. All three are great wall dives, with tall pinnacles, ins & outs, swim-thrus and spectacular coral and sponge formations.
Mid-reef and shallow dives: Cedral Pass/Wall is our "turtle town" dive. Your almost guaranteed to see a sea turtle on this dive, we have Hawksbills, Loggerheads and Greens. Hawksbills seem to be the most prevalent. I usually see at least one Nurse Shark on this dive and a lot of times different rays.
Columbia Shallows (often done as a second to C.Deep), is a great "aquarium" dive. Very shallow, if you want to go below 30', bring a shovel. TONS of sealife.
Villablanca Wall is another very cool second dive. Kind of unique, it is just north of the Marine Park. A gentle sloping wall, filled with sponges and lots of places for critters to hide, very cool dive.
Other notables; Santa Rosa Wall, San Francisco, Dalila, Yucab, San Clemente ...
the truth is ALL are dive sites are nice, with a wide variety of landscapes, and all the Caribbean sea life you can handle.
Dive Ops: That's a can of worms right there
Everyone has their favorites and that's who they will cheer for when giving recommendations. I'm no exception, but I do try and give a variety of services and price ranges.
in no particular order:
Blue Angel Resort/Dive Op: My personal dive op for over a dozen years, both six-pack (small, fast) boats and larger "cabin cruiser" types available. Very good dive masters and captains. Plus a nice place to stay. 22 rooms all facing the ocean, big rooms, with mini-fridges and safes. On site dive op and very good restaurant.
Bottom Time Divers: Raul Plates. A single boat operation, Raul is GREAT at finding little critters, super safety minded and a great guy.
BlueXTSea. Boutique diving at it's best. Another purposely small dive op, with great personal service.
Aldora Divers: one of the island's best for sure. Extremely well run DO with Very nice Villas in the northern hotel zone as well.
Dive with Martin: A long time favorite. Great DM's. Very well priced.
Tres Pelicanos: one of my favorite island DM's works here. A very well run organization, again small, 2 very nice, wide beamed boats.
ScubaTony: Again, just a very well run operation.
Dive with Alison: Highly recommended by personal friends.
there are over 70 dive operators on the island, so picking one is very hard. Most people go through several before finding one that suits them, but the majority of all of them do a very good job.
As far as staying "near" the dive sites goes. you would be looking at staying at one of the all-inclusives down south. I've stayed at the Occidental Grand once. Very nice facilities, good food, no nightlife, a long ways from town (this was several years ago and AI's have a way of flocculating in services, take that for what it's worth) . Almost a $20US cab ride one-way to town.
My personal opinion is to NOT do AI's on the island & stay within a reasonable cab ride/walk to town. There are way too many great places to eat in town. You could do a culinary vacation on the island easily nowadays.
if you do stay way down south, boat rides to the reef will be very short, 10 - 15 min. The drawback, is you won't be able to do the more northern dive sites in the Marine Park, because the captains are not going to motor back up north and then back south to drop you off and then back north to go "home".
Boat rides from the piers just south of town will be up to 45 min. if you are hitting the far south dive sites (which you want to do). If you stay at Aldora, it will be a little longer, but they leave a little earlier.
NOTE: Most dive ops pick up at most hotel piers. There are a few exceptions. If you don't stay at a place with an onsite dive op, check with your dive op to see if they will pick up at the hotel/resort/condo where you are staying.
mcohen1021
Contributor
I heard Cozumel ran out of beer and won't get more until 2018 
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nuts4corals
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gopbroek
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Damian G. Finch
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It's the opposite of "no frills" diving. It can mean that they handle all your gear so that you never touch it except when you are diving and/or other amenities that you pay extra for.
gopbroek
Contributor
Or actually paying less for more service and amenities including rinsing your wetsuit
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