Diver pickup fee charged from the Iberoster??

[Jarviz]

I'm staying at the Iberostar Cozumel March 31st for a week and I've just read the trip report at http://www.tripadvisor.com

...... The only major glitch I could find was in the dive op and their exclusive attitude which was manifested while I was at Iberostar. Dressel Divers, the house op, will not earn a better reputation amongst us Coz dive fans for their recently-applied sanctions against Mex. op's. The local dive operators, it is told, are now to be charged a per-head fee just to pick up us hard-core devotees at Iberostar's dock. They (in this case, the foreign corps) seem to be hasseling local Mexicans in order to further their corporate stock at the hotel pier--and this is not unprecidented. I will never line up with Dressel, nor stay at this magnificent hotel again, just to shirk the local dive ops. Dive Coz op's have been in bs. long enough to bring dedicated divers to the island. Let's not dessert them now. when the big corps have the potential to drive them out of bs.

I was going to use an Indepandent dive operator, I'm a fairly new diver and wanted to go on a smaller boat.
Any ideas who would be the closest dive operator from the Iberostar so I don't have to pay for a taxi fare into town. My LDS recommended Papa Hogs but I'm not sure how far that is from the Iberostar.

 

[ronrosa]

How much is the pickup fee ?

If it's cheaper than taxi fare then tell your dive operator of choice that you'll pay the fee.

 

[Valwood1]

We stayed at the Iberostar in November, 2002 and did not pay a pick-up fee. When was the fee implemented, and how much is it?

The consensus seems to be that the cab fare into town is about $20US.

 

[Len]

We stayed at the Iberostar in November, 2002 and did not pay a pick-up fee. When was the fee implemented, and how much is it?
The consensus seems to be that the cab fare into town is about $20US.

Sounds ridiculous to me. Will dive ops at all resorts charge a pick-up fee ? Maybe Docvikingo can shine a little light on this subject.

Cab fare is $17 (actually $170 pesos) from the Iberostar to town.

 

[dnhill]

I was at Iberostar from March 6-13th and used Blue XT and Liquid Blue for dive ops. Christy stated that there was some recent problems, but did not mention a pick up fee. My family enjoyed the Iberostar and I enjoyed being so close to the southern reefs. I hope this gets worked out.

dnhill

 

[mediakzar]

We stayed at the Iberostar in November, 2002 and did not pay a pick-up fee. When was the fee implemented, and how much is it?

The consensus seems to be that the cab fare into town is about $20US.

It would be quicker and a cheaper cab ride than going into town if you just made your way to one of the beach clubs in the area and have our dive op pick you there.

Joel
http://www.mxtravel.com/cozumel.html

 

[ggunn]

Any ideas who would be the closest dive operator from the Iberostar so I don't have to pay for a taxi fare into town. My LDS recommended Papa Hogs but I'm not sure how far that is from the Iberostar.

The closest dive op to the Iberostar would probably be Sand Dollar, which operates out of the Reef Club resort. I believe Papa Hog's is based at Villablanca, which is south of town but still a long ways from Iberostar.

 

[mediakzar]

If you've been in touch with Cozumel dive operations setting up your dives, why not get in touch with them and ask the question? I'm sure they will know if Iberostar is now charging a pickup fee and if so, the closest pickup point where you won't be charged a fee.

JK
http://www.mxtravel.com/cozumel/cozumel_diving.html

 

[mwall04]

I returned last night from Cozumel after staying a week at the Iberostar (loved it!) and diving with Dressel Divers. Although I didn't specifically ask, I would assume that there is some type of fee being charged or other issue, as very few boats other than Dressel's used the docks. Over a period of the week, I probably saw less than half a dozen other boats use the dock.

That said, given that Dressel runs 4 to 6 boats per day and, for whatever reason, every dive operator on the island hits the same dive sites at the same time, the dock area was crowded and hectic enough every morning without numerous other dive operators picking up their customers.

Matt

 

[Jarviz]

I also just returned from a week at the Iberostar.
I wasn't charged a pickup fee but I did notice someone from the Iberostar staff keeping track of all pickups from the pier.
I chose to use Dive with Martin, small boats, rental equipment included in the price (although I brought my own) and divers choose the reefs to dive. They picked me up on time and I was charged $60.00 for a 2 tank dive.
I used Dressel Divers one day because I wanted to do a night dive but that couldn't be my first dive with them. This worked out OK because my wife doesn't dive so we went on 2 shallow dives, Colombia and Palancar Gardens, while she snorkeled above. It was $79.00 for a 2 tank dive plus extra if you had to rent equipment.
I did my first ever night dive with Dressel Divers. We received our instructions for the DM, light signals etc., I was told to point the light down so we could see where the bottom was. Everything was good, started down, one hand with the light pointing down the other letting air out of my BC hose, it was then I realized I needed another hand to equalize :11: So my start was a little shaky but what an excellent dive, saw 2 sharks.
Over all I preferred Dive with Martin, although I felt safe with both operators.