Guests of Sunscape, Secrets & Residencias Reef

[drrich2]

What I will be doing going forward is to discourage people from staying there. I know several operators have decided to stop servicing those properties. So guests will have to drive to the marina or another location to met their boats.

It doesn't seem to be in the best interest of anybody for the dive ops to dissuade or influence clients from staying there because of grievances with the pier management. As long as the fees and transparency of the process is disclosed, there should be no other factoring influencing the decision of where to stay.

It sounds like this has been a hassle for Christi, and so presumably for others. Dive op.s have 3 obvious choices; endure what's seen as inappropriate hassle for nothing except the pier fee itself (enabling the new system), refuse to deal with it (not pick up there, period, which inconveniences customers and may send them to competition) or add a service/convenience fee, over and beyond the pier use fee, to compensate themselves. Which means raising prices and that can annoy customers. As long as comparable alternatives without this problem are practically available, human nature would seem to dictate op.s will steer customers away from there when it's convenient to do so, and doesn't impose on customers' interests unduly.

How else can the dive op.s push back against this?

Richard.

 

[nodakdive]

It's great to hear some other experiences besides the glowing reviews on trip advisor. I really want to try Cozumel and was looking at AI's ONLY because they seem to have any semblance of a beach for the non-diver.

Many places have a semblance of a beach. It might be behind a seawall, but there's sand and chairs and umbrellas and hammocks and palm trees, etc. Didn't know this until recently, but the Park Royal has an actual beach into the water. Right next door, Casa del Mar has a "beach behind a sea wall". I'm not sure what's north of CDM in terms of sea wall or actual beach, but I think it's mostly seawalls.

It depends on the non-diver, of course, but what I've noticed with my non-diving friends is that they want a nice place to hang out where they can be near water and palm trees, see the ocean, have a nice place to sit and some sort of drink/food service close. There are lots of places that fit this bill all along the coast including very close to and even in town.

You'll be able to find something that works. Good luck with your search.

 

[Dan G]

We never stayed at the AIs in Coz until we started bringing our kids. If we want to dive 2-4 dives/day, the youngins need to be having fun too. That means food anytime, decent pools, and beach access. The AIs accomplish this for us. I totally miss the walks into downtown for dinner each night, but this is one of those trade-offs we make to actually make a trip feasible.

I'm pretty bummed to hear that the pier charge is back because one reason we selected Sabor was that there was no pier charge.

 

[ggunn]

I have seen from the dive boat those expanses of sand packed with beach chairs elbow to elbow. Not my cuppa.

 

[Hatul]

I stayed a few years ago at Sunscape Sabor and had a positive experience. The food was good and good beach. We dove with Dive with Martin which was OK, with the one complaint that surface intervals were too short, perhaps Aldora would have been better choice. Also had mosquito problem, and poor WiFi. But overall the experience was fine, and since we have a toddler now we may stay there next time. I think it’s a better choice with a young child than the diver resorts like Blue Angel or Scuba Club.

 

[kelemvor]

I enjoyed the AI at Hotel Cozumel and Dive Paradise. Their food was fine and the price reasonable.

Same here. I thought it was a good value and had no serious complaints when I was there. I did price a trip using a small hotel (casa jefey or something like that) and a smaller dive operator but the cost was significantly higher and there were logistical difficulties to deal with (food, travel to dive op). I know AI's aren't some folks' cup of tea, but I really like the concept.

 

[RhodeDiver]

No rum what-so-ever in my one-a-day Pina Colada

You realize with an AI you can request the drink to be made stronger... at no charge

 

[nwflyboy]

Getting back to the original issue...

...from a business and tax accountability perspective, I get why they have to do it this way vs. having a guy collecting cash on the pier. But they could accomplish this same thing by adding it to the "resort fee" for all guests without inconveniencing them - because virtually all guests are going to use the pier for something at least once during their vacation.

A "resort fee" is simply a way for dishonest businesses to pad their revenue.

Why not charge a "resort fee" for the use of the road, the carpet, the bathtub, the air conditioner? These are all part of being there and utilizing their facilities. In other words, the cost of doing business. Using the dock is part of the cost of doing business. Charging extra for the use of the pier is no different from charging extra for the use of clean sheets or flushing the toilet in your bathroom.

 

[Christi]

Getting back to the original issue...



A "resort fee" is simply a way for dishonest businesses to pad their revenue.

Why not charge a "resort fee" for the use of the road, the carpet, the bathtub, the air conditioner? These are all part of being there and utilizing their facilities. In other words, the cost of doing business. Using the dock is part of the cost of doing business. Charging extra for the use of the pier is no different from charging extra for the use of clean sheets or flushing the toilet in your bathroom.

I actually agree with you - if they need to increase revenue to cover their cost of doing business, they should just raise the room rates a dollar or two a night. My point is that there are other ways they could accomplish allocating funds for the pier maintenance. What they are doing would be like me (or any dive shop) charging extra fees to raise funds when it's time to purchase new engines, or new tanks or new equipment - I have those expenses amortized and budgeted for - it's like you said, part of my "cost of doing business" and these things are built into my pricing structure. Believe it or not, our only expenses for operating aren't fuel, tank fills, and staff - contrary to what some believe.

 

[gopbroek]

You realize with an AI you can request the drink to be made stronger... at no charge

Yes you can

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