My wife and I just returned from a wonderful dive trip to Cozumel. Dates of stay were February 26 through March 2 2018. We really enjoyed the Iberostar Resort and diving with Dressel Divers, the on site dive shop. First let me review the dive shop and the diving:
Dressel Divers: From what I read here on scubaboard I knew to ask for a room near the dive shop. Once we checked in and dropped our stuff off at the room we headed right down to the dive shop. It was maybe 100 yard walk. We talked with the folks at the dive desk and got our dives all lined up for the next day and the days following. We had brought a lock, also got this info here, and grabbed a locker to put some of our stuff in. We used the lock we brought from home to lock up our locker. The front desk did a nice job of explaining everything to us, helping us make sure our paperwork was accurate, and filling us in on how the week would go.
Day 1 of diving had us doing two dives. The following Days we did up to four dives a day. The water clarity, weather, and ocean conditions in general were awesome all week. We really enjoyed the free Nitrox and dove all of our dives taking advantage of this. I have been Nitrox certified since the early 2000’s, but my wife took the PADI certification in anticipation of this trip. Normally I would not cough up the $10 a tank but being it was free we took advantage of it.
Throughout the week we managed to get in 17 dives, one of which was a night dive. We were very impressed with the dive masters, the accommodations of the dive boats, and we absolutely love the five minute ride to some of the best dive sites Cozumel has to offer. The way it worked was there were three groups of 6 to 7 Divers per large dive boat. Each group had their own DM, and would get dropped off separately so the groups did not run over each other. I really enjoyed this. It gave us an opportunity to meet different DM‘s and lots of divers. The boat had plenty of room for all and although it did get chaotic at times once we figured out the routine it was a great way to dive. We liked the fact that the boat returned to the resort between dives for our surface intervals.
Another thing we appreciated was the fact that we did not have to end our dive until we were at 700 psi or 60 minutes. When the first person would get to 700 psi the DM would launch a smb and the first group would go up and do their 15 foot three minute stop. The rest of us would keep on diving. Because we were the first group in the water every time due to the fact that the Nitrox tanks were at the back of the boat, the 60 minute max time was not strictly enforced. However with my air consumption we were usually up at that 60 minute range anyway.
So overall we were very happy with Dressel Divers. We just booked another trip for October and this time we are going to stay in town and try a little different type of trip. I will say that I would not hesitate to book with them again. The whole experience was pleasant and everyone we dealt with were friendly and professional.
Iberostar: A little bit on the resort itself. The grounds are gorgeous, the beach is very large with tons of chairs and umbrellas. We thought the food was excellent, and the drinks were good and strong at most of the bars. The service was great, and the people were very friendly. It is a tropical park like setting that was very laid-back. We really enjoyed the free roaming flamingos, peacocks, parrots, wild boar, and even a couple of cats. We kept thinking our kids really would’ve enjoyed that. It was kind a like being at a tropical zoo. Pricing is probably 2 times what you’ll pay in town at some of the boutique hotels but with the food and drinks included and atmosphere we thought it was well worth the money.
Dressel Divers: From what I read here on scubaboard I knew to ask for a room near the dive shop. Once we checked in and dropped our stuff off at the room we headed right down to the dive shop. It was maybe 100 yard walk. We talked with the folks at the dive desk and got our dives all lined up for the next day and the days following. We had brought a lock, also got this info here, and grabbed a locker to put some of our stuff in. We used the lock we brought from home to lock up our locker. The front desk did a nice job of explaining everything to us, helping us make sure our paperwork was accurate, and filling us in on how the week would go.
Day 1 of diving had us doing two dives. The following Days we did up to four dives a day. The water clarity, weather, and ocean conditions in general were awesome all week. We really enjoyed the free Nitrox and dove all of our dives taking advantage of this. I have been Nitrox certified since the early 2000’s, but my wife took the PADI certification in anticipation of this trip. Normally I would not cough up the $10 a tank but being it was free we took advantage of it.
Throughout the week we managed to get in 17 dives, one of which was a night dive. We were very impressed with the dive masters, the accommodations of the dive boats, and we absolutely love the five minute ride to some of the best dive sites Cozumel has to offer. The way it worked was there were three groups of 6 to 7 Divers per large dive boat. Each group had their own DM, and would get dropped off separately so the groups did not run over each other. I really enjoyed this. It gave us an opportunity to meet different DM‘s and lots of divers. The boat had plenty of room for all and although it did get chaotic at times once we figured out the routine it was a great way to dive. We liked the fact that the boat returned to the resort between dives for our surface intervals.
Another thing we appreciated was the fact that we did not have to end our dive until we were at 700 psi or 60 minutes. When the first person would get to 700 psi the DM would launch a smb and the first group would go up and do their 15 foot three minute stop. The rest of us would keep on diving. Because we were the first group in the water every time due to the fact that the Nitrox tanks were at the back of the boat, the 60 minute max time was not strictly enforced. However with my air consumption we were usually up at that 60 minute range anyway.
So overall we were very happy with Dressel Divers. We just booked another trip for October and this time we are going to stay in town and try a little different type of trip. I will say that I would not hesitate to book with them again. The whole experience was pleasant and everyone we dealt with were friendly and professional.
Iberostar: A little bit on the resort itself. The grounds are gorgeous, the beach is very large with tons of chairs and umbrellas. We thought the food was excellent, and the drinks were good and strong at most of the bars. The service was great, and the people were very friendly. It is a tropical park like setting that was very laid-back. We really enjoyed the free roaming flamingos, peacocks, parrots, wild boar, and even a couple of cats. We kept thinking our kids really would’ve enjoyed that. It was kind a like being at a tropical zoo. Pricing is probably 2 times what you’ll pay in town at some of the boutique hotels but with the food and drinks included and atmosphere we thought it was well worth the money.
