First of all it was a great trip, I was very happy with my first Scubaboard Invasion and I hope to make the next one. The organizers did a great job and I don't think that they could have chosen a better hotel/dive op. My family had a great time enjoying the pool, ocean, beach, included gear for snorkeling, and the kids club while I was enjoying the diving. Virtually all of the staff members were great, especially Carlos! I thought that the food was pretty good for an all inclusive. The all inclusive was excellent for doing three dives per day, especially with lunch a few steps from the boat dock, and the family being able to grab something easily anytime they were hungry. As always, I did learn a few things from the experience.
1. Never rely only on the hotel wake up call. We tried the wake up calls at Hotel Cozumel and Resort, didn't work out so well. The other hotels that we stayed at during our vacation made sure the wake up calls came through on time every time. I also set the clock and my computer alarms, so there were always backups.
2. I decided to rent gear so I wouldn't have to carry everything around after factoring in the costs of additional baggage on my flight, and the fact of being there for two weeks but only diving for one week. I was really glad that the gear was on the boat for each day of diving, and I didn't have to take care of rinsing/drying/storing the gear after the dives. They also had a web special for $12.50usd per day which made renting even more economical. I showed up every day carrying only my water bottle, just my preference, not required as they had fresh water on the boats every day.
2a. If you wear a 10.5w shoe, you might not want to rent the fins from Dive Paradise. The first day of boat dives, the plastic was pushing through the rubber and wore holes in my feet. I did end up getting some tape for my feet from the front desk at the hotel, but after the first two dives the damage was already done. I was wearing the 10-11 size and the holes in my feet still aren't healed. Next time I will at least bring my own boots/fins.
2b. If you have to make any changes to gear sizes, make sure they change it on the master paperwork for the dive boats. If they just make a note of it on your sign in sheet you will most likely have to let them know to change out the gear daily as I did. This could have also been because of switching boats, if you had the same crew they probably would have remembered for the next day.
2c. Always check your rental gear 100%, just because the gauge shows pressure does not mean that it's correct. On Thursday's dive aboard Tango we went to the ship wreck. Directions were to move outside of the wreck at 1000psi, and start to surface at 750psi. I was almost done with my safety stop and I ran out of air. Even with nothing in the tank, and I mean nothing, no pressure at all, it was still reading over 200psi. So when my gauge was reading 750psi, actual pressure was closer to 500psi when I started to surface. Needless to say, turn the tank valve off, relieve all of the pressure and make sure that your gauge reads properly when empty. I didn't do this as when I got on the boat and looked at the gauge it said just over 3000psi so I figured that they had checked it and was good to go. It's your life, check your gear yourself.
Cozumel and Mexico in general.
3. Don't plan on buying any scuba gear in Cozumel. Example: Fins that you can find on Leisure Pro(thanks again for sponsoring prizes for our invasion) for $15-$20usd will run you $45usd there.
4. If you need to have laundry done in Cozumel, or in our case just dried, there is a laundromat just behind the Mega on 11th. It's about a half a block back, very easy to find on the left side. Prices are dirt cheap to compare to having the hotel do your laundry. Not on the price list, but it's 40 pesos for 30min of drying time
5. Taking a taxi from the hotel will always cost more. An example of getting back to town from the Fiesta Americana hotel. If you get a taxi from the hotel it is approx. 200pesos. Walk across the street to where the taxi drivers wait, and it's 100pesos. Started walking up the street towards the condos, a taxi driver stops, offered him 40pesos, he accepts and takes us to town. Second example is from the airport, $10 per person while on airport property, walk out to the road, taxi stops, $10 for all of us.
6. Bus is the cheapest way to travel by far. We went up to Cancun after the diving, take the ferry across to PDC, then 1 street up, turn right and walk to the next street. There is the ADO station, buy your tickets and have a comfortable ride up to Cancun. Even had English language movies playing on the way up and back.
As far as traveling around Cancun, bus again was the cheapest way to go and pretty efficient as long as you pay attention to where you are going. From our hotel to downtown was 6pesos per person. Kids are free if you are carrying them if they walk on the bus, then they pay the same.
On the island they do have a public bus system, but if you stay in the tourist areas, I don't think that you will even see them. I didn’t even notice them until we were getting ready to leave. They aren’t really intended for the tourists, they want you to take a taxi everywhere. Did find some info after getting back. Cozumel Insider - Public Bus Routes & Schedules
7. Xcaret(pronounced “Ish Ka Ret”) park is a toss up as to being worth it for me. I'm glad we went, but at the same time probably not something I would do again. It was still a good time though skip the ‘basic’ entrance and go with the ‘plus’ ticket. The ‘plus’ is $30usd more than the basic ticket, and just the lunch buffet at Xcaret park was $30usd per person. The plus tickets get you the buffet and some other perks. Be ready if you stay for the big show at the end of the day, by the time we got to halftime, we were ready to leave. Also you get free transportation to the park from (at least)Cancun if you go through the desk at the ADO station, so we did this on the day we returned to PDC, and just had to buy a return ticket from Xcaret to PDC. Make sure to get your return ticket in advance like we did, the bus was full on the way back.
8. Well worth it to swim with the dolphins at Dolphin Discovery @ Chankanaab National Park. My son loved it and I can’t wait until he is tall enough to do the ‘royal swim’. They were the only two people for that scheduled time, so they had 30min with the dolphin all to themselves. The sea lion show was a lot of fun too. If you aren’t planning on doing the swims, it might not be worth the price of admission. Admission is included in the swims, otherwise it was $21usd for admission. Dolphin Discovery is only 1km(0.6miles) south of the Fiesta Americana hotel. They had a 2 for 1 special going on until yesterday, but it had to be 7days in advance. It was for the royal swim or the swim adventure. So we didn’t get in on that deal, but something to watch for next time. Deals at Dolphin Discovery
9. Crococun Zoo in Cancun was pretty cool, you get to interact with all of the animals which is what really makes this place special. Though it felt kind of short, but not really rushed for the $25usd per person, and under 6 are free. Each group gets their own guide, and he was very nice and explained what he could. You can get there by bus, but getting back will almost certainly be by taxi. The bus drops you off on the opposite side of the highway, directly across from Crococun. I was told that you can also take the Playa Express vans back for 20pesos, but a couple of them drove past and none of them stopped, so I guess they were full. Maybe if you go early enough in the day you will have better odds with the Playa Express vans.
10. Everything is cheaper when the cruise ships aren't in and also if you get out of tourist areas. A bottle of beer can run anywhere from $1usd up to $4usd. Often you don't have to go far, one block off of the main streets and you notice the differences.
Well that is all I can think of for now, can't wait for the next trip
1. Never rely only on the hotel wake up call. We tried the wake up calls at Hotel Cozumel and Resort, didn't work out so well. The other hotels that we stayed at during our vacation made sure the wake up calls came through on time every time. I also set the clock and my computer alarms, so there were always backups.
2. I decided to rent gear so I wouldn't have to carry everything around after factoring in the costs of additional baggage on my flight, and the fact of being there for two weeks but only diving for one week. I was really glad that the gear was on the boat for each day of diving, and I didn't have to take care of rinsing/drying/storing the gear after the dives. They also had a web special for $12.50usd per day which made renting even more economical. I showed up every day carrying only my water bottle, just my preference, not required as they had fresh water on the boats every day.
2a. If you wear a 10.5w shoe, you might not want to rent the fins from Dive Paradise. The first day of boat dives, the plastic was pushing through the rubber and wore holes in my feet. I did end up getting some tape for my feet from the front desk at the hotel, but after the first two dives the damage was already done. I was wearing the 10-11 size and the holes in my feet still aren't healed. Next time I will at least bring my own boots/fins.
2b. If you have to make any changes to gear sizes, make sure they change it on the master paperwork for the dive boats. If they just make a note of it on your sign in sheet you will most likely have to let them know to change out the gear daily as I did. This could have also been because of switching boats, if you had the same crew they probably would have remembered for the next day.
2c. Always check your rental gear 100%, just because the gauge shows pressure does not mean that it's correct. On Thursday's dive aboard Tango we went to the ship wreck. Directions were to move outside of the wreck at 1000psi, and start to surface at 750psi. I was almost done with my safety stop and I ran out of air. Even with nothing in the tank, and I mean nothing, no pressure at all, it was still reading over 200psi. So when my gauge was reading 750psi, actual pressure was closer to 500psi when I started to surface. Needless to say, turn the tank valve off, relieve all of the pressure and make sure that your gauge reads properly when empty. I didn't do this as when I got on the boat and looked at the gauge it said just over 3000psi so I figured that they had checked it and was good to go. It's your life, check your gear yourself.
Cozumel and Mexico in general.
3. Don't plan on buying any scuba gear in Cozumel. Example: Fins that you can find on Leisure Pro(thanks again for sponsoring prizes for our invasion) for $15-$20usd will run you $45usd there.
4. If you need to have laundry done in Cozumel, or in our case just dried, there is a laundromat just behind the Mega on 11th. It's about a half a block back, very easy to find on the left side. Prices are dirt cheap to compare to having the hotel do your laundry. Not on the price list, but it's 40 pesos for 30min of drying time
5. Taking a taxi from the hotel will always cost more. An example of getting back to town from the Fiesta Americana hotel. If you get a taxi from the hotel it is approx. 200pesos. Walk across the street to where the taxi drivers wait, and it's 100pesos. Started walking up the street towards the condos, a taxi driver stops, offered him 40pesos, he accepts and takes us to town. Second example is from the airport, $10 per person while on airport property, walk out to the road, taxi stops, $10 for all of us.
6. Bus is the cheapest way to travel by far. We went up to Cancun after the diving, take the ferry across to PDC, then 1 street up, turn right and walk to the next street. There is the ADO station, buy your tickets and have a comfortable ride up to Cancun. Even had English language movies playing on the way up and back.
As far as traveling around Cancun, bus again was the cheapest way to go and pretty efficient as long as you pay attention to where you are going. From our hotel to downtown was 6pesos per person. Kids are free if you are carrying them
if they walk on the bus, then they pay the same.On the island they do have a public bus system, but if you stay in the tourist areas, I don't think that you will even see them. I didn’t even notice them until we were getting ready to leave. They aren’t really intended for the tourists, they want you to take a taxi everywhere. Did find some info after getting back. Cozumel Insider - Public Bus Routes & Schedules
7. Xcaret(pronounced “Ish Ka Ret”) park is a toss up as to being worth it for me. I'm glad we went, but at the same time probably not something I would do again. It was still a good time though skip the ‘basic’ entrance and go with the ‘plus’ ticket. The ‘plus’ is $30usd more than the basic ticket, and just the lunch buffet at Xcaret park was $30usd per person. The plus tickets get you the buffet and some other perks. Be ready if you stay for the big show at the end of the day, by the time we got to halftime, we were ready to leave. Also you get free transportation to the park from (at least)Cancun if you go through the desk at the ADO station, so we did this on the day we returned to PDC, and just had to buy a return ticket from Xcaret to PDC. Make sure to get your return ticket in advance like we did, the bus was full on the way back.
8. Well worth it to swim with the dolphins at Dolphin Discovery @ Chankanaab National Park. My son loved it and I can’t wait until he is tall enough to do the ‘royal swim’. They were the only two people for that scheduled time, so they had 30min with the dolphin all to themselves. The sea lion show was a lot of fun too. If you aren’t planning on doing the swims, it might not be worth the price of admission. Admission is included in the swims, otherwise it was $21usd for admission. Dolphin Discovery is only 1km(0.6miles) south of the Fiesta Americana hotel. They had a 2 for 1 special going on until yesterday, but it had to be 7days in advance. It was for the royal swim or the swim adventure. So we didn’t get in on that deal, but something to watch for next time. Deals at Dolphin Discovery
9. Crococun Zoo in Cancun was pretty cool, you get to interact with all of the animals which is what really makes this place special. Though it felt kind of short, but not really rushed for the $25usd per person, and under 6 are free. Each group gets their own guide, and he was very nice and explained what he could. You can get there by bus, but getting back will almost certainly be by taxi. The bus drops you off on the opposite side of the highway, directly across from Crococun. I was told that you can also take the Playa Express vans back for 20pesos, but a couple of them drove past and none of them stopped, so I guess they were full. Maybe if you go early enough in the day you will have better odds with the Playa Express vans.
10. Everything is cheaper when the cruise ships aren't in and also if you get out of tourist areas. A bottle of beer can run anywhere from $1usd up to $4usd. Often you don't have to go far, one block off of the main streets and you notice the differences.
Well that is all I can think of for now, can't wait for the next trip
