New Years Solo Trip, some suggestions and a few questions?

[Jayfarmlaw]

Blue Magic is on North 4th and they leave from their shop, they pay for the cab to Caletta both ways. It looks like you are less than 2 blocks to their shop. Awesome bakery on the corner and next to Burrito Gordito so lunch and breakfast are convenient and insanely cheap. They have al100's as an option. Surface interval is on a beach with no improvements (my favorite) with good snacks and water on the boat. Very very personalized operation and can meet all of your needs. If you get to dive with Pumba, he is one of the oldest DM's on the island and will take care of you. (I'm sure any other DM will as well...we just dove with Pumba while we were there) I just wish they would do steel 120's.

I have only dove with DWM once but loved every minute of it. Would not hesitate to dive with them again if location was convenient. They have their own pier by the international cruise ship pier. A little far from downtown.

Aldora is awesome, insanely long dive times, several boats to match divers to their skill sets, maybe a little higher than most but the dive times make up for it. Ask about a cash discount as well. They leave from their own pier near the ferry pier so it may be convenient to your hostel. Dave is a huge supporter of this site so they deserve a look. SI at the beach club was nice, prices were high for food and cokes, but liveable. ($3 US for a Coke and $7 for a fruit plate) Jorge was our DM and was perfect. If you like finding all kinds of marine life you would NEVER see otherwise, he's your man! Our last dive was almost 90 minutes! nNitrox certification would be a good idea because of the nitrogen loads. We were always well within safe limits, but A serious nap was required after lunch. I don't know how napping in a hostel would work out. If you like diving in the morning and exploring the rest of the day, I would suggest getting your Nitrox card first. It's easy and requires no dives, just a short class. I'm doing my book work now.

Christy at BlueXtSea is a supporter of this site as well, I believe they are a smaller operation and may fill up quick. They have AL100's as an option as well. I think she lives on the island and is a great source of immediate first hand information through this site. I have not dove with them due to scheduling, but I believe they are one of the top operations on the island.

I'd email everyone and make sure they have a space for you. That may decide who you dive with anyway. I'm an Airhog as well and always get a larger tank so I don't force a buddy to come up early because I drained my 80 in 35 minutes.

the Thirsty Cougar is close to the Aldora Pier and their house band is a cross between Pink Floyd, The Eagles, ZZTop, and maybe CCR with a twist of every current pop band thrown in. 2 guys with acoustic guitars playing a mix spanning 40 years, but all with a classical Spanish twist woven seemlessly in the mix. I have seen guys set in a few times and there is a YouTube video of a guy playing harmonica with them. They are absolutely one of my favorite parts of my island"home" and are the main reason my Cougar tab is always higher than I expect....

I would imagine there there will be a New Year's Eve party in the town square by the flagpole. When Cozumel party's.....everyone, young and old and everything in between shows up in force. I highly recommend Haloween. I hope to make that one of the trips every year since Carnival does not work for my schedule.

Please drink a Bohemia Obscura or Ojo Rojo for me, the Ceviche at the Cougar is really good, the lobster rolls at the Lobster Shack across the street are amazing, if you want to step it up a bit for dinner, the Scallops at Guidos are the best I've ever had. Good luck, Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, and say hello for everyone for me.

Jay

 

[BRT]

Unless there are rates I don't know about Tres Pelicanos is the price leader and they certainly are a first class dive operation. I have no other Cozumel operators to compare with but they are first class compared to some I use on the mainland. Don't let it go to your head, Steve. And I want my kickback in late January.

 

[nodakdive]

I was going to mention Blue Magic Scuba too, due to proximity to the hostel. I dove with Pumba some years ago and enjoyed him very much.

 

[ggunn]

I was going to mention Blue Magic Scuba too, due to proximity to the hostel. I dove with Pumba some years ago and enjoyed him very much.

Diving with Pumba is very entertaining. Somewhere I have a picture of him during a dive wearing a dead crab for a hat.

 

[Brules]

Hello all! Long time no post, but this time I've decided to S&%T or get off the pot.
Unfortunately some life changes have occurred and I've decided to give myself my 30th birthday present a little early in the form of a dive trip. On the plus side, maybe my next partner can be my life-long dive buddy A coworker was able to help hook me up with a killer flight to Cozumel and I've booked a hostel from December 30th to January 6th. This is going to be the perfect week to get away from it all, refresh the batteries and have some amazing memories!

I'm staying downtown at Bed Friends and looking for my best dive options. I've been speaking with Tres Pelicanos and Dive With Martin and wanted to pick the brains of the board if there are any other top notch outfits I should look at. DWM seems great but my only issue is that it's going to cost me $20 a day in cabs there and back and that'll add some significant costs to the trip over 5-6 days. On the other hand, they seem cheaper and include free rentals so maybe it all balances out. but either way, would love some first hand knowledge! I'm a novice diver and will end up doing a refresher course and hiring a private dive master for the first couple of days to really work out all of the kinks.

Secondly, any suggestions for New Years Eve in Coz? I've been to the island a few times and have a half-decent idea of the layout of the city but this will be the first time I've ever travelled solo. I'm not a crazy partier but it'd be cool to have an idea of what might be around.

Also, I used to be a semi-professional musician and every time I was in cozumel I thought it would be a lot of fun to play at an open mic or something like that. Can anyone let me know if there are any on the island? Alternatively, does anyone know of any places that provide live entertainment and might be interested in having me play some music for the night? Will play for beer! I wouldn't normally lug my guitar on vacation but thought I'd look into it and maybe it would be an idea.

Lastly, if anyone is going to be around during that time I'd love to have an internet meet up for a beer and a taco somewhere!
Thanks in advance for the tips; this board has always been wonderful in trip planning and this time I'm actually going!

Since you are asking for advice, here is mine:

1) Pick a dive op that picks up at a downtown pier. That will eliminate your taxi fares (or if one is willing to pay for your taxi). I would still pick one that uses a downtown pier for the pure convenience of it.
2) For entertainment and NYE - Wet Wendy's? Always live music.....and I have seen one of their house bands let people sing with them and play instruments. Def a good time there and the "Margaritas" or giant frozen concoctions of deliciousness can't be beat........

 

[Queen Triggerfish]

Lastly, if anyone is going to be around during that time I'd love to have an internet meet up for a beer and a taco somewhere!
Thanks in advance for the tips; this board has always been wonderful in trip planning and this time I'm actually going!

I added you to the December thread - might help connect for beer and tacos. There has been a suggestion of dinner at El Moro between the 26th and 30th, and I'm seeing if I can gather a New Year's Eve dinner/drinks gathering.

I'm not as honed in to the music scene as the people who are there for months on end, but my thought was Wet Wendy's for seeing if you could join in. There always seem to have live music. I've seen other musicians join in for a song or two, but I don't know how preplanned it was.

I haven't used DWM or Tres Pelicanos, but am using Tres Pelicanos for the first time this year. If you are on a budget, they certainly seem to be a great bet especially if you are stringing together multiple days and have a great reputation.

 

[MikeRiley]

thanks everyone for the tips!
I ended up booking with Aldora. Their proximity is the best for where I'm staying and they come so highly recommended off the board that it was the best bet for me on this trip.

I'm looking forward to spending my longest trip diving of my still young dive career and it would be great to run into some friendly faces!

 

[PARADISE HUNTER]

Woody's Bar is on the square and has live music most nights. The owner's name is Nelly Gonzales, nice lady. I'd stop by and ask her if there would be any opportunity to play a few songs one night.

PH

 

[Clernix]

I just checked at DWM 5 day package is $305 with free gear and TP is $329 + $50 gear rental for 5 days. The tip about paying for taxis is pesos is a huge cost saver. I am speaking from experience. I have only used DWM for years so I can't speak to the service with TP but with all the good recommendations I will have to try them.

As far as party on New Years Eve. I have only been on the island once for New Years and was not impressed. The square was pretty much dead. Maybe you just have to know where to go. I bet Wet Wendy's will be hopping. I was there in May and they had a salsa night that was pretty impressive.

Also for transportation the brave of heart can get a scooter and save on taxi. I get a bug for $35 a day at Isis and have never gone wrong.

 

[ggunn]

Also for transportation the brave of heart can get a scooter and save on taxi.

That's not a good idea for most people. Injury related to scooter accidents is the number one cause of emergency room visits by gringos on Cozumel. Most who rent them have little to no experience driving them, and most who go to Cozumel consume alcoholic beverages while they are there. That's a bad combination, and I speak from experience, or at least that of my brother, several friends, and my dentist (who was killed on a rented scooter in Mexico).

Taxis are much safer.