Trip planning

[cvchief]

And I would put the PR food up vs most of the cheap meal places in town. Their breakfast is as good or better than any breakfast in town, lunch is as good or better than any cheap lunch spot. Dinner we usually go to town as the price for the AI is still cheap at the PR (not as cheap as the Hotel Coz) so dinner in town usually just depends on if we have kids with us or not. No kids = goin to town much more often. This year is no kids so will be eating at all of our favorites nightly!

Well, ok, breakfasts tend to be similar, but breakfast at: Amparos, Corazon Contento or the Mueso, tends to beat any AI breakfast I have had. Or at Buccannos. They make a fabulous breakfast. Nice package deal.

That being said I typically don't eat breakfast on a dive day. I might have a pastry fresh from Zermatt (a couple pesos) and some coffee freshly ground from bean from my coffee guy out on 30. I hear the Burritos Gorditos breakfast is fab, but I have not been there.

Lunch? Now you are pushing it. a Gringas at Otates? The fish tacos at Playa Palancar? Burrito Gorditos? Comida del día at Casa Cuzmil or La Choza or the place there by Zermatts?

Keep it up. I love a food thread!!

 

[cvchief]

Lemme say that back when we did the AI, the food at the Grand and Iberostar was decent. Ok and plenty of it. Just not on the same level as in town about anywhere.....

 

[ggunn]

People will tell you AI's are evil and you don't get to experience the "real" Cozumel - and it is a load of hoo ha

Nope, it's all in what experience you are looking for. There are those who love AI's but I am not one of them. There are restaurants in town with much better fare than you will find at any AI. You can hole up in an AI way south of town if you want, but again, that is not the experience I am looking for. DSFDF.

 

[nodakdive]

There are so many options that it depends on what you and your wife value and expect. It's also a matter of cost and tolerance for hassle. For instance, I wouldn't stay downtown and dive with an op that requires me to get on their boat in the marina, even if they provided the transportation. I'd dive with an op that leaves from downtown. That's just me. If I absolutely had to dive with that marina only op, I'd stay somewhere south of the marina, so they could pick me up and drop me off at the hotel dock. Etc.

Others could do a better job at this than I have, but maybe something like this would be helpful for people to make more specific recommendations.

On a scale of 1-10, 10 being most important, please rate the following:

Low Cost -
All Inclusive -
Beautiful Hotel Beach -
Beautiful Hotel Property -
Great Hotel Amenities -
Room Quality -
Resort Activities -
Small Property -
Food Quality -
Food Variety -
Kid Friendly -
Convenient to local attractions -
Convenient to local restaurants -
Convenient Boat Diving -
Convenient Shore Diving -

Please answer the following:

How many prior trips to this location? -
How many prior dives? -
How many dives do you intend to do? -
How long is your stay? -
What are your trip dates? -
How many total in your party? -
How many divers in your party? -
Other considerations? -


There are people on this forum with a lot of experience and knowledge of the ins and outs. This might help them point you in the right direction.

 

[Rkimes]

There are so many options that it depends on what you and your wife value and expect. It's also a matter of cost and tolerance for hassle. For instance, I wouldn't stay downtown and dive with an op that requires me to get on their boat in the marina, even if they provided the transportation. I'd dive with an op that leaves from downtown. That's just me. If I absolutely had to dive with that marina only op, I'd stay somewhere south of the marina, so they could pick me up and drop me off at the hotel dock. Etc.

Others could do a better job at this than I have, but maybe something like this would be helpful for people to make more specific recommendations.

On a scale of 1-10, 10 being most important, please rate the following:

Low Cost -
All Inclusive -
Beautiful Hotel Beach -
Beautiful Hotel Property -
Great Hotel Amenities -
Room Quality -
Resort Activities -
Small Property -
Food Quality -
Food Variety -
Kid Friendly -
Convenient to local attractions -
Convenient to local restaurants -
Convenient Boat Diving -
Convenient Shore Diving -

Please answer the following:

How many prior trips to this location? -
How many prior dives? -
How many dives do you intend to do? -
How long is your stay? -
What are your trip dates? -
How many total in your party? -
How many divers in your party? -
Other considerations? -


There are people on this forum with a lot of experience and knowledge of the ins and outs. This might help them point you in the right direction.

 

[Rkimes]

On a scale of 1-10, 10 being most important, please rate the following:

Low Cost -
All Inclusive - 3
Beautiful Hotel Beach - 8
Beautiful Hotel Property -5
Great Hotel Amenities - 7
Room Quality - 8
Resort Activities - 3
Small Property - 3
Food Quality - 6
Food Variety - 6
Kid Friendly - 1
Convenient to local attractions - 3
Convenient to local restaurants - 7
Convenient Boat Diving - 8
Convenient Shore Diving - 8

Please answer the following:

How many prior trips to this location? -
How many prior dives? - 4
How many dives do you intend to do? - 5 days two tank dives
How long is your stay? - 7 days
What are your trip dates? - open to late April early May 2017
How many total in your party? - 2
How many divers in your party? - 1
Other considerations? - local culture


There are people on this forum with a lot of experience and knowledge of the ins and outs. This might help them point you in the right direction.[/QUOTE]

 

[Rkimes]

Budget from Ohio including Airfare 5-6k

 

[DandyDon]

Test

Test, test - can you hear me now...?

am new to diving and planing an April 2017 trip to Cozumel. My wife doesn't dive or even swim

Trips to Coz are easy to plan. All Inclusive will help the wife enjoy it more, but everyone should learn to swim. Lessons for adults are available in many cities.

(1) Do you have DAN or other dive insurance? Very important. No one ever wants to need it, but if you ever do - it can be a life safer in more ways than one.

(2) Have you considered Trip Insurance? I get is mostly because my medical insurance doesn't cover me out of US, and I like Travel Safe with many other benefits.

(3) Do hire a private DM for the first 2-tank trip. Money well spent.
Have a great trip.

 

[WildcatChris]

Budget from Ohio including Airfare 5-6k

That is a pretty good budget for Coz.

My wife does not dive. When we go we usually stay at the Occidental Grand down south. My wife likes to be around other people, and you're guaranteed that at the AI. By the second day she has made friends and I don't feel as bad for diving all of the time. There is also a full staff providing a steady stream of drinks, if nothing else. Food is OK, not great, alcohol is bottomless...

The dive op at the Grand is also ok, the divemasters have always been fantastic, but the experience of the divers can vary greatly. With that in mind I usually do 2 days with the resort op and 3 or more days with Aldora, who will pick up at the resort.

The last couple of times we have gone we have also rented a car. It's a bit of a drive from the resort to town, but it's doable. There's also only one road, so it's impossible to get lost. The car gives my wife the option to go shopping while I'm out, and also lets us eat in town a couple of nights a week.

Overall this is a bit more expensive than just renting a condo closer to town, but has worked out better for us because my wife is able to hang out with people at the resort if she wants. From Kansas I would say we usually spend about 3500 which includes all of my diving and spa trips for the wife.

 

[nodakdive]

For the record, I'm not one of the highly experienced or knowledgeable people that I mentioned. Based on your ratings, it looks like good fit would be a place south of the marina, so starting with El Presidente and south of there. As mentioned in another post, you're pretty much in AI land. The further south you go, the closer you are to the marine park reefs, so your boat rides are shorter. The closer you are to the north, the shorter the taxi rides to town/restaurants. A good next step would be to narrow down the dive ops, and then ask them for recommendations. Based on your number of dives, I'd be inclined to dive with an independent dive op, as opposed to a hotel op. I'm a big plus one on the DAN dive insurance and a private DM the first day. It's only about $50 for the DM and being that you're new to diving, new to Cozumel and the only diver in your party, you'll be much more comfortable.

On a scale of 1-10, 10 being most important, please rate the following:

Low Cost -
All Inclusive - 3
Beautiful Hotel Beach - 8
Beautiful Hotel Property -5
Great Hotel Amenities - 7
Room Quality - 8
Resort Activities - 3
Small Property - 3
Food Quality - 6
Food Variety - 6
Kid Friendly - 1
Convenient to local attractions - 3
Convenient to local restaurants - 7
Convenient Boat Diving - 8
Convenient Shore Diving - 8

Please answer the following:

How many prior trips to this location? -
How many prior dives? - 4
How many dives do you intend to do? - 5 days two tank dives
How long is your stay? - 7 days
What are your trip dates? - open to late April early May 2017
How many total in your party? - 2
How many divers in your party? - 1
Other considerations? - local culture


There are people on this forum with a lot of experience and knowledge of the ins and outs. This might help them point you in the right direction.

[/QUOTE]