Planning first trip and need help

[judydivescoz]

Definitely not 2 hours a day! Takes about a half hour from Puerto Abrigo , thats the marina north of town on a fast boat. For me, I like the ride on a nice day, gives me time to relax enjoy the sites and get ready for the dive. This past February, on some not so nice days, we did meet the boat at Caleta or Costa Del Sol. Saved the boat ride in the cold wind. That is never fun!
We like staying in town and avoiding the whole AI thing. The food is so good and so inexpensive at the local restaurants we would hate miss any dinner in town for AI food. We buy some beer vodka or anything else we want to drink and keep it on hand for "happy hour".
Blue Angel is a great small hotel and has a restaurant onsite. It is right on the water. I think their dive packages include breakfast and lunch on dive days. The dive op gets rave reviews here. We have gone for sunset at their restaurant bar and watched divers shore diving around the stingray prison. Its one of the few places that you can shore dive given the restrictions of the marine park. If we did not have a place to stay in-town, I think this would be a great place to try.

 

[BrewingDiver]

Compared to the slowest boat in town? I don't know that any take an hour from town to southern reefs, but the fast 8-packs me it in 20 minutes or so. The Allegro is a popular place and close enough to the reefs that the return to dock between dives which also adds flexibility if one wants to add one dive, but I doubt that it'll save two hours a day.

I think Scuba Club takes about an hour to the reefs, which is my only knock against them. We've stayed/dove with them on two trips, and it seems they get back around 2:00 PM on average. Last time with Blue Angel we got back around noon.

With that said, Robint and others make good points about SCC. We also bought drinks, etc. at Chedraui, which is very walkable, and kept them in the fridge in the room. I think at the end of the week we only had a few drinks on the tab, so really this is not a problem.

Blue Angel is another option that we used last time because we wanted fast boats and wanted to eat in town. In the end we preferred eating in town for dinner, but it was the best of both worlds for us because we ate lunch on site after diving, and it's included on dive days. Personally, I am past ready to eat by the time the gear is rinsed so it works well. So, while not AI, it still might fit the bill.

 

[ltlbull]

We are from Hampton Roads, Virginia (right on the Chesapeake bay). We were certified (OW) in 2008, AOW in 2009, and Nitrox in 2010. Our ocean diving has been in Florida (Boca Raton and West Palm Beach), St. Thomas, St. Martin, Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. All of our diving in the Caribbean has been via cruise ship, but not with the cruise ship excursions. We have over 40 dives.

I enjoy shore dives as they are at your own pace and I love to take photographs.

Leaning towards AI since you know what the bottom line will be with the cost.

Really appreciate the information so far.

On another note is it safe to drink ice tea at the resorts?

 

[Firefyter]

On another note is it safe to drink ice tea at the resorts?

Yes. All the ice and drinks are made with purified water. With that said, I rarely drink it. I play it safe and drink beer

 

[DandyDon]

Tea and coffee are diuretics but some educated opinions suggest that if you drink them all the time, your body adjusts. I think that's probly true for me anyway as I don't dehydrate on the farm drinking coffee. Scuba diving, I work at hydration - reminding myself to drink more water, juices, kool aid, etc. A couple of beers can be nice but of the six divers I've seen leave in ambulances over the years, three were hungover, two were medical, one was diver error.

 

[robint]

yes, the boats with SCC do take about an hour to get to the southern sites, but we really didn't mind as everyone on boat got along so well, we had room to walk around and chat, bathroom, or go up top and enjoy the view, take a nap, etc. The boats returned to the resort each day between 12:15 and 1:00pm, depending on which site and how far away they went. We never once returned at 2pm! Since lunches are made-to-order there was no concern about cold food, even if the boat wasn't back until 1pm. We had plenty of time to put gear in our locker, run up to room and take a quick shower, change clothes, and head down to lunch every day. Then after lunch either head to boat for afternoon dive or out to shore dive. It makes for a very relaxing dive trip, no rushing.

robin

 

[Fatterboy]

In April we stayed at El Cozumeleno and dove with Ocean Tours (Scube Du). El Cozumeleno was VERY well kept. The whole place was very clean. Beautiful pools and grounds. Included: food, alcohol, stocked fridge in room, room service, ocean kayaks, pool toys and snorkeling equipment. They have a restaurant onsite that a reservation is required and the last seating has no dress code. They have an open air restaurant that serves something to eat from early am to late night. The food in there was very good, the only fault I could find was the birds having the run of the open air place. The facility has fishing line trying to keep the birds out, but they cannot block all the entrances. It makes it harder when the patrons feed them willingly. If we can get a deal as good as this year, we will definitely go back there. My wife had more fun there than any other vacation we have ever been on, we have been married 26 years. We did a shore dive in the swimming area and saw a lobster, flounder, urchins, various fish, and a juvenile eel. DON'T go past the end of the wall without being well prepared. it is a HARD swim against the current to get back and the other side of the wall is very murky water.

 

[newgentry]

Try Hotel Cozumel for what you are looking for. They have all inclusive packages that include meals and alcoholic drinks..
You can shore dive from the pier across the street. Rental gear is readily available if you need it.
Shore diving from any of the area hotels is going to be convenient but you aren't going to see much compared to the boat rides to the reefs.

Hotel Cozumel - Home

Agree, with the exception of the unlimited shore dives. I think their tank rental is $7 or thereabouts and the shore dive is, I think, pretty lame.

 

[ggunn]

Agree, with the exception of the unlimited shore dives. I think their tank rental is $7 or thereabouts and the shore dive is, I think, pretty lame.

They charge tank rental for their dive shop customers for shore diving? If so, that surprises me; you won't encounter that at Scuba Club, Blue Angel, or Villablanca. As to the shore diving being "lame", that 's a matter of opinion and perspective. While it is true that when shore diving Cozumel you won't see anything like the towering formations at Colombia or Palancar, or the explosion of life that you'll see at Colombia Shallows or Chankanaab, there are things to see that you won't see, for instance, on a dive in Lake Travis. It won't replace boat diving, but it's a nice way to spend an afternoon.

 

[jlyle]

I'll throw my dos centavos in the pot. Scuba Club Cozumel. Check out my trip reports and pictures, many of which were taken on shore dives.