FPDocMatt
Contributor
This was my first Cozumel Invasion.
Hotel Cozumel is adequate though not luxurious in the least. The TV has HBO and Cinemax but no movies. The rooms are clean, and the maid service is excellent.
The pool is very attractive from a distance, but the water is not kept as clear as I like. I own a pool and I know you can get the water crystal clear if you just check the chemicals every day. It's a very large and opulent pool, just looking at it makes you feel like you're in paradise. I just wish the water were crystal clear, that would have made it a much more attractive pool for me personally.
The staff of the hotel were some of the nicest, most caring and solicitous people you could ever want taking care of you. In fact, the people both in the hotel and at the dive op were the best thing about this whole week.
Everybody speaks English, so if you don't speak Spanish it's not an issue at all. I got to practice my Spanish, though, which was really neat. It's not like France, where people just look down their noses at you if you try to speak French. Here they love it if you speak Spanish to them, and they answer in Spanish. It was a great opportunity to learn some more of the language.
This was an all-inclusive trip, so the food was buffet-style. I liked the food a lot, but I heard a lot of people complaining about it. So I guess if you're picky, then this might not be the place for you.
The dive op is across the street (or under the street, if you take the tunnel). It's really part of the resort, not separate, since the hotel's lunch restaurant is across the street next to the dive shop. There's a small dive shop attached, and lots of lockers by a walkway leading down to the dock. There are 2 sets of steps leading down to the water for shore dives. The water is 84 degrees.
Internet in the rooms was hit-or-miss. Right now I have a good connection, but about 70% of the time not so good. If you go to the lobby the connection is excellent.
The invasion itself was fabulous. Met lots of people, made new friends. I would say that everyone was friendly, but you talk to some people and get the feeling they'd rather be somewhere else, and other people are happy to meet you. Like anywhere I guess. Dennis (Cardzard) and his wife Roxanne were amazing. They are absolute experts at arranging and managing big events like this. I don't know what they do for a living, but they could just do this year-round and make a bundle it seems to me. It was also great to have Pete (NetDoc) and Elena here; they were very supportive and a great source of information and advice.
The dives were nothing short of mind-blowing. On some of them you go through long swim-throughs, thinking nothing could be better than this, only to emerge onto a wall with an infinite drop-off into oblivion, the most majestic experience of my life. Our DM (Martin) was fabulous, took responsibility for the welfare of the group at every moment, you always felt well taken care of. He handled the inevitable small crises underwater with great skill.
We were quite fortunate to be the only group with the same boat each day. So we got to know the boat crew well, and they us. It's very nice to have the crew call you by your first name from day one. And everyone here addresses you as Amigo.
There were 68 people in the Invasion. We were divided into groups of 8. There are 4 dive boats. Each boat had 2 groups. Usually we sat on opposite sites of the boat facing each other, one group on each side. Each day you were on a different boat, with a different group sitting opposite you. So you got to meet everybody. (As I said, the exception was our group (5), which stayed on the same boat the whole week.) The boat left the dock each morning around 8:30 for 2 dives, returned around 1:30 for lunch, then left again around 3:00 for a single dive in the afternoon. And there were night dives available most nights. Unlimited shore diving.
I walked into town a couple of times. It's only about 6 blocks from the hotel. There's a very nice Starbucks, a little slice of home. Amazingly, the tea tastes exactly the same as at any Starbucks in the U.S. And the internet there is fabulous, just like home.
In the town there were peddlers haranguing you (but in a polite way). They're only there for the cruise ships, that's their livelihood. But it was off-putting enough that I decided to just stay at Starbucks the second trip into town.
For some reason, there is no ATM in the hotel. So if you need cash you have to walk 5 blocks down to the grocery store and use their ATM. Best is to just bring enough cash for the entire trip with you--in small bills, to make tipping easier.
People talked about the mosquitos before the trip, and on the hotel's web site you see a picture of a room with a mosquito net, but they were not an issue for me at all. I never saw or heard a mosquito, and got no bites, despite walking everywhere in shorts. And the room has no mosquito net over the bed, so that must be an old picture.
For me, this trip made the difference between scuba being something I might want to continue to do, and scuba now being something I will most definitely continue to do. I came here with 22 dives under my belt, and now have 34. I am beginning to feel really comfortable diving now. It's a great feeling. Like, before, jumping into the water was kind of anxiety-provoking. Now it's like slipping into a warm bed. If that makes any sense.
I will definitely be signing up for next year's Cozumel Invasion. I'm thinking of forming a new group of serious, boring people. Anybody interested, let me know.
Hotel Cozumel is adequate though not luxurious in the least. The TV has HBO and Cinemax but no movies. The rooms are clean, and the maid service is excellent.
The pool is very attractive from a distance, but the water is not kept as clear as I like. I own a pool and I know you can get the water crystal clear if you just check the chemicals every day. It's a very large and opulent pool, just looking at it makes you feel like you're in paradise. I just wish the water were crystal clear, that would have made it a much more attractive pool for me personally.
The staff of the hotel were some of the nicest, most caring and solicitous people you could ever want taking care of you. In fact, the people both in the hotel and at the dive op were the best thing about this whole week.
Everybody speaks English, so if you don't speak Spanish it's not an issue at all. I got to practice my Spanish, though, which was really neat. It's not like France, where people just look down their noses at you if you try to speak French. Here they love it if you speak Spanish to them, and they answer in Spanish. It was a great opportunity to learn some more of the language.
This was an all-inclusive trip, so the food was buffet-style. I liked the food a lot, but I heard a lot of people complaining about it. So I guess if you're picky, then this might not be the place for you.
The dive op is across the street (or under the street, if you take the tunnel). It's really part of the resort, not separate, since the hotel's lunch restaurant is across the street next to the dive shop. There's a small dive shop attached, and lots of lockers by a walkway leading down to the dock. There are 2 sets of steps leading down to the water for shore dives. The water is 84 degrees.
Internet in the rooms was hit-or-miss. Right now I have a good connection, but about 70% of the time not so good. If you go to the lobby the connection is excellent.
The invasion itself was fabulous. Met lots of people, made new friends. I would say that everyone was friendly, but you talk to some people and get the feeling they'd rather be somewhere else, and other people are happy to meet you. Like anywhere I guess. Dennis (Cardzard) and his wife Roxanne were amazing. They are absolute experts at arranging and managing big events like this. I don't know what they do for a living, but they could just do this year-round and make a bundle it seems to me. It was also great to have Pete (NetDoc) and Elena here; they were very supportive and a great source of information and advice.
The dives were nothing short of mind-blowing. On some of them you go through long swim-throughs, thinking nothing could be better than this, only to emerge onto a wall with an infinite drop-off into oblivion, the most majestic experience of my life. Our DM (Martin) was fabulous, took responsibility for the welfare of the group at every moment, you always felt well taken care of. He handled the inevitable small crises underwater with great skill.
We were quite fortunate to be the only group with the same boat each day. So we got to know the boat crew well, and they us. It's very nice to have the crew call you by your first name from day one. And everyone here addresses you as Amigo.
There were 68 people in the Invasion. We were divided into groups of 8. There are 4 dive boats. Each boat had 2 groups. Usually we sat on opposite sites of the boat facing each other, one group on each side. Each day you were on a different boat, with a different group sitting opposite you. So you got to meet everybody. (As I said, the exception was our group (5), which stayed on the same boat the whole week.) The boat left the dock each morning around 8:30 for 2 dives, returned around 1:30 for lunch, then left again around 3:00 for a single dive in the afternoon. And there were night dives available most nights. Unlimited shore diving.
I walked into town a couple of times. It's only about 6 blocks from the hotel. There's a very nice Starbucks, a little slice of home. Amazingly, the tea tastes exactly the same as at any Starbucks in the U.S. And the internet there is fabulous, just like home.
In the town there were peddlers haranguing you (but in a polite way). They're only there for the cruise ships, that's their livelihood. But it was off-putting enough that I decided to just stay at Starbucks the second trip into town.
For some reason, there is no ATM in the hotel. So if you need cash you have to walk 5 blocks down to the grocery store and use their ATM. Best is to just bring enough cash for the entire trip with you--in small bills, to make tipping easier.
People talked about the mosquitos before the trip, and on the hotel's web site you see a picture of a room with a mosquito net, but they were not an issue for me at all. I never saw or heard a mosquito, and got no bites, despite walking everywhere in shorts. And the room has no mosquito net over the bed, so that must be an old picture.
For me, this trip made the difference between scuba being something I might want to continue to do, and scuba now being something I will most definitely continue to do. I came here with 22 dives under my belt, and now have 34. I am beginning to feel really comfortable diving now. It's a great feeling. Like, before, jumping into the water was kind of anxiety-provoking. Now it's like slipping into a warm bed. If that makes any sense.
I will definitely be signing up for next year's Cozumel Invasion. I'm thinking of forming a new group of serious, boring people. Anybody interested, let me know.