Resorts we should avoid?

[cvchief]

I have an issue I think we should address.

I thought it had perhaps reached the point that we should maintain a list of Hotels and Resorts that are charging dock fees and discuss why I think it matters:

Park Royal Hotel (AquaWorld leasing the pier) charges the diver $5. USD per week pier fee.

La Ceiba/El Cid charges the dive operator $3. USD per person per day.

Sabor/Wyndham/Sunscape/Aura/Secrets or whatever they are calling it this week charges $60. USD per month to the dive operator.

Iberostar is $60. USD per month to the dive operator.

I would suggest you should avoid staying at any of these until they change their practices. My reasons are as follows:

1. Most people seem to love the multitude of dive ops available in Cozumel.
2. Many of these are small, owning perhaps only one boat.
3. Most of these resorts are now charging the operator.
4. Charging the operator means small ops suffer the most.

Let’s say your favorite op has 5 divers staying at the Iberostar in July month. That equates to a 12 dollar surcharge per diver. However, a giant op with a lot of boats might pick up 30 divers there in July. They only have to eat a 2 surcharge per diver. Either op has to either eat the cost and thereby pass it on to all customers or try to ding individual divers. Either way it is a clear disincentive to smaller op, which a lot of us love.

It seems it has really shifted, thanks to Iberostar, to a model of charging the ops rather than their own guests. Though it may be more hidden now, those resorts, for all intents and purposes, are NOT providing you with a dock for pickup. You, in some fashion, are buying it separately. The resort is STILL taking money out of your pocket; they are just making the dive op do the dirty work. The logical progression of these sorts of policies it to drive out smaller ops and leave us with only largest ops or contracted on site ops.

So I ask you to consider harnessing the power of your vacation dollars and avoid hotels whose policies harm the smaller, boutique ops many love. Don’t stay there. Tell your friends not to stay there. Given the opportunity, tell them why! Given the fierce loyalty we see on this board for so many small ops, this really should be an issue of note. If we don’t stop this sort of thing now, we might all see a significantly different dive scene in Cozumel. Want another opinion? Email your favorite op and see what they think.

I await your opinion……

 

[Sideways]

I'd say any that require an extended Taxi ride....

 

[Brules]

$5 for the week at the PR makes it a place to avoid? Seriously?

It beats the hell out of the alternative of $16 a day minimum for taxi rides to and from another dock/marina.

 

[morecowbells]

This is in interesting post and likely to generate numerous, strong and differing perspectives. I disclose the fact that I am totally ignorant as to whom actually covers the cost of building and maintaining the piers. Hopefully a local dive op will be able to provide an answer. A few years ago I traveled to Cozumel with 5 other divers. Instead of using our regular dive op Scuba Tony, we went diving with our friends dive op . We were researching different places to stay and asked the our dive op about the Residencias Reef. Her exact reply was "stay far, far away, it is a totally sh_ _ _ y place to stay". It was discouraging to read this since the units looked nice and the short boat rides were appealing(I seek out the shortest boat rides possible to avoid turning 50 shades of green). Against her advise we proceeded to book at the RR. The unit was perfect and far exceeded our expectations. Then our dive op admitted that they objected to the neighboring property dive op charging $3 per passenger to use the dock and are trying to boycott the property. While I am not thrilled about this added expense it was not a big deal. I was soured about her lack of being up front with us in the first place. I also thought it is unfair to the condo owners who are damaged and losing revenue by this misguided information. It looks like things have changed to placing this expense onto the dive op instead of the customer.

Personally I will continue to rent RR properties. I really don't minding wading in the water versus using a dock to use my usual dive op, yet respectfully shunning the practices imposed by '5 Star Golden Palm' dive ops.

 

[Skittl1321]

La Ceiba/El Cid charges the dive operator $3. USD per person per day.
Sabor/Wyndham/Sunscape/Aura/Secrets or whatever they are calling it this week charges $60. USD per month to the dive operator.

Your information might be accurate, but Alison emailed me the following on June 28th.

I can also pick up and drop off at the Hotel Sunscape (Sabor) and Secrets (Aura) but there is a $3. USD pier fee per person per day at those hotels. The new pier fee at Iberostar is now a flat fee of $60. USD for the week for 1 to 8 divers.

She also had El Cid listed as a free pick up.

Hopefully Sabor is $3 per day, and not $60 for the month- that would be twice as expensive for us (though it would be equal for a group of 4 diving 5 days, and cheaper for more on either of those numbers). But even $60 for us to be picked up during the week would be a lot cheaper than taxi rides to marina from the south. I understand your point, and I would HATE dive ops to eat this cost -it was made clear to us we would pay (though I'm not sure how she'd handle a monthly type fee if she has other divers staying during the month and we are only there one week...) and it was budgeted into our total vacation cost. Based on the list of hotels our op gave us to stay at with free pick up, we got the best deal at Sabor (well, Allegro was the same price, with free pick up, but the reviews scared me off).

I just think ops need to make it clear they are going to pass these costs along.

 

[tracydr]

Not a resort, but I once had an LDS set up a dive trip and put us all in the hotel over the Hard Rock Cafe. I can't for the life of me remember the name, since it was about 14 years ago. But, that was a terrible hotel and our room, overlooking the Cafe, was the worst. Pounding disco music until 4AM and no sleep for us. Plus, the maids stole prescription medication out of my suitcase.
That was not a fun trip!

---------- Post added July 20th, 2013 at 09:26 AM ----------

$5 for the week at the PR makes it a place to avoid? Seriously?

It beats the hell out of the alternative of $16 a day minimum for taxi rides to and from another dock/marina.

I think he means they charge the dive op $5.00 per person per day. But, not sure as it wasn't clear to me either.

 

[Mike]

I see no real harm if the hotel is charging ALL dive operators equally. If that is the case, it is just inflation. ALL dive operators must pass the fee onto their customers by raising their prices. This doesn't segregate or harm a small operator, if the playing field is even to everyone, since everyone has the same expense.

 

[ronscuba]

Building and maintaining a dock is not cheap. Is it fair to the resort and their operator to let the competition use their dock for free ? Is it better to charge a fee per use, charge the guest, charge per month ?

For me, I would not be offended if had to pay a small fee to dive with someone other than the house operator. I don't like having to pay extra, but it is understandable.

 

[cbm32]

My understanding was that La Ceiba/El Cid only charges non guests for the use of the pier for pick up. I know they tried to charge me for being picked up but when I threw a fit and talked to the dive shop manager he said that as long as I was a guest staying at the resort there was no charge. However, when I checked out there were a lot of small charges that I couldnt figure out. Again, I questioned them and instead of getting an explanation they just took those charges off my bill. I have emailed Tres Pelicanos to get some feedback as to if they were indeed charged for picking me up there when I dove with them this last fall.

Fees not based on per passenger pick up but on a flat rate weekly or monthly basis would obviously impact a smaller operator more than one that is picking up more guests at that peir. I personally think is is bull feces to charge for pick up for anyone staying at a particular resort. I see the use of the pier as being included in what I pay to stay there. I am not charged to sit in their lobby or to lounge by the pool or to look at the little fishies off the end of that pier so why should I pay to walk out on the pier to get into a boat? Instead of charging a pier fee to subsidize the onsite dive op, improve the onsite dive op to the point that people prefer to dive with them. Anything else is bad business in my opinion.

 

[cvchief]

I see no real harm if the hotel is charging ALL dive operators equally. If that is the case, it is just inflation. ALL dive operators must pass the fee onto their customers by raising their prices. This doesn't segregate or harm a small operator, if the playing field is even to everyone, since everyone has the same expense.

Mike, were it a flat fee per diver, perhaps that would be true. It isn't. Most are now a set fee per month. If an op picks up one diver that month at Iberostar, that is a cost of $60 per diver. If the op picks up a $100 divers that, 0.60 per diver. Hence it promotes the large ops and consolidation.

For a small op that want to pick up divers everywhere is paying, NOW, at least $120 more per month.