Cozumel planning for a group of newbies

[on99]

Your friends should think about doing the book and pool work at home before the trip if they want to get certified.

What type of hotel are you looking for? Are you wanting to have an all-inclusive and activities, beach, etc?

With a group your size, most larger dive ops will give you your own boat and take you to snorkel. They know the best spots and will take you out to them. Coral is not close to shore in Cozumel, so shore snorkeling is limited to coral rubble and sand. There are fish, but it is nothing like out on a reef.
If you are staying at a south resort, they can take you to Columbia shallows.
If you are staying at a north resort, they can take you to Chankanaab or Paradise shallows.

As far as Resort courses... realize they do not count towards actual certification.
It is best to do them with a real instructor, don't go with the cheapest you can find. You get what you pay for. A real instructor is going to be patient and safe, not rush you through.

Go to your local dive shop to buy good dive masks that fit. If your masks leak, you will not enjoy even a second in the water.

weather.... August is hot and humid, and in the middle of hurricane season. That does not mean you will have a hurricane, but it does mean you should expect rain showers, possibly every day for a short time, maybe 5 minutes one day, maybe 2 hours another. You can still dive and snorkel unless the seas are really rough.

thx Robin~
i think they r not ready yet, they just want to taste the underwater feeling b4 moving on for license
all-inclusive is definitely wht we r looking for, i think we will focus on 3star to 4star resort located in cozumel.
i dont hv any idea for staying at south or north, any suggestion?
If your masks leak, you will not enjoy even a second in the water <-- i'm totally agree with this statement


---------- Post added June 19th, 2014 at 12:04 PM ----------

Speaking from memory the ferry is around 10.00 usd per person one way. I don't know about taxis on the mainland, you MAY be better off renting a car. I am sure some others will give experience on that.

u r right, i'd better go rent a car, thx Karloss~

---------- Post added June 19th, 2014 at 12:07 PM ----------

I have not done this, so I can't speak for the quality of the operation, but there is at least one car service which will pick you up from the ferry dock in a van and take you to the ruins. A private tour type of thing. I found that while googling for a possible day trip while planning a cruise with a stop in coz.

here is a link i saved:

Chichen Itza Private Tour for Playa del Carmen

Again, I have not used this service I found them looking for an excursion from a cruise ship but the timing would not work. They also do similar private vans to tulum and/or coba.

The reason this looks appealing to me is that you get your own schedule and your own van. the total cost is not bad for 4 persons or more.

good luck,
Jerry

sounds good, thx Jerry~

 

[kmurray719]

Hi everyone, I’m new to this forum, gonna visit the fascinated Cozumel island in august, this’s my first caribbean trip, got a few questions on my planning:
1/ group of 4, I’m the only one who has diver license, others may do discovery diving, any dive shop recommend?
2/ any suggestion on snorkeling sites
3/ we will do snorkeling most the time, how much does it cost for mask rental? Would it be a good idea to purchase the whole set of mask snorkel n fins beforehand?
4/ we all want to spend one day on Maya cultural stuff like pyramid, shld we stay in Cozumel, isla mujeres or cancun?
5/ our trip will be after mid aug, hows the weather by then? Hows the water temp n current condition?

any suggestion is welcome n grateful:kiss2:

I've done Coba and Tulum separately as day trips from Cozumel. Both were pretty easy to get to. We took the ferry/bus combo to Tulum. Ferry is about $15/pp each way, I think the bus was another $10-$15 round trip (but I could be way off on that) We spent a couple hours there, and hung out on the beach for a bit. We went into town for a late lunch. It was a half day trip for us.
We rented a car to drive to Coba. The drive was really easy (though boring). As someone who isn't particularly into history, I preferred Tulum. But I believe Coba is more important historically. Coba was a full day trip, but we stopped at a cenote to snorkel on the way back.

$10 walmart snorkeler doesnt need much coz they usually floating on the surface, but they will know if they dive into the water. in my point of view, masks is a consumable diving equipment, i keep switching mine from the day i got my OW license, it's been the 8th or 9th pair till now, since diff dive environment may need diff masks, fun dive, cave dive, free dive.... i always want to try sth difference ;P
dry/purge snorkel are great, but u may need to stop using it if u want to get ur DM license, coz u r gonna forget how to use those traditional snorkel after u get used to the dry one.

What do you mean about getting a DM 'license' and a traditional snorkel? I've never heard of any agency requiring a particular type of snorkel for anything.

 

[DeputyDan]

i keep switching mine from the day i got my OW license, it's been the 8th or 9th pair till now, since diff dive environment may need diff masks, fun dive, cave dive, free dive.... i always want to try sth difference

Really ? I have had the same mask for 12 years and it's still in excellent shape after 300+ dives.

 

[on99]

I'm not going to be a DM, so I'm good. (Since I don't really dive anywhere with a rough surface swim, I don't dive with the snorkel on my mask; I only use the snorkel when I'm going snorkeling.)

i'll also put my snorkel away for calm water

It is $21. That includes use of their pools, the nature trails, alligator exhibit, there's a sea lion show. They have a beach and lots of chairs for sunning (or under an umbrella). But if you are just going to snorkel, it's kinda a lot.

that shld be gd for someone who bring her kids with her, but it's just too much for us

We liked Columbia Shallows and Paradise Reef (the two really shallow dives) because they let us have a good long dive for our second dive. And if you are able to find a dive boat that will combine divers and snorkelers, these are often the sites. (Though I was mentioning Paradise as an option for your snorkelers in your group if you do a boat trip instead of shore snorkeling.) If the snorkelers in your group are more 'free divers', then my advise may not be worthwhile, as I have no experience there. My snorkeling is average vacation snorkeling.

my buddies never tried snorkeling b4, i'll write it down in my notes abt these 2.
i'm not really a free diver, but really like to dive into water without the tank.

I guess reading all the posts now I'm confused if your friends are wanting to become divers, or just want to do a Discovery Dive for fun. If they want to become divers- get a good dive quality mask, not the amazon one; though it is plenty fine for a Discovery Dive or for SNUBA.

my bad, i shld state clear that~
they r looking for discovery fun dive, not ready yet for the license.

thx so much for ur comment Skittl~

---------- Post added June 19th, 2014 at 02:17 PM ----------

thats reasonable, thx robin

 

[mstevens]

A taxi is a very expensive way to get to Tulum, let alone Coba. We rent a car. You can also take a bus or a tour.

The Playa del Carmen ferry is about 45 minutes. Tulum is about an hour from Playa del Carmen. Coba is about 2 hours.

 

[on99]

I've done Coba and Tulum separately as day trips from Cozumel. Both were pretty easy to get to. We took the ferry/bus combo to Tulum. Ferry is about $15/pp each way, I think the bus was another $10-$15 round trip (but I could be way off on that) We spent a couple hours there, and hung out on the beach for a bit. We went into town for a late lunch. It was a half day trip for us.
We rented a car to drive to Coba. The drive was really easy (though boring). As someone who isn't particularly into history, I preferred Tulum. But I believe Coba is more important historically. Coba was a full day trip, but we stopped at a cenote to snorkel on the way back.

i dont mind to do both, will do some search on both attraction n share with my buddies, ur comments definitely help!
i think we will rent a car, any recommendation?

What do you mean about getting a DM 'license' and a traditional snorkel? I've never heard of any agency requiring a particular type of snorkel for anything.

DM=dive master, correct me if i'm wrong
the time when my buddies got his DM training, his instructor stop him to use any dry/purge snorkel, he got his NAUI DM license in asia.

 

[cvchief]

Really ? I have had the same mask for 12 years and it's still in excellent shape after 300+ dives.

I used my first one for like 100 or so dives before I decided I wanted to look for a 'taller' one that didn't seem to pull up and make my nose sore after a week. I found a new one that was much better and didn't LEAK. I thought having a mustache condemned me to purging the water out of my mask occasionally on every dive. It was kinda awesome to find that was not the case.

 

[on99]

Really ? I have had the same mask for 12 years and it's still in excellent shape after 300+ dives.

my english is bad, pls correct me if i'm wrong.
the major reason i keep switching my mask from time to time coz i always want to try something difference, i'm not a mask seller nor a diveshop operator, wht i'm trying to say is diff dive condition may use diff masks, it was my own personal preference, i used to hv panorama mask for fun dive, low volume for free dive, black frame n skirt for cave dive..... but wht i'm still keeping on hand r the whole black frameless scubapro n aqua diver ;>

 

[mstevens]

I have 3 different masks that I use. One is primary day mask, another is primary night mask (since the day one has a filter coating which somewhat darkens things at night) and the third is for when I get a bit bored of the other ones.

Some people have more shoes than anyone needs. Others have more tools than anyone needs. There's nothing particularly wrong with having more scuba gear than anyone needs.

 

[Ron Lee]

Others have more tools than anyone needs.

That is an impossible condition.

Consider getting the Mayan Adventure map/guide from

www.cancunmap.com