Trip Report Cozumel Sept ‘22 Trip Report-Westin/Salty Endeavors

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Snrubnivek

Registered
Messages
12
Reaction score
34
Location
Redding, CA
# of dives
0 - 24
Thanks to those of you who gave OP recommendations a few weeks back. Salty Endeavors did in fact pick me up right at the Westin dock (on time all 4 days). After the 2 am dives, I was back at the hotel between 12-1 (except the Punta Sur trip which was more like 1:45).

HOTEL: My wife and I really enjoyed staying at the Westin. We had AI but only ate breakfast (really nice buffet) and lunch at the resort. The lunch options were just ok but we never had a bad meal. The service was fantastic at all of the restaurants/pool areas. Although it was on the north end, we took taxi’s to town each day for $7 each way. One day we ended up driving to Punta Sur. A couple on the dive boat recommended HTL Car Rental. I called the morning of and they delivered a rental car right at the hotel within 30 min. Side note, the snorkeling is quite good right off the hotel. There’s a nice reef right off one of the restaurants with 1000’s of fish. Also, saw a nice barracuda there as well as a school of permit rolling through. On the last day I swam past Buccanos and just drifted back to our area. It’s not diving but still makes me happy.

RESTAURANTS: We ate dinner in town 6 times. Here’s my ranking. Slight edge to Bajau over Buccanos, basically 1A/1B. I’m a huge foodie, so between scouring recommendations here and on google, etc we had our dinner spots planned ahead of time.

1)Bajau-everything at Bajau was just slightly better than the rest of the spots: service, food quality, presentation/plating, etc. Had the best “mixed drink” of my life here that was prepared tableside. The Caesar salad was also prepared tableside including the dressing step by step. We didn’t try the steak, so I can’t comment on that category of their menu. But if you haven’t been here, I can’t recommend it enough. 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, 2 drinks, 1 salad, desert to share and 25% tip was about $120 USD. So on the high side for Coz but way cheaper than it would have been in the US.

2)Buccanos-we walked to Buccanos from the Westin which was nice. 7-10 min walk each way. Great facility, food, service, view, etc. I know most of you have been here so I don’t really need to sell you on it.

3)Ix Kool-went here for the cochinita pibil (one of my favorite meals I’ve had in Playa a few times). Guac made tableside. Food and drinks did not disappoint.

4)Colores y Sabores-just a fantastic little hole in the wall just off the main street. The owner is super sweet. Wife and I shared one of the dinner’s for 2 and it was a little more than we could finish. The lime soup and cilantro margarita were also great.

5)Sereno-really great views but had a big rainstorm roll through right when we sat down so couldn’t see the sunset. The food was great although they did get one of our meals incorrect. Live music was really nice as well.

6)K’ooben Laab-we really enjoyed this place, just not quite as much as the ones above. My gnudi with bolonesa sauce were excellent. Unfortunately there were a TON of flies all over our food that we couldn’t keep away. This didn’t deter from the quality of the food just the ambiance.

DIVING: My wife doesn’t dive but she’s super easy going. She enjoyed sleeping in and going to the gym wile I was out. I was going to dive 3 days but ended up extending it to 4 days (8 total AM dives). As stated previously. SE picked me up all days right at the Westin dock. I was also getting my Nitrox check out dives wrapped up so they handled all of that the 1st day. I’m a pretty new diver, 20 total dives prior to this trip. Dives were all between 57-62 min bottom time. I’m so glad that I went out with Salty. Everything was so smooth with them. Not a hitch, not even when I left my GoPro on the boat by accident. I definitely plan on diving with them again down the road. So many sites I wasn’t able to see with only diving 4 days. I can’t remember who recommended SE, but a huge thanks!
-Dive Masters: Jose, Francisco & Eduardo were all great.
-Dive Captains: Victor, Chipa

Day 1-Dalilah/Paseo Del Cedral. Few reef sharks, nurse shark, etc.

Day 2-San Francisco Wall/San Clemente

Day 3-Cathedral/Paseo Del Cedral-I spent a week (14 dives) in Grand Cayman a few years back getting advanced certified. My favorite dives were those with swim throughs. This week in Coz confirmed that I’m a huge fan of swim throughs. The ones at Cathedral were a highlight of the trip. Clouds started rolling through as we dropped in for our 2nd dive at Cedral. While down on the reef we could see lightning every few min. A little eerie but really cool at the same time.

Day 4-Santa Rosa Wall/Yucab-just a fantastic last day of diving. I was stoked to see an eagle ray on the last dive at Yucab.

Highlights: swim throughs, splendid toadfish (my new favorite fish), eagle ray, 2 large permit moving fast along the reef (I fly fish and permit are at the top of any anglers list. These 2 were big, one about 15-20lbs and the other looked to be 30+) and the 10’s of thousands of fish I saw.

We’re trying to come back next year. My kids (19, 16, 14) are itching to get certified and I think it’s about time. Thanks for all of the info I’ve gleaned on here over the past few months. I appreciate it!
 
Awesome- glad you had a nice trip.

I really enjoyed Colores y Sabores- I ended up eating there 3 times on a trip staying at Casa Mexicana! It was just so easy. I also remember the owner being super nice.

No turtles?!!?!?!?!?
 
Awesome- glad you had a nice trip.

I really enjoyed Colores y Sabores- I ended up eating there 3 times on a trip staying at Casa Mexicana! It was just so easy. I also remember the owner being super nice.

No turtles?!!?!?!?!?
Yeah, I'd gladly eat there 3 times during the week. I saw one turtle. Believe it was at Cedral and it literally swam 2' under me. I tried to bang on my tank with the butt end of my GoPro handle so the others could see. Unfortunately plastic on metal isn't that loud so no one else saw it.
 
4)Colores y Sabores-just a fantastic little hole in the wall just off the main street. The owner is super sweet. Wife and I shared one of the dinner’s for 2 and it was a little more than we could finish. The lime soup and cilantro margarita were also great.
I've eaten there before and loved it. But I was just on Coz the first week of September and it was closed! Looks like they were remodeling inside or something. Unless I was at the wrong place...Calle 5 near the hospital?
 
cilantro margarita
Are you serious?? I can’t imagine. I like cilantro in small doses only. Can’t imaging my whole drink tasting like it.

Great trip report. I especially appreciate the restaurant reviews. I was planning on trying #4 out on next month‘s trip so it’s good to see another good review on it.
 
I've eaten there before and loved it. But I was just on Coz the first week of September and it was closed! Looks like they were remodeling inside or something. Unless I was at the wrong place...Called 5 near the hospital?
That's correct. I stopped by 3 times during our trip and they were closed. But luckily they were open the last night after completing some remodeling.
 
Are you serious?? I can’t imagine. I like cilantro in small doses only. Can’t imaging my whole drink tasting like it.

Great trip report. I especially appreciate the restaurant reviews. I was planning on trying #4 out on next month‘s trip so it’s good to see another good review on it.
When she asked what drink I wanted, I told her to surprise me. It was super unique but very tasty. The cilantro was very much in the background.
 
thanks for sharing your trip details! I'm missing the island vibe and your report on the food and diving really make me smile! Continued safe diving to you and good luck getting your teens all certified.
 
Are you serious?? I can’t imagine. I like cilantro in small doses only. Can’t imaging my whole drink tasting like it.
FWIW, my favorite item on the menu at Pancho's Backyard is their cream of cilantro soup.
 
6)K’ooben Laab-we really enjoyed this place, just not quite as much as the ones above. My gnudi with bolonesa sauce were excellent. Unfortunately there were a TON of flies all over our food that we couldn’t keep away. This didn’t deter from the quality of the food just the ambiance.
K’ooben Laab was recommended to me also. We did not stay. We were going to try it, for the first time, a few weeks ago. It was a hot evening, and as my wife and I sat upstairs, it was just not the atmosphere we wanted for the last dinner of our trip. It was hot upstairs (we did not have reservations so possibly there are better seats), there were flies buzzing around us, and we wanted either a nice breeze or air conditioning. We called an audible and decided to go to a restaurant with which we were familiar. The staff was nice for the few short minutes we were there.

We may give it another try, another day…
 
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