Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

jonhall

Contributor
Messages
1,716
Reaction score
1,219
Location
Indianapolis
# of dives
100 - 199
Titled this thread a little different as I had a few different experiences on this trip.

Part 1: Resorts and Dive Ops

Stayed 1 week at the Coral Princess Golf & Dive Resort with Pepe Scuba as its onsite dive op and 1 week at El Cid La Ceiba with Babieca Dive Center as its onsite op.

The Coral Princess is a nice resort in the north hotel zone, but closer to town than other resorts in the north zone. Good food in their restaurant, but closes very early. Staff is eager to please. Beach area built up on the iron shore, nice infinity pool, and a small dock area where one can snorkel. No scheduled resort activities. Bar on the beach - swim up bar was closed. Less 'people traffic' being north of town - look forward to going back to this resort. El Cid La Ceiba is south of town close to the International and Puerto Maya cruise ship terminals. Stayed here in the past, but would probably stay someplace else in the future. If ECLC was my only choice, I would stay there. Rooms are okay (have a lot of humidity when doors get opened a lot) and have been upgraded since I was there in 2012. All-inclusive is optional and can be for number of days that you select. They have an activity schedule, but there wasn't much or any participation. Great toiletries are provided. Beach area is built up on the iron shore, small pool, and a pier where other ops can pick up for diving/fishing. Area is also good for snorkeling.

Pepe Scuba at Coral Princess is a good dive op. The only reason I can think that it is not mentioned more often here on SB is that more divers on SB tend to stay farther south. They have a very good following of repeat customers. In the week I was there, 2 boats went out each morning and there were a few afternoon boats going out as well as a boat for a single resort diver. When I arrived, I did a guided shore dive from the dock to test out some new gear and get my trim in order, since it had been 2 years since last dives. The guide was actually taking a new diver who had never been in the ocean on the dive - she just held on to the buoy rope and drifted along. Not a lot to see on this shore dive, but it was nice getting wet. From that point, my routine was dive a day, take a day off. Pepe Scuba has fast boats that get you to the sites in the marine park pretty quick. I almost was going to take taxis farther south and dive with someone else - glad I didn't. Prices are a little higher than other ops (maybe for boat gas since they travel farther) but they offer multi day discounts. They stayed on schedule - we were in the water for 1st dives by 9:30 or earlier each day. They asked everyday where people wanted to go and would try to avoid repeating a site you did.Best dive of the trip was with Pepe as we did Punta Sur - Cathedral. Great conditions, no other dive boats to be seen. They have rinse tanks and will store your gear. Rental gear looked to be in good shape. Except for Cathedral all dives were 60+ minutes. They also pick up from other piers to the south.

Babieca Dive Center at ECLC was convenient for a day, but they don't go out until 9:30 AM which I wasn't a fan of. Did only one day of diving with them - on my off day I noticed that the diving group was waiting around at 10:15 as air tanks had not arrived. They didn't get out until 10:30. As it turned out, the next day they got off to a late start again but I had decided to dive with someone else because of the time. On my one day diving with Babieca dive, the diving was good. The DM allowed everyone to dive their air - my dive times were 55 and 65 minutes. There is a rinse and drying station and they will keep your gear. There was a group of 6 divers who went out every morning, did afternoon dives every day, and did 1 night dive with Babieca. Although the group dove everyday, they were frustrated by the late start times also. They are on the expensive side and I didn't find the staff to be very personable.

Roberta's Scuba Shack (less than a 5 minute walk from ECLC) is well organized. Used PayPal to pay for the one day I did with them. Five boats went out and Roberta, I assume, kept things moving. A display board has dive groups and DMs/boats listed. It is announced that dive time is 700 psi or 1 hour - my times were 55 and 68 minutes. Didn't feel like the DM would have forced anyone up. Very busy place with shore diving and afternoon dives happening. Nice rinse station and they store gear. DM also asked which sites people would like to dive.

Ended my diving at this point. Water was as warm as 84º F on entries - never felt a shock from cold water and I wore a shorty. Water was pretty calm and flat a couple of days. Current was not noticeable on a few dives but nice to ride on others. Saw many eagle rays, lobsters, nurse sharks, turtles, barracuda, splendid toadfish, pufferfish, stingrays, and tropical fish, but only 2 lion fish, both on my last dive. Great swim throughs on several dives. Dives I liked least, even though you can see some good stuff, are the dives where they take snorkelers and those that other ops visit quite a bit as 2nd dives, like Paso del Cedral. Started my shore dive with 12 lbs (should have looked in log book after 2 years) but ended with 18 thanks to DM. Stayed at 18 remainder of time - probably could have gone to 14-16 after a few dives but decided to stay with what I knew was getting me down. I forgot how hungry I got after a first and second dive - thank goodness for snacks/pastries/water/sodas with all 3 ops. Thought I was going to do more shore dives but it didn't work out - From El Cid up to Tikila Beach Bar is pretty popular for these dives day and night. Since my buddy couldn't dive (broken ankle) I was always the loner on the boat. The only op that gave me a dive buddy was Roberta's - I got the DM, not that we stayed together, but I didn't stray too far.

Had my gear serviced before trip - went to pick it up the day before Thanksgiving - had a small hole in Zuma BC - replaced it with a new AquaLung Zuma, which is a travel BC. Without going into the story, I wound up going back the day after Thanksgiving and got a new AquaLung i550c air integrated dive computer. Left next day for Coz. Love the bigger numbers, only 2 buttons, bluetooth feature to set things like air/nitrox and date/time from iPhone as well as to download dives to its dive log app, but more importantly, to my current dive log app (DiveLog DT) from moremobilesoftware.

Part 2 in next post.
 
Part 2: Everything Else I was determined to try many restaurants and see what sights/attractions I could since we didn't do any of that on previous trips.

Restaurants: Ate someplace different each day - Bueno Ventura (at Coral Princess), Hemingways, La Monina, La Mission, Thirsty Cougar, Guido's, Pirate Dinner Cruise, La Chopa (at El Cid), Tikila's, Coconuts Bar & Grill (on east cost, cash only), K'ooben Laab (get a reservation a day before), Casa Denis (cash only), Ernesto's (breakfast), and Money Bar. Least favorites were La Chopa at El Cid, Casa Denis, and Thirsty Cougar - to be fair, of four of us eating, 1-2 out of 4 had something good at these places - not me! Favorites were all of the others. Can't beat the prices for MX food. To address something I read here on sB, Bohemia Obscura beer can be found several places, including the Coral Princess - I don't drink dark beers, but now, maybe I do - it was pretty good!

Attractions & Other Stuff: Rented a Jeep one day and drove around the island, avoiding downtown San Miguel. Driving is no different than driving g at home, but the speed limit is pretty slow (speed limit) in places. Went to San Gervasio Mayan Ruins. If your into ruins, it may pay to get a guide (you will be offered.) We toured on our own and read the plaques that were by the different ruins. If it's wet, some of the paths can be very slick. The Mi Mexico Lindo FREE Tequila Tour just down the road from the entrance to the ruins is actually pretty interesting and only about 15 minutes - sampled several tequilas and was interested in a creme rum - $69 and the only place on the island that has it?? Later, we went to the Mayan Plaza across from the International cruise terminal and found it for $50 US cash!! Went to the Punta Sur Eco Beach Park ($14 with the Jeep rental) - long bumpy dirt roads starting at the entrance - not really much to see/do. Saw 2 crocodiles, the lighthouse, small ruin, museum (maybe the best thing), and of course, venders, but got there too late, 2:08 PM to do the eco boat tour, the last one leaving at 2:00! Didn't know before arriving that the park closes early. There is a restaurant and beach at the farthest point in. I won't ever go back, but it is on most island tours. The drive on the main road around the scenic east coast and south was pretty nice with not much traffic at all. Was glad to have AC in Jeep - kept top on. Don't know how people go around on mopeds/dune buggies with the sun and high temps.

Covid test/Airline/Airport/Verifly: Rule changed while we were there from the 3 days prior Covid test to 1 day prior. El Cid La Ceiba had someone come in and do the antigen test and sprung for the cost of the tests for 2 people. We had 4 (our traveling friends) so we split the cost, $36 per couple, so more like $18 a person. Had the results at reception desk in 3 hours. Completed the "Questionnaire of Identification...." (a MX thing) for arriving and departing. It was only taken when we were leaving - American Airline Agent offered form at checkin, but I had already printed and completed ahead of time - it was taken at the entrance to the security checkpoint. The "Attestation" form (also printed at home and completed ahead of time) is needed when leaving MX. Using Verifly, I downloaded and signed up for the app and had my vaccine card info entered and verified before leaving for MX. Entered the Covid test results and completed "Attestation" form which was verified within a couple of hours. At airport I showed an AA agent the Verifly app and that I was "verified". Never had to produce a copy of the Attestation form or Covid result. Our American Airlines flight was delayed about 1 hour leaving Coz which made us too late to make connecting flight home. As there were no more flights that night, we were directed to AA customer service where when it was our turn, they booked a flight for the next day, gave us our boarding passes, gave us a hotel voucher (very nice Residence Inn with free breakfast), gave us taxi cab vouchers for trip to hotel and back, and provided food vouchers for $12 each for airport restaurants. The hotel clerk gave us a name/number of taxi company, who we called that night, but the guy wanted us to pay $20 more as 4 of us, all with vouchers, were trying to ride together. I called another company who didn't accept the voucher, but then I got smart and called the DFW Airport Taxi company - they called the next morning to confirm pickup time and even got there 15 minutes early.

A great trip - I think I'll visit again!!!
 
A few pics I took:
 

Attachments

  • E5DB3A76-3BFA-4244-B232-F438F320D25A_1_201_a.jpeg
    E5DB3A76-3BFA-4244-B232-F438F320D25A_1_201_a.jpeg
    71.7 KB · Views: 101
  • D5F66DB0-28FE-4656-A256-BACAC5B4B053_1_201_a.jpeg
    D5F66DB0-28FE-4656-A256-BACAC5B4B053_1_201_a.jpeg
    116.8 KB · Views: 97
  • 89DC0965-5858-4DAE-B49D-08616B4239F9_1_201_a.jpeg
    89DC0965-5858-4DAE-B49D-08616B4239F9_1_201_a.jpeg
    137 KB · Views: 111
  • 099755F6-8F52-42C0-9540-8CD24954A6C8_1_201_a.jpeg
    099755F6-8F52-42C0-9540-8CD24954A6C8_1_201_a.jpeg
    111.5 KB · Views: 97
  • CF7D502C-97F1-4B0B-B8C0-06887F6FF2B8_1_201_a.jpeg
    CF7D502C-97F1-4B0B-B8C0-06887F6FF2B8_1_201_a.jpeg
    110 KB · Views: 110
Titled this thread a little different as I had a few different experiences on this trip.

Part 1: Resorts and Dive Ops

Stayed 1 week at the Coral Princess Golf & Dive Resort with Pepe Scuba as its onsite dive op and 1 week at El Cid La Ceiba with Babieca Dive Center as its onsite op.

The Coral Princess is a nice resort in the north hotel zone, but closer to town than other resorts in the north zone. Good food in their restaurant, but closes very early. Staff is eager to please. Beach area built up on the iron shore, nice infinity pool, and a small dock area where one can snorkel. No scheduled resort activities. Bar on the beach - swim up bar was closed. Less 'people traffic' being north of town - look forward to going back to this resort. El Cid La Ceiba is south of town close to the International and Puerto Maya cruise ship terminals. Stayed here in the past, but would probably stay someplace else in the future. If ECLC was my only choice, I would stay there. Rooms are okay (have a lot of humidity when doors get opened a lot) and have been upgraded since I was there in 2012. All-inclusive is optional and can be for number of days that you select. They have an activity schedule, but there wasn't much or any participation. Great toiletries are provided. Beach area is built up on the iron shore, small pool, and a pier where other ops can pick up for diving/fishing. Area is also good for snorkeling.

Pepe Scuba at Coral Princess is a good dive op. The only reason I can think that it is not mentioned more often here on SB is that more divers on SB tend to stay farther south. They have a very good following of repeat customers. In the week I was there, 2 boats went out each morning and there were a few afternoon boats going out as well as a boat for a single resort diver. When I arrived, I did a guided shore dive from the dock to test out some new gear and get my trim in order, since it had been 2 years since last dives. The guide was actually taking a new diver who had never been in the ocean on the dive - she just held on to the buoy rope and drifted along. Not a lot to see on this shore dive, but it was nice getting wet. From that point, my routine was dive a day, take a day off. Pepe Scuba has fast boats that get you to the sites in the marine park pretty quick. I almost was going to take taxis farther south and dive with someone else - glad I didn't. Prices are a little higher than other ops (maybe for boat gas since they travel farther) but they offer multi day discounts. They stayed on schedule - we were in the water for 1st dives by 9:30 or earlier each day. They asked everyday where people wanted to go and would try to avoid repeating a site you did.Best dive of the trip was with Pepe as we did Punta Sur - Cathedral. Great conditions, no other dive boats to be seen. They have rinse tanks and will store your gear. Rental gear looked to be in good shape. Except for Cathedral all dives were 60+ minutes. They also pick up from other piers to the south.

Babieca Dive Center at ECLC was convenient for a day, but they don't go out until 9:30 AM which I wasn't a fan of. Did only one day of diving with them - on my off day I noticed that the diving group was waiting around at 10:15 as air tanks had not arrived. They didn't get out until 10:30. As it turned out, the next day they got off to a late start again but I had decided to dive with someone else because of the time. On my one day diving with Babieca dive, the diving was good. The DM allowed everyone to dive their air - my dive times were 55 and 65 minutes. There is a rinse and drying station and they will keep your gear. There was a group of 6 divers who went out every morning, did afternoon dives every day, and did 1 night dive with Babieca. Although the group dove everyday, they were frustrated by the late start times also. They are on the expensive side and I didn't find the staff to be very personable.

Roberta's Scuba Shack (less than a 5 minute walk from ECLC) is well organized. Used PayPal to pay for the one day I did with them. Five boats went out and Roberta, I assume, kept things moving. A display board has dive groups and DMs/boats listed. It is announced that dive time is 700 psi or 1 hour - my times were 55 and 68 minutes. Didn't feel like the DM would have forced anyone up. Very busy place with shore diving and afternoon dives happening. Nice rinse station and they store gear. DM also asked which sites people would like to dive.

Ended my diving at this point. Water was as warm as 84º F on entries - never felt a shock from cold water and I wore a shorty. Water was pretty calm and flat a couple of days. Current was not noticeable on a few dives but nice to ride on others. Saw many eagle rays, lobsters, nurse sharks, turtles, barracuda, splendid toadfish, pufferfish, stingrays, and tropical fish, but only 2 lion fish, both on my last dive. Great swim throughs on several dives. Dives I liked least, even though you can see some good stuff, are the dives where they take snorkelers and those that other ops visit quite a bit as 2nd dives, like Paso del Cedral. Started my shore dive with 12 lbs (should have looked in log book after 2 years) but ended with 18 thanks to DM. Stayed at 18 remainder of time - probably could have gone to 14-16 after a few dives but decided to stay with what I knew was getting me down. I forgot how hungry I got after a first and second dive - thank goodness for snacks/pastries/water/sodas with all 3 ops. Thought I was going to do more shore dives but it didn't work out - From El Cid up to Tikila Beach Bar is pretty popular for these dives day and night. Since my buddy couldn't dive (broken ankle) I was always the loner on the boat. The only op that gave me a dive buddy was Roberta's - I got the DM, not that we stayed together, but I didn't stray too far.

Had my gear serviced before trip - went to pick it up the day before Thanksgiving - had a small hole in Zuma BC - replaced it with a new AquaLung Zuma, which is a travel BC. Without going into the story, I wound up going back the day after Thanksgiving and got a new AquaLung i550c air integrated dive computer. Left next day for Coz. Love the bigger numbers, only 2 buttons, bluetooth feature to set things like air/nitrox and date/time from iPhone as well as to download dives to its dive log app, but more importantly, to my current dive log app (DiveLog DT) from moremobilesoftware.

Part 2 in next post.
Thanks for the report.
 
Thanks for reporting. Compare and contrast from people who've stayed at more than one place and area are especially interesting, as is a discussion about topside attraction, since many divers have non-divers in tow.

You mention the Coral Princess Resort had a restaurant with great food but it closed early, and the area had less people traffic (than San Miguel, I presume). If you wanted or needed to eat somewhere else, where there many options in easy walking distance? I ask since not everyone rents a car.

You mentioned you look forward to staying at Coral Princess Resort again; think that'll be your new 'go to' on Cozumel, or just one of them?

Pepe Scuba has fast boats that get you to the sites in the marine park pretty quick. I almost was going to take taxis farther south and dive with someone else - glad I didn't.

They stayed on schedule - we were in the water for 1st dives by 9:30 or earlier each day.
This is good to know. I imagine a concern of people considering the northern hotel zone is that boat rides to the marine park dive sites will be onerously long. Glad to hear that wasn't the case.
 
@jonhall thank you for the report. Any bars or local restaurants in the area outside of the hotel?
 
Part 2: Everything Else I was determined to try many restaurants and see what sights/attractions I could since we didn't do any of that on previous trips.

Restaurants: Ate someplace different each day - Bueno Ventura (at Coral Princess), Hemingways, La Monina, La Mission, Thirsty Cougar, Guido's, Pirate Dinner Cruise, La Chopa (at El Cid), Tikila's, Coconuts Bar & Grill (on east cost, cash only), K'ooben Laab (get a reservation a day before), Casa Denis (cash only), Ernesto's (breakfast), and Money Bar. Least favorites were La Chopa at El Cid, Casa Denis, and Thirsty Cougar - to be fair, of four of us eating, 1-2 out of 4 had something good at these places - not me! Favorites were all of the others. Can't beat the prices for MX food. To address something I read here on sB, Bohemia Obscura beer can be found several places, including the Coral Princess - I don't drink dark beers, but now, maybe I do - it was pretty good!

A great trip - I think I'll visit again!!!
Next time you are there and especially if you are staying at the CP since it is pretty close by, I recommend eating at Buccano's. It is very high end for Cozumel and a bit pricey, but it is well worth it, IMO.
 
How was the food on the Pirate Dinner Cruise? We've never done it and are considering it for our next trip. Thanks.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

Back
Top Bottom