a point in the right direction please

[xrcjdx]

i am starting to research the possibility of a week-long trip to cozumel first week of august. yes i know it is not prime time and weather could be an issue. wife is not a diver, but she can snorkel reasonably well, and does enjoy cocktails by the pool. so for diving purposes, i am traveling solo. i have no problem staying one place and diving with another. budget is neither low nor high.

will be traveling with my own gear. will not pre-book a package so that if not happy with diveop can just go somewhere else. (a trip report posted yesterday kind of spooked me.) in any event, probably get no more than 10 dives in over a week. am a regular diver, far from novice, and while i don't mind diving with novices now and again, prefer to dive to my own level of ability. will be diving with a camera most dives and assuming conditions warrant it prefer to dive at my own depth and pace and not fin through the dive with a school of others. am i asking too much for a first trip to the area?

any recommendations and a nudge in the right direction would be appreciated (including putting the trip off for another time).

r

 

[Skittl1321]

Id give tres Pelicanos, Aldora, bluextsea, scuba with Alison, living underwater (and honestly a lot others) a look. You don't get the kind of review that was posted yesterday with that level of op. I can give my own thumbs up to TP and Alison.
Possibly in low season you don't need advanced reservations, but good ops do fill up, so I would consider making them. You can always cancel if you don't like them- just check their policies when you book.

Your your wife may enjoy Secrets Resort. And check with your op- some arrange to take out snorkelers too.

 

[DandyDon]

Not a bad time to go at all. You are much less likely to get blown out in August than during Peak/Norte season.

There are other reasons for not booking a package, at least not a "use it or lose it" package. What if you get blown out a few days in a row, or ill, etc. I did have a 5 day dive package booked with TP last trip, then had to cut a day - but they only require an overnight notice so I was good. They just lowered my bill.

Id give tres Pelicanos, Aldora, bluextsea, scuba with Alison, living underwater (and honestly a lot others) a look. You don't get the kind of review that was posted yesterday with that level of op. I can give my own thumbs up to TP and Alison.
Possibly in low season you don't need advanced reservations, but good ops do fill up, so I would consider making them. You can always cancel if you don't like them- just check their policies when you book.

Your your wife may enjoy Secrets Resort. And check with your op- some arrange to take out snorkelers too.

All good suggestions I think, and there are others. I would not want to dive from a boat that took snorkelers too tho. Snorkelers need different, shallow sites that would get boring fast - I think. I bet the wife would be happy with a nice pool, AI drinks & snacks, a couple of spa days, etc.

 

[DjDiverDan]

I think you are going to find it a lot easier to find a good dive op for you than to find the best accomodations. As noted above, there are lots of very good Dive Ops that can satisfy your needs - I personally like Aldora, especially for the HP Steel 120 tanks, the extra long bottom times, the long SI at a beach club. But I have no doubt at all that you would get great dives from any of several other Ops, including Tres Pelicanos, Blue XTSea, Liquid Blue, Living Underwater, Scuba with Allison, and others.

On the issue of accomodations, a trip in August makes great AC and a pool absolutely essential. I don't think that August is a bad time to go - I've gone to Cozumel several times in July and August, and the diving is great. BUT, when you are not in the water, it is HOT and MUGGY. So, though I like places downtown, like Casa Mexicana, during cooler months, I won't stay there in July or August. I want a place with a good sized pool and AC that will keep me cool at night without keeping me awake with the noise. Also, I just do not do AI resorts on Cozumel - I really want quality and variety of dining, and Cozumel has a real wealth of very good restaurants. For me, personally, the restaurant dining available on Cozumel, and the friendly locals you get to meet and interact with, comes a very close second to the diving in terms of the draw to Cozumel. So if quality and variety of food is important to either you or your wife, take that into account. There MAY be AI resorts with good food options, but I wouldn't know about them, as I've never stayed at any of them. The nicest non-AI resort, and the southern resort which is closest to town, is probably El Presidente. If you do go into town for meals, taxi fares will get expensive and you might want to look into renting a car. Of course, if you do rent a car, your wife will have more options - she can go to one of the beach clubs, drive into town for shopping if it is raining, and you can explore the wild east side during an off day from diving or during an afternoon after you have finished diving.

 

[krbailey]

I will be at Blue Angel the first week of August (solo) for the second year in a row. Extremely happy with all aspects of the operation. PM me if you have any specific questions.

 

[xrcjdx]

thank you, thank you, thank you - that is more than enough to point me in the right direction. the recommendations of sb members mean a lot more to me than any other resource available.
r

 

[dberry]

Another thumbs-up for Tres Pelicanos. Every trip out started with "where do you folks want to dive?", and with two boats now they can tailor the experience levels of the divers more closely. May not be the best if you aren't comfortable shooting an SMB with your buddy before the majority are done (but the boat is always nearby to grab you.)