AI hotel and onsite dive op recommendation?

[GreggS]

I'm pretty sure that's a temporary COVID response.

I'm not so sure about that. According to their website, breakfast and lunch are included but not dinner. It's a little vague on which, if any, beverages are included, but it does mention a bar tab can be opened with a credit card and settled at the end of your stay. And it seems like I remember reading this well before the Covid pandemic began.

 

[ggunn]

And it seems like I remember reading this well before the Covid pandemic began.

I'm pretty sure I remember otherwise, but I am not a customer of theirs, so I don't know for sure.

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

Most of my experience in Cozumel (300 or so dives) has been mostly with Dressel. I like the short boat rides, relatively festive and less experienced diver base. It makes it fun.

I really like Iberostar. The food is good (and keeps improving it seems every time I go) and I like the vibe. My biggest complaint is the small rooms.

I'm headed out there in a few weeks, and chose not to dive with Dressel mostly due to distancing concerns. I'm working with a private operator with daily private trips for me and my dive group. But I did inquire about what they currently have to offer, i'll post here:

They do two tank dives every morning. Afternoon two tank dives are currently on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday just to P. Gardens and C. Shallows. I see no reference to nite dives at this time.

If you book 10 two tank dives (they can be split) it works out to be $33.60 per dive with Nitrox.

Historicaly speaking, the morning dives are limited to 60 minutes each and the afternoon dives are limited to 50 minutes. Max depth is 100 feet and you are to stay with your assigned guide.

 

[jdevic]

i would first decide if you want to be south of town or as close to town as possible.

south puts you closer to the main reefs and has great beaches.

in town has its obvious attractions.

i have stayed at allegro but it was many years ago. we prefer to stay closer to town.

the park royal is a great place with excellent food and bar service. you can easily use marine world or scuba shack which are both right across from the hotel. the shore diving is decent there as well.

maybe also consider hotel cozumel. it is very close to town. dive paradise is on site and it also has decent shore diving. we enjoy diving it best at night. i heard it was sold recently and pricing has been up and down depending on dates. but in the past we really enjoyed it there. great pool area. dive op. rinse tanks. lockers. good easy night dives. great staff. and for us from canada, the price upgrade to AI was so cheap it was crazy not to take it. we could still afford to go into town and have a few nice dinners off resort.

many here recommend scuba club. same shore dives as hotel coz. seems pretty basic. and i think i may have read recently they were no longer doing AI ?? i may be incorrect on that.

I always stayed in town in the past; therefore, I don't mind staying in the south for a week this time. I've never done any shore dives in Coz near Centro - always boat dives out of the marina.
I did check out Scuba club a few months ago right now it reopened. It is definitely basic but not exactly cheaper compared to AIs.

 

[GreggS]

I'm pretty sure I remember otherwise, but I am not a customer of theirs, so I don't know for sure.

While I've not stayed there before either, I have been looking at their website, among others, for some time now somewhat pre-planning for a trip to Coz in the next couple of years. We may have gone late this year or early next if not for Covid. I just seem to remember that it was not entirely AI. In fact, I seem to remember they offered a meal plan when I first started visiting their website, but I could be confusing it with another resort. I don't see that on the site now, though.

Oh, well. I wouldn't rule it out just because it's not AI. I like the fact that it is a dive center with their own dock and shore diving. Shore diving is something you do not have at the southern resorts.

 

[dogbone]

i would first decide if you want to be south of town or as close to town as possible.

south puts you closer to the main reefs and has great beaches.

in town has its obvious attractions.

i have stayed at allegro but it was many years ago. we prefer to stay closer to town.

the park royal is a great place with excellent food and bar service. you can easily use marine world or scuba shack which are both right across from the hotel. the shore diving is decent there as well.

maybe also consider hotel cozumel. it is very close to town. dive paradise is on site and it also has decent shore diving. we enjoy diving it best at night. i heard it was sold recently and pricing has been up and down depending on dates. but in the past we really enjoyed it there. great pool area. dive op. rinse tanks. lockers. good easy night dives. great staff. and for us from canada, the price upgrade to AI was so cheap it was crazy not to take it. we could still afford to go into town and have a few nice dinners off resort.

many here recommend scuba club. same shore dives as hotel coz. seems pretty basic. and i think i may have read recently they were no longer doing AI ?? i may be incorrect on that.

So I'm going to be staying at park Royal in Feb, I'm not really sure which dive op to go with, have been looking around.. But not found much on individual dive ops... Would you recommend one of the two listed here, or another one? Why do you recommend that?

 

[nodakdive]

So I'm going to be staying at park Royal in Feb, I'm not really sure which dive op to go with, have been looking around.. But not found much on individual dive ops... Would you recommend one of the two listed here, or another one? Why do you recommend that?

Scuba Shack would be very convenient. It's basically across the street from Park Royal and maybe 100 feet north. They have a nice gear locker room and very easy entry onto their boats. They run small 6-8 pack boats. I've been diving with them and would recommend them.

The other convenient options would be to dive with Park Royal's house op (Is that Marine World? Rick would know.) or book with a shop that leaves from downtown. That way you could be picked up from and returned to Park Royal's dock. Shops that leave from downtown:

Blue XTC
Deep Blue
Aldora
Salty Endeavors

There are others that leave from downtown, but I'm not sure who. I usually dive with Deep Blue and would recommend them. Blue XTC and Aldora are highly regarded shops. Salty Endeavors sounds like a really good dive op and as I understand, leaves from downtown. DandyDon could tell more about Salty Endeavors.

 

[jdevic]

Darn...Air Canada just cancelled all the flights from Toronto to CZM till Xmas last night. I probably have to look at Playa or Cuba Cayo Coco for now.

 

[rick00001967]

So I'm going to be staying at park Royal in Feb, I'm not really sure which dive op to go with, have been looking around.. But not found much on individual dive ops... Would you recommend one of the two listed here, or another one? Why do you recommend that?

nice choice. it is a nice resort.

the shop i work for has been using marine world for a number of years now. never had any complaints. they also have bigger boats avail. many divers choose to use the smaller / faster boats to cut down on the travel time to / from dive sites but we prefer the bigger comfy boats. i am in no rush and enjoy the time on the water.

scuba shack has a good rep but as stated above, i believe they only have the smaller boats. we have a couple of divers that spend a month on coz each year and they do all their dives with scuba shack.

 

[rick00001967]

Darn...Air Canada just cancelled all the flights from Toronto to CZM till Xmas last night. I probably have to look at Playa or Cuba Cayo Coco for now.

oh no.....thats not good for us canadians. however, you can still go to coz if you want. you just need to put together your own travel plan. fly to cancun. ado bus to playa. ferry to coz (or you can fly). then reverse to get home. we have done that a few times. takes a bit of work planning though. but we almost never book charter packages.

playa is a great option though. we love it there. we usually split the trip between playa and coz. i have been to playa a number of times. shoot me a message if you need any input.