AI versus hotel

[Janie88]

I don't think up-front costs are necessarily better than "continual extras." It just depends, and that's why it is so important to do your research before any trip to gauge what is the better value.

And the more I have looked into Cozumel, the more I also feel that even if "continual extras" add up to a little more than staying AI, it is worth it to experience the different restaurants and culture

 

[Rose Robinson]

if you were charged $1000 usd for a meal for four people then you literally got robbed

not sure who you dive with on coz but the only vacation location i even came close to paying $100/day for two dives was in st maarten. maybe with the whole covid situation we may see some hefty price increases though.

Hello Rick,

Wasn't Cozumel, it was Turks and Caicos.

You are right, and we were, ''literally''

The meal was beautiful, and our hotel boasted one of the best restaurants on the Island, but the dinner was worth no where near what I paid.

My point was paying one price for AI, as opposed to thinking you're getting a good deal on a hotel, until you begin to realize what the total cost of everything else was after a week on the resort having had to pull out your credit a dozen times a day.

I don't do ''cheap'' and I'm not a fan of the Caribbean. with some exceptions, most islands boast nothing away from the resorts, and other are to unsafe to venture too far anyway.

What does it tell you when the properties are patrolled by dogs at night, ''for the protection of the guests''.

Rose.

 

[deepsea21]

I have always paid in pesos, until my accountant friend said to use my cc and ask for the bill to be paid in pesos. That way I got miles and a record of all dining

Personally I have 2 problems with that. First, as soon as your credit card leaves your hand and goes out of site anywhere it is subject to being compromised but more important, I don't like the idea of the credit card co's charging these local businesses their fees and chewing into their profits when I'm generally dining in family-owned, cheap-but-great-eats establishments. Relying on credit cards can also be so limiting in some places shopping and such. Having Pesos in hand when negotiating a purchase other than food here and there on the back streets screams "Let's make a deal". After ya think you've negotiated the best price ya can, pull out the Pesos and have them in hand and then kinda waive your head back and forth, start to hesitate, say you want to think about it and another 10% may come off the prior negotiated price if you turn for the door. This isn't nasty negotiating practices, it's expected and at the end of the day no one is going to sell you something if they aren't happy with the price they ultimately agree to.

 

[davecampbell]

Janie,

Speaking only from personal experience, and not having anything in particular to do with Cozumel,

Some ''pay as you play'' hotels are not as inexpensive as they first appear, because every time you turn around , someone is asking for your credit card.

As an example, a few years ago, I paid over $1000. for four of us to have dinner...and it wasn't anything close to lobster/caviar and Dom.

By the end of the trip, when all the credit card receipts were tallied, Sandals, would have been less expensive. Your dives alone at a ''hotel'' could be well over $100 US per outing per person. Where at Sandals, your two tank morning, two tank afternoon and often night dive(s) are all included, as is NITROX.

Up front costs are always better than ''continual extras'' and not necessarily ''more'' expensive.

LOL,

Rose

I've been to a few Sandals resorts for diving, and they've all limited you to two tank morning boat diving. We usually manage 10 dives in a week at Sandals, if we dive every day.

 

[jonhall]

Salty Endeavors actually has El Cid La Ceiba where I'll be staying for a week, as one of it's listed AI resorts. $1030 which includes 6 days of 2 dives. With my timeshare, splitting the cost of the 2 bedroom unit with friends, food on my own or with the AI, and diving (5 days), costs would be ~$625 with food on my own and ~$730 if I went the AI route. I think that's pretty good, but others know how to beat that!!

As I shared the Dressel ad earlier, a couple thoughts came to mind about diving with a resort op in Coz. A common comment on Dressel, as well as some other resort boats, is that they are cattle boats. I lucked into a day at Dressel Cozumel where there were only 6 divers, an unusual occurrence. Aside from the different plusses and minuses everyone can share on the topic, one thing I specifically liked about diving with the resort op was that they only took people who met at their pier as opposed to other ops that make multiple stops to pick up divers. The resort ops in Coz get you to the dive sites in a few minutes versus the ops that pick up divers from various docks and if you're first on, it can be 45+ minutes before getting wet - then there are the multiple stops on the return.

 

[John Trecker]

A two-tank afternoon dive is even better. I guess I'm always thinking about some places we've been to like Cayman Brac Reef Resort where the most you can do is 3 dives/daily and it's a two-tank morning, and one-tank afternoon dive. Sometimes you can do a night dive but it's totally dependent on getting enough people. We've been there 3x, and only one time did we get enough people together for a night dive. It's a great place. But has become pretty expensive - as much money as doing one of the Aggressor liveaboards (Belize, Bahamas, Roatan) with one of their specials.

Where are the agressor deals listed. Thanks!

 

[drrich2]

Where are the agressor deals listed.

Here's a link to Aggressor Fleet's specials page. Over the past few years I've seen them put out a roughly annual sale at >30% off, mainly focused on Caribbean region live-aboards. IIRC, the last was in November of 2020 (37% off). I wait for the big sales to book their boats. If you're looking far afield, you may not find such widespread great deals, but for the Caribbean it seems highly likely.

When considering live-aboard specials, be mindful there may be limited date ranges. Consider factors like 'hurricane season' and other weather concerns in your planning.

 

[Janie88]

Here's a link to Aggressor Fleet's specials page. Over the past few years I've seen them put out a roughly annual sale at >30% off, mainly focused on Caribbean region live-aboards. IIRC, the last was in November of 2020 (37% off). I wait for the big sales to book their boats. If you're looking far afield, you may not find such widespread great deals, but for the Caribbean it seems highly likely.

When considering live-aboard specials, be mindful there may be limited date ranges. Consider factors like 'hurricane season' and other weather concerns in your planning.

Aggressor has had some wonderful sales for Caribbean and also Red Sea at only $999. Most of these are now gone. They have a $1499 to Roatan but is only through April I think. Explorer Ventures also has a few great deals if you want to travel in April, for $999.

I'm not looking to book a liveaboard until maybe August or later. I'll probably do Cozumel unless I see more deals later in the year, which is unlikely. However, I check both Aggressor and Explorer Ventures' websites several times a week as sometimes a special pops up!

 

[Janie88]

Here's a link to Aggressor Fleet's specials page. Over the past few years I've seen them put out a roughly annual sale at >30% off, mainly focused on Caribbean region live-aboards. IIRC, the last was in November of 2020 (37% off). I wait for the big sales to book their boats. If you're looking far afield, you may not find such widespread great deals, but for the Caribbean it seems highly likely.

When considering live-aboard specials, be mindful there may be limited date ranges. Consider factors like 'hurricane season' and other weather concerns in your planning.

Sadly, I am looking at the Aggressor website this morning and almost all the $999 specials are gone. Not surprising, as (1) people have gobbled them up and (2) availability was limited to the early part of this year and latest dates were in April. I love liveaboards but it just gets too expensive especially for myself and my husband, at the normal rate of about $3k pp in the Caribbean, it's $6k plus the extras of port fees, nitrox, etc.etc.

 

[Charred]

I have stayed in town and stayed at AIs. Granted, when I stay in AI we absolutely hit the restaurants in town a few times.

My wife and my whole dive group vastly prefer staying at an AI and visiting down as needed.

My point: Dont think of town vs AI as a rigid choice when both is a great option too.