I've long wondered about the Barracuda myself--it always looks a little uncared-for from the street, but the combination of being close to town and on the water is pretty appealing. (And with the Mega and Chedruai so close by, there's no need to bleed soda money at the bar.) You could always take the chance...
If the main reason you like the idea of being on the sea side of the road is that you really want that view, the Hotel Cozumel could end up a bit of a disappointment. Most of the rooms look out on the pool. There are some deluxe rooms that are sea-facing, but you have to get one that's high enough up to see over the Hotel Coz restaurant building. We stayed there this winter after not being able to get into the Blue Angel, and the only thing I truly liked about it was its convenient location--it was nice to be able to walk into town so easily. And it was set up fairly well for diving. We didn't do the AI. It has a very different feel from the Blue Angel--big and impersonal. The public areas are a lot prettier than the room we had, which I thought was stark and quite small (I consider the Blue Angel rooms spacious and rustic-charming). But it might indeed be pretty good for teens. Its fake-a-beach is one of the better ones in the area, and they do have that big pool. They also have peppy people with megaphone-type things leading activities, and it seemed like maybe there were cruise ship passengers using the beach area. I spent the week knowing I'd much rather be at the BA, but I didn't absolutely despise Hotel Coz, either. I know sometimes Blue Angel tries to book people into the Villablanca. We stayed there once. By comparison, I thought the (deluxe) rooms at Villablanca were nicer than what we had at Hotel Cozumel, and we could see the water from our room. Their balconies were too small to really use. I thought both hotels were equally less pleasing than the Blue Angel, though in different ways. If on some future trip I can't stay at the BA, I'd probably choose Hotel Coz over Villablanca for its location and good wifi, but I'd be looking into other options as well. Doesn't Scuba Club Cozumel also have a "lite" meal option where you're on your own for dinner? That could work out well.
