lnjohn
Contributor
Just returned from a 2 week trip to Mexico. I was fortunate enough to be traveling with someone from Mexico. We started in Cozumel, took the Ferry to Playa, bus to Cancun, flew to Acapulco and then took the Diamante bus to Mexico City. I was able to compare the resort living with local living. I also was blessed with intel on the best taco shops, street vendors etc for the adventure.
Regarding the resort we stayed at the Allegro, I bought tickets last minute and it ended up being $1276 all in with taxes for Saturday to Saturday, you are charged 300 pesos for some other Mexico gotcha tax, but that was it. We took the shuttle to the hotel and your option was $13 each person or 200 pesos, I opted for the pesos. The wait was not that long and we made a few stops for other passengers before being brought south. Will definitely take the shuttle again. As is often stated here, the food is not great at Allegro, but I would not say that it's horrible. We were able to get reservations for the Teppanyaki 2x and the Italian 2X, did the Mexican specialty 1x and that is not something I would bother with again. Buffet breakfast really is fine and about as good as any that I have had in Cozumel, the lunch is meh, burgers, hot dogs, nuggets, seafood, not good pizza. Now on the plus side the resort is big, the layout is basically 2 story 8 plexes, you have 2 up 2 down on each side of the building. Not many ocean views, but the resort is on a beautiful white sand beach. There was a sports bar, disco, daytime and evening entertainment. Mattress was firm, large deck with hammock and the A/C worked great. Now my favorite part of this resort and why I would stay here again is for diving. It is very far south and 5 minute boat ride or less sometimes is real. I would board the boat and everyone else on board had their wetsuits on, gear setup and were ready for the water.
Dive operator, I went with Aldora after reading many positive reviews and checking out their website. I could not have been more pleased. They have you complete everything online before you even arrive on the Island. I gave them my dates and my Whatsapp contact information and they were constantly in touch. Confirming dives, times, tank size, air or Nitrox etc. I am an experienced rec diver, since 1985 and was paired with other experienced divers and a DM from TN, TX (Rich). WIth a $50 deposit before arriving I was all setup. After I landed I received a Whatsapp message asking if I would be diving Sunday, and I confirmed that I would like a 2 tank, DIN valve nitrox. I had HP 120's waiting for me with 32 and 36% fills when I boarded the boat. No trip to the shop was necessary and they asked if I brought all my gear. Aldora offers a 10% discount for cash payment, which includes USD. I had sent down $1,000 in pesos but when Aldora let me know that they were offering 19-1 when the market was 17.5 -1 pesos to USD, I paid more in USD. There was no wetsuit needed by me, but I am a CA diver and have little too much insulation, water temp 81F. Everyone one else was wearing 3-5mm full suits. We dove long dives 75-80 minutes, penetrating dives with lots of swim throughs and well described dive plans. Our SI was done on the beach at a place with a small restaurant, we also stopped at El Cielo one day and played with the Sting rays, and saw 2 Spotted Eagle rays in very shallow water. My other travel partner is not as experienced, so I let Aldora know and on the 2x we dove we were placed on a boat with less experienced divers and stayed in more shallow waters. Again we had DM's that spoke very good English and the dives were long and well planned. Now what I really liked about how Aldora operates is that you have a Stahlsac mesh bag waiting for you, under your seat when you board. They explain that you can leave all or some of your gear in the bag and it will be washed and dried for your next dive. I took my Atomic regs, as they don't like to be dunked when not under pressure, but let the rest of my gear in the bag. Each morning I would board the boat, my Bp/w was attached and my gear was dry, booties, and Wing in my case. I did 1 night dive and passed on a 3 tank adventure dive that was offered, and ended up doing a total of 5 days of diving. For checkout it was a breeze, we took at taxi from the resort to Aldora on check out day, that was 210 pesos total. From there, we walked to the ferry and boarded the next catamaran. We arrived in playa, got on the hotwire app and found a hotel 500 meters from the ADO bus station for $38, it was not great, but we were waking up at 2:30am to catch the 3am bus to Cancun for our 6:30am flight to Acapulco.
Now the rest of the trip I would be lugging my 50lb scuba bag and very full carryon throughout Mexico. This what I probably wouldn't do again. Just like the US, the airlines in Mexico seem to make all their money on bag fees and extras. I prefer to travel with a backpack, so paying all the extra fees for luggage and being heavy was annoying. For anyone that does the cancun trip, I highly recommend using the guys on the bikes to carry your gear. They will go as far as you want. We had 5 very heavy bags, my travel partner packs very heavy. From the Ferry to the ADO terminal was 100 pesos. for all 5 of our bags.
The rest of the trip was not dive related, so I'll keep it short. The food and beaches were wonderful in Acapulco, but it is hot, I mean really hot there. Water was clear and warm. 2 chairs and a big umbrella on the beach 100 pesos and worth it. We walked a lot, took collectivos and public transportation which was 12 to 20 pesos and had a great time. We had family housing provided in a local community so I can't comment on the hotels there. Lastly, we took the Diamante bus, which is their highest level of bus from Acapulco to Mexico city. It was the nicest bus I have ever been on. The arrangement was 1 large seat on the left side of the bus and 2 large seats on the right side. Seats were bigger than business class on most planes and reclined, not completely flat, but reclined. The drive through the mountains was beautiful. There were clean his and hers bathrooms at the back of the bus and best part, they didn't weigh our luggage. That trip was 900 pesos each or around $50 usd.
I was offered drugs once in Playa Del Carmen, but had no other instances of so much as a time share being offered this trip. There is heavy armed military prescence on the beach in Acapulco, but I never felt that I was in danger at any time. I didn't go to the night clubs, didn't get drunk or really even go into the city past sundown, so I am sure you can find trouble if you look for it there. Once we left Cozumel, we ate at small taco stands, family owned businesses or had meals prepared for us. There was no comparison to the food in the resort. For that reason, I think my next trip to Cozumel will be to Residencias Reef, Airbnb condo's with their own pier and beach, near Dreams I believe. I will also schedule the other trips to Mexico sans dive gear and go back to the backpack. I can' t wait to get back to Mexico.
Here is a link, need to go through all the video and pics too. Gopro 10 black and DJI Mavic Drone.
Regarding the resort we stayed at the Allegro, I bought tickets last minute and it ended up being $1276 all in with taxes for Saturday to Saturday, you are charged 300 pesos for some other Mexico gotcha tax, but that was it. We took the shuttle to the hotel and your option was $13 each person or 200 pesos, I opted for the pesos. The wait was not that long and we made a few stops for other passengers before being brought south. Will definitely take the shuttle again. As is often stated here, the food is not great at Allegro, but I would not say that it's horrible. We were able to get reservations for the Teppanyaki 2x and the Italian 2X, did the Mexican specialty 1x and that is not something I would bother with again. Buffet breakfast really is fine and about as good as any that I have had in Cozumel, the lunch is meh, burgers, hot dogs, nuggets, seafood, not good pizza. Now on the plus side the resort is big, the layout is basically 2 story 8 plexes, you have 2 up 2 down on each side of the building. Not many ocean views, but the resort is on a beautiful white sand beach. There was a sports bar, disco, daytime and evening entertainment. Mattress was firm, large deck with hammock and the A/C worked great. Now my favorite part of this resort and why I would stay here again is for diving. It is very far south and 5 minute boat ride or less sometimes is real. I would board the boat and everyone else on board had their wetsuits on, gear setup and were ready for the water.
Dive operator, I went with Aldora after reading many positive reviews and checking out their website. I could not have been more pleased. They have you complete everything online before you even arrive on the Island. I gave them my dates and my Whatsapp contact information and they were constantly in touch. Confirming dives, times, tank size, air or Nitrox etc. I am an experienced rec diver, since 1985 and was paired with other experienced divers and a DM from TN, TX (Rich). WIth a $50 deposit before arriving I was all setup. After I landed I received a Whatsapp message asking if I would be diving Sunday, and I confirmed that I would like a 2 tank, DIN valve nitrox. I had HP 120's waiting for me with 32 and 36% fills when I boarded the boat. No trip to the shop was necessary and they asked if I brought all my gear. Aldora offers a 10% discount for cash payment, which includes USD. I had sent down $1,000 in pesos but when Aldora let me know that they were offering 19-1 when the market was 17.5 -1 pesos to USD, I paid more in USD. There was no wetsuit needed by me, but I am a CA diver and have little too much insulation, water temp 81F. Everyone one else was wearing 3-5mm full suits. We dove long dives 75-80 minutes, penetrating dives with lots of swim throughs and well described dive plans. Our SI was done on the beach at a place with a small restaurant, we also stopped at El Cielo one day and played with the Sting rays, and saw 2 Spotted Eagle rays in very shallow water. My other travel partner is not as experienced, so I let Aldora know and on the 2x we dove we were placed on a boat with less experienced divers and stayed in more shallow waters. Again we had DM's that spoke very good English and the dives were long and well planned. Now what I really liked about how Aldora operates is that you have a Stahlsac mesh bag waiting for you, under your seat when you board. They explain that you can leave all or some of your gear in the bag and it will be washed and dried for your next dive. I took my Atomic regs, as they don't like to be dunked when not under pressure, but let the rest of my gear in the bag. Each morning I would board the boat, my Bp/w was attached and my gear was dry, booties, and Wing in my case. I did 1 night dive and passed on a 3 tank adventure dive that was offered, and ended up doing a total of 5 days of diving. For checkout it was a breeze, we took at taxi from the resort to Aldora on check out day, that was 210 pesos total. From there, we walked to the ferry and boarded the next catamaran. We arrived in playa, got on the hotwire app and found a hotel 500 meters from the ADO bus station for $38, it was not great, but we were waking up at 2:30am to catch the 3am bus to Cancun for our 6:30am flight to Acapulco.
Now the rest of the trip I would be lugging my 50lb scuba bag and very full carryon throughout Mexico. This what I probably wouldn't do again. Just like the US, the airlines in Mexico seem to make all their money on bag fees and extras. I prefer to travel with a backpack, so paying all the extra fees for luggage and being heavy was annoying. For anyone that does the cancun trip, I highly recommend using the guys on the bikes to carry your gear. They will go as far as you want. We had 5 very heavy bags, my travel partner packs very heavy. From the Ferry to the ADO terminal was 100 pesos. for all 5 of our bags.
The rest of the trip was not dive related, so I'll keep it short. The food and beaches were wonderful in Acapulco, but it is hot, I mean really hot there. Water was clear and warm. 2 chairs and a big umbrella on the beach 100 pesos and worth it. We walked a lot, took collectivos and public transportation which was 12 to 20 pesos and had a great time. We had family housing provided in a local community so I can't comment on the hotels there. Lastly, we took the Diamante bus, which is their highest level of bus from Acapulco to Mexico city. It was the nicest bus I have ever been on. The arrangement was 1 large seat on the left side of the bus and 2 large seats on the right side. Seats were bigger than business class on most planes and reclined, not completely flat, but reclined. The drive through the mountains was beautiful. There were clean his and hers bathrooms at the back of the bus and best part, they didn't weigh our luggage. That trip was 900 pesos each or around $50 usd.
I was offered drugs once in Playa Del Carmen, but had no other instances of so much as a time share being offered this trip. There is heavy armed military prescence on the beach in Acapulco, but I never felt that I was in danger at any time. I didn't go to the night clubs, didn't get drunk or really even go into the city past sundown, so I am sure you can find trouble if you look for it there. Once we left Cozumel, we ate at small taco stands, family owned businesses or had meals prepared for us. There was no comparison to the food in the resort. For that reason, I think my next trip to Cozumel will be to Residencias Reef, Airbnb condo's with their own pier and beach, near Dreams I believe. I will also schedule the other trips to Mexico sans dive gear and go back to the backpack. I can' t wait to get back to Mexico.
Here is a link, need to go through all the video and pics too. Gopro 10 black and DJI Mavic Drone.
