Best Place For Family to Stay in Cozumel?

[DiverN2H2O]

The thing most are missing.
3 new divers 2 non divers.
The possible closing of the south next spring? New divers will have something to look forward to if they return.
Regardless Iberostar would be best as they have adjoining bungalows, on-site dive op ok food , pool and beach.
I normally never recommend an AI but did Iberostar with our granddaughter and friend.
We stay in Centro but for that trip it worked great.

 

[drrich2]

A place known for Caribbean getaways with a decent rep. for diving is Dominican Republic. Haven’t been myself. People speak of the Bayahibe (? Spelling) area and diving with ScubaFun.

With your vacation goals, I’d at least do a search and look at trip reports and costs.

Enjoyed Curacao trip last January at an A.I., but it wasn’t exactly low budget. Curacao Trip Report with SB Surge Jan. 2019

 

[Rob9876]

I agree with cicopo and DiverN2H2O that the southern reef closures, if they are even still in effect in the spring, will not have much impact on brand new divers doing their OW checkout dives. Still plenty of good, generally not as deep, dive sites that are not being closed.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Bayahibe, Dominican Republic is a great place for diving and doing your open water check outs. It is a small fishing village on the southern Caribbean Sea coast of the DR. There is reef diving, wall diving, wreck diving and even a cave dive if you are so certified. I always dive with ScubaFun | Dive Center Bayahibe They are a small local dive shop in Bayahibe, John the owner is at the shop every morning, most of the staff are long term employees, they will pick you and return you to your resort,and they will store your gear. Most of the dive sites less than a 20 minute boat ride and a lot are less than 70 ft. deep. The main resorts the are the Hilton La Romana Hilton La Romana Resort & Spa | All Inclusive Luxury Resort which is about a 10 minute walk from Bayahibe. We have stayed here twice when it was a Dreams (last time was May 2016) There is also the Dreams Dominicus La Romana Dreams Dominicus La Romana Resort & Spa | All Inclusive Beach Resort ,the Iberostar Hacienda Dominicus and a step down is the Catalonia Gran Dominicus.

 

[JohnWoods]

Hello all,

My two teenagers and I just took our first scuba diving lessons, but we haven't taken our check-out dives yet. I would like to do our check-out dives in Cozumel in early Spring. In addition to my two teenagers and me, my wife and 9 year old will also be going with us, so I am looking for the best place to stay with a nice beach and pool for them to enjoy while we are diving (obviously we when be spending a lot of time their too). Cozumel seems like a weird beach destination in that it doesn't have a ton of great beaches. Can you help me find the perfect place to stay?

Thanks!!

I've stayed at the Iberostar over the past 5 years every time to Cozumel. Once we had a group of 10, 4 , 3 various numbers and ages from 16 to 75. I can say for the price and facilities it can't be beat. It's not a typical AI , laid back feel , incredible surroundings and you can hear a pin drop at night walking through the grounds. The food is great and over the 5 years with 5 visits , not one person had any complaints or food issues at all. It checks off all the boxes for me enough that we're back in November . Send me a PM if you have any questions or would like to talk.

 

[ggunn]

I've stayed at the Iberostar over the past 5 years every time to Cozumel. Once we had a group of 10, 4 , 3 various numbers and ages from 16 to 75. I can say for the price and facilities it can't be beat. It's not a typical AI , laid back feel , incredible surroundings and you can hear a pin drop at night walking through the grounds. The food is great and over the 5 years with 5 visits , not one person had any complaints or food issues at all. It checks off all the boxes for me enough that we're back in November . Give me a call if you like with any questions xxx-xxx-xxxx

FWIW and IMO, it's generally not a great idea to post your phone number on an open forum. I'd advise you to edit your post and redact it and contact the OP in a PM.

 

[judydivescoz]

Last summer we took our 16 year old granddaughter to do her open water checkout dives along with my 2 adult children and an adult (that’s debatable) friend that were non divers. We rented a house in town with a pool. While we were off diving the others went to a beach club or went fishing. We met up with them after. I understand that’s not the type of accommodation you are looking for! The important part was the diving. Not once with diver in training did we dive past Palancar. We were happy to see her be successful and confident diving. I don’t think she went below 40 feet.
I have been diving in most of the Caribbean and have found Cozumel to still be a favorite dive destination. Its easy to get to, a friendly safe and a fairly budget friendly trip. I am on the island right now enjoying a great vacation. Not sure what your budget is. The Caymans and Turks and Caicos are beautiful but incredibly pricey. We dove in the DR, it was awful but maybe we dove in the wrong place! We also dove in St Kitts, St Croix and Roatan. All nice beginner friendly and not crazy expensive.
Whatever you decide, I hope everybody has a great experience!

 

[Painter]

I went to Sunscape Sabor last year with a club group and I'm returning in November by myself. I have nothing to compare it to as I have never stayed at an AI before, but I was happy with it. The beach is nice, there are a couple of pools and it seemed very family friendly, with many included activities. I am not fussy about food, but there was a nice variety of dining options that would, I suspect, keep most people happy. (A "foodie" friend of mine probably wouldn't like it, but he considers the term "Mexican Food" to be an oxymoron. I, however, love it.)

The dive op, Dive House, was excellent.

I can't speak to the suitability for beginners, though we had one diver in the group who had only 8 dives before the trip.

I am concerned about the closure of the southern dive sites, but last year we did most of our dives at spots north of Palancar and I certainly enjoyed them. No complaints from other members of the group. My favorite dive was at Palancar Gardens and I am sad that I won't be able to go there again on this trip.

My major concern is the possibility of getting blown out. We lost a day of diving because of high winds. I have gone to St. John several times and one nice thing there is that there are so many dives sites around so many small islands that even on a rough day there are sheltered spots. I haven't been back post-hurricane, though.

 

[Beau M]

We did Spring Break in Cozumel this year. 2 adult divers and 2 non diving kids (age 14 and 9). We really enjoyed Cozumel Palace. It's a nice all inclusive that is on the spendy side, but we got a good deal when we booked. I also took my SSI Deep Diver certification with Salty Endeavors on that trip, which is a local dive company and I would highly recommend them for check out dives. I believe they teach both SSI and PADI.

My wife and I went diving with Aqua Safari, who was Cozumel Palace's dive provider, and there were families on our boat who did their check out dives that week. Between the two operators, Salty Endeavors had better and newer dive equipment and a more personal feel.