best place in Cozumel

[ggunn]

ok, I am asking for people's opinions about where they have been, what they liked, what part of the island is good for intermediate diving( not expert, not novice) , north, central or south. I have heard enough of "lots of places fit that..." and not enough of " we stayed here, we liked this dive op, we liked this beach..." can I get some more of that please... IN the past, I got good stories on the scubaboard , but I am getting some useless comments lately, come on , name some dive ops you like, some hotels that were great !

Just go there and dive with whoever and stay wherever. It will be fine. The good thing about Cozumel is that it's nearly impossible to go wrong with either a dive op or a hotel. When you come onto a forum like this and ask "what's the best hotel" and "who's the best dive op", you are going to get inundated with recommendations for just about every op and hotel on the island because there are scads of great ones and everyone has their favorites. They are ALL good. The downside of that is that when you get recommendations for every hotel and op on the island, that's pretty much like getting none at all. There IS no best hotel, and there IS no best dive op. There is no best dive site, and there aren't any "off the beaten path" sites you can get to that the rest of us can't by throwing a bunch of money around.

To figure out what's best for you, you're just going to have to go and experience it for yourself. Many folks have a better time their second visit because they figure out how they could have done it better when they are there the first time. And so it will be for you. Just go, keep your eyes open, and count on going back again and doing it better the next time. I've been doing that repeatedly since 1978, and every time I go back, it's better than it was the time before.

Peace,

 

[samstinky1]

Just stayed with Casa Del Mar... Had a very good experiance. The staff worked hard to assure us a good time and Del Mar Aquatics is right there for our diving needs. Very good unlimited shore dives there too.

 

[fire_diver]

Just stayed with Casa Del Mar... Had a very good experiance. The staff worked hard to assure us a good time and Del Mar Aquatics is right there for our diving needs. Very good unlimited shore dives there too.

Did you do any night shore dives in the coves? We found octopus, squid, giant hermit crabs, spotted moray, etc. Theres quite a bit of life there.

 

[Jxh2297]

Casa del mar is a good operation, the dive shop closed at 5 or 6 when we were there so idk about the night shore diving

 

[fire_diver]

OK, if you go back there again and want to do a night shore dive, just talk to the shop during the day. They can leave some full tanks in the locker area with shutters closed, but not locked.

The cockpit lights of the sub are on at night (at when we dove they were) and draws a huge amount of tiny fish, and other critters close by.

 

[mstevens]

I'm not going to give the OP the runaround that other responders have.

In my opinion, and I think I can prove I'm right, the best place to stay in Cozumel is a tossup between a hotel, a rented house or condo, or staying with friends.

The best place to dive is, without doubt, the ocean. I've tried some of the swimming pools, but they really don't compare.

 

[dmoore19]

Where ever your reservations are?

 

[DandyDon]

I wonder if we should just suggest Can-Do maps for vague threads like this? They do give suggestions and info on almost all hotels, ops, and restaurants even tho I don't agree with all of the listings - they're a good place to start. I don't think they do the reef map anymore since site selection depends on variables, but if you've never been - this is a good $10 tool Cozumel Map and Travel Guide

 

[DeltaWardog]

Maybe somebody with a little more web coding smarts than me could put together a little site that asks the usual questions about what preferences a person has in beach / food / hotel / diving / etc and can spit out a list of recommendations. Then a newbie can just take a little quiz and get a short list of things to research.

I'll be the first to admit that the wealth of options in Coz was very daunting the first couple times I went there, and I probably spent more time researching things back here in Colorado than I spent on the island! Some folks just don't have the time to do all that research and want a short list or just some reassurance that they are going to have a good vacation.

 

[DandyDon]

Well, there are just too many hotels and dive Ops to do polls on everyone's current favorites and besides - many of the cheerleaders give their favorites out of the one they have tried, often for no particular reasons.

Now, if cost is a big issue, I am happy to show how I shop - just give me dates and origins. But it does help if one can answer a few questions like I asked....

Do you like all inclusive food & booze?

Do you like a beach with sand below the waterline?

Do you like going into town for dinners?

Do you like a small, fast boat or a large one with a head better?

Rather than insulting everyone who doesn't offer a mini-report here & now.