Trip Report Blue Angel- June 11-18 2022

[ggunn]

Glad to hear of the meals included option. A common debate on ScubaBoard is the convenience of A.I. vs. the claimed greater taste and value (and likely variety) of eating out. At Blue Angel Resort, one can apparently do either.

It's not the same as other AI options on the island. The hotel only has 22 rooms, so even when it is full the restaurant doesn't have to serve a whole lot of people. There's no buffet line with food sitting out for hours; everything is prepared to order.

 

[Brodydog]

Those birds are caged parrots that belong to the Stingray Experience a couple of door south of the hotel.

If you say so, but I remember seeing big black birds out in the trees lining the streets and I could have sworn they were making a lot of noise. But hey, it‘s been some years back and my memory isn’t what it used to be.

 

[ggunn]

If you say so, but I remember seeing big black birds out in the trees lining the streets and I could have sworn they were making a lot of noise. But hey, it‘s been some years back and my memory isn’t what it used to be.

Sure, there are grackles around the hotel and they make some noise in the mornings, but they are nowhere near as loud and obnoxious as those parrots.

 

[Redfoot]

Wow, that’s a great price for diving, meals and a stay. And those banana pancakes were to die for when we were there last. It’s been a few years but I don’t remember banana French toast being an option. I’m sure it was equally good if not better.

Were lunch and dinner from the menu or did they have a special select few options for your package? Our first visit to Coz we stayed at Blue Angel with a similar package deal and breakfast was from the regular menu but for lunch and dinner we had a special menu which had fewer options. The special menu got old by the end of the week and I think we paid extra a couple of times for items off of the regular menu. But they do have great food.

Our first visit we were in the second level. I could not stand those damn birds. I never got used to them. After that we requested and were granted the bottom floor and the barrier (a hallway and maybe rooms on the other side of the hallway) from our room to the street, along with the birds being higher up in the trees, kept us from hearing all that squawking. We’ve now moved on to another place in town but I can only imagine the music noise.

Thanks for trip report. I enjoyed revisiting a place, through your eyes, that we’ve been to.

Thanks! I did not even notice the birds- they must have been drowned out by the techno and the broken scooter mufflers.... I slept like a rock the whole week after all that diving, so none of it really bothered me. Just added here for others knowledge if they decide to go there.

 

[Redfoot]

Also, the entire menu was available with the package, but shrimp, lionfish and steak options had a USD $7 upcharge.

It is a huge menu, so there were always choices, plus they always had specials

 

[Johnoly]

I had booked their "Liveaboard" package for $995.00 which covered lodging, 3 meals a day, 6 x 2 tank morning dives, one night dive and unlimited shore diving.

Really good report!! BA is a great value & location.

 

[Cozdreamer]

Thanks for sharing your trip and nicely done video compilation! We've enjoyed the restaurant there before but never stayed there or dove with them. Thanks for posting!

 

[Matt B]

Great review of the Blue Angel. Wife and I have stayed there about 15 times. Great dive operation, Great food in the restaurant, though we do venture into town most days and visit some of our old favorite restaurants. We usually try and request the ground floor room as someone stated above, the upper rooms do get some street noise. We definite come back because of our friendships with many who work there. Sergio!, Andy, Mateo, Julio, Chango, Ramon and all the dive shop crew. The shore dive is great, and easily accessible, both day and night. We love to be able to get a quick check out dive in on arrival day to make sure everything is good. And the Cloud Eggs at Breakfast are absolutely amazing! Hopefully see our friends again in a few months.

 

[Kimela]

Returned to Cozumel June 11-18, and used a credit from 2020 booking that had to be rolled several times due to COVID. I had booked their "Liveaboard" package for $995.00 which covered lodging, 3 meals a day, 6 x 2 tank morning dives, one night dive and unlimited shore diving.

I had Delta miles to use (and there were no good flights on other carriers) , so I flew Detroit to Cancun and did the bag drag. Left Detroit at 8:15 am, landed in Cancun before noon, and used the "van guy" noted on this forum. It turns out this individual now just contracts a taxi to take you, so not much was gained except having someone waiting right by Senor Frogs, and I was happy with the price for a private shuttle.

Arrived to the ferry terminal in time to catch the 2:00 pm boat, and was at Blue Angel right around 3:00 pm. Check in was a breeze, I had a quick bite to eat and then did a 35 minute shore dive. Pretty convenient, and I would do the same trip again without hesitation.

Blue Angel is about 1.7 miles from the ferry terminal/centro area. The small hotel, dive shop and restaurant are all very conveniently connected. Every room has an ocean view with balcony. I had room 206, a corner room on the northern end of the resort. The room is very large, with ample storage area, two beds, full bathroom, great AC, minifridge, TV and strong WiFi. The open air lobby extends out to the rear garden and pool area overlooking the dock. Easy swimming, snorkeling and relaxation opportunities.

The restaurant is up a small flight of stairs (Mexican elevator ) As noted, I had all meals included with the package I booked. Since I was there to dive as much as possible, I took advantage of this for all except a few snacks I had while walking around downtown The restaurant was very good- I really enjoyed breakfast especially. They have an acai bowl with beets blended in that was incredible. The banana French toast and pancakes were also excellent. Coffee was OK, but espresso was out of this world- they use a local vendor who gets the beans from a single farm in Chiapas, then roasts on Cozumel. (you can find the coffee downtown at a few of the stores "Oro Magico" brand) Lunch was usually tortilla soup (wow) and tacos, then back out for afternoon dives. Dinner varied, I often ordered whatever was on special that day. I was never disappointed.

They also have a full vegan/vegetarian menu available, which is new and attracts diners to the restaurant that are not staying there.

The restaurant staff were awesome. I made quick friends with Sergio, Pancho, Carlos and both Armando's- I was traveling solo, so ended up talking with them quite a bit. I practiced a little Spanish and they helped me with new words and corrections. These gentleman really work hard, they made my trip much better for the friendship and conversation we shared.

The dive shop is very convenient, well run and professional. There are always tanks available for shore dives ( 80 CF air and 32% EAN). Nobody is policing your shore dive, so solo diving, night diving, dawn diving are all at your own discretion. They do lock the doors to the gear storage area around 5:30 (unless there is boat night dive) so if you want to dive between 5:00 pm and 7:00 am, you should keep your gear with you. I dove with Ramon and Julio most of the week, they are both excellent DM's and I really enjoyed their company above and below the surface. Boats are small and fast, usually only 4-6 divers per boat, I think there was only one morning with 8 divers on board. Their boat captains are awesome- (especially Chango!) I can only think of a few dives (out of 18 I did with them) where the boat was not waiting for us as we surfaced. They will handle your gear full valet style if you like, or you can manage all of your own stuff. Just let them know at the beginning of the week, and you never have to ask again. Most dive sites less than 20 minutes away, max ride for us was to Columbia at around 35 minutes. Our morning boats left at 8:00 and always back right around noon.

I did 12 (6 x 2 tank) morning dives, 3 days of afternoon dives (3 x 2 tank), and 3 days of twilight/night dives (3 x 2 tank) plus the shore dive for total of 25 dives.

2 days of the twilight/night dives were with Jungle Divers. Their shop is only about 1/2 mile from Blue Angel, so I walked there with my gear in mesh backpack. We drove from there to the marina. They were having a tough week, with gear issues and cancellations. The first day was great, it was Steff (the owner) myself, and 3 others. We had both reefs (twilight and night) to ourselves that day. The next day with them, we arrived to the boat and learned that there were about 15 other people (from another dive op) joining us. I am not sure if this was planned, but it was not the experience I was expecting. Many brand new divers who were just certified dumped in for a night dive. The boat we were on was also a total tub of junk, a huge beast that was not in great shape. It all worked out, we still had a nice dive, just a mention here if you book with them ask what boat they are using and how many other divers will be joining if that is a concern to you.

The night dives were the absolute highlight for me. I loved hanging with the octopus, and could have spent a whole dive with just one of them. Also loved to hear the toadfish croaking, and we saw tons of purple mouth eels. We also saw a school of squid, which was really cool.

The day dives, while still great, felt a little underwhelming for me compared to the trip I took in November. Not sure if it was the water temps, or the timing, or the dive sites/days we picked, but I felt there was a lot more life on my last visit. Still got a decent amount of turtles, schools of fish, eels and a few nurse sharks, but I noticed less stingrays and less fish than I remember. Some of the coral on the shallower sites also seemed to be more damaged/dead.

One highlight was a HUGE grouper inside a cave at Palancar. I was the last in the group, and as I rounded a corner towards the exit, the grouper slid out of the cave, stared me down, then backed right back into the cave. Nobody else saw it, and I think it may have been a trap.... luring an unsuspecting diver into the grouper hole for dinner .

Did the reverse trip back to PDC on Saturday 6/18. Took the 9:00 am ferry, picked up around 10:00 on PDC and arrived to airport by 11:00 for a 1:30 flight.

All in all, for the money this was an incredible trip and the diving was very good. I think I lucked out last November- less traffic on the reefs, more animals, and great topside weather.

Here is video of the trip:

I was happy to read a current review of Blue Angel - thanks. We've gone there for dinner a few times but I was curious about the rooms and the boats. It looks like a nice little resort.

When you get back to Cozumel have Stef (Jungle Divers) take you out for a night dive at Tikila. There's so much to see there - and it's relaxed dive. Stef loves the small stuff, so if you're interested just let him know.

 

[Kimela]

Also another thing I forgot, but is often mentioned here, is the noise from the road and a local bar that plays loud music.

Ooh. I'm glad you mentioned that. We had that problem at Albatross and won't go back there again. It's the thumping of the base line that keeps me awake. I guess I didn't notice when we went for dinner because ... well, we weren't trying to sleep. Too bad.