Cancun or Cozumel?

[catone]

I'll have one week off from work at the end of January and plan to go diving somewhere tropical. My wife and daughter (8 year-old) are non-divers and we will fly out of Atlanta. Cozumel seems to have better diving than Cancun but is more expensive (hotel+airfare) overall and may not offer enough to non-divers. The priorities would be first keeping my wife and daughter entertained while I'm gone diving (3 or 4 2-tank dive days), then good diving for me and lastly the price.
Any suggestions?
Should we look somewhere else in the Caribbeans?
Thanks and Happy Holidays to all!

 

[DeputyDan]

Scuba Club Cozumel Specials

Have you seen the above offer. Good first time place to stay on the island.
You can walk to down town and to the major stores.

There is a sandy area for your daughter but no real "kid activities".
You could sign up for various activities with other providers.

 

[driftwood]

You also may want to look at Playa del Carmen as a place to stay. Easy ferry ride to Coz and plenty to keep your wife and daughter occupied while you dive.

 

[Mike]

The priorities would be first keeping my wife and daughter entertained

What keeps your wife and daughter entertained?

Sleeping on the beach or pool, reading a book all day, making sand castles?
Shopping all day at the mall?
Hiking up mountains and zipping down zip lines?

If your wife and daughter are low maintenance, they will see little difference between a beach/pool on Cozumel or a beach/pool at Cancun, except for the size and amount of people on it and one you'll see the sunrise and on the other you'll watch the sunset.

If your daughter needs to be enrolled in an all day long kids club and entertained or your wife needs to be shopping in an environment no different then the one you left back in the states then Cancun will offer that.

It's very hard to help you out unless you can tell us what your wife and daughter are expecting. In general Cancun is big, developed and Americanized. Cozumel is smaller, more 'Mexican'. However there are some expensive resorts on Cozumel, if you're the sort who never leaves the grounds then you can stay at one and your vacation will look almost identical no matter which location you choose.

 

[Jackie]

A few things.
i would not recommend Scuba Club for a non diving family. The wife and children will want to shoot themselves. The place revolves around diving. I say this as a mother of three.
the Palace will give you a non dive enviroment in luxury, if it is in your budget. They really do cater to the kids and you are close to town which makes it a lot more fun and less boring than being stuck at an AI futher south. Not to mention you can still eat out without breaking the budget.
Mike is asking the same questions I would.... What your wife and daughter find as fun things to do on vacation?
What would Cancun offer them that they would find more appealing?

 

[annlaur]

I'd also suggest you look at Playa del Carmen. Closer to the reefs of Cozumel than Cancun, lots of things to do, beautiful beaches, shopping, and affordable.
Depending on what your family likes to do to entertain themselves, Cozumel could be a good match too.
Regarding cost, you don't have to fly to the island to stay there, many of us fly into Cancun and then either do a bus and ferry ride or take a short Mayair flight to go to Cozumel.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

The diving off Cozumel and Cancun are very similar. Not suprising really, given their close proximity.
My wife and I have about 50 dives off Cancun and 20 off Cozumel.

Cozumel diving tends to be deeper with elaborate reef structure (lots of swimthroughs). Lots of 90+ dives.
Cancun diving tends to be shallow with fewer swim throughs. The only sites I can think of that are more than 60FSW are the C55 & C58.

Cozumel is all drift diving, with mild to moderate currents at all sites.
Cancun sites tend to have little or no current, except for the two wrecks.

Cozumel has more turtles and more nurse sharks.
Cancun has more non-nurse sharks, more barracdua and larger schools of the usual suspects.

Cozumel has the Splendid Toad Fish.
Cancun has more shore-based entertainment, especially if you like the clubs.

I honestly don't think you'll be disappointed with either location. Neither has any bad dives.

On Cozumel, we recommend Aldora Divers. In Cancun, we recommend Alvaro from AlwaysDiving.

 

[catone]

Thank you all for your suggestions!
My wife made all my tormenting decision making process very easy saying that we'll go wherever the best diving is, so we decided to go to Cozumel. She chose the Palace, seems like a great place to relax while I'm gone diving. I wish we had known it was that easy to fly into Cancun and then go to Cozumel, we would've saved some good money on airfare
As far as diving goes, is there a "must see" or "must do" dive? Should I even try to dive the cenotes?

 

[ttriton]

Stayed at the Palace in October with non-diving wife and it was great. Great service and close to town.
It was our first trip to Cozumel. Dove with Blue Angel which will pick up at Palace pier. Took the ferry to Playa, to just look around.
Preferred the Cozumel atmoshere much more.

 

[Jackie]

I love the rooms at the Palace. And the beds are some of the best on the island. The morning buffet is great. So much variety and a lot of the hot food is made to order.

oh and very close to you is a bar/restaurant ( this is just south of Barracuda, help me people) with all those fun iceburg type enormous water structures to play on. I saw the morings for them while shore diving at Barracuda. You can have some drinks and snacks and play in the water. Dont feel that you have to get your moneys worth by never buying a beverage or snack outside the palace. You can still be pretty frugal and enjoy the ambiance of the town.
there are beach clubs down the road more amusement for your daughter. There is no sandy beach at the Palace but it is easy enough to swim in the ocean. The pools are beautiful and the service is exemplary.