Confused about where to stay!

[smartcar8]

We are coming to Cozumel, Dec. 12-19th for a dive vacation - but after a lot of reading on the forum, we are still not sure what our best accommodation option is. We will be taking courses (OW and AOW), followed by some diving, so we would ideally like to be within walking distance of a good dive shop. We are not on a strict budget and I guess are looking for fairly nice accommodations but they don't have to be luxurious.

Cost-wise, an all-inclusive is our best bet. From Canada, resorts such as the Melia or El Cozumeleno in the north or Occidental or Iberostar in the south are great bargains for that week. The downside is that none of these resorts seem to have one of the "recommended" dive shops close by. Their in-house ops get only fair reviews. We could rent a car but ideally we would like to not have to. Another concern is the travel time to the reefs if we stay in the north. Is that a valid concern?

If we could find an all-inclusive with a good dive shop - that would be our best option.

Alternatively we could do a custom trip and stay at the Casa Del Mar, Blue Angel, Scuba Club Cozumel or possibly the Casa Mexicana. This would obviously put us right next to lots of great dive shop options. What we would lose is the convenience (cost saving) of an AI and a sandy beach which we would ideally like to have.

The Blue Angel is tempting but lots of people mention that noise is an issue. Coming from a large city full of noise - we would prefer a quiet setting for our vacation. Is the noise at the Blue Angel a big issue?

Would appreciate any and all feedback, opinions and advice.

Thanks!

 

[ggunn]

We are coming to Cozumel, Dec. 12-19th for a dive vacation - but after a lot of reading on the forum, we are still not sure what our best accommodation option is. We will be taking courses (OW and AOW), followed by some diving, so we would ideally like to be within walking distance of a good dive shop. We are not on a strict budget and I guess are looking for fairly nice accommodations but they don't have to be luxurious.

Cost-wise, an all-inclusive is our best bet. From Canada, resorts such as the Melia or El Cozumeleno in the north or Occidental or Iberostar in the south are great bargains for that week. The downside is that none of these resorts seem to have one of the "recommended" dive shops close by. Their in-house ops get only fair reviews. We could rent a car but ideally we would like to not have to. Another concern is the travel time to the reefs if we stay in the north. Is that a valid concern?

If we could find an all-inclusive with a good dive shop - that would be our best option.

Alternatively we could do a custom trip and stay at the Casa Del Mar, Blue Angel, Scuba Club Cozumel or possibly the Casa Mexicana. This would obviously put us right next to lots of great dive shop options. What we would lose is the convenience (cost saving) of an AI and a sandy beach which we would ideally like to have.

The Blue Angel is tempting but lots of people mention that noise is an issue. Coming from a large city full of noise - we would prefer a quiet setting for our vacation. Is the noise at the Blue Angel a big issue?

Would appreciate any and all feedback, opinions and advice.

Thanks!

A couple of things...

The noise is a non-issue for me at Blue Angel. Different folks have different thresholds where street noise bothers them, I guess, but that at BA is below mine.

Likewise, that it isn't an AI is not a concern for me. As long as you are not staying at the north or south extremes of the hotel zone, there are tons of great restaurants on the island that are easy and quick to get to from there. For me, eating out on Cozumel is second only to the diving as my most enjoyable activity there.

There is a great dive shop on the premises as well as an excellent restaurant. The pool is very nice and the dock is only a few steps away. And the owner is Canadian, if that makes any difference to you.

Alternatively, Scuba Club Cozumel has an AI option and a very good dive shop. And it's just to the south of town so getting into town is a snap.

The Melia and El Cozumeleno are indeed a long way from most of the dive sites and you may have to cab it for part of the trip. Most divers stay south of town. The Occidental and Iberostar are way south. They are close to the southern dive sites but you may have trouble getting to some of the more central sites from there. Also, they are isolated from the rest of the island and a cab will cost you $20 each way for a trip to town.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[divingjd]

It looks like you have identified most of the relevant issues, but there is one thing you should be aware of. Dive operations other than the on-site dive operation can pick you up at your resort, at least the resorts south of town. As far as I know, nobody does that with the northern resorts. Some resorts have charged divers to use their piers if they are not using the on-site operator. In any case, if you stay south of town (or south of the harbor, which is right next to the Presidente), you can probably get picked up at the resort and don't have to get yourself to the dive shop. It all depends on where you stay and who you choose to dive with. By the way, this is assuming that you are not doing the pool work for OW in Cozumel. If you plan on doing that on vacation, I am not sure how it would work. I would advise doing the academics and pool at home and just doing the open water dives in Cozumel.

Like Gordon (and many others who are likely to chime in here), I prefer going out to eat. There are lots of great places to eat that won't break the bank and lots of them are downright cheap. That being said, i can understand the appeal of knowing in advance how much you will spend and how good some of the AI deals are. If you are set on an AI, the diving will probably work out best if you go south rather than north. That is also where you will find real sand beaches.

I like Aldora Divers and stay at Villa Aldora, a little north of town. Definitely not AI, and it's about half a mile (one km) north of town. Aldora has several boats and picks up at the Villa, in town, and south of town. It sounds like you've done enough research already to have read some of the many threads on which dive shop to use and where to stay, so I won't belabor the point.

Enjoy your trip and, even if you go the AI route, get into town at least one night. It's great fun.

 

[MMM]

I made the mistake of staying north of town the first time I came to Cozumel. The Playa Azul hotel was lovely but you definitely needed a car (or taxi) if you wanted to eat out, dive, etc. etc. I would not recommend that you stay north. If you aren't on a tight budget, why not look into the Cozumel Palace? I have not heard a single negative review of this AI, it's right in town, ocean-side, with a man-made beach and several good operators will pick up there (if you don't want to use the house op), store your gear etc. etc. Another possibility would be to do your training with the house op and then try some other ops after you have your bearings.

 

[Ron Lee]

I checked the noise level at Blue Angel when it was the Lorena (?). The noise was too high for my preferences then. It is right along a busy road so noise is expected there. Maybe it has changed or not. Villa Aldora has one or more suites that are very nice. Kitchen facilities which means that you can have a small breakfast before pickup by the dive boat. They make a between dives stop at a beach club where you can eat lunch. Then taxi into town in the evening if you want a dinner at a local place.....or walk about twenty minutes then taxi back after dinner. They do not have a real beach but the time between dives allows beach time.

 

[morecowbells]

I agree with the advise provided by other posters' suggestions of completing the classroom and pool dives at home and doing your referral dive in Cozumel. This way, you will be able to spend more time in the water as a OW certified diver. I am curious though as to why you want to also complete the AOW during this vacation. Everybody has different opinions on the importance of getting AOW certification. My advise is to save the $$$ and time and focus on OW skills and getting some experience before embarking onto AOW certification. Honestly it surprises me that PADI does not require a certain number of dives and experience prior to getting AOW certification. Save the AOW for another vacation.

I would not let the concept of a dive shop and it's proximity to where you are staying factor into your lodging decision. Let the dive shop come to you! There are many awesome and qualified dive ops who simply do not have a dive shop. The boat picks you up(provided where you are staying) and you perform your skills in the ocean. As for lodging, I prefer to stay south. Most dive ops will pick you up and the ride to the reef is short and sweet. Plus, you get to sleep in a little longer

 

[bsppc]

My suggestion would also include doing the classroom/pool training at home and the open water dives in Cozumel. Doing it this way maximizes your dive time in paradise. Pick an AI resort that meets your basic needs and then find a dive op that can do your open water referral dives and provide the balance of your diving needs for the week.

My wife is not a diver and she loves the Park Royal so we stay there on our visits to Cozumel. I highly recommend Scuba with Alison as she does open water referrals all the time and is extremely good with new divers. Safety conscious and FUN make her a perfect choice for new divers. Caution, a week with Alison and you will be hooked on diving for life.....

Bill

 

[ggunn]

I would go even farther and recommend that you complete your entire certification locally if you can before you go to Cozumel. Getting your supervised cert dives done in conditions more challenging than what you will experience diving Cozumel will widen your comfort zone a bit and make your certification more "portable". Also, if you are already fully certified when you get to Cozumel you can start doing real dives immediately.

 

[loudives]

Sunscape Sabor is an AI with a beach. It allows children. Rooms tend to be on the small no frills side. The resort has both hotel rooms or small condos. For a larger room opt for either the Deluxe ocean front (not view) or the Studio Suite. It is less expensive than its sister resort "Secrets" which is right next door and adults only. The 2 resorts share the same buffet restaurant and each has 2-3 other restaurants and snack bars.

There is a wooden pier off the beach where all dive ops can pick you up, no pier fee. (I use bottemtimedivers.net my regular op, or Dive with Alison as a backup, I like them both and find that Raul and Alison not only great divemasters but good people as well.) Even as customers (not students) they will help, explain and teach you some things as you dive. BTW they both take their time and find things many others miss, this is because they want you to get longer bottom times and expend less energy. The faster you swim the shorter time you have to enjoy the wonders you find underwater.

Do your classroom and pool dives at home and get a referral for the open water dives. Save your money and time and just do the OW. I've been all over the Caribbean and never had a problem diving with just a OW cert. I also have been with many so called AOW cert divers that had no business even having a OW cert. Just having the cert doesn't make you an advanced diver. You don't want to look like a fool to the divemaster or other divers when you present yourself as a AOW, then can't find your bouyancy or do something really stupid like bolting to the surface without a safety stop. It is experience that make you AOW not the cert. Also you will be on vacation do you really want to spend extra time doing the extra studying for the AOW instead of kicking back and enjoying the island.

Enjoy

 

[Asteve]

Unless there is some reason you need the AOW for you next trip. I would only get the OW this trip and get the AOW the next trip and that will give you some pool time before your next trip, do all the class and pool work at home. Do the open water at Cozumel
Cozumel is one of those places that if you go to have a great time it will happen and if you go to complain about things you will not have to work too hard to find them.
We stayed at BA, We like it, but no beach, the pool over looks the water,and so does the restaurant , the road noise dies down about 9PM every night so not a problem.
Dive operations, I would not go with a operation that has boats that take more then 10 people. the boats need to be fast.
You said something about renting a car, someone else said it was $20 to town from the hotel in the south. Well it would cost at least $40 to rent a car and with a cab you do not have to worry about fender bender and parking and you get to look around.