Week 1 – December 3-10 – stayed at Cozumel Palace and did three days of diving with AquaSafari. We lost a day to a norte. Diving was great; nice boats; great crew; love Mariano, Shamir and Daniel (and Yami, who helped organize the boats from dry land). The Palace was, as always, very nice. Covid precautions included staff wearing masks at all times, on and off boats; a tray of sanitizer to step into, with a felt mat to dry your feet as you entered the hotel; they misted your luggage with sanitizer before they brought it in; hand sanitizer offered as you entered each restaurant; staff constantly cleaning.
Week 2 – December 11-18 – stayed at Fiesta Americana and dove with Scuba with Alison. I have more to say about this because it was our first at this resort and our first ‘fast boat’ diving.
The hotel had the same Covid precautions as the Palace AND more! In addition, they brought your flatware and drinks on a tray, and you then took them off the tray so fewer hands touched your stuff; When flatware was already on the table, it was in a plastic bag. At the outdoor sit-down restaurant they also had the tray of sanitizer to step into before entering the dining area.
I thought Fiesta Americana was a really nice place, with plenty for non-divers to do as well. It doesn’t look as posh as Cozumel Palace, and it’s more ‘family friendly’ (lots of families with kids – extended families). The place seemed to cater more to Mexicans and/or other Spanish speaking folks. The staff didn’t have a great deal of fluent English speaking employees – which I thought was great because I want to work on my Spanish! There were lots of activities (salsa class, paddleboards, kayaks, snorkeling, volleyball, yoga, aqua exercise, and a kids club); plenty of beach lounge chairs AND those cool beds (first come, first serve – and we got one on our non-dive day!); a cevicheria, sushi station, café, and Italian, Mexican and an Asian restaurants; a grill; an outdoor sit-down restaurant; a place that was outside but protected from sun and rain where they had a pool table, foosball table, darts, etc.; nightly shows. The food was great. I honestly thought it was better than the Palace. Lots of fresh vegetables, great presentation and really flavorful. Our room was very nice. We are Hilton Grand Vacations owners and managed to get a one room suite that had a room with a king bed and bath, as well as a room with a sofa that converted to a bed and another bathroom. Lots of room – clean – nicely decorated. No hot tub, but a HUGE balcony and nice sized walk-in showers.
Scuba With Alison was wonderful! Alison is currently out of the country (I think expected back in February?) so we were diving with Carlos, with Cesar as captain. We were not time-limited, so our longest dive was 96 minutes (Columbia Shallows, max 34 ft), but most were about 70 minutes. Carlos helped us find some awesome critters. The boat is very comfortable and fast, with two 200 horse outboard motors. We rolled backwards into the water – a first for us – and it was great. You can also do a giant stride if you prefer. You can either put on your gear and duckwalk to where you roll off/giant stride – or they will bring your gear to you (I chose to duckwalk back – it was more comfortable than sitting on the side of the boat with my tank hanging over until I got the signal to splash). Carlos brought water, Oreos and bananas (I guess when Alison is there she brings fresh-baked stuff – we’ll be back!). They kept our BC’s, regs, fins/boots to rinse and bring back the next day – so we only had to keep track of wetsuits, masks, and camera. There IS a dock at Fiesta Americana, and this appears to be Dive House’s main hub. We saw boats going out with nobody on them – guess they were picking up folks elsewhere. I think we saw a total of 5 divers at the resort! There are NO lockers for dive gear, and I’m not sure if Dive House would allow you to use their rinse tanks (we didn’t ask). The boat does not have a head but if you really need to ‘go’ during the surface interval they can take you to the ‘pee pee pier’. Note: there is a $4 charge to dock at the pier. I have previously not been able to pee in the water … I figured it out on this trip!!!
We may stay at Fiesta Americana again – we will DEFINITELY dive with Scuba With Alison again. It was a great experience. Our goal is to be more adventurous and rent a condo next time so we can go out to the local restaurants and experience more of Cozumel. But if we’re lazy, we’ll go back to Fiesta Americana. They’re solid. We sauntered back to the Explorean and couldn’t see any reason to stay there – looked more congested and more in the jungle. We DID have issues with mosquitoes – and I know they fogged at least twice while we were there (I saw the clouds and recognized the smell from my childhood!). I would imagine the mosquitoes would be worse at Explorean – but maybe not?
A note about diving in December: be prepared for nortes. We were VERY lucky to not lose a single dive in our second week. Also, the water was consistently 81-82 degrees. I get chilly and wore a 5mil. My husband wore a Lavacore.
Week 2 – December 11-18 – stayed at Fiesta Americana and dove with Scuba with Alison. I have more to say about this because it was our first at this resort and our first ‘fast boat’ diving.
The hotel had the same Covid precautions as the Palace AND more! In addition, they brought your flatware and drinks on a tray, and you then took them off the tray so fewer hands touched your stuff; When flatware was already on the table, it was in a plastic bag. At the outdoor sit-down restaurant they also had the tray of sanitizer to step into before entering the dining area.
I thought Fiesta Americana was a really nice place, with plenty for non-divers to do as well. It doesn’t look as posh as Cozumel Palace, and it’s more ‘family friendly’ (lots of families with kids – extended families). The place seemed to cater more to Mexicans and/or other Spanish speaking folks. The staff didn’t have a great deal of fluent English speaking employees – which I thought was great because I want to work on my Spanish! There were lots of activities (salsa class, paddleboards, kayaks, snorkeling, volleyball, yoga, aqua exercise, and a kids club); plenty of beach lounge chairs AND those cool beds (first come, first serve – and we got one on our non-dive day!); a cevicheria, sushi station, café, and Italian, Mexican and an Asian restaurants; a grill; an outdoor sit-down restaurant; a place that was outside but protected from sun and rain where they had a pool table, foosball table, darts, etc.; nightly shows. The food was great. I honestly thought it was better than the Palace. Lots of fresh vegetables, great presentation and really flavorful. Our room was very nice. We are Hilton Grand Vacations owners and managed to get a one room suite that had a room with a king bed and bath, as well as a room with a sofa that converted to a bed and another bathroom. Lots of room – clean – nicely decorated. No hot tub, but a HUGE balcony and nice sized walk-in showers.
Scuba With Alison was wonderful! Alison is currently out of the country (I think expected back in February?) so we were diving with Carlos, with Cesar as captain. We were not time-limited, so our longest dive was 96 minutes (Columbia Shallows, max 34 ft), but most were about 70 minutes. Carlos helped us find some awesome critters. The boat is very comfortable and fast, with two 200 horse outboard motors. We rolled backwards into the water – a first for us – and it was great. You can also do a giant stride if you prefer. You can either put on your gear and duckwalk to where you roll off/giant stride – or they will bring your gear to you (I chose to duckwalk back – it was more comfortable than sitting on the side of the boat with my tank hanging over until I got the signal to splash). Carlos brought water, Oreos and bananas (I guess when Alison is there she brings fresh-baked stuff – we’ll be back!). They kept our BC’s, regs, fins/boots to rinse and bring back the next day – so we only had to keep track of wetsuits, masks, and camera. There IS a dock at Fiesta Americana, and this appears to be Dive House’s main hub. We saw boats going out with nobody on them – guess they were picking up folks elsewhere. I think we saw a total of 5 divers at the resort! There are NO lockers for dive gear, and I’m not sure if Dive House would allow you to use their rinse tanks (we didn’t ask). The boat does not have a head but if you really need to ‘go’ during the surface interval they can take you to the ‘pee pee pier’. Note: there is a $4 charge to dock at the pier. I have previously not been able to pee in the water … I figured it out on this trip!!!
We may stay at Fiesta Americana again – we will DEFINITELY dive with Scuba With Alison again. It was a great experience. Our goal is to be more adventurous and rent a condo next time so we can go out to the local restaurants and experience more of Cozumel. But if we’re lazy, we’ll go back to Fiesta Americana. They’re solid. We sauntered back to the Explorean and couldn’t see any reason to stay there – looked more congested and more in the jungle. We DID have issues with mosquitoes – and I know they fogged at least twice while we were there (I saw the clouds and recognized the smell from my childhood!). I would imagine the mosquitoes would be worse at Explorean – but maybe not?
A note about diving in December: be prepared for nortes. We were VERY lucky to not lose a single dive in our second week. Also, the water was consistently 81-82 degrees. I get chilly and wore a 5mil. My husband wore a Lavacore.
