Cozumel Hotel Recommendations

[Dan G]

We stayed at Sunscape Sabor last December. The rooms are showing their age and we had problems with hot water in ours. The food ranged from alright to not so good. Staff at the hotel and dive shop were pretty good. Not bad for the money, but we would not stay there again. Just too far away from downtown for my taste.

We hired a private DM for the two of us. Money well spent. Told Giovani I wanted to see some Splendid Toadfish and saw 10+ on the first dive. Now that I know where they like to hang out, no problem finding one in the future.

I am glad you posted this as we were just looking at possibilities for December and Sabor is on our list. We have never stayed at a southern AI, as we usually stay near town (Blue Angel, Barracuda, Villa Blanca) since we love walking to our favorite restaurants every night. This trip, we will be traveling with another family and will have 3 kids ranging in ages 11-13 between the two families. We want to try an AI for two main reasons: 1) the kids can take care of their eating needs easily which makes a huge difference and relieves a lot of stress. 2) we want to be where the kids can have the run of the place and be outside a lot. A VRBO or the typical places we stay don't quite offer that experience for them. We want happy and occupied kids since that translates into more diving for the adults. We will be using an indi operator regardless of where we stay.

We were close to booking with Sabor as it looked kid friendly and not too expensive. Any input from anyone on this thread as to where else we should be considering or if you had a positive experience at Sabor? We did stay at Hotel Cozumel once. I liked the location since the walk into town was easy. I didn't mind the food too much (breakfast was great), but the kids hated the pools as they were just too cold. We usually went into town to eat dinner. We'd like to try a southern resort for this trip and see what it is like. Sure we'll might not get to Cafe Denis or the tacerias out on 30th(?) we love so much, but trade offs happen.

 

[kelemvor]

Hotel Cozumel & Resort has AI with diving included packages. They have their own dock where the boat picks you up. Don't use the rinse buckets for your gear - ultra gross. Fortunately, they have hoses you can use.

I was there last June for the scubaboard invasion, it was fantastic and the onside dive op "Dive Paradise" did a great job.
Hotel Cozumel & Resort | Diving Packages $2120 for 2 adults in one room AI + diving.

They normally provide al80's with air, but can get nitrox and/or al100's (I dove air 100's) for about $10usd extra per tank I think it was. They do have fast boats available (also extra fee) if you want to dive devil's throat or something else far away and don't want to spend all day getting there.

They have rental cars available at the hotel, we rented one and drove around the island on an offgas day.

 

[imoto]

Iberostar has a pretty good children's program with activities during the day like archery, v-ball, pool games with children. I found the food better at the Iberostar than the Sabor. I always dove with Dressel but will be trying Dive with Martin as well on our next trip coming up in about 2 weeks.

Snorkeling at the Sabor was much better than the Iberostar though. There are two pools at the Sabor in two different locations. Iberostar has a toddler pool, then a large pool divided by a swim up bar. No swim up bar at the Sabor.

 

[kelemvor]

Seriously? You expected a dive resort to pay for your plane tickets?

If you know of one that will, please post their contact information here. We'll send them more business than they can handle.

Such things do exist, I've seen them advertised at the end of game shows!

Although, never with Cozumel as the destination.

I think his expectation that an all inclusive include drinks - even alcoholic - is quite reasonable. On tipping I could go either way. The prices they listed are quite a bit less than I usually tip. Hotel Cozumel staff would have done far worse when I visited if the hotel had such a recommendation sheet.

 

[nodakdive]

Seriously? You expected a dive resort to pay for your plane tickets?

If you know of one that will, please post their contact information here. We'll send them more business than they can handle.

I think what the poster means is that you can't get travel packages with Scuba Club. If I purchase air and hotel separately, the price is higher than if I buy an air and hotel package for the same hotel.