Cozumel in April?

[mcohen1021]

Ive never stayed up north, but if I did, why not use Aldora? They arent that far south of you I think. I like to stay slightly south of town - Usually I get a condo @ Palmar.

As far as sites, the last few times I've dove Punta Tunich, Tormentos and Yucab, the currents have been a bit strong, but it changes often. Sometimes the currents are even flowing south, which is weird. While you can see just about anything on Paso de Cedral (free swimming green eels, turtles, eagle rays, sharks), its relatively flat and nowhere to hide to slow down if the current is strong. Those sites, I would recommend doing after you have a few dives under your belt.

With any wall dives, stay close to the wall, but not so close you're hitting/bumping into it. With reef dives, use the coral formations to hide in behind them to slow your dive down.

I also had the chance to dive the C53 wreck - that might be a nice option for you because the boat is moored and you can use the mooring line to do go down. The day we did it in November, there was a surface current so it was nice to have the line.

 

[ggunn]

As far as sites, the last few times I've dove Punta Tunich, Tormentos and Yucab, the currents have been a bit strong, but it changes often. Sometimes the currents are even flowing south, which is weird. While you can see just about anything on Paso de Cedral (free swimming green eels, turtles, eagle rays, sharks), its relatively flat and nowhere to hide to slow down if the current is strong. Those sites, I would recommend doing after you have a few dives under your belt.

In my experience the two southern sites where the current is most consistently stronger than others nearby are Punta Tuniche and the valley section of Cedral.

 

[ManaDoug]

April is a great time for Cozumel. The north sites are not for beginners, currents can be swift. Some of the beginner sites in my opinion are Palancar Gardens, Paradise, Yucab, Chankanaab. The north hotels are nice but you will either have a very long boat ride to the best dive sites or take a taxi to Marina Fonatur and the rides will be much shorter. Some hotels closer to the center are ElCid, Presidente and the dive op I suggest is Blue Note Scuba.

Have a great time in Cozumel

 

[ccannon707]

If your daughter is not yet certified, I strongly suggest she do her classroom/bookwork & initial pool work at home prior to your trip. Then she can do her check out dives with the dive shop you choose... in the warm clear turquoise Cozumel water. Of course set that up ahead of time with the shop. Doing it that way will also get her set up & familiar with a mask that fits, as well as anything else she might want to buy ahead of time. You can rent everything there, but a proper fitting mask is #1. Have a great trip & post about it when you get home!

 

[ggunn]

If your daughter is not yet certified, I strongly suggest she do her classroom/bookwork & initial pool work at home prior to your trip. Then she can do her check out dives with the dive shop you choose... in the warm clear turquoise Cozumel water. Of course set that up ahead of time with the shop. Doing it that way will also get her set up & familiar with a mask that fits, as well as anything else she might want to buy ahead of time. You can rent everything there, but a proper fitting mask is #1. Have a great trip & post about it when you get home!

Even better IMO would be to get her completely certed before going to Cozumel. Getting certed in less than the ideal conditions of Cozumel will put diving Cozumel within her comfort zone rather than at the extent of it.

 

[DrMack]

Have you looked at Fiesta Americana? It's down south on the edge of the marine preserve and just about every dive operator will pick you up on the pier there.

Speaking of operators, you do get what you pay for. Opt for quality, not quantity. We prefer operators that are diligent about proof of certifications, have well maintained boats and rental equipment, and competent DMs and boat crews. Our favorite for now is Scuba Du that operates out of the Intercontinental El Presidente. Their professionalism is one of the best we've seen in Cozumel.

I think sites like Palancar Gardens, Palancar Caves, and Santa Rosa Shallows are good for beginners. Hire a private DM to show you around and to keep an eye on members of your group.

 

[nldunn]

Have you looked at Fiesta Americana? It's down south on the edge of the marine preserve and just about every dive operator will pick you up on the pier there.

Speaking of operators, you do get what you pay for. Opt for quality, not quantity. We prefer operators that are diligent about proof of certifications, have well maintained boats and rental equipment, and competent DMs and boat crews. Our favorite for now is Scuba Du that operates out of the Intercontinental El Presidente. Their professionalism is one of the best we've seen in Cozumel.

I think sites like Palancar Gardens, Palancar Caves, and Santa Rosa Shallows are good for beginners. Hire a private DM to show you around and to keep an eye on members of your group.

Thank you so much! I appreciate the advice.

 

[nanches]

Hi all,
I'm thinking of returning to Cozumel in April with my daughter who is not yet certified for Scuba diving. She is 30 years old. I was certified 30 years ago, rarely dove, and did the Refresher Course in Cozumel Nov 2023. I have a few questions about Cozumel in April. I'd like to stay at the Playa Azul again, as we loved it and it was very reasonably priced.
- Is the diving good/safe for beginners in April?
- What is the closest excellent dive operation to the Playa Azul (It's at the northwest end of the island.)
- Would it be worth it to stay closer to a place with their own dive operation and if so, is there a reasonably priced hotel with excellent food and a beach?

Thank you in advance for any help! It's just my daughter and I which is why I am leaning toward the Playa Azul. It was smaller and felt very safe when I was there in November 2023.
Nancy

Hi,

I realize that your original post was from January, so this might be coming a bit too late for your planning needs, but I just saw this, today. I just want to share that my daughter and I stayed at Playa Azul the last 2 summers and dove while we were there. We love that area of Cozumel: it’s quiet, it’s nice to have a small beach, and the snorkeling is really great. In summer 2023, we dove with Salty Endeavors for 2 weeks. Unfortunately, Playa Azul wouldn’t let them pick us up at the hotel pier (they only allowed the house dive shop, Blue Dream, to use it). But we had already made reservations with SE so we just took a 5-minute taxi to and from the northern marina, where they depart from, each day. Salty Endeavors is a great op and, even though they are located at the northern Marina, their boats are really fast and got down to the southern sites and back very quickly. I highly recommend them if you are staying at Playa Azul. During our summer 2024 trip, we decided to dive with Blue Dream for the convenience of leaving from/returning to the hotel pier each day. The folks at Blue Dream are very nice and their captain and dive guide are great! There are a number of lesser known, shallow dive sites up north that Blue Dream mostly visits and they are great for beginners (not the ones mentioned above). They don’t often go to the sites further south that most dive ops go to. They asked for us to pay extra for fuel costs to visit the sites farthest south. Their boat is much slower, so if you go to any of the southern sites, it will be a longer journey. Halfway through our trip we decided to switch back to Salty Endeavors, in order to have a greater variety of sites to dive, and since we had already been to a lot of the southern sites the summer before, we kind of knew what we were missing. I do think, though, that Blue Dream could be a good option for you and your daughter. They can take you to the shallower sites to the north and can also take you to some of the shallower sites in the mid-island area - San Clemente, Yucab, Paradise, Villa Blanca reef. It might be perfect for your level of experience; it will be convenient since you are staying at Playa Azul; and they are a very good dive shop.
I hope that you and your daughter have a wonderful time!
(Also) Nancy

 

[ggunn]

"Blue Dream" is also a very well known hybrid strain of MJ; I wonder if they know that.

 

[babybizliz]

We dove in Cozumel on this same day 3/15/25. Seeing this spiked my PTSD after getting left behind by the DM of Salt Endeavors in turbulent waters. The first dive was amazing and "Freddy" the DM was quite attentive, but my husband ruptured his ear drum at the end of the dive so couldn't go on the second dive. I decided to go without him after establishing that Freddy would be my "Buddy" on the second dive. The captain accidentally gave me my husband's BCD which had half the weight that I needed to descend. I couldn't descend below just a few feet and watched Freddy and the other 3 divers descend to the bottom (about 45 ft) and then swim off with the current without even once looking back to see if I was with them. By the time he noticed and came back looking for me, I had been back in the boat for several minutes. Luckily a DM from another company looked back and saw me waving as they were driving off, otherwise who knows what would have happened? No apologies from the crew of Salty Endeavors - just trying to cover up that they had given me the wrong BCD and then Freddy laughed about leaving me.