Cozumel in January

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Longwaytofall

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Location
Bay Area California
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I'll be headed to Cozumel soon, and I was wondering if anybody that frequents the area could recommend a cheap hotel and dive operator suitable for open water training, and newer divers. Right now we are looking at Casa del Blano, and hotel Villablanca. There are several operators nearby, all with good reviews.
Thanks!!
 
Just a few questions -- I saw your intro post -- you and your wife are getting certified on your honeymoon in Asia sometime before your Cozumel trip, right? Will you be doing any other diving besides the 4-5 dives with your certification?

How cheap do you want? About the Cheapest good options I've heard of: Hotel Mary Carmen or Suites Colonial are both off the main plaza and probably well under $80/night (both a bit dated but generally good reviews). Casa Mexicana is in town, small step up in price/decor and includes a nice hot breakfast that starts at 7 a.m. (may be rushed if you go with a dive op that starts early, like Aldora or Dive with Martin, but fine for many others like Tres Pelicanos). All of these are easy walks to lots of restaurants/bars, but you'll need a taxi or car to get to a beach club.

Hotel Barracuda is also an old school dive hotel right south of town, and is actually on the water where you could do some shore dives there. Some dive ops will pick up there on their way south (some by boat, some by van). Barracuda is a decent walk or very short cab ride to the main plaza. Many dive ops have package deals with some or all of the above hotels. None of these hotels are resorts or luxurious.

Moving south of town (not in any order): Scuba Club Cozumel, Villablanca, Cozumel Hotel/Wyndam, Blue Angel, Papa Hogs, Village Tank Ha (related to Roberta's Scuba Shack) and Casa Del Mar are all fairly affordable options, and most with one or more dive ops either on-site or providing packages. Oh, and north of town there is the Coral Princess Hotel on the water with Pepe Scuba. For all of these you'll need a taxi or car to town. By the way, don't believe any super low rental car prices you see online for less than $40/day -- you'll need full Mexican insurance coverage, for reasons covered in detail in other posts here or on TripAdvisor, and that is probably $25 or more per day alone.

All of the above are fairly affordable, none of them are fancy resorts. Some of them (Scuba Club and others) use bigger boats that some call "cattle boats", but I believe the rule is that all dive ops in Cozumel can only have either 6 or 8 divers per Divemaster in the water. There are lots of good options, but I'll say so far I have enjoyed both Tres Pelicanos and Jungle Divers.

Tres Pelicanos tends to draw more experienced divers -- but wait, the good thing about that is that usually most of those just kind of loosely stay with the group (or do their own thing), so when my son and I were new divers we generally were the only ones hanging right near the Divemaster.

Jungle Divers is a smaller operation that's been around a few years. You can get very personalized service with them, and unlike many Cozumel dive ops they also offer guided shore dives. Tres Pelicanos morning dives leave the marina about 8:30 and use fast boats to get back around 1. Jungle Divers rent space on bigger, slower boats that leave at 9:30 I believe and take about 6 hours, but include lunch.

Everyone here has their favorites, and luckily there are lots of good options on Cozumel. Have fun!
 
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This should probably be moved to the Cozumel section of the forum, to get maximum input.
 
I really like Roberta's Scuba Shack/Village Tank Ha. The rooms are nice and clean but not very fancy. The room price includes a 2 Tank boat dive every day except the first and last, and unlimited shore diving.
 

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