Cozumel January 2020 Advice

[DandyDon]

You are correct sir....$122 a night. Suites Bahia ($50) and a few others were still reasonable. I've noticed the prices at CM creeping up over the years. 5 years ago we stayed for a little over $50 a night booking through Blue Magic...

Ah, well, your memory from 5 years ago may be better than mine. I'd be surprised to find that hotel that cheap in the last decade, but you may have found a great special.

Quotes will probably vary with actual dates, but for the 14 days I tried in January it looks like $122 for CM, $59 for Suites Bahia, and amazingly $107-111 for Suites Colonial which has historically been about the same as Suites Bahia. I think there is some mistake there, but then I expect all of them to come down in time - depending on how the high season bookings develop. So much can change in 9 months.

 

[noj3333]

To the OP...

I'll be escaping the New England winter during the same time you guys are looking to get out of the PNW... I'll be in Cozumel from January 2-16.

With where to stay, I've gathered a popular pick-up location for operators is the 'Aldora Pier', which is right by Calle 3 Sur. By chance the hotel I picked, Hotel Plaza Cozumel, is a short 7-8 minute walk away. Everyone is different, but I wouldn't want to be more then a 15-20 minute walk from where I'm being picked up. Any more then that and I can imagine issues with making it to the pier in the mornings, without being rushed. Along the same lines, the Aldora Pier is right in the center of downtown, so it seems like a good location for restaurants/ bars/ shopping as well...

I'm curious if you'll find an operator who leaves earlier then others. During my only other diving in Cozumel I found myself at the marina early. I remember all the boats in the marina were loading tanks and prepping during the same time. With how operators use a central fill station I wonder if they really can get out early? It seemed like the tanks come on trucks in the morning, and the operators load up then, and get their day started at about the same time.

Another thing with the operators, I'd make sure whoever you go with is a 'valet operator'. I normally like to handle my own gear, but looking back on past trips storage can be a real PITA if your hotel isn't set up for it... The three operators I looked into, Aldora, 3P, and Blue XT are all valet operators, who store your gear overnight/ between dives.

As far as afternoon/ evening/ night dives, I'm very interested in the prospect of diving several afternoons/ evenings/ nights. The operator I picked, Blue XT, made it seem like it's possible to dive often in the afternoon (either on one of their boats, or via a company they 'work with'... I'm fine with that, but if I could steer a few other afternoon/ evening/ night divers to @Christi I'd be happy to dive exclusively with them).

 

[horn34]

To the OP...

I'll be escaping the New England winter during the same time you guys are looking to get out of the PNW... I'll be in Cozumel from January 2-16.

With where to stay, I've gathered a popular pick-up location for operators is the 'Aldora Pier', which is right by Calle 3 Sur. By chance the hotel I picked, Hotel Plaza Cozumel, is a short 7-8 minute walk away. Everyone is different, but I wouldn't want to be more then a 15-20 minute walk from where I'm being picked up. Any more then that and I can imagine issues with making it to the pier in the mornings, without being rushed. Along the same lines, the Aldora Pier is right in the center of downtown, so it seems like a good location for restaurants/ bars/ shopping as well...

I'm curious if you'll find an operator who leaves earlier then others. During my only other diving in Cozumel I found myself at the marina early. I remember all the boats in the marina were loading tanks and prepping during the same time. With how operators use a central fill station I wonder if they really can get out early? It seemed like the tanks come on trucks in the morning, and the operators load up then, and get their day started at about the same time.
@Christi I'd be happy to dive exclusively with them).

As a clarification, Aldora has their own tank filling operation and doesn't rely on Meridiano like most other Cozumel dive operators, allowing them to leave consistently and reliably early.

 

[scubadada]

Aldora Divers, Villa Aldora ALDORA DIVERS

 

[JackD342]

I just came back from a week at Scuba Club Cozumel, same as my previous visit to the island about a dozen years ago.
No predicting what the package specials will be at that time, I think it is still a little early for any to be published. But I find them to be a good value, especially if you are content with eating most meals on site.
Scuba Club Cozumel Dive Resort - Cozumel, Mexico

Packages include all meals but no beverages, and a two-tank morning boat trip each day. They will also offer an afternoon trip to the C53 for added $$, a one tank night dive, or a two tank twilight dive followed by night dive trip, for added $$. Internet access is pretty good, the only TVs are in the bar, which closes at 10:30 so there isn't any night-life noise keeping patrons up at night. Lots of outlets in the rooms for all your rechargeable stuff.

If you like muck diving, you can do as many shore dives as you like, including night dives. Figure about 15-25 foot depths. Just get your tanks for the night checked out and stashed by 6pm when the dive shop goes home for the day. There is now an artificial reef on the shore dives courtesy of hurricane Wilma, previously incarnated as the pre-Wilma resort boat pier. I did 22 dives last week including the add-ons and the shore dives, and that was with only sitting out one afternoon/evening due to weather. But it sounds like you will be using afternoons for work at least some of the time.

Adding a bit of relevant info on SCC:

Boats load at about 8:15 give or take. They run as many as seven boats from their own dock, room for two at a time, so I assume they stagger the loading on busy days. They have their own fill operation. I think longest boat ride to dive sites was about an hour, maybe a little more once or twice. Quite a few storage lockers available at two different ends of the property, bring your own lock, first come first served. We arrived Sunday and had to double up on lockers the first day, but then space cleared out by Monday and we had one per person. Rinse tanks near each locker set, camera rinse at the set near the dive shop. We were very happy with the guide and the overall operation.

 

[Ron Lee]

Villa Aldora is nice and I believe has wifi.

I also used wifi in my room at Hacienda San Miguel

Inicio

I don't see the English version.

 

[Sloeber]

As a clarification, Aldora has their own tank filling operation and doesn't rely on Meridiano like most other Cozumel dive operators, allowing them to leave consistently and reliably early.

As a clarification, there are 3 separate fill stations in Cozumel, plus the operators which own their own compressor.

A number of shops (most?) use rental tanks. These are the shops which would be leaving last as personal/dive operator tanks always get filled first, and rentals last. You could always ask your operator of choice if they own their own tanks or use rentals. Many divers prefer to avoid rental tanks as they may not be getting the service they need. For example, if a diver drains the tank completely dry during their dive it would be wise to pull the tank from inventory and perform a full service on it as its likely sea water has entered the cylinder. If this was a rental tank, that isn't going to happen. It gets returned to the fill station and added back into inventory. In my first year of operation it wasn't uncommon to foul my personal regulator regularly because I was renting all my tank fills. I'm happy to report that Salty Endeavors now owns 100 cylinders of various sizes. Fouled cylinders and late delivery of tanks are no longer an issue for us.

 

[bradStyle]

I just want to tune in to say... I only just recently joined Scubaboard, and I'm blown away with the kindness of members here offering advice. Thanks so much everybody! I'm reading everything with rapt attention.

 

[sefuchs]

Just don't ask who the "Best" dive shop is! The kindness disappears and it's all out war - LOL.

 

[bradStyle]

UPDATE:

In accordance with the sage advice I’ve received here I’ve done my due diligence and made some decisions.

1. I think we’ll be diving with Aldora (still waiting to see if they offer package rates). Before I had been concentrating my research on TripAdvisor’s heavy hitters like Scuba Life and Scuba Tony, but I figured this board was probably the best enthusiast-grade advice I could get. Blue XT and Tres Pelicanos got a lot of consideration too, but our first time out I think we’ll try Aldora and see how it goes. They do leave a bit earlier than most other operators which is a plus in my book.
2. It’s looking like we’ll stay at Casa Mexicana ($155/nt incl. tax for Deluxe Ocean View) or Hotel Vista del Mar ($135/nt). I took a hard look at Villa Aldora, but we decided we’d rather be close to restaurants and shops. I also looked at Bahia Suites, and Hotel Mary Carmen which had better prices but no king sized beds. Queen or double beds are dealbreakers for us sadly (I’m 6’3” and my GF is 6’0”). Hotel Plaza Cozumel had king beds and a lower price but wanted an immediate 100% down non-refundable payment, and I wasn’t ready to commit to that when I’m learning so much so fast here.
3. I’m still looking into AirBNB options, with proximity to the Aldora pier in mind (thanks to @noj3333 for providing its location).

Now it’s time to start reading up on tips for staying at Casa Mexicana, and good places to eat in the general area. I’m sure this has been written and rewritten time and time again, so I won’t ask. But if anyone thinks of anything that I should know that I don’t know I don’t know, I’m all ears.

Thanks again