Cozumel luxury resorts close to great diving?

[loady]

I read some of the areas are closed. Are all the reefs in north , south and center open now?

 

[tridacna]

I read some of the areas are closed. Are all the reefs in north , south and center open now?

What Dive Sites Will Be Closed and When

• Paradise and Paradise Shallows – June and July

• Palancar Caves, Palancar Bricks, Colombia (all) – August and September

• San Francisco/Shallows and Santa Rosa/Shallow – October and November

• Chankanaab Bolones and Chankanaab – December and

January

• Paso de Cedral, Cedar Wall and La Francesa – February and March

 

[loudives]

Palace is #1 Presidential #2,
anything else is mediocre at best for "upscale Luxury" Hotels. Do not go by the star ratings of any hotel they lie. All the AI's at south end have food that is the cheap bulk purchase quality and all of it is used whether full of fat or gristle, withered, under ripe or way past its prime. Most of the cooks you will find add an enormous amount of onions or peppers to mask the flavor quality.
Do not dive with in house operator at any hotel, remember they are the low bid winner for the concession!
There are many dive operators that give you the "Luxury" service you want.

 

[Charred]

Palace is #1 Presidential #2,
anything else is mediocre at best for "upscale Luxury" Hotels. Do not go by the star ratings of any hotel they lie. All the AI's at south end have food that is the cheap bulk purchase quality and all of it is used whether full of fat or gristle, withered, under ripe or way past its prime. Most of the cooks you will find add an enormous amount of onions or peppers to mask the flavor quality.
Do not dive with in house operator at any hotel, remember they are the low bid winner for the concession!
There are many dive operators that give you the "Luxury" service you want.

That is really harsh and unsure if that is true. I have stayed in town and stayed in the south and each have their merits. Is the breakfast and lunch better than I eat when at home, yup. Is it a 5 star restaurant, nope.

To me the big choice is do you want to stay in a town-environment or in the jungle/tropical environment?

Personally, we stay in the South for the tropical feel, pools for the afternoon, great breakfast/lunch and then ride a taxi when in the mood for the town food which is really extraordinary. You can even grab a taxi at lunch, eat in town, shop, people watch, chill at a bar, grab dinner and then head back to your palm trees at night. Staying in town and being constantly around cuisers and the locals trying to get cruisers into their shops gets old very quick.

Anyone that says one is better than other is not being honest. Anyone that says either/or is not being creative. This is why we do both.

The real hidden gem of Cozumel is the taxis

 

[loady]

How are occidental and grand royal?

 

[sharky60]

El Presedente is really the ONLY 5-Star resort on the island.

 

[ggunn]

Staying in town and being constantly around cuisers and the locals trying to get cruisers into their shops gets old very quick.

There are shades of gray. Blue Angel, for example is not exactly a luxury accommodation but it is clean and comfortable, and it is far enough from town that the cruseros never get anywhere near it but close enough for quick inexpensive cab rides to all the restaurants in town.

 

[tridacna]

How are occidental and grand royal?

Occidental is an excellent resort. In every way except the food. Pigswill comes to mind. If you like "hot and a lot" and don't care about the quality, this is the place for you.

 

[loady]

Folks we are staying at grand royal a few days then switching to Palace for a few. Wanted to save money and get a different experience. Are their in house fast boat dive companies good for the price or which would be better options? I’d like to buy a multiple dive package , like 25 dives with Nitrox and maybe gear, to save money. Who does a package like that a good price?

 

[flyboy08]

How are occidental and grand royal?

We like the Grand...very nice setting, warm workers and a great beach...food is good enough, but we head into town a few nights to enjoy local fare. Rooms are great, AC awesome. On site ProDive is ok, and includes Nitrox...anyone shop will pick up at the dock or by the beach.