Cozumel recommendations

[divingjd]

Long way from town. If you are content to be at the resort all the time, that's not a big issue, but for a lot of us, going into town is half the fun.

 

[loudives]

I like the atmosphere better at the reef club. It is very lay-ed back and the guest tend to be more eager to mingle and make friends. More of a family or middle class place.

The food is OK and the ribs from the snack bar are great. I'm a fussy eater and am allergic to onions but was always able to find 1 entrée I could eat. Every dinner had at least either a beef or pork dish that was just that, nothing mixed in. You could mix it with other side dishes to create something if you wanted. Fish and Mexican dish also every night. 5-6 entrée choices.

Iberostar is a more upscale place where you must wear a jacket for dinner in the restaurant. Also people seemed to not want to converse, many had their noses to high for me. Other divers I met that stayed there agreed. Food was a bit better but not much.

If you want to make friends and joke around go to Reef Club.
Want to be left alone to just relax do Iberostar.

Either one will give you good service and a pleasant vacation.

I would go with a different dive operator than the in house one.

www.bottomtimedivers.net
www.bluextseadivers.com
www.liquidbluedivers.com

all will pick you up at Reef Club pier and hold your gear for multi-day diving---Iberostar discourages outside operator pick up, at one time they didn't allow it, may have change that but not sure.

 

[Cozdreamer]

I have only stayed at Reef Club once. We were on the first floor of one of the little "huts". Our AC worked fine, but 2 of the 4 couples with us were on the 2nd floor of other "huts" and their AC was the pits. Our maid service was not the best, we always were asking for towels at the front desk b/c the maid took ours and never left any new ones. You will have a little walk over to the Sand Dollar dive boat pier to catch your dive boat from the Reef Club, maybe 10 minutes walk tops. We were fine with the food served buffet syle and at the snack bar, but it did grow old by the end of the week. All that said, I would consider staying there again if the price were right just because it's so close to all the best dive sites and your boat ride will be very short!!! I've never stayed at the Iberostar, so I can't help you there.. The biggest thing I need to say is that both of these hotels are WAY south of the town square and are very isolated, so if you choose to go shopping or enjoy Sunday night on the square with the locals, or enjoy one of the many great restaurants in town, then it will be $20 taxi ride EACH WAY!! Good luck and Enjoy your trip.

 

[bgillis]

We have been to the Iberostar many times and are always ready to go back. The food and service is very good. I have never had to wear a jacket to dinner. Only one restaurant requires long pants and jeans and a t-shirt will get you in.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...rostar_Cozumel-Cozumel_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

 

[Paco]

We've stayed at the Iberostar a couple times, both before we were divers and after. We were very happy with the rooms, food, service, entertainment, etc. In fact we really like the place. We dove with Dressel Divers, the onsight op, and they were fine. I think they catered more to the beginning divers, although that might have just been how our dives worked out. On a couple dives, there were PADI Part II students, finishing their certs, so the dives were shallow and nice. My daughter and her husband were doing their first ocean dives, so this worked out well for them. If you are looking for an all-inclusive with an on-site op that does well with new divers, Iberostar can work well for you. As stated, the taxi rides to town are expensive, but the short boat rides to the dive sites are nice.

 

[boulderjohn]

Could I ask the reason for the need for an all-inclusive?

My non-diving wife and I have never stayed at one on Cozumel. We love to go into town and eat at the very fine restaurants there. We love to interact with the Cozumel culture. Whenever I can, I not only like to interact with the local culture, I like to have my money interact as much as possible with the local economy. With some all-inclusives, I feel as if I could be anywhere in the world, and I wonder how much of my money stays locally. Drive around Cozumel and you will see a lot of very, very poor people hoping your tourist dollar will help them earn a living.

By the way, when we vacation togetehr to places like this, I make sure I do not focus so heavily on diving that I forget we are together. A two tank morning dive gets me back in time for us to have an enjoyable afternoon and evening together.

 

[tc_rain]

Could I ask the reason for the need for an all-inclusive?

My non-diving wife and I have never stayed at one on Cozumel. We love to go into town and eat at the very fine restaurants there. We love to interact with the Cozumel culture. Whenever I can, I not only like to interact with the local culture, I like to have my money interact as much as possible with the local economy. With some all-inclusives, I feel as if I could be anywhere in the world, and I wonder how much of my money stays locally. Drive around Cozumel and you will see a lot of very, very poor people hoping your tourist dollar will help them earn a living.

By the way, when we vacation togetehr to places like this, I make sure I do not focus so heavily on diving that I forget we are together. A two tank morning dive gets me back in time for us to have an enjoyable afternoon and evening together.

As far as the all-inclusive, I just like the option of not having to carry money with me all of the time and keep track of what is being spent. If we get hungry or want something to eat while on the beach, all we have to do is walk over and get it. We have only stayed in the all-inclusive resorts and find it fits us comfortably.

I also do not focus primarily on the diving since my wife does not dive, however, I will not let it stop me from diving completely. After all, I am there to enjoy myself too. I plan on doing a couple of dives in either the morning or afternoon and spending the rest of the time with her, either on land or on snorkeling (which she enjoys). One or two of the days, I will not dive at all. That way we can do some of the local excursions. This is why I wanted a dive op on site, so I would not spend an extra hour or two commuting to a dive op and then onto a dive site.

I imagine when we go into town for an excursion; we will interact with the local culture and spend money to support their economy just as the cruise ships do.

 

[MMM]

I'd argue that cruise ships don't support local economy, particularly.

Cruisers tend to patronize the jewelry/leather goods etc. shops along the waterfront, along with the Carlos and Charlies etc. restaurants - primarily owned by non Cozomelenos. Just like most of the AIs. To most effectively put money into the hands of the locals (thereby supporting the local economy), you need to patronize the locally owned hotels/B&Bs, restaurants, dive ops etc. etc. To be sure, many of them employ locals (because they are required to) but the lion's share of the profits go elsewhere.

I imagine when we go into town for an excursion; we will interact with the local culture and spend money to support their economy just as the cruise ships do.

 

[loudives]

As far as the all-inclusive, I just like the option of not having to carry money with me all of the time and keep track of what is being spent. If we get hungry or want something to eat while on the beach, all we have to do is walk over and get it. We have only stayed in the all-inclusive resorts and find it fits us comfortably.

I also do not focus primarily on the diving since my wife does not dive, however, I will not let it stop me from diving completely. After all, I am there to enjoy myself too. I plan on doing a couple of dives in either the morning or afternoon and spending the rest of the time with her, either on land or on snorkeling (which she enjoys). One or two of the days, I will not dive at all. That way we can do some of the local excursions. This is why I wanted a dive op on site, so I would not spend an extra hour or two commuting to a dive op and then onto a dive site.

I imagine when we go into town for an excursion; we will interact with the local culture and spend money to support their economy just as the cruise ships do.

If your staying at the AI you won't have to travel to an operator. All local dive operators will pick you up at the pier of the resort. Most locals will have boats that are small fast ones and only hold 6-8 divers, much nicer than getting stuck with a boat that might have 15-20 divers on them.

 

[susan6868]

As far as the all-inclusive, I just like the option of not having to carry money with me all of the time and keep track of what is being spent. If we get hungry or want something to eat while on the beach, all we have to do is walk over and get it. We have only stayed in the all-inclusive resorts and find it fits us comfortably.

I also do not focus primarily on the diving since my wife does not dive, however, I will not let it stop me from diving completely. After all, I am there to enjoy myself too. I plan on doing a couple of dives in either the morning or afternoon and spending the rest of the time with her, either on land or on snorkeling (which she enjoys). One or two of the days, I will not dive at all. That way we can do some of the local excursions. This is why I wanted a dive op on site, so I would not spend an extra hour or two commuting to a dive op and then onto a dive site.

I imagine when we go into town for an excursion; we will interact with the local culture and spend money to support their economy just as the cruise ships do.

TC- I'm with BoulderJohn on this one. My husband and I are big fans of all inclusives as well but I've got to tell you, you may want to rethink this one. We stayed at Casa Mexicana wight on the waterfront in Cozumel. A wonderful buffet breakfast was included each morning and we were on our own for lunch and dinner. I too, do not like to speculate on the cost of a trip and meals can be a wild card. However, so long as you stay out of the American chains (ie; Senior Frogs, etc) food in Cozumel is unbelieveable reasonable and quite good! The reason a place like Casa Mexicana is so great is that it's in very short walking distance to so many wonderful things. You can hop the ferry to Playa del Carmen for the day, you can stroll the waterfront at night, it's festive, not roudy and you have access to both the touristy things (some are fun) as well as getting real "local" right in your back yard. As far as carrying money, well, we don't bring a lot with us. The first time, we made a big project out of bring traveler's checks and trying to guesstimate what we would need. The kicker was, it is much better to go there light and use the ATM's to get money in pesos. You get much more with pesos than you do with American dollars and the exchange is very simple. I would take $300 from the ATM, ask for it in pesos, and then get debited at my bank for like $270.
There are so many wonderful restaurants in Cozumel and half the fun is getting out and strolling and trying the local fare. We bring our teenagers (14 and 15) and they walk around at night in the square and along the waterfront without any fear, it's quite safe.
Anyway, this is just one more opinion, but I thought I'd throw it in because I have a lot of all inclusive experience. When we go to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, I wouldn't do it any other way. Even in Jamaica I felt better staying at the resort and eating there most times. Keep in mind that there will be so much more for your wife near town than off in a resort. With that said, have a wonderful time. Cozumel is one of my favorite places and we go back again and again.
Have fun- you really can't have a bad trip there !