Cozumel Scuba trip planning. Help? Casa Del Mar

[jringold]

Hey All -


I’m planning our next dive trip. Looking at January and trying to do low budget. I found a good deal on a SCUBA resort called Casa Del Mar Hotel &Dive Resort. Anyone have any experience with it? Trip Advisor reviews are not bad. It looks to be average – but if our interest is mainly diving, then I’m not too uptight about how nice the pool or restaurants are. We have never been diving in Cozumel. I really don’t want to rent a car. So, I’m interested in scuba from the beach or dive Ops that would pick us up.


I’ve found other scuba resorts in Cozumel but they are more expensive. I’m looking for something really low cost and so far, for the dates in Jan that we selected, this seems to be the cheapest.


Thoughts?

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

You might check Blue Magics "sleep and dive" packages. Staying at Suites Bahia includes breakfast and is close to the shop. You meet at the shop and they pay for the taxi to the Caletta Marina. They take care of all of your gear and The dive master Pumba is one of the oldest and best on the island. You can save a little more by flying in to Cancun and taking the ferry across. You take a bus/shuttle/ or taxi to Playa Del Carma (about 45 minutes to an hour) then the ferry to Coz. About $30 ish total one way on the bus and ferry.

There is a dedicated Cozumel section in the regional forums with all kinds of information. Priceline has some youth hostel type rooms for $20 a night as well... There are lots of cheap places to eat well.

above all, stay off the cattle boats. There are too many dive ops with 6 pack boats to ever set a fin on a cattle boat. Aldora and Blue XTSea are supporters of this site, you should give them a look. I believe Blue XTSea now has sleep and dive packages and Aldora has their own hotel on the water.

good luck and get ready for some incredible diving, wonderful people, fantastic food, and an amazing vacation.

jay

 

[DiverRtNY]

go under regional forums for mexico and Cozumel. Great insight. Dove there last year and their advice is very helpful. We stayed at Occidental and our op was "dive with martin". Picked up at dock daily. 6 or less on a boat. Good people. GREAT DIVING!!! Enjoy the drift diving and swim throughs! Amazing. And don't expect the AI resorts to be like an AI at cancun or punta cana. They are still nice but not to those standards.
Dave

 

[Gr8phulgirl]

Hi, I have stayed at Casa Del Mar several times. It is basic, but you won't find more helpful staff, willing to do anything for you anywhere on the island. The rooms have everything you need, air con, tv, and there is wifi in the lobby or at the restaurant. They have an all inclusive package ( food, drinks, cocktails,etc) which is a pretty good deal- especially if you like cold adult beverages after diving. The food is good, but can get repetitive, so you can always head downtown for dinner ( Guidos is great Italian-- and this is coming from a NY'er- we like our Italian food) It is why we keep going back- once you are there you feel like family. You can walk across the street to Cozumel Marine World ( run by Alex and Jorge) for diving. They do combo packages with the hotel for staying and diving. You can also do shore diving right there. Alex and Jorge run a professional, safe shop, and make sure that their divers have a good time as well. They go out of there way to exceed all of your expectations. I really can't say enough good things, Headed back for my fourth week there in March. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

 

[PaloPinto]

I've stayed there and would stay there again, I spend more time in the water than in the room.

 

[bryanmc57]

You might check with Papa Hogs and staying at Hog Town. You get room, diving and breakfast. La Hach across the street is great for dinner, or a quick cab ride into centro if you want something different. Small fast boats and great DMs.

 

[johnnya1966]

We just booked at Hotel Cozumel. It was the best price I could find that was all inclusive with 5 days of 2 tanks per day. We are going on January 9 - 16. Check it out...you might be surprised.