Cozumel Trip Report, Late May – Early June 2017

[Ironborn]

I should have clarified my suggestion to try different operators. Dive with 1 operator for a week. Try a different operator on your next trip.

Your comment raises another issue that struck me in my pre-trip research on this sub-forum and in my interactions with other divers once I was there - that there are many regulars who go to Cozumel very frequently, and often mainly or exclusively, i.e. they dive mostly or entirely there and rarely or never go anywhere else. I am genuinely curious as to why. Even if you really like it, aren't there other places that might appeal to you too? What is so addictive about it?

For me, Cozumel was a bucket list item, along with other destinations, e.g. Bonaire, Saba, Roatan, etc. I did not plan on returning even when I was originally planning my trip, as I rarely visit the same places twice after I have "been there and done that." It is a big world out there, and I want to see as much of it as possible before I croak, so a place that I visit has to make a really powerful impression on me in order to persuade me to return, when I could instead use that time and money to visit another place that I have not yet experienced. Cozumel did not impress me enough to prompt me to revise my plans to not return, as only about 1/3 of the dive sites really suited my personal taste.

 

[ColoDale]

I don't know about others but we dive other places. We were in French Polynesia last December. We've dived Fiji, and many places in the Caribbean. My wife has dived islands in Hawaii. Of the places we have dived, and there are many we haven't in the world, Cozumel is a favorite behind Fiji which had better diving but pacific diving is different from Caribbean as well. Many people love the Bahamas but it doesn't thrill me. Personal tastes I suppose. If Coz is not for you then it's not. It would not surprise me that after diving many places you will have a favorite that brings return visits.

Cozumel diving for me is easy to get to from Denver, cheap(er), easy to get to dive sites, fall off the boat, dive and climb back in, and has good diving IMO. We like drift diving as well and Cozumel has no surge which we like. Since my wife, the princess, does not like to shore dive, some places are off the list unless I go without her. Guess the odds of that happening. We have many years left to dive and we will explore when the mood strikes us. I do see your point about many divers going nowhere else. I've met them. Comfort zone?

 

[ronscuba]

I've vacation diving for many years. Been all over the Caribbean. To be frank, Caribbean diving pales compared to other locations such as Indonesia, Maldives, Galapagos.

From a purely underwater perspective, the different Caribbean dive destinations are more alike than different. I go back to Cozumel because it is easy to get to and is my favorite diving in Caribbean.

When I have more than a week, I will go outside of the Caribbean for better diving.

 

[drrich2]

Your comment raises another issue that struck me in my pre-trip research on this sub-forum and in my interactions with other divers once I was there - that there are many regulars who go to Cozumel very frequently, and often mainly or exclusively, i.e. they dive mostly or entirely there and rarely or never go anywhere else. I am genuinely curious as to why. Even if you really like it, aren't there other places that might appeal to you too? What is so addictive about it?

I call the concept you're referring to as a 'scuba home,' a destination you return to rather than exploring other options more. Some do both, but a clear 'favorite' may arise. I hit Bonaire 8 separate weeks, so I suppose that's my 'scuba home,' but I broke it off awhile to explore other destinations when I realized I had become something of a 'one trick pony.'

We've got a thread discussing this issue, not just about Cozumel but more broadly.

Your Favorite Repeat Travel Destination.

Some of the things others have cited about Cozumel are great food options, varied reef topography, the leisure of drift diving, the friendly people and overall budget trip cost from at least some parts of the U.S.

I'd love to know what the #'s of dedicated dive tourists are per year at Cozumel vs. Bonaire. Very different places, but those are what I think of the 'twin dive tourism capitals of the Caribbean.'

Richard.

 

[ggunn]

Your comment raises another issue that struck me in my pre-trip research on this sub-forum and in my interactions with other divers once I was there - that there are many regulars who go to Cozumel very frequently, and often mainly or exclusively, i.e. they dive mostly or entirely there and rarely or never go anywhere else. I am genuinely curious as to why. Even if you really like it, aren't there other places that might appeal to you too? What is so addictive about it?

DSFDF. For me, Cozumel is very hard, maybe impossible, to beat. I wish I were affluent enough and had the free time to go haring off all over the world for different diving experiences, but such is not the case. Cozumel is close to where I live (Austin), relatively inexpensive to get to and to pay for once I get there, and has great diving. My wife and I can usually afford about one dive trip a year, although we have been diving in Hawaii and Monterey Bay (once each) when the stars lined up for us. Neither was better than Cozumel and the logistics for both were more complicated and expensive.

We know how to do Cozumel. We know the airlines, the accommodations, the restaurants, the hotels, the dive ops, the reefs... We know that our hard earned vacation funds will be well spent and that we will not be disappointed. I'm not saying we will never go anywhere else, but I won't stop going to Cozumel.

 

[BrewingDiver]

Some of the things others have cited about Cozumel are great food options, varied reef topography, the leisure of drift diving, the friendly people and overall budget trip cost from at least some parts of the U.S.

Exactly, plus ease of getting there and back--leave home in the morning, can shore dive mid-afternoon in Coz if desired.

 

[blue steal]

Well for me it is so much easier to get to COZ than the Philippines. Plus airfare is a lot cheaper. food options are limited to filipino food. Diving is a bit cheaper but not by much. the diving is good there, but COZ is a tad better in my view.
Plus many options in COZ for lodging, food, dive operators, available nitrox, and medical/chambers if needed.

 

[DjDiverDan]

There are really no "beginner" dive sites (as in boring) around Cozumel. There are deep sites and shallow sites, of course, and newbie divers may do two shallow sites instead of a deep one and then a shallow one, but there aren't any sites that only beginners go to. I must say that some of my favorite sites there are shallow ones, even after diving Cozumel for 24 years. I could dive Colombia Shallows every day.

Amen to that! I've been diving for 27 years now, with well over 700 logged dives, and a 2-tank trip on Cozumel with Columbia Shallows and Palancar Gardens, both long, easy, shallow dives, would be a GREAT dive day for me!

 

[ronscuba]

For years I dove all over the Caribbean searching for the incredible diving I dreamed of. I never found it until I ventured further to places like Indonesia, Maldives, Galapagos.

When I only have a week, Caribbean is the choice because of travel time. I've put all the Caribbean dive destinations into categories and then choose what kind of dive vacation I want: liveaboard, shore diving, land based diving a la carte, land based diving AI.

My top Caribbean dive destinations in each category:

Liveaboard: Belize, Turks and Caicos
Shore Diving: Bonaire
Land based a la carte: Cozumel
Land base AI: Cocoview, Little Cayman Beach Resort

 

[kixy1]

My top Caribbean dive destinations in each category:

Liveaboard: Belize, Turks and Caicos
Shore Diving: Bonaire
Land based a la carte: Cozumel
Land base AI: Cocoview, Little Cayman Beach Resort

I've never done a liveaboard, but I've heard for years I need to get to T & C. From my research a liveaboard seems the way to go. Never been to Belize either, but I think I would do Turneffe or maybe AC instead of a liveaboard. BUT....Other than that, I'm 100% in agreement with this list. If it were a perfect world, there would be more diving available at LCBR. I found that to be the best Caribbean diving, but only 3 dives a day and no shore diving... kind of expensive and far away.

I think the reason many choose Cozumel is the easy access from the US and Canada, the low cost, the fun atmosphere, great food, close to all kinds of great topside activities, THE PEOPLE and then, of course, the diving. I do get tired of the drift diving and yearn for something slower, the reef is not what it was 20 years ago, but it's still some of the best diving in the Caribbean. And it's easy for us lazy types... Someone sets me up, I roll off and often I barely have to move a fin if I'm happy watching the reef go by! LOL

Cozumel is a great vacation spot that has excellent diving. Most of the other places on this list can't say that. So if you want the best of both...vacation AND diving... at a reasonable price, I haven't found anything that compares. I just can't include the Pacific here because it's neither easy to get to or cheap considering the travel.