Well I just got back from a week long trip to Cozumel and here goes the who what where when and why of the trip..
Nobody really needs to ask why do they?? It was Cozumel... enough said.. I spent a week doing some casual diving.. Just 10 dives in seven days. It was nothing really intense. I dove with Dive Paradise out of the Hotel Barracuda. It's a first class operation and from what I can tell it's one of the biggest on the island. We opted for the fast boat dives and never had more than 10 people on a boat. The divemaster was Martin Matu and captain of the boat "Cascabel" was Juan.
It was obvious that Martin was relieved to have a boat full of serious divers. He opted to stay with the smaller less labor intensive boat on the third day of diving rather than go to the cattle boat. We all appreciated it because he was an excellent guide.
The dive sites were the usual: Columbia (deep and shallows), Tormentos, Santa Rosa Wall (twice), Paso del Cedral (love that current), Palancar (gardens and bricks) and Punta Tunich. The sea life was the usual mix of turtles, rays and the occasional seahorse, but nothing unusual, just fabulous colors and visibility.
On to the housing... Several of my friends stayed at El Cozumeleno.... I was a slacker and they were booked by the time I made reservations. I had stayed there in 2001 and wasn't impressed with the food of the allinclusive. I stayed about 300 yrds south at Sol Cabanas del Caribe... It's definatley a no frills resort... You get a bed and a bathroom and that's about it. It has a nice pool and a good restaurant and bar. The cruise ship staff seem to prefer their beach when on shore leave so don't be surprised to find several young beautiful foreign women lounging around
Service was excellent and food was good and cheap. The only complaint I have was the roof of the cabana leaked into my suitcase on the last night.... It was very ripe by the time I got home....
All in all.. I'd definatey dive with Dive Paradise again. Particularly with Martin and Juan. I doubt I'd ever do an all-inclusive by myself, but I might if i was with someone else. I would stay at Sol Cabanas again, if I could get a nonleaky roof, just for the cruise ship girls I might try staying at the Hotel Barracuda next time though just to be closer to the dive shop and the dive boats.
Nobody really needs to ask why do they?? It was Cozumel... enough said.. I spent a week doing some casual diving.. Just 10 dives in seven days. It was nothing really intense. I dove with Dive Paradise out of the Hotel Barracuda. It's a first class operation and from what I can tell it's one of the biggest on the island. We opted for the fast boat dives and never had more than 10 people on a boat. The divemaster was Martin Matu and captain of the boat "Cascabel" was Juan.
It was obvious that Martin was relieved to have a boat full of serious divers. He opted to stay with the smaller less labor intensive boat on the third day of diving rather than go to the cattle boat. We all appreciated it because he was an excellent guide.
The dive sites were the usual: Columbia (deep and shallows), Tormentos, Santa Rosa Wall (twice), Paso del Cedral (love that current), Palancar (gardens and bricks) and Punta Tunich. The sea life was the usual mix of turtles, rays and the occasional seahorse, but nothing unusual, just fabulous colors and visibility.
On to the housing... Several of my friends stayed at El Cozumeleno.... I was a slacker and they were booked by the time I made reservations. I had stayed there in 2001 and wasn't impressed with the food of the allinclusive. I stayed about 300 yrds south at Sol Cabanas del Caribe... It's definatley a no frills resort... You get a bed and a bathroom and that's about it. It has a nice pool and a good restaurant and bar. The cruise ship staff seem to prefer their beach when on shore leave so don't be surprised to find several young beautiful foreign women lounging around
Service was excellent and food was good and cheap. The only complaint I have was the roof of the cabana leaked into my suitcase on the last night.... It was very ripe by the time I got home....All in all.. I'd definatey dive with Dive Paradise again. Particularly with Martin and Juan. I doubt I'd ever do an all-inclusive by myself, but I might if i was with someone else. I would stay at Sol Cabanas again, if I could get a nonleaky roof, just for the cruise ship girls
I might try staying at the Hotel Barracuda next time though just to be closer to the dive shop and the dive boats.
