Dock fees have jumped the shark at the Cozumel Palace

[Guitarcrazy]

We are going back to Cozumel Palace in April, diving with Salty Endeavors. We actually booked the trip with Henry's travel agent. I saw today on Cozumel for Divers that the Cozumel Palace has started charging $25 per diver, per day to use the dock. That is insane. I asked Henry to confirm, and he called the hotel and they confirmed that they are now charging $25. We may end up canceling and booking another property. I thought $3 per diver per day was annoying, but $25 is downright ridiculous. I hope other hotels don't follow suit. I certainly don't want to dive with Aqua Safari again. No offense to the divemasters, but the slow boats, terrible fumes, and crowds were not very enjoyable.

 

[cicopo]

If that's true it's going to end up hurting them in the long run. As you've said the slow boats really make a 2 tank dive trip into a very long trip with a bit of time in the water relative to the fast boat trips.

 

[Kimela]

A friend said that the Palace now owns AquaSafari outright - I can't confirm this is true. I think they're shooting themselves in the foot. Demanding $25 for a pier fee is outrageous - and the cost of diving with them isn't competitive either. It's been a while, but last time we were out with them they only offered water between dives. They used to offer fruit, water and towels. Meanwhile, there are dive ops that also run big, slow boats and provide a meal between dives. They need to offer something more than "We are the Palace and we have Mariano" (I love Mariano!). I hope they figure this out and make things right.

 

[ggunn]

How many of the Palace patrons are on the island for the diving?

 

[Damian G. Finch]

I have been staying at the Cozumel Palace since the first year it transitioned from Plaza Las Glorias. I only go to Cozumel for SCUBA. Unless they build a better hotel close to the diving, I guess I'll just have to pony up the $25 per day since taking a cab back and forth to the marina would probably cost the same but be way less convenient.

 

[jbjclj]

An alternative is to dive with 3P. They will pick you up in front of the hotel and take you to and back

 

[ReefHound]

Maybe the Palace figures that their customers are not that concerned with a budget. I can't see most other hotels getting away with it. Maybe you could walk to Hotel Barracuda or Hotel Cozumel pier. Or get picked up in front by TP. If you rebook, please let them know why they are losing your business. It won't take many lost customers to wipe out any pier revenues.

 

[BRT]

Sure it is not $25 Mexican?

 

[Guitarcrazy]

It is $25 USD. Henry confirmed that with the hotel. I found that a lot of the guests are Coz Palace are older, so probably a lower percentage are divers than at some other resorts. It does seem ridiculous to pay the premium for the Palace (twice what we paid for GPR earlier this month) and then add $50 per day for my wife and I to use a pier. That is a nice meal at one of the good restaurants in town!

 

[scubadada]

I'll probably never be back in Cozumel, just too many new places to try out. All I can say is, way to go Cozumel, you can f**k up anything.