Dreaming...Anyone know of any good dive deals in Cozumel?

[DevilEyeDog]

The entire world is going to become COVID free in June. A vaccine will be made tomorrow and it will be 100% effective. We will all go back to a completely normal life. Don't ruin my dream please.
(Yes, I am a much more realistic person with all the fears, anxiety, etc like many of you)

So, let's just say my dream happens.

Anyone know of any great stay/dive deals in Cozumel for July/August?

 

[DandyDon]

I guess that some Ops will offer specials to encourage the return of divers. I wouldn't ask for any discounts or specials after what they have had to endure the last couple of months. Ops have been forced to pay employees base salaries even tho they had no local income, while those employees have had to feed their families on the reduced incomes of those base salaries if the businesses could meet their responsibilities and probably help others who didn't receive anything while out of work. I'd suggest shopping for Ops based on where you want to stay and other usual factors important to your preferences. As competitive as the market is down there with the independent Ops, it's often difficult to choose.

If you'd like to donate to food banks on the island, I can suggest some.

 

[DevilEyeDog]

Great thoughts and I respectfully understand your views and thoughts. For me I have never been able to afford to go to Cozumel and at normal prices I won't go. I guess one could say I am hoping for a one week dream trip to celebrate with my own adversity of this situation. I guess I was just hoping to be able to afford to go. Of course I understand every reason why they would not offer any discounts. I hope they reopen and people flood the island traveling there. That would be awesome for them.

 

[rick00001967]

not sure what your circumstances are financially but coz can be done at a very reasonable cost. travel during off season. get a small basic place that serves brkfst maybe. even a hostel or an airbnb.
you can also stay at cheaper places that have shore diving within walking distance so you dont have to pay for boat diving. we travel on a tight budget. it is about patience, keeping an eye on prices, and compromising. but it can be done.

 

[DandyDon]

For me I have never been able to afford to go to Cozumel and at normal prices I won't go.

If you need some help budgeting a cheaper trip, I might be able to help. I have cheap tastes. I like the $35/night rooms downtown. Suites Colonial on 5th ave is nice and surprisingly quiet as even tho it's only a block from front street Melgar and less than a block from the main plaza and I've never stayed their sister hotel Suites Bahai but it has good reviews. Both are advertising $35/nitght in July, may open sooner, and include free buffet breakfasts at nearby Casa Mexicana. Many Ops will pick you up at a dock there. I prefer Hotel Mary Carmen at about the same price, paying a little more for inhouse breakfasts, and get picked up at the Safari dock across from Casa Mexican. There are many more hotels downtown as cheap as $8/night, but I am not that adventurous.

Food is cheap in San Miguel if you shop around. I like Caribe Burger and their $1.50 tacos around the corner from Mary Carmen's and Suites Colonial for lunch, and there are others nearby also economical. Los Tacotales (formerly Los Otates) is my favorite dinner cafe on 15th ave less than three blocks away, but there are many others.

Salty Endeavors is my favorite Op who picks people up at up to 20 different docks, charges $80 for a two tank trip, but include 5-10% discounts on multi-day trips, and there are dozens of others as competitive. Tips should run $10-15 a trip if the service is good.

You'll get the best prices if you spend Pesos so use a debit card to withdraw those at ATMs, but only the bank-affiliated. The others are dangerous. There is a gimmick on some that ask you to accept lower conversion rates, so if you're offered less than 24:1, try Declining and see if it will go ahead with better rates. I'm not sure what the ATMs are offering but it's close to that as the Peso is down.

Get copies of the taxi rates and see if you can understand them enough to avoid the few crooks that give the others bad names. I usually just walk even tho I'm an ancient old coot with a bad knee as things are so convenient downtown.

Air fares can vary greatly, and I have no idea where you are, but if you tell me - I can show you some tricks.

 

[ReefHound]

Great thoughts and I respectfully understand your views and thoughts. For me I have never been able to afford to go to Cozumel and at normal prices I won't go. I guess one could say I am hoping for a one week dream trip to celebrate with my own adversity of this situation. I guess I was just hoping to be able to afford to go. Of course I understand every reason why they would not offer any discounts. I hope they reopen and people flood the island traveling there. That would be awesome for them.

Do you have lots of friends or acquaintances? Are you good at organizing things? If you can get a group of 8-12 to go as a group you can get trip leader comp from most hotels and dive ops. The airfare remains though, unless you package your group trip and sell it at a slight markup. In essence, do what the dive shops do. Speaking of which, if you are tight with a dive shop or dm/teach for them you might be able to act as trip leader for them. Fair warning, I've been trip leader many times and received lots of comp but it ain't free money. It's a lot of work and you have to make sure things go smooth so that the others can be carefree on the trip. When to be at the dive shop, when to be ready for dinner, when to meet for the shuttle to airport? It's your job to find out, make sure everyone knows, and make sure everyone is there.

 

[DandyDon]

I hope I didn't scare him off. ‍ I would not suggest he try to lead a group on his first trip to the island.

 

[mediumone]

If you have some flexibility with when you schedule, there are some unheard of ticket prices out there.
We've scheduled a trip from March 30 - April 11 PDX to CZM, with an overnight stay on the 30th in Dallas.
Obviously American Airlines, who I detest, but got the tickets for $488. Looked again last night out of boredom, and they'd dropped to $366 for exactly the same flights.
Cheap Airbnb for us, but has the amenities that we require.

PS. Also have a trip scheduled for October. If that materializes, you can be certain that I will be a very generous tipper.

 

[DandyDon]

We've scheduled a trip from March 30 - April 11 PDX to CZM, with an overnight stay on the 30th in Dallas.
Obviously American Airlines, who I detest, but got the tickets for $488. Looked again last night out of boredom, and they'd dropped to $366 for exactly the same flights.

Getting to Coz from there is tough, but the fares are great now. Who knows what changes the airline will impose by then, but that is appealing...

 

[mediumone]

Getting to Coz from there is tough, but the fares are great now. Who knows what changes the airline will impose by then, but that is appealing...

View attachment 586702

Yep, those are our flights.
Unbelievable.

PS Noticed that the fares that you posted all show a fare code of S, which is the 10th tier.
We have Q on the way down, which is the 12th tier, and S returning.