El Cantil condo report

[Augustus]

Each unit has one dive locker in the garage area which you can get to 24 hours a day. I think most units provide locks. As to how much gear it might be a bit crowded for five divers gear but it should fit. The size may vary from one to another though in general they are say four feet wide and 6-7 feet deep (just guessing never measured ours). There is a reverse osmosis water tap on the kitchen sink. the main water for all units is city water so I would not use it for drinking and brushing your teeth.
One nice touch is the swimming pool is heated. It DOES make a difference during the winter months. It will not be a hot tub but you will notice the difference.
casa tropical http://www.elcantilcasatropical.com/index.html

 

[jayjoans]

We’ll be doing the same (El Cantil and Blue XT~Sea) the end of May, Can’t Wait!!!

I have some questions about the dive gear storage area that I’ve been meaning to post but since you are there now I might as well ask here.

How big are they, can you fit all of your gear in them or just the wetsuits? Some in our group may want to handle their gear.
How many do you get per room/unit? We will have 5 divers in a 4BR unit.
Do we need to bring a padlock or is there another security method?
Can we get to them any time of day?

Unrelated…I know you said it’s purified, so I assume the tap water at El Cantil is okay to drink/brush your teeth with, yes?

Thanks,
Lee

I think Augustus answered your questions, he obviously knows much more about it than I do.

The locker they gave us to use is just for our wetsuits, (we gladly let BlueXTSea take our gear, we love that it is all set up and weighted when they arrive in the morning) and has 4 hooks on the cage walls. I can see the big lockers that Augustus is talking about, they're big enough for 3 scooters to be parked in.

They didn't have big plastic hangers, but when we asked they provided us with regular plastic hangers that will work for the week. They also provided us with a lock and 3 keys, but if you wanted to bring a lock it would work just fine. Their lock is pretty small, but the lockers are in the garage behind an electric security gate anyway. There is 24 hour access to the lockers.

The pool is WARM! It feels so good after diving all day to drop in there and just chill overlooking the ocean.

Get your group excited, you're going to love it here!!

 

[Augustus]

have to correct the size i gave. the locker we have for Casa Tropical is 32" wide and 65" deep. I think this is fairly typical for the lockers. (can't answer for the lockers in the north tower, never seen them.)

 

[soonerwink]

Sounds great we have a large group, 8 people which only 1 is a diver, coming in June. This sounds perfect, and much cheaper than the all inclusives we are looking at. I have one question is there any kind of beach for the non divers, and how is the snorkling in font of the condo's. I guess that was 2 questions.

 

[jayjoans]

There is no beach in the "beachy" sense, meaning there is no sand that goes down to the waterline. But there is an area of sand with permanent palapas, lounge chairs and tables. There is also a grassy area, and a big pool deck with 3 or 4 different pools that are all heated. (not too much, as Goldilocks would say...."just right") We really appreciated the pools tonight, coming back from another great night dive we were all a bit chilled from this being our 4th day of diving and our 3rd dive today. We all agreed that sliding into the warm pool overlooking the ocean and waving to Pedro and Mago as Shamu (BlueXTsea's great boat) motored off was about as good as it gets.

If you're a group of 8 and 7 want a beach....I'd look over the pics on the net pretty closely, there is no bar, action, games, loud music, jet skis, parasailing, henna tattoos, massages, bracelet salespeople or day cruisers to be found at El Cantil. (and that's EXACTLY why we love it You might think about grabbing a taxi down to beach club from El Cantil anyway, we've found that some beach clubs are much better than others. (we like to spend our intervals laying in a lounge chair sipping a soda)

Couldn't tell you how the snorkeling is, we just dive. There is a ladder (maybe 4 rungs with rails on both sides) from a small private pier down the water for easy access.

Here's the best thing with a big group, and that is at the El Cantil you all have your own space with private bath, but then a large area for all to hang out together when you want to. We brought Risk, Monopoly, poker chips, cards, etc., and after dinner we all hang out together being friends in the large living room and dining area with 8 chairs. When it's time to go to bed everybody disappears. We learned how important that is to us by going on many cruises, in a typical hotel situation or on a cruise, if you're not all dining together the group has no place to congregate and just hang out. Meeting just to eat we found not to be very high quality time together. Packing in somebody's room was uncomfortable for all.

This has worked out perfect, and is plenty big enough that even the private spaces are completely comfortable.

 

[Moodiejeff]

how is the snorkling in font of the condo's.

Water gets deep pretty fast, I'd say in the 10-15 foot range right off the dock and gets deeper. I'm not much of a snorkeler myself but I did a midnight snorkel with one of my non-diver friends. Saw about 5 or 6 Octopus right along the front of El Cantil & the Cozumel Palace. Brian just couldn't figure out how I kept finding them. I guess doing enough night dives gives you "the eyes". :light:

I also saw an adult High Hat (I swear I did!) which looks like a Spotted Drum but not as nice looking. Considering I had never seen one in over 150 dives I'll take it as a significant find. It was under a big piling near the Coz Palace dock at about 15 feet. I don't have the lungs for freediving so I didn't get too close.

We jumped in the water once during the day but didn't have our snorkel gear. We had one mask between 5 of us so I took a quick peek... Eh, you'll see some fish but you'd definitely be better off somewhere else. There isn't much structure out there, a few patchy coral heads, some construction debris etc.

Playa Azul maybe? Had a good time there one day, not crowded and shallower so it was easier to see things.

With a large group El Cantil is tough to beat. It may not be the cheapest option but it is one of the nicest!

 

[lowwall]

I'm going to Coz in April and I'd like to stay at El Cantil, but the only 2BR unit available when I'm there is LC-N (Casa de Playa). I'm a little concerned that there are no photos of the interior on www.elcantilcondos.com. Does anyone have any info on this unit?

 

[Moodiejeff]

I'm going to Coz in April and I'd like to stay at El Cantil, but the only 2BR unit available when I'm there is LC-N (Casa de Playa). I'm a little concerned that there are no photos of the interior on www.elcantilcondos.com. Does anyone have any info on this unit?

I wouldn't be concerned about the decor... I've never stayed in that particular unit but it will beat just about any hotel room on the island. The North tower was just opened last July so it's less than a year old. It will be fine.

The one thing of concern is what floor it's on. Security is not an issue there, just personal preference on how high up you want to be. As long as it looks over the water you're all good.

Another option would be to email them and see if they have a 3 or 4 bedroom unit where they can lock off the extra bedrooms. While I didn't always see eye to eye with Albert, he can actually be very accomodating to requests (some anyway).

 

[Moodiejeff]

Hey, whatever happened to that fancy restaurant on the top floor? Did it open? Anybody eat there?

 

[akbpilot]

Hey, whatever happened to that fancy restaurant on the top floor? Did it open? Anybody eat there?

Jeff,
I just saw this discussion last night on another board.

http://www.cozumelmycozumel.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=107&topic_id=2288&mode=full

Sounds like it might be a little rich for my blood. Might be alright for a special occasion. Too many good, inexpensive places on Cozumel I haven't tried yet. If I want overpriced food I can get it where I live.