El Cid vs Iberostar

[robint]

We stayed at Park Royal in June and loved it. We used Dive with Martin which was only a block away and they kept our gear. Taxi to town was only $7

I would love to hear about your assessment of the food at Park Royal. I know that trip reports posted here on SB a few years back were not nice. I also remember people complaining about noise. What did you think?

robin

 

[Brules]

Have stayed there the last 3 years, the food is really good there......

 

[cbm32]

Wife and I stayed at the El Cid but did have one meal at the Royal Park buffet. We found the food to be quite good there.

 

[robint]

I think I might start a new thread regarding the food at AI's. In the past, many on Cozumel got bad raps and I would like to know what has changed.

robin

 

[lionfish-eater]

Iberostar is much nicer than el cid. el cid is like a high rise condo with facilities, and the iberostar is a resort with small 4 or 6 unit buildings spread out through gardens, much nicer. Beach, evening"entertainment" etc. I usually have a car, which can be had for around 200 for a week. Follow cristi's advice for a dive shop. I would go back to iberostar.

 

[mtnmankeith]

Going to be staying at the Iberostar Grand Hotel Paraiso Aug 13th-20th. I'm a certified diver with a couple (both AI stays and cheep condo) stays in the area. Bringing my <hopefully> soon to be certified girlfriend <fiancee by the end of the trip?> with me for her first time to PDC. Still nailing down my dive details but will be happy to give the OP a report on the current conditions of the resort. (i'll have a rental car for the week so will update on the cost effectiveness of that option too)

Thanks to all the posters , lots of good nuggets of info to ponder here.

open to any suggestions not already listed on dive shops/instructors for the Girlfriend to finish her OW with....

 

[cicopo]

The Iberostar & The Grand are 2 different resorts about 1/2 mile apart at the south end of the hotel zone. Which one are you staying at?

 

[Carlos Diver]

Lots of good info on this thread!

 

[Hatul]

I would love to hear about your assessment of the food at Park Royal. I know that trip reports posted here on SB a few years back were not nice. I also remember people complaining about noise. What did you think?

robin

I stayed at Park Royal this June and we used Aldora Divers. The hotel is huge and most of the guests are not divers-- mostly party people. So my main issue was the noise. There was constant traffic of people by my room even late in the day and some at night. They often have loud shows late in the evening.

The rooms are quite nice with the best air conditioner and the staff is fairly responsive. Food in the buffet is fine-- probably slightly better than average. They have a tunnel under the ring road to get to the beach, which is nice. There is no practical shore diving at least from what I could see. In any case Aldora took our gear after the dives.

In summary Park Royal is a large resort and I would recommend to someone who is not sensitive to noise, likes a large resort and lots of people.

 

[bhenson]

Any comments on the Secrets Aura Resort and/or the in-site dive op, I believe it is Palancar.