FA - Casita? Ocean View? Grand Class?

[scubawife]

I've checked out pretty much every site that lists the Fiesta Americana, including their site, and I'm not sure which room is best. The price is not the deciding factor, all are within reason for me. We don't usually stay at resorts, so the casita rooms are appealing because they seem to have more room and are only 4 per building so I'm thinking less noise. Not sure what the "grand class" rooms are. They are more expensive then the ocean view or casita, and are in the main building. Are they larger? Better views?

If anyone's seen all the room categories at the FA or stayed in a casita or grand, how did they compare to a standard ocean view room?

The casistas say that there are dive gear lockers and rinse area for each unit of 4. If you stay in the hotel, are the gear lockers by the dive shop? If you don't use Dive House, can you still use the lockers as a hotel guest?

 

[melfox26]

I've only stayed in the Ocean View rooms, so I can't really comment on either of the other 2 room classes. The casitas are at the very rear of the property, quite a trek through the parking lot, main hotel area, etc. to get to restaurants, beach, pier.
If you're not diving with Dive House, you can't use Dive House's lockers that are assigned by the Dive House shop only to their customers. So the casitas might be a great option if they had lockers and you were going with another dive op.
I'm not sure what the "grand" rooms would be, maybe in the main part of the hotel and up higher? Probably not worth the extra cost, the ocean view rooms are quite adequate. We stayed there last May and we're going there again this July, staying in the Ocean View rooms, diving with Dive House.

Mel

 

[scubawife]

Thanks, Mel. Can you give me some info on your experience with Dive House? Were you on a big boat or smaller boat? How many divers per boat and per a DM in the water? How long was the ride out? Is it possible to do a 2 tanks morning dive and a 1 or 2 tank afternoon with them?

We don't usually go to large hotels (more the condo, house or small out of the way dive resort types), so the casistas were appealing because they seemed more private, and because of the gear lockers at each building (if we want to dive with an off-site op and still do some shore diving in the afternoon or evening.) But if they're a real haul to the dock and restaurants, may not be worth it.

 

[melfox26]

Thanks, Mel. Can you give me some info on your experience with Dive House? Were you on a big boat or smaller boat? How many divers per boat and per a DM in the water? How long was the ride out? Is it possible to do a 2 tanks morning dive and a 1 or 2 tank afternoon with them?

We don't usually go to large hotels (more the condo, house or small out of the way dive resort types), so the casistas were appealing because they seemed more private, and because of the gear lockers at each building (if we want to dive with an off-site op and still do some shore diving in the afternoon or evening.) But if they're a real haul to the dock and restaurants, may not be worth it.

I was there in May, low season in Cozumel. We were on a good size boat, one that would fit 16 probably, but there were only about 8 of us. From what I saw, they only had 3 boats, all around the same size.

In the water, there were always 2 divemasters. One leading the group and the other one in the rear. Once the first buddy team would hit the pre-dive announced air pressure, the DM in the rear would deploy the surface marker buoy and ascend to 15-20 feet with the buddy team to do their safety stop. The DM in the front would continue to lead the other divers.

In July, when we're going again, we're bringing around 14 divers, so we're basically chartering a boat. We're signed up for the 2-tank AM boat dives and for 1-tank afternoon boat dives. You won't have a lot of time between the boat coming back to the FA after the morning dives and leaving for the afternoon ones. You can go grab a sandwich, but won't have time for a sit down lunch.

PM me if you have any other questions and I'll try my best to answer them.

Mel

 

[5615mike]

Casitas are the way to go IMO. We have stayed at FA 6 times and always stay in a Casita. Continental Breakfast is included at the Reef Rest. across the street near the pier. Great location and have always had good service from staff.

PS....must disagree with Melfox on the long walk statement from casitas. We have done it many times each morning and its not a long walk.

 

[scubawife]

Mike - a question about the casista's, if you don't mind. Are there lockers at each casita building and did you use them? We'd like to try some shorediving at least one afternoon so we would need to store our gear. I'm hoping it won't have to live in the room.

 

[michaelp68]

We had a regular room at the FA.

Most nights, our gear remained with our dive operator, Christi. But on our last night when we had all of our gear with us, and things were still wet, we just kept our gear on the balcony. It was out of our way and dried nicely.

 

[lawofgravity]

Mike - a question about the casista's, if you don't mind. Are there lockers at each casita building and did you use them? We'd like to try some shorediving at least one afternoon so we would need to store our gear. I'm hoping it won't have to live in the room.

If I remember correctly, there are lockers by the dive shop which is right next to the pier. But you have to bring your own lock. Although I'm sure it's safe, I wouldn't want to chance leaving my gear there. I did tour around the property one night and it is quite a walk from the casitas to the pier, especially if they put you in the very back of the property. You have to haul all your gear around the walkways in the casita section, pass the parking lot, up the ramp, through the lobby and the common area, go around the swimming pool, cross the street, and go around the Reef restaurant before you reach the dive shop and pier. Maybe a 10 minute walk. If you forget something.......

 

[scububa]

If I remember correctly, there are lockers by the dive shop ...But you have to bring your own lock. Although I'm sure it's safe, I wouldn't want to chance leaving my gear there. ... go around the Reef restaurant before you reach the dive shop and pier. Maybe a 10 minute walk. If you forget something.......

Only been once, last month, and on the end in a 4th floor adjoining room with the kids . No noise problem for me (and I don't like noise), though I read one person's review indicating too much noise during the same week.

The dive shop will rent you a small keyed lock, but we were advised to bring combination locks. We felt fine leaving all the gear there, might not have with the "House" locks, the overall setup is pretty solid, didn't see any that would 'pull apart'.

It is also quite a few minutes to make the same trip returning to the end of the 4th floor. Not sure how it compares, but I wonder if it is very different???

I did read a review where someone was very unhappy about the mosquito patrol guarding the casita entry. So, the time of year may be a decision factor.

As always, YMMV

 

[scubawife]

Thanks everyone for the info. Have any of you stored your gear at the lockers when you were not diving with Dive House? I hadn't planned on using them. If it's worthwhile, I'd like to do a shore dive in the afternoons so we would rent a tank for that. If we do shore dive in the afternoon then we will need to keep our gear rather then have the op we use store it overnight. That's what made the casita appealing - it has it's own locker.

BTW, any comments on the shore diving out in front of FA?