Fav dive place in Mexico?

[H2ODoc]

My statement was for travel and vacationing in Mexico in general, and was not directed at any specific dive shop or the dive industry in general or any specific city. I felt this way in restaurants, the hotels, taxis, the shops, basically in general. This opinion is formed from vacationing in many different Mexican cities; not just Cozumel. Sorry I didn't make that clear.

Ahhh - I gotchya.

I was pleasantly surprised by Cozumel as I expected more of what you described above. My previous Mexico experience was Tijuana and Rosarito, so I was expecting very little out of Coz.

 

[heaveninawetsuit]

Thanks so much for the great feedback. I appreciate your comments. It looks like Cozumel is a big favourite. I'll definitely be looking into it.

Feel free to keep the comments coming.

 

[ben@scorpiodivers.com]

we have a sweet mark approx 3hrs out of isla mujures called 'los picos', sea mounts and pinnacles starting at 120ft, not everyones kind of dive but in june and july we cans see schools of migrating hammerheads and eagle rayss then in the afternoon a boat over to contoy to swim with the whale sharks, im not saying its the best diving in mexico, dark, deep and dirty but hey, its a good day for shark action!

 

[RonFrank]

My statement was for travel and vacationing in Mexico in general, and was not directed at any specific dive shop or the dive industry in general or any specific city. I felt this way in restaurants, the hotels, taxis, the shops, basically in general. This opinion is formed from vacationing in many different Mexican cities; not just Cozumel. Sorry I didn't make that clear.

So I get it, you don't like Mexico!

I don't agree with this opinion, but you are certainly entitled to it.

 

[RonFrank]

If you want a dive vacation, go to Coz. If you want a mixed vacation with some diving, some nightlife, etc., you may want to consider Cancun, and then Coz, or just dive off the mainland.

I've only been to Coz once, but hope to fix that shortly! Coz is great, with good diving, good food, and folks that are friendly! I think more Mexicans speak English in Coz then they do in Denver! :11:

 

[Waterskier1]

I fear that some of my comments are being taken more to negatively than I intended. :no

Let me try to clarify.

I've only been to Cozumel once, and while the least favorite of all my dive destinations, it is very good. As Tom says, the reef there runs all the way down to past Belize, and is second only to the Great Barrier Reef. Also, I really enjoyed the Cenote diving. I think Cozumel is probably the best base for scuba diving. A day trip for 2 to 3 Cenote dives on the mainland is very doable at little extra cost. We caught the ferry in the morning, the dive op picked us up at the ferry dock on the mainland and took us for the dives and returned us back to the dock.

I stick by this comment. Of the vacation destinations I've be to, I have enjoyed Aruba, Bonaire, Belize, Roatan and the Bahamas more than Cozumel.
Does that mean that Coz is bad? NO!! Just not my favorite. As I said "it is very good". Just not the BEST IMHO.

My dislike of Cozumel is the fact it is in Mexico, and doesn't directly have anything to do with the actual diving or quality of the reef or aquatic life.

Again, the diving was great there.

This is in contrast to other Caribbean dive destinations where I came away with the feeling that the people really wanted me to have an enjoyable vacation and dives, even after they had my money.

Like I said, this is contrasted with other dive locations. Not all can be number one.

As you can tell, those dislikes are very personal in nature. It won't keep me from going back, but it just isn't number one on my list. The real benefit is it is less than a 3 hour flight from Denver. Not like 8 hours to Bonaire, for example. So both airfare and lodging are relatively inexpensive compared to other locations in the world.

Again, I acknowledged that these were personal feeling, but they won't keep me from returning. That should tell you something about the quality of diving, versus the other aspects, if I'll still return.

Yes, Mexico is not at the top of my list for dive destinations. And much of it has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the diving itself. I have found other places the I think are better. It beats Blue Hole, Aurora Res, and Chatfield hands down!

 

[RonFrank]

I have enjoyed Aruba, Bonaire, Belize, Roatan and the Bahamas more than Cozumel.

You have dove Aruba, Belize, the Bahamas, and Roatan?

 

[Waterskier1]

You have dove Aruba, Belize, the Bahamas, and Roatan?

I spent a week on a live aboard in the Bahamas totaling over 20 dives and 2 days in Aruba with one scuba dive. In Roatan and Belize, I just snorkeled while the rest of the boat scuba dove (I wasn't certified yet).

But, as I will state again, I am comparing the whole trip, including restaurants, motels, and shops in addition to dive ops. My original statement never took issue with the dive ops. I was only making comparison between my Mexico dive vacation and other dive destinations (whether I scuba dove or snorkeled or didn't dive at all is not the issue) that I have been to and the OVERALL impression I got.

If I were to compare the reefs, I would say that Cozumel is lower on the list, having taken a beating from several recent hurricanes. The last time I was at Roatan and Belize (2004) the reefs I saw were in good conditions and I have not heard anyone saying otherwise. My personal experience with Aruba, Bonaire and the Bahamas (granted only about 75 total dives in those locations - I am by no means an expert) showed the reefs in better shape. Some places had more fish, and others had many but small size fish.

I'm really sorry I apparently have offended some of the regular Cozumel divers. That was not my intent. It was only to state that Cozumel was probably the best place to dive in Mexico, if you are set on diving in Mexico. It is also close to the mainland Cenotes with I really thought were awesome. But the overall friendliness of the locals in restaurants, bars, hotels, and shops didn't seem to be a great as other places. Much of this may be due to the fact that I don't speak Spanish, and the other countries always spoke English to me, even if it wasn't their native language.

I'm hoping it is acceptable to have a different opinion and present those opinions for consideration in this forum. I do think I have taken this off topic, since the OP originally questioned where in Mexico, not if in Mexico. I apologize.

 

[H2ODoc]

I think more Mexicans speak English in Coz then they do in Denver! :11:

That's EXACTLY what I told my wife after our first trip to Coz.

 

[DeltaWardog]

Waterskier - no worries mate, I thought your original posting was clear. Sure, not every place can be number 1. I love Cozumel because.... so far it's the only place I've done any diving. I will go back to Cozumel just because of the price of a vacation there, but I have lots of other places to explore in the meantime. Bonaire in 3 weeks!

I will say that I found the people on Cozumel to be very friendly and accomodating, in stark contrast to people on the mainland who seemed to be mainly interested in the size of my wallet (yes I'm talking to you Playa del Carmen).