Favorite Memories from the SB Invasion 2022 Cozumel

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For sure appreciate Dennis and Roxane for all their hard work. They are true rockstars. Overall an enjoyable trip because of their tireless efforts! I’m glad to have attended and met lots of nice people. Thanks to everyone for making it a great event in spite of the venue.

The frontline staff at the resort were mostly friendly and bent over backwards to make the stay as nice as possible. The wait staff in the pool area were tireless and hero’s of the whole resort. In general, the staff were the shining star of an otherwise old hotel. That being said, I will never go back to Hotel Cozumel or use Dive Paradise again. Disappointing hotel and dive op.

Here are a few reasons for this decision:
Hotel-
*AC was great. Super cold all week!
*Swimming pool looked nice although I did not use.
*Food was mediocre with limited choices and mostly repeating the same bland items over and over.
*Fish choice was usually shrimp cooked so long it was mushy in the shell. A couple nights did have a better white fish.
*Limited staffing at the made to order stations, particularly breakfast caused long waits.
*Hotel was clean but overall old with tiny bathrooms - sitting on the toilet my knees hit the wall in front of it and I’m not tall.
*Bikes were an appreciated hidden gem, but limited hours of use and difficult to check out.
*Resort was unable to support our wrap up party timing, basic AV needs, clean tablecloths or staff to support.
*Not the fault of the resort, but would have been nice if they were more proactive in notifying guests about the cost of taxi to the airport. I talked to two fellow attendees who got ripped off by the taxis and my driver was visibly mad when I simply said, "no that’s not the correct charge" after he tried the rip-off.

Diving-
*Boat crew very helpful with divers who needed assistance donning gear or less stable on the boat.
*Boats extremely slow - we had four days on Aries or Atlantis which took about 75 minutes+ to get to Palancar and consistently back to the hotel at 2pm+ except on days when we compromised on dive sites.
*A couple days the boat was packed so tight we had to take turns setting up our gear.
*Disappointed to see that the boat tips were pooled. I believe tipping is a personal decision and the combined tip jar nullifies everyone’s ability to directly reward individual performance unless they tipped before hand.
*We were refused 7:30am Friday morning shore dive tank rentals due to "boats at the dock" however none were observed and I heard later there were only one or two all morning (unconfirmed).
*Hidden gem - this refusal forced us to walk down to Blue Angel and discover their shore dive is much better than Dive Paradise.
*Inconsistent implementation with "off limits" dive sites compared to what was shared earlier.
*One person on our team had problems getting the 100cf tanks he paid for.
*Expensive for what you get - $100 per two tank boat dive with Nitrox is only slightly less then with the "boutique" dive ops who clean and store everything and use small fast boats.

I’ll say again, this is not intended as a reflection on Roxanne, Dennis, or Pete. I very much appreciated all their efforts.

edit to respond to @drrich2 follow up questions below:
Why is BA dive site better? It has quite a lot of rocks, coral, etc. just to the north which attracts a larger variety of fish. We saw multiple eels, not just the sharp tails, two lionfish and etc. The fence to the south and the various pieces of cement is less attractive but provided much more cover for fish than at DP. We got more depth quickly and not just grass like at DP if you leave the iron shore area.

Taxi rip-off - Perhaps alleged is an accurate word to use, but I wouldn’t select it. I was told directly by the taxi driver that the bill was $300 pesos. When I told him in a not unfriendly tone that it was actually $200, he took the money and after being quite chatty on the entire ride, left abruptly without another word. I had to chase after him and signal to roll the window down so I could give him the tip.

I totally understand your complaints and they are definitely valid. At one point i had a full on panic attack on a overcrowded boat.

On the other hand, Hotel Cozumel is one of the few hotels that can handle a group of our size. So it is a tradeoff of having a fun trip with a big group vs having valet diving like you get from a small op.
 
*Food was mediocre with limited choices and mostly repeating the same bland items over and over.

For the price we paid, I'm OK with mediocre food. What disappointed me a bit was that there was virtually no Mexican food. I've been to Cozumel 3 times and stayed each time at an all-inclusive resort. This is the first time the food was primarily slightly off American/Italian/Asian, etc., rather than Mexican.

It was nourishing and plentiful - I just would have enjoyed it more if there had been more Mexican and fewer other dishes.

*Bikes were an appreciated hidden gem, but limited hours of use and difficult to check out.

The hidden gems (many of them) were a bit frustrating! (Locker keys, pool towels, movie night, reservation-only Mexican dinners two nights.) For next time, it would be helpful if we could create a super-secret decoder ring for all of the unpublished (as far as I know) information about the hidden amenities of the resort!

*Resort was unable to support our wrap up party timing, basic AV needs, clean tablecloths or staff to support.

This was a bit frustrating. I know things are tough in the US as we weave our way out of the restrictions imposed by COVID, and things which would have been routine in the past often run into glitches. I suspect that was the case here - especially with an invasion of 100 people. It may be hard to keep enough staff on hand to accommodate a crowd as large as we were, if their typical occupancy this time of year is a fraction of that.

That said - it's kind of a big deal to have AV challenges at both of the big group events, and to have to shift one of them more than an hour at the last minute.

Diving-

*Inconsistent implementation with "off limits" dive sites compared to what was shared earlier.

I'm pretty forgiving about diving in Cozumel - there are so many good places it's hard to go wrong. I've dived one of the "off limits" sites - and wouldn't have chosen to spend one of my morning dives there. Although I'd have been willing to go along if it hadn't been off limits and that's what the group voted.

I suspect the inconsistent implementation may have been a result of putting two different groups of divers together for some - but not all - of the days. Voting on the dive site sounds great, in theory. A bit less so in practice, when one group has already been to a site that the group they are paired with for the day hasn't yet seen. Or one group likes one kind of dive - and is paired with a group for the day with another group with a very different style. Or the skill levels of the two groups are dramatically different.

I thought they did a pretty good job of hitting a balance for the 88-ish divers of mixed experience, interests, etc. And there are plenty of dive shops available for afternoon dives at sites we didn't hit during the morning - or if I wanted a more customized experience.

That being said, I will never go back to Hotel Cozumel or use Dive Paradise again.

If I were on my own, I wouldn't choose that resort again (eating the food of the country I'm in is an important part of travel for me). Everything else I'm pretty tolerant about. But I might choose the dive op. I haven't used anything on Cozumel but an all-inclusive resort's "captive" dive shop. I'd put this one in the middle of the three I've used.

On the other hand - if theres a future Cozumel invasion at the same resort, with the same dive op - I'm all in. As someone who nearly always travels without a dive buddy (or a dive shop), the benefits of traveling with this group far outweighed any limitations. And the package was reasonably enough priced that I could have paid to supplement it.

Roxanne and Dennis - great job pulling this off! You have my vote for party planners of the decade. Great start to my retirement!
 
I had a fabulous time at the Invasion and kudos to Dennis and Roxanne for another stellar job of organization.

Some of you may not know that I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December. Though multiple surgeries and radiation treatment, I told my doctors the deadline to get me all fixed up was June 18th. That was non negotiable. Being in Cozumel after spending months sick and tired on the sofa gives me a whole new appreciation for just enjoying the little things.

What could have been done a little better?
Rooms could be nicer.
Baths could be bigger.
Food could be better.
Boats could be faster.
The hotel staff's IT skillz could be much improved. :)

The pool side service was top notch and Danny enjoyed the afternoon volleyball game.

I went into deco on a 2nd dive and hubby was low on air so he could not stay with me. I had my DM and 2 other angels (Stacy and Benjamen) from my dive team hovering right with me while I had a 13th minute safety stop and got back on the boat. HUGS TO THEM FOR GIVING ME COMFORT!

Now a quick shout out to all the fantastic sponsors who donated to make our trip even better. Ikelite, you have made my hubby very happy to get a new "bigger" dome port with the $500 gift cert. We can look forward to an 8mm lens making its debut on our next trip. Also thanks to Scuba.com and Dive Right in Scuba for their certificates.

I'd like to give a big thanks to Al @ Bay Adventures. Y'all that know me know I'm picky. I emailed him a million times with questions and even a last minute flight change. Top notch service as usual. Please consider using the services of Bay Adventures for all your underwater adventures.

What will I remember? What a fantastic time I had with my old friends and making new friends. All the rest is already forgotten. I am am eagerly looking forward to AKR next summer!
 
Some of you may not know that I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December. Though multiple surgeries and radiation treatment, I told my doctors the deadline to get me all fixed up was June 18th. That was non negotiable. Being in Cozumel after spending months sick and tired on the sofa gives me a whole new appreciation for just enjoying the little things.
This is my second time to Cozumel to celebrate the end of cancer treatment. I made an October 2016 celebratory dive trip following the end of my active treatment for breast cancer.

I was diagnosed with a sarcoma a year ago December (that "shark bite" on my right arm). I'm currently NED, at least until September. (I am on 3-month imaging follow-up because sarcoma is a nasty-aggressive-unpredictable critter - so I'm only "no evidence of disease" on a 3-month rolling basis). I had hoped to go to Cozumel in November for a celebratory dive trip, but life got complicated, and then this trip popped up! And it's a double celebration, since I was discharged mid-June from long-term follow-up by 2 of the 3 members of my 2015 breast cancer team.

So - yes, a wake-up call makes minor annoyances a lot easier to put up with - and time spent doing things I enjoy (even if not perfect) with friends (old or new) are pretty high on my list.
 
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For sure appreciate Dennis and Roxane for all their hard work. They are true rockstars. Overall an enjoyable trip because of their tireless efforts! I’m glad to have attended and met lots of nice people. Thanks to everyone for making it a great event in spite of the venue.

The frontline staff at the resort were mostly friendly and bent over backwards to make the stay as nice as possible. The wait staff in the pool area were tireless and hero’s of the whole resort. In general, the staff were the shining star of an otherwise old hotel. That being said, I will never go back to Hotel Cozumel or use Dive Paradise again. Disappointing hotel and dive op.

Here are a few reasons for this decision:
Hotel-
*AC was great. Super cold all week!
*Swimming pool looked nice although I did not use.
*Food was mediocre with limited choices and mostly repeating the same bland items over and over.
*Fish choice was usually shrimp cooked so long it was mushy in the shell. A couple nights did have a better white fish.
*Limited staffing at the made to order stations, particularly breakfast caused long waits.
*Hotel was clean but overall old with tiny bathrooms - sitting on the toilet my knees hit the wall in front of it and I’m not tall.
*Bikes were an appreciated hidden gem, but limited hours of use and difficult to check out.
*Resort was unable to support our wrap up party timing, basic AV needs, clean tablecloths or staff to support.
*Not the fault of the resort, but would have been nice if they were more proactive in notifying guests about the cost of taxi to the airport. I talked to two fellow attendees who got ripped off by the taxis and my driver was visibly mad when I simply said, "no that’s not the correct charge" after he tried the rip-off.

Diving-
*Boat crew very helpful with divers who needed assistance donning gear or less stable on the boat.
*Boats extremely slow - we had four days on Aries or Atlantis which took about 75 minutes+ to get to Palancar and consistently back to the hotel at 2pm+ except on days when we compromised on dive sites.
*A couple days the boat was packed so tight we had to take turns setting up our gear.
*Disappointed to see that the boat tips were pooled. I believe tipping is a personal decision and the combined tip jar nullifies everyone’s ability to directly reward individual performance unless they tipped before hand.
*We were refused 7:30am Friday morning shore dive tank rentals due to "boats at the dock" however none were observed and I heard later there were only one or two all morning (unconfirmed).
*Hidden gem - this refusal forced us to walk down to Blue Angel and discover their shore dive is much better than Dive Paradise.
*Inconsistent implementation with "off limits" dive sites compared to what was shared earlier.
*One person on our team had problems getting the 100cf tanks he paid for.
*Expensive for what you get - $100 per two tank boat dive with Nitrox is only slightly less then with the "boutique" dive ops who clean and store everything and use small fast boats.

I’ll say again, this is not intended as a reflection on Roxanne, Dennis, or Pete. I very much appreciated all their efforts.

edit to respond to @drrich2 follow up questions below:
Why is BA dive site better? It has quite a lot of rocks, coral, etc. just to the north which attracts a larger variety of fish. We saw multiple eels, not just the sharp tails, two lionfish and etc. The fence to the south and the various pieces of cement is less attractive but provided much more cover for fish than at DP. We got more depth quickly and not just grass like at DP if you leave the iron shore area.

Taxi rip-off - Perhaps alleged is an accurate word to use, but I wouldn’t select it. I was told directly by the taxi driver that the bill was $300 pesos. When I told him in a not unfriendly tone that it was actually $200, he took the money and after being quite chatty on the entire ride, left abruptly without another word. I had to chase after him and signal to roll the window down so I could give him the tip.
I would like to echo what others have said. This was a budget friendly trip, so some comprises that had to be made. This is one of the only resorts that could house a group of this size.

Anthony’s Key is a step up, but there will be a higher price to go along with it. Also drinks are not included there. The boats are bigger, and the sites are mostly a five or ten minute boat ride.

I think Dennis and Roxanne did a great job. I cannot express enough gratitude to the efforts and sacrifices made by them.

The trip and resort cannot be held accountable for the unscrupulous taxi driver though.

We planning on making next year’s trip.
 
"Nondisplaced fracture through anterior cortex of distal tibial metadiaphyses."
Apparently after the Thurs dives my leg fractured at a screw hole from the implant.
All I can say is I am SO glad that I got in 6 days of great diving before the bone broke.

At least the ER visit and Xrays today got my mind off the virus for a while.
It looks like I will be riding those crutches all summer now.


edit, in a brain fog last evening I thought this had posted.
 
I would like to echo what others have said. This was a budget friendly trip, so some comprises that had to be made. This is one of the only resorts that could house a group of this size.

Anthony’s Key is a step up, but there will be a higher price to go along with it. Also drinks are not included there. The boats are bigger, and the sites are mostly a five or ten minute boat ride.

I think Dennis and Roxanne did a great job. I cannot express enough gratitude to the efforts and sacrifices made by them.

The trip and resort cannot be held accountable for the unscrupulous taxi driver though.

We planning on making next year’s trip.
The short boat rides to the sites off the resort when we dived there in Feb meant that the boats return to the dock between dives.
This allows divers the option of doing or not doing any individual dive as they choose, to run ( quickly) back to their rooms if needed, to use the bathrooms at the dock ( necessary since no boat I dived there had a head), to sit in the shade for a bit, etc.
By next year I am assuming also that the new restaurant near the docks will have been completed and be in operation. For some the climb up the stairs to the original restaurant can be difficult. The trade off will be that the view from the old restaurant is/was(?) spectacular, especially at sunset.
 
"Nondisplaced fracture through anterior cortex of distal tibial metadiaphyses."
Apparently after the Thurs dives my leg fractured at a screw hole from the implant.
All I can say is I am SO glad that I got in 6 days of great diving before the bone broke.

At least the ER visit and Xrays today got my mind off the virus for a while.
It looks like I will be riding those crutches all summer now.


edit, in a brain fog last evening I thought this had posted.
I'm so sorry about your new fracture. Crutches and boots suck!
 

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