Fiesta American Questions

[raviepoo]

After much consternation, I finally booked 5 days at memorial day weekend at the Fiesta Americana. The hotel looks great and we got a great deal on the room. I've read good things about the Fiesta Americana on this board and heard good things from people who have stayed there. I still have a few questions however.

The hotel is kind of far from town. Does anyone know what kind of cab fare we should expect to pay to/from the airport? The center of town? The international cruise ship pier area?

Are there any places to eat within walking distance of the hotel? I ate a a great hole in the wall restaurant a few doors down from the Atlantis submarine last year. I can't remember the place though. Great mexican food. Overlooked a dive shop.

If you were going to do 3 shore dives in Cozumel, what would they be? If I can rent a VW bug for 25$ a day, should I go ahead and do it? Is there any problem with parking a car in a random hotel parking lot while diving?

We haven't decided who to dive with yet. I'm not really looking for long bottom times or advanced dives since my travelling companion is a fairly green diver who sucks air like a hoover. I'm considering Dive Paradise, Dive with Martin, or the in house dive op, Dive House. A lot depends on the various dive ops answers to my questions about schedules and the availability on their boats of shade for my lilly-white hide. I want to dive on the afternoon of our arrival, and I think the op we choose will be determined by which one makes this easiest for us.

 

[miked]

Hi Raviepoo,
I've been to Coz 3 times-most "recently" in Aug.'01.Stayed at FA, dived with Dive House all 3 times.I may be able to help with some of your questions.

I like Dive House- their schedule was: an a.m.2 tank, approx 8:30 departure, and a 1:00 p.m. 2 tank, with night dives twice a week.
The service was good,and they were able to accommodate divers of all levels of experience and air consumption. I was able to find shade on all of their boats, because I also burn, rather than tan, if I'm not careful.

If I recall, the cab fare to"downtown" San Miguel (?) was in the $6-7 range.To the airport, a bit more. Not sure about the other locations.

I'm not big on the authentic "local" food, (actually, my digestive tract isn't), so I can't say much about restaurants, except, there were many on the side streets near the plaza in San Miguel, that got rave reviews from my more "adventurous eating" friends. There is a place along the shore (I think) within walking distance of FA-I believe it is called "Dzul Ha", or something like that. It has gotten high praise from a number of friends who have gone to Coz.
Hope this is helpful, and I'm sure others will jump in with their info.
Good luck, enjoy your trip,
Mike

 

[redacted]

But you have a good shore dive opportunity right there. In FA roped off area there are a few small coral heads in about 25 ft. But if you go about 1/4 mile north, you'll find a few shops (I think dive shop & bar & ?) and a beach. Put in at that beach (watch the urchins) and drift back to FA (current usually runs from north to south in that area). I suggest you do it once snorkeling to get the lay of the land then scuba. Depth will be 15 to 25 ft with good number of coral heads, some 10+ ft in diameter, plenty of life. It is one of the popular stops for the tourist snorkel trips.

Enjoy

 

[teamheatwave]

Never stayed in Cozumel but in Cancun I have been to Fiesta Americana Condesa Cancun. Lots of narble and chandaliers. Awesome landscaping, great rope bridge over the pool, swim up bar and they even stamped their logo into the sand of all the ashtrays! Lots of staff always working. Very clean place. Except for the location, I would stay there again. I imagine the ones in Cozumel are just as nice.

 

[DeputyDan]

local LDS uses FA and the Dive Shop for their Cozumel trip each summer.

I think this is the 7th straight year of using the same ops and facilities.

I guess FA and the dive shop have something good going for them......

 

[the sharkman]

Speaking of Fiesta Americana and Dive House, we have friends that use them every year and have nothing but good to say about them.

:guitar:

 

[ggunn]

raviepoo once bubbled...

The hotel is kind of far from town. Does anyone know what kind of cab fare we should expect to pay to/from the airport? The center of town? The international cruise ship pier area?

You won't be taking a cab from the airport, but a shuttle run by the taxi drivers' union.

If you were going to do 3 shore dives in Cozumel, what would they be? If I can rent a VW bug for 25$ a day, should I go ahead and do it? Is there any problem with parking a car in a random hotel parking lot while diving?[/B]

There's not really much shore diving there. One that I enjoy, however, is getting in at Villablanca, swimming out to the Wall, and drifting down to the buoy off Lorena. From there you can follow the bricked over cable back in to the lighthouse. Get out and back at depth, though; there's a lot of boat traffic along there.

Othere than that, there's Chankanaab, the airplane (or what's left of it) off the beach at La Ceiba, and whatever is at your hotel. All the really spectacular diving there is accessible by boat ony.

 

[NYStan]

We dove with Martin and had a great time. Would recommend them 100%
They run their operation south of the main town, just a little south of Plaza Las Glorius. I'd buy some tacos for breakfast with hot peppers every morning from a truck just accross the street from the center they are located in. Can't wait to get back!

Martin runs a really good operation, IMHO.