Fiesta Americana vs Hotel Cozumel All Inclusive

[lionfish-eater]

FA has a nice pool deck
Guest play in the water there
FA is across the street from Money Bar which is located just south of Dzul-Ha reef.
It a shallow reef and my favorite place to snorkle.
OPs pick up at money bar
2 for 1 happy hour with high quality food and drinks.

Fa feels more like a getaway vacation.

 

[PA NYR Hockey fan]

I frequently stay at both Hotels and like mentioned earlier the Hotel Coz is older and dated, The rooms at FA are much more modern as is the entire hotel. FA will pay for a taxi round trip to marina (please confirm with FA) or at least they did for me on several trips and I will be there again in March and they have confirmed this service.

I am not a "foodie" but must say that the food at FA is far more superior than at Hotel Coz. Staff at both locations are simply awesome and I have become friends with many of them.

You can use the beach at FA but not the pier and the beach restaurants are still closed. While it would be great if all facilities at beach were open, this is not a deal breaker for me personally but I understand.

For dive operators I definitely stay away from the ones who use the bigger boats. Everyone has their favorite op and there are plenty of very good ops to chose from. For me it's Sharkys and DWM.

As for value; please check again as I have never paid more for FA over Hotel Coz. Hotel Coz usually comes in ~ 60% the cost of FA.

Good luck

 

[rick00001967]

Hotel Coz all the way over FA. Use Hotel Coz's on-site dive op if you want. Want a higher level of diving? Book your stay at Hotel Coz and then book your diving separate with 3P's that is always picking up Hotel Coz divers on the street out front around 7:50 AM to the dive boats and dropping them off there after the dives around noon to 1PM (depending on sites visited and traffic). Fiesta Americana way south and being stuck with Dive House on site? No thanks. If you go with FA I say book your dives separate with Dive with Martin that should still be picking up down there. You don't want to dive with Dive House.

I'm gonna piss off lots of people here who believe we should never name names but on our Dec trip staying at the Casa Mexicana we were hanging out in the little heated pool after a dive and met a couple who were taking a dip in the pool. They were there because they had been staying at Secrets and diving with the on-site op (Dive house) that also happens to serve Fiesta Americana among some others.

I'll make this short. Husband got mixed up in those cattle boat's divers UW that Dive House was running and ended up diving one boat's profile that was a deep and got mixed up into the other group UW and surfaced and boarded that boat and dive #2 was was that boats profile. I've no idea how that happens but it did and I've no idea how someone can surface and walk onto a different boat with all different people but it did. I mean, aren't we taught to take notice of all divers on the boat, count and recognize if someone is missing or someone is there who doesn't belong? Good Lord! No DM ever noticed, no one ever kept count, no one knew anything.

Back the boats come to Secrets and he was dizzy and made his way down the dock to a beach lounge chair beside his wife where she had been waiting while he was diving and he passed out and becomes non-responsive. Ambulance to the chamber and 6 days of chamber rides in town with the wife moved to the Casa Mexicana so she could be right around the corner. When we met them in the pool, over $30K had racked up on credit cards for chamber rides and he still had a final check-out to go through the next day and was being advised to check with a specialist once in the states as he was still having probs dragging 1 foot while walking.

Do as ya will but I wouldn't get anywhere near Dive House for my diving. It is a crap operation and these things do happen. Those who don't know and don't have their own dive computers and dive with a dive op that doesn't provide them for free and show people how to read them? If this happened to this man in USA gross negligence charges would be filed immediately. In Mexico, Nope... Goodbye and have fun with that $30K chamber bill and whatever else may be wrong with ya.

so the diver simply followed the herd?
i agree the dive op should have picked up on the fact that a diver was with group one on dive one, and then with group two on dive two, but each diver is still responsible for ther own safety.
there would be nothing more important than making sure your personal profile allows you to complete the dive that the op is planning.
i always taught my students to check their own dive plan and not to blindly follow what the guide says.
that remains one of the big drawbacks to not having your own dive computer. most divers these days do. so if you are the only one on the boat without one, you either would have to blindly follow the dive guide (not....), or sit out most second dives because your tables many times wont allow it.

 

[deepsea21]

so the diver simply followed the herd?
i agree the dive op should have picked up on the fact that a diver was with group one on dive one, and then with group two on dive two, but each diver is still responsible for ther own safety.
there would be nothing more important than making sure your personal profile allows you to complete the dive that the op is planning.
i always taught my students to check their own dive plan and not to blindly follow what the guide says.
that remains one of the big drawbacks to not having your own dive computer. most divers these days do. so if you are the only one on the boat without one, you either would have to blindly follow the dive guide (not....), or sit out most second dives because your tables many times wont allow it.

From what I understand he was certified decades ago but had not been diving for a long, long time. I questioned him about his dive computer and how this happened but he kind of avoided that question. I am guessing that he went diving with Dive House and if they gave him a free DC to dive with they never showed him how to read it. More likely, he just went diving with them without a DC as he didn't want to rent one and trusted he'd be with the group and follow that 2 tank plan and be fine. What happened was UW he somehow got mixed up in these 2 cattle boat hoards of divers and ended up joining the other Dive House group that was down there on its first deep dive instead of staying with his hoard that was on its second shallow dive so he ended up with 2 deeps and it hit the fan. Obviously this would never happen to most anyone on Scubaboard who has a DC and knows how to read it or at the very least can manage to keep their DM in sight and stick with the group. Was this ignorant "certified" diver at fault to some extent? Yeah. Was Dive House at fault for what happened? Absolutely. I'll say what I said again, Dive House is an absolute crap operation. If ya know what you're doing and dive with them, no problem. If ya don't know what you're doing even if you're certified and stay at the AI's they service and think you're gonna be just fine... Think again. These things happen ALL THE TIME. No one wants to talk about it but the chambers on the island are being used, all the time.

 

[dannysporea]

I frequently stay at both Hotels and like mentioned earlier the Hotel Coz is older and dated, The rooms at FA are much more modern as is the entire hotel. FA will pay for a taxi round trip to marina (please confirm with FA) or at least they did for me on several trips and I will be there again in March and they have confirmed this service.

I am not a "foodie" but must say that the food at FA is far more superior than at Hotel Coz. Staff at both locations are simply awesome and I have become friends with many of them.

You can use the beach at FA but not the pier and the beach restaurants are still closed. While it would be great if all facilities at beach were open, this is not a deal breaker for me personally but I understand.

For dive operators I definitely stay away from the ones who use the bigger boats. Everyone has their favorite op and there are plenty of very good ops to chose from. For me it's Sharkys and DWM.

As for value; please check again as I have never paid more for FA over Hotel Coz. Hotel Coz usually comes in ~ 60% the cost of FA.

Good luck

Yes, they confirmed for me as well over email that they will pay the taxi fare to/from the marina for the 7 days of diving I will be doing. And yes, I got a killer deal at FA when I booked several months ago, for a little less than $1000 for 2 people for 8 nights in the beginning of March... and Hotel Cozumel was a little over $1000 for the same period.

@PA NYR Hockey fan, when are you going to be there in March and who will you be diving with this time? Maybe we can dive together with DWM, I do not know Sharkys but I dove several times with DWM.

 

[flyboy08]

If you dont care to venture into town, then consider the Grand Occidental. Very nice resort...close to dive sites is a plus. Aldora will pick you up there.

 

[kmarks]

I've stayed at both and will be at HC again in a couple of weeks. FA is a much, much nicer resort, but it is a ways from town. You'll have to take a taxi (and you already know that the hotel will pay for it) to and from the marina, which is a bit of a pain. The food is much better, but there are only three restaurants and they don't change their menus, so by the end of a 7 day trip, you'll be getting pretty tired of the food. FA was completely renovated in 2014/15. It is down the street from Money Bar, not across the street. Snack availability is better at FA, and the coffee bar is really nice.

HC is pretty old and shows it in some places, especially in the rooms. The showers tend to spray more of a light mist than really shower you. The rooms are spacious and comfortable. There are two included restaurants (and a $$$ snack bar) and the last time I was there they alternated which one was hosting dinner. There is a shore diving opportunity from HC and you get rent takes for $10/tank at the on-site shop. This is the reason I'm going to HC in a couple of weeks because I'm bringing a family of 5 with me to do their certification dives and that house reef is an easy introduction to ocean diving before you go on the boat. For me, the biggest advantage of HC over FA is proximity to town. It's about a mile and an easy walk, so when you get tired of the food (and you will), you can walk to town and easily find something better. Or take a pretty cheap taxi ride.

Neither has much in the way of a beach. FA is still in a standoff over paying the taxes they owe from the last couple of decades and cannot host any beach activities including having cushions on the chairs, but you can go sit near the water. HC has some chairs in a sandy area and a beach bar, but it's not really "beachy" with an sand entry into the water. Internet in the rooms is pretty weak and very slow at both places, but gets better in the lobbies and restaurants.

 

[PA NYR Hockey fan]

Yes, they confirmed for me as well over email that they will pay the taxi fare to/from the marina for the 7 days of diving I will be doing. And yes, I got a killer deal at FA when I booked several months ago, for a little less than $1000 for 2 people for 8 nights in the beginning of March... and Hotel Cozumel was a little over $1000 for the same period.

@PA NYR Hockey fan, when are you going to be there in March and who will you be diving with this time? Maybe we can dive together with DWM, I do not know Sharkys but I dove several times with DWM.

I will be in Coz March 8-15, technically staying at The Explorean which is part of FA. Sharkys is owned/operated by two former DM's from DWM (David & Walter) who I have been diving with for ~ 15 yrs so I will be with them but check out their web page.

 

[dannysporea]

I will be in Coz March 8-15, technically staying at The Explorean which is part of FA. Sharkys is owned/operated by two former DM's from DWM (David & Walter) who I have been diving with for ~ 15 yrs so I will be with them but check out their web page.

I will be there 4-12... so we may get to dive together. I'll check Sharkys, are they new? I remember I dove with a DM named David with DWM back in August 2020, is he the same person? I have in my logbook this note, lol: "David is the best DM of DWM"

 

[PA NYR Hockey fan]

I will be there 4-12... so we may get to dive together. I'll check Sharkys, are they new? I remember I dove with a DM named David with DWM back in August 2020, is he the same person? I have in my logbook this note, lol: "David is the best DM of DWM"

Ah yes, that is the guy. Sharkeys Cozumel started Jan/Feb 2021.