Finally Get to Go to Cancun / Cozumel

[horn34]

As mentioned, do not stay in Cancun. Fly into Cancun, take a transfer or bus to Playa, ferry over to Cozumel and do all your diving there.

I like Tres Pelicanos and Aldora (for the steel tanks), but everyone here has their own favorites.

Save the cenote dives for another trip. They are underwhelming after diving Cozumel anyway.

Depending on the time of year, you could also work in a Bull Shark dive (if you're into sharks).

 

[ggunn]

Is it better to stay in Cancun and boat out for drift dives or find a place in Cozumel itself?

Cozumel is 50 miles south of Cancun. Your travel time would be ~3 hours each way by bus/van/taxi and ferry. No boats go out from Cancun to dive Cozumel. Need I say more?

 

[divingjd]

My early diving experiences were in Cancun. Used to go there with my ex and her family. I actually got certified in Cancun. But it was definitely not a dive vacation. It was a beach vacation with a little diving. Reefhound has it right. It’s pretty fishy, but the coral formations don’t compare to Cozumel. Overall, it’s not bad diving. But Cozumel is great diving. I’ve been to Cozumel about 20 times now and have already booked my next trip. It’s definitely worthwhile. No one from Cancun will take you to Cozumel. I know the shops in Cancun advertise Cozumel diving (or did, when I went there), but that means they will arrange for you to take the ferry from Playa Del Carmen and meet some other dive shop in Coz. I did that once from Cancun. It was a long and frantic day. I don’t advise it unless there are no other alternatives. I did the bag drag in July. In the winter I can get a nonstop into Cozumel from Detroit. The bag drag is really not too bad, but I would have to save a lot of money to do it again. I understand it’s not easy to get to Cozumel from LA, so if you can fly nonstop into Cancun, the bag drag probably makes sense. In Cozumel, I like Aldora for big tanks, long bottom times, the great staff, and their efforts to group divers of similar experience and ability together. I stay at Villa Aldora. It’s very reasonable, very nice, and makes a good combo with the diving.

If you have a short trip and have doubts about doing the bag drag, diving from Cancun is not a bad alternative. It would certainly be less tiring that going to Cozumel for the day.

 

[George Monnat Jr]

Thank you everybody. We're doing the bag drag. It looks like only one Marriott hotel in Cozumel for me to use my points., and I agree Southwest points are what's making this reasonable.

 

[divingjd]

Thank you everybody. We're doing the bag drag. It looks like only one Marriott hotel in Cozumel for me to use my points., and I agree Southwest points are what's making this reasonable.

Is that the Westin? I don’t think there is a Marriott-branded property in Cozumel. The Westin is pretty far north. It’s a nice area and I hear the Westin is nice, but it’s a fair distance from almost all the dive shop pickup points. If you want to dive with Aldora, they may pick you up at the Villa, which is also north of town, just not as far as the Westin. The Westin would also leave you a fairly long cab ride into town for dinner, but cabs are pretty cheap in Cozumel. I

 

[JamesBon92007]

If you have a short trip and have doubts about doing the bag drag, diving from Cancun is not a bad alternative. It would certainly be less tiring that going to Cozumel for the day.

Another possible alternative is Isla Mujeres, but mainly if Cozumel is not an option. You (OP) mentioned MUSA (Museo Subacuatico) and there is some other very interesting diving from IM plus you can take the ferry from Puerto Juarez and it's a fairly short ride and not very far from Cancun. HOWEVER, it is not Cozumel and the islands do not compare well. MUSA is an artificial reef built partially to offset the effects of tourism on the natural reefs. We dove it last year and I'd like to visit it again in a few years and see how it's coming along.

Here are a couple of pics I took at IM:

 

[George Monnat Jr]

Is that the Westin? I don’t think there is a Marriott-branded property in Cozumel. The Westin is pretty far north. It’s a nice area and I hear the Westin is nice, but it’s a fair distance from almost all the dive shop pickup points. If you want to dive with Aldora, they may pick you up at the Villa, which is also north of town, just not as far as the Westin. The Westin would also leave you a fairly long cab ride into town for dinner, but cabs are pretty cheap in Cozumel. I

Yea, the Westin allows the use of Marriott points, but I booked the Villa - so, nice mention. We got the last room, one of the courtyard rooms. Do they have nitrox? They said that we won't be there for night dives and mentioned we could do night dives from shore. How are the shore dives there at the villa?

Another possible alternative is Isla Mujeres, but mainly if Cozumel is not an option. You (OP) mentioned MUSA (Museo Subacuatico) and there is some other very interesting diving from IM plus you can take the ferry from Puerto Juarez and it's a fairly short ride and not very far from Cancun. HOWEVER, it is not Cozumel and the islands do not compare well. MUSA is an artificial reef built partially to offset the effects of tourism on the natural reefs. We dove it last year and I'd like to visit it again in a few years and see how it's coming along.

Here are a couple of pics I took at IM:...

I'll definitely put those on my list, thank you.

 

[ReefHound]

Yea, the Westin allows the use of Marriott points, but I booked the Villa - so, nice mention. We got the last room, one of the courtyard rooms. Do they have nitrox? They said that we won't be there for night dives and mentioned we could do night dives from shore. How are the shore dives there at the villa?

Aldora Villa? Shore dives are very convenient. The dive gear storage area and tanks are by the small pool next to the water. It is open-air and accessible at all times. Just grab a tank, gear up, and jump in. The "wall" is right there at the water's edge. Make you way down to the marina entrance and back. Or explore the grassy flats.

 

[flyboy08]

Westin= SPG which merged with Marriott to become one.

 

[DandyDon]

Is the Underwater Museum just a gimmick or worth seeing?

I've never done it as it looks like a gimmick. A high quality gimmick maybe, but Cozumel reefs and Tulum cenotes are both so much better.

There may be a boat that goes from a port near Cancun directly to Cozumel but I've never heard of it.

Nope. It would be a very long, boring boat ride.

Unfortunately, I'm only going to have a few days there instead of a week+.

Too bad. If you had a couple of weeks, you could dive Coz for a week, dive cenotes a couple of days, tour mainland (peninsula actually) ruins, and more. So many possibilities around. Cancun gets most of the tourists, but I only go there for the airport and my dentist. You'll just have to keep going back again and again, like many of us do.

Yea, the Westin allows the use of Marriott points, but I booked the Villa - so, nice mention. We got the last room, one of the courtyard rooms. Do they have nitrox? They said that we won't be there for night dives and mentioned we could do night dives from shore. How are the shore dives there at the villa?

The Westin is way up north by the golf course, isn't it? Who are you diving with? Google maps shows it's 2 miles from Aldora if it has the locations right. Quite a ways from town, and I've heard that taxis are scarce up there - which includes the risk of some drivers overcharging because no one else is around. You may want to rent a car, but if you do - there are several cautions to share. Several risks.