First Time to Coz - Need Advice

[Tank601]

OK - My I'm trying to plan my first trip to Coz. Passports on their way. My local dive shop recommends Hotel Cozumel which seems to have dive packages and offers a inclusive stay as well as a breakfast option. For the inclusive it's around $800 for 4 nights - That's 3 two tank morning dives and 2 evening dives. Seems kinda pricey! What is the most economical way to do this and what dive shops are recommended down there? I will be taking my dive buddy so I am looking at about $1600 right now. Maybe just rent a room and pay for the dive when we get there? I will also be needing to rent a bc, regs, and tank/weights. Also would like to have a six pack - Don't like large cattle boats! Thanks in advance

 

[Aigtbootbp]

Seems you might be able to do a bit better but not a heck of a lot.
This is how I figure my costs.
From the St Louis, Mo. area;
flight 400-600 depends on the time and the economy etc.
Room, all inclusive 50/day/person
Dives, 65/person for a 2 tank dive.
Hope that helps.
Gary

 

[Divernoob]

Hotel Cozumel has received lots of good reviews on SB. It's located just south of San Miguel, which means longer boat rides to the good dives off the southwestern side of the island. The trade off is that you can easily walk into town for eats, shopping, etc. I've only dived with Del Mar Aquatics and Dive Palancar, both of which are good operations, IMHO, but I doubt they'd go that far north to pick you up at Hotel Cozumel.

 

[annlaur]

If you don't mind sharing a room with your dive buddy and are not set on all inclusive, you can probably lower the costs. A hotel room in town shoud be around USD50 a night (total), meals can be had for anywhere between USD5 (many good local joints) and USD30 per person.
If you're a heavy drinker, AI will be cheaper though.

You might want to look at Aqua Safari. Never dove with them, but they get good reviews here, are right in town and offer hotel/dive packages starting at USD322/per person based on double occupancy for 5 nights/3 days of diving. I'm guessing that's for a 2-tank trip on the big boats, they also have smaller, faster ones, for which you'll probably have to pay extra.

Any dive op you choose should be able to rent you regs and BCD. Tanks and weights are included in the dive-trip prices.

 

[nodakdive]

I've never stayed at Hotel Cozumel, but as somewhat stated above, and from my imagination, that's about what it costs for that type of accommodation. You can do it for less if you want to, but that's not out of the ballpark. My bad math looks something like this...

You can spend anywhere from about $50/2 tank trip to $90/2 tank trip

4 Two tank trips @ $70/trip (not including tip, minimum $10/trip) = $280
$800 less $280 = $520
$520 divided by 4 nights = $130/night for room and food.

As a comparison, and it's loose, an ocean view room at Casa del Mar is about $100/night, which would leave $30/day for food and drink. $25-$30 is about what I budget per day for food. I'm not a big drinker, and breakfast is included at Casa del Mar.

If that $800 includes airfare, subtract even $400 for round-trip and it looks like this:
$520 less $400/airfare = $120
$120 divided by 4 nights = $30/night for room and food.

That's not bad, in my book anyhow, to get a room and food and drink for 4 nights for $30/night. Again, I've never stayed at Hotel Cozumel, but from what I've read, it's a steal at that price.

If the $800 *doesn't* include airfare, you can sure do it for less. If the $800 does include airfare, then it get's trickier as you usually get pretty good package deals from the airlines when it includes staying a night or two at their affiliated hotels. Anyhow....

You could get a room at the Hotel Pepita in town for about $40/night.

4 Two tank trips @ $70/trip (not including tip, minimum $10/trip) = $280
4 nights @ Hotel Pepita @ $40/night (not per person, per room, so split between two) = $80
$280 + $80 = $360
$800 less $360 = $440
$440 divided by $4 nights = $110/day you can spend on food and drink. (That's per person, based on double occupancy, which I assume your $800 price for Hotel Cozumel is based on?)

Not really apples to apples. Not sure what you mean by "evening dives", but night dives, single tank, generally run $45 to $55/dive, so instead of $70, those two tanks would cost about $100. If they're just giving you 2 tanks for a shore dive, those 2 dives cost about $6/each.

In any event, you can find out more about the Hotel Cozumel online or if you do a search of the topics in this forum. There are many great dive shops on the island. It's hard to go wrong there if you talk to the shop and tell them what you want and tell them what your experience level is etc.
Many of the shops can do dive/hotel packages. Ask them. Look back through the threads here, and you'll see posts about dive shops and posts about people asking for which is the best shop, blah blah. Look at those to get an idea of what the different shops offer.

In any event, Cozumel is considered one of the best value dive vacations you can get from the U.S. and probably Canada too? You'll have a great time wherever you wind up.

-Blair

 

[Tank601]

Thanks - No thats without airfare. Our airfare is around $400 per person. $800 to get there. From what I have been reading, I'm steering away from the AI. I won't be drinking that much. As far as the dives are they better on the south west end? If so maybe need to stay down there away from the crowds. Im going spring break! March 12-16

 

[Divernoob]

You can also get a meal plan at Casa del Mar for a heckuva lot cheaper than $30/day -- and that includes domestic alkiehol.

 

[Tunaman68]

Contact Jeanie at Blue Angel resort to give you a comparison shopping quote. They are semi AI, breakfast, lunch each diving day, simple waterfront accommodations great food great people....

Welcome to Blue Angel Resort

 

[annlaur]

Thanks - No thats without airfare. Our airfare is around $400 per person. $800 to get there. From what I have been reading, I'm steering away from the AI. I won't be drinking that much. As far as the dives are they better on the south west end? If so maybe need to stay down there away from the crowds. Im going spring break! March 12-16

There are many dive sites towards the South end (not necessarily the best)… BUT all dive ops will take you there, even the ones that pick up in town (north). Unless you are seasick / don't like boat rides / are in a hurry to get back on shore / want to do 4 dives a day, eat and sleep and don't plan on going into town at all, I wouldn't recommand staying down there, as you will need a cab to go to town (USD 15 - 20 one way, I think !).
If I recall correctly, on a fast boat, it won't take more than 45 minutes to get to the furthest sites from town.

Some dive ops do make you pay extra to go to the furthest sites (to pay for the extra fuel, not talking about the National Park daily fee which is mandatory for everyone), so that's something to ask about as well.

Other things to consider (if that's important to you) upon choosing a dive op : would you rather do the surface interval on the boat, at a beach club, on a pier ? If you want to go back to your hotel in between each dive, then I think you need to stay down South for that option.

Are you planning on doing many shore dives on your own ? In which case it would make sense to stay a bit South of town (for example at Villa Blanca and diving with Scuba Mau) where shore diving is available. There are a few restaurants and a convenience store nearby, and cab rides into town cost about USD5 O/W.

Spring break is no big deal on Cozumel, that's more a Cancun/Playa del Carmen kind of thing. IMO, staying away from AI resorts is the best way to avoid the few heavy partyers that might ruin a good night sleep.

In town however, no matter the time of the year, you will run into cruiseship people during the day. Avoid the waterfront, the plaza and other touristy areas when the boats are in town and you will hardly notice them.

 

[warmwaterturner]

+1 for Blue Angel. The only place I say. I paid about $800.00 for 5 days and four nights. Did 2 two tank in the morning. Again in the afternoon - PLUS all the shore diving you can manage. The food was fantastic. Rooms were two double queen. Night shore diving next to the Sting Ray Prison was amazing. I think my meal tab with a couple of drinks here and there was about $130.00 for the period.