First trip to Cozumel coming up

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Scubasasquatch

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My dive buddy and I are coming from the 24th Nov. through Dec 1. We will be staying at Casa Mexicana and diving with Aldora. I’ve spent quite a bit of time reading about the area, but wanted to get any input forum members with experience in Cozumel might have.

What is your favorite dive site that you would not miss going to on a trip to Cozumel?
What restaurant/bar is your evening favorite in Cozumel?
I’ve seen car rentals available, would you rent a car if you were there for a week?
What is the deepest dive and average dive depth on Cozumel drift dives?

Thanks for any input or advice you may have!
 
The search function is your friend...everything you asked is in the COZ forum...

I'll just say all dive sights there are grand... enjoy
 
I would not rent a car. Taxis are cheap and convenient and would be able to walk most places from Casa Mexicana.

Palancar Bricks is my favorite site. So much that I named my dog Bricks after it. Most dives will be in the 60-100 foot range, but if you really want to go deep for some reason, you can do that on some of the walls. Colombia Shallows and Paradise are both very shallow, in the 30-40 foot range.

I'm not into the bar scene, so I can't help you with that, but you'd be hard pressed to find a bad restaurant experience. I usually travel solo to Cozumel, so I like the quick, inexpensive places where you can often find a lot of locals. Casa Cuzamil for the lunch special (comida del día), El Sazón de Cameron (quite a walk) and El Chino Marinero for fish tacos, Mr Taco for al pastor, empanadas at Del Sur Argentina, and Chilangos for huaraches are some of my favorites.
 
Thanks for the input kmarks. I have read a bit about palancar and was actually thinking about doing most of my diving there to hit all the palancar dives. I just didn’t know if I’d be missing out on something by doing that. The only dive That I have seen that I don’t think I would really want to do is devils throat.
 
Usually they DM's will ask the divers where they want to go or what they want to see and the majority wins. However conditions or crowds change so you might head out intending to dive at one spot and end up at another. It is all good. Are you nitrox certified? If not and you are decent on air I would suggest getting certified prior or doing it while you are there to take advantage of the big tanks. Do you have your own computer? If not, study up on the model they rent, I think they are VEO 1's.
As far as eating, avoid MJ's right by the CM, way overpriced.
 
Thanks for the input kmarks. I have read a bit about palancar and was actually thinking about doing most of my diving there to hit all the palancar dives. I just didn’t know if I’d be missing out on something by doing that. The only dive That I have seen that I don’t think I would really want to do is devils throat.
You can ask to go to specific sites once you are on the boat, but on most dive boats the sites for the dives are decided by consensus once all the divers are aboard. One exception may be that if you don't want to do a particular advanced site, like Devil's Throat, you may have veto power for the boat (you'd best make that known while they are still assigning divers to boats). Another overriding consideration is that there may be reefs closed to diving while you are there, and depending on conditions (rough surface conditions, current, or visibility) the DM may decline taking the boat somewhere. Oh, and one more thing: it's more courtesy that divers show one another than a rule, but divers on their last day of diving usually have a little more "pull" in determining where the boat goes.

Not to worry, though; you'll have plenty of great dives no matter what sites you go to.
 
Usually they DM's will ask the divers where they want to go or what they want to see and the majority wins. However conditions or crowds change so you might head out intending to dive at one spot and end up at another. It is all good. Are you nitrox certified? If not and you are decent on air I would suggest getting certified prior or doing it while you are there to take advantage of the big tanks. Do you have your own computer? If not, study up on the model they rent, I think they are VEO 1's.
As far as eating, avoid MJ's right by the CM, way overpriced.

Thank you for the reply Streydog. I am nitrox certified and will be traveling with all of my own gear. My dive buddy is the same.
 
Most of the recommendations regarding car rental are against it. I will usually rent a car going to a new place to go see everything that is around...at my own pace. I don’t know what or where things are on this Island.
 
Most of the recommendations regarding car rental are against it. I will usually rent a car going to a new place to go see everything that is around...at my own pace. I don’t know what or where things are on this Island.
A major part of that decision might be where you are staying and where you'd like to eat. If you are staying anywhere north of the La Ceiba complex I'd recommend not renting a car and cabbing it wherever you want to go. If you are staying at one of the southern resorts and want to go to restaurants in town you might want to rent a car because cab rides to and from those places are expensive, but be advised that driving and parking in town can be challenging, and a lot of the best restaurants are not that easy to find on your own, especially for the first time visitor. I've been to Cozumel 40+ times and I still don't think I could find El Moro or La Perlita on my own. :D
 
Most of the recommendations regarding car rental are against it. I will usually rent a car going to a new place to go see everything that is around...at my own pace. I don’t know what or where things are on this Island.

We went in September. On our last day, we (divers and non-divers) went to one of the beaches towards the south. We got there around noon. We told the driver to give us a card, and we would call him when we are ready. He said he would wait for us. We told him that we didn't know how long we would be. He said, "They close at 5:00 PM. I will wait."

The taxi drivers don't have much to do, so it is very easy to get a cab. Cars look like they are cheap, until they add in the insurance. Then they are about $45 - $50/day.
 
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