First vacation to Cozumel, suggestions?

[FishLovingStudent]

You probably get a million of these, so apologies and thank yous in advance.

My girlfriend and I are taking our first vacation together. We are both students (i.e. "poor") on the Canadian dollar (i.e. "poor") so value is important We are looking at keeping the trip as a whole under $2000 CAD/each. Thinking either February or May/June. Just wanting to field some suggestions, googling just brings up a large array of names and vague details.

I am a divemaster (~200+ dives) and a photog, she's an OW but likely will be AOW before we go. I want a charter where the DM is there to point things out but doesn't require us to stick to them like glue. We have better air consumption than average so cutting our dives short because the group is required to ascend together would annoy me to no end. Want to maybe do a night dive or two. Any suggestions for a charter based on these requirements (or am I expecting too much?). Is there any opportunity to do shore diving as well?

Any general suggestions for hotels, dive charters, or all-inclusives that include diving would be awesome! To make planning a bit simpler is there any operations that do accommodations+SCUBA at a good rate? Planning a few days-a week (if she gets her way-if I get my way) of diving in Cozumel with one day on the mainland for the Cenotes (I am gathering that PDC is the best). And generally flying to Cancun and then ferrying to Cozumel is cheaper?

It is my first tropical vacation so I hope to make the most of it

 

[kelemvor]

We did a week at Hotel Cozumel & Resort and dove with their shop "Dive Paradise". They have 7 night all inclusive packages for right around 1600cad: Hotel Cozumel Resort Package - Dive Paradise It was super nice having the boats pick us up right at the resort.

I had a great time with them. Food was good but not great. Drinks were not watered down, staff was great. All in all, a fantastic vacation. They have some upgrades you CAN buy, such as a small/fast boat instead of a larger one, nitrox, larger tanks etc...

That doesn't include airfare...

 

[BRT]

Are you including the airfare in the $2000 Canadian? Is the $2000 for 1 or both of you? How many days do you plan on diving? Five days of diving for both of you will add up to $1000CD if you do it on the cheap. If you get a room in the low rent district high in San Miguel you might get by for $35-$60CD a night. Doesn't leave a lot of room for airfare.

 

[FishLovingStudent]

Its for each of us, i.e. $2000 each, $4000 in total. Budgeting for around $600 for airfare, $600-800 for accommodations, $600 for diving, and then +/- whatever is needed for food/transportation/trinkets for each of us. I work a little more than her so willing to pick up any slack.

Thanks for the suggestion kelemvor, that looks like a great option for what we had in mind.

 

[cicopo]

Where are you? Is PMW Pacific North West? If so getting a vacation package is very different for you than me so what I know price wise won't be a lot of help. A vacation package from a Cdn supplier will most likely be the cheapest way to go but you'll need to buy diving separately.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

blue Magic and Blue XTSea have sleep and dive packages. I have dove with BM before and can recommend them without hesitation. Blue X is one of the top operations on the island but I have not dove with them yet. You can stay at Suites Bahia and still get the free (awesome) breakfast buffet down the block at Casa Mexicana. Casa Mexican runs around $70 US a night, Suites runs around $40 US. These are downtown hotels close to all the food and bars in town. The resorts are on the north and south ends of the island, with the South end more popular.

Aldora is known for insane dive times because they use steel hp 120 tanks. They are a little more expensive but when you figure the extended dive times, it works out to be cheaper per minute. Our last dive was almost 90 minutes. If there is an air hog in the group, he will share air with the DM or they will take a pony tank for them so everyone finishes together. Aldora has a resort on the North end, but I don't know anything about it. If you dive Aldora, think about Nitrox.

I would not not go all inclusive because there is so much good, cheap food on the island. That is the benefit of staying downtown, everything is within walking distance. Most rooms will have a refrigerator and you can buy everything possible at the Mega super store if you wanted to save on lunches. The problem is there is no beach downtown. If sand is your thing, you would have to take a cab to a beach club.

Im not sure what the exchange rate is, but I can usually get 4 days of diving and 5 nights stay with airfare from OKC for right at $2000 US staying at Casa Mexicana. You save a little with the sleep and dive packages. If your tight on your budget, you can always fly into Cancun and take a 45 minute bus ride for $10 US and a $12 US ferry ride to the island.

Safe travels, get ready for some incredible diving. I bet you will be back!

Jay

 

[DjDiverDan]

You can do a lot better on food - both in quality and in price - than going AI. I don't know about Canadian Dollar exchange rate, but you can get a decent room for two in town at the Hotel Mary Carmen (no pool) for about $35 US plus 14% tax per night, or at Hotel la Casona Real (small pool) for about $40 US plus tax per night. And the Hotel Mary Carmen rate includes breakfast. For dining, if you stick to the local places and loncherias for your main meal of the day (75-90 Pesos for a full meal, including chips & salsa, soup, entree with rice & beans, and agua fresca to drink), you can eat well on less than $20 US per person per day. I have stayed at Hotel Cozumel, and its a nice hotel, but I would NEVER do the AI option there - the food is TERRIBLE!

And package deals are almost NEVER the cheapest way to go. For diving, I like Aldora, but that is a high end valet operator. Try Dive with Martin, an excellent budget operator, located at the International Pier (it won't pick up in town, taxis will run you 80 pesos each way), or Tres Pelicanos or Blue XTSea, both located downtown?

 

[gopbroek]

Your dive OP requirement describes Tres Pelicanos who allows you to 'dive your tank', they also offer dive / hotel packages. If you stay at any of the Casa Mexicana group of hotels (Casa Mexicana, Suites Bahia or the Colonial) they include a very nice breakfast buffet. For lunch the 'comeda del dia'(normally soup, a main dish and drink) can be had at a number of nearby restaurants for about 75 MXN ($6 CAD).

Staying downtown and diving can be done pretty cheap.

 

[cicopo]

Right now Canadians are paying about $1.40 to buy a US dollar & that's been sinking recently.

 

[ron_dodge]

There are a few lower priced packages from Bay Adventures. I've used them a few times and they've always been great to work with.