great hotel shore diving?

[SteveFass]

Going to Coz for the first time and would like advice on a hotel. I've read a gazillion threads, but haven't seen one that raved about their hotel's shore diving. As most of the ops will pick you up at the hotel pier, it seems choosing a hotel with great shore diving should be one of the a key factors. That and of course the usuals: price, location, cleanliness, friendliness, etc.

So can anyone recommend a nice hotel with great shore diving?

 

[GPdiver]

Going to Coz for the first time and would like advice on a hotel. I've read a gazillion threads, but haven't seen one that raved about their hotel's shore diving. As most of the ops will pick you up at the hotel pier, it seems choosing a hotel with great shore diving should be one of the a key factors. That and of course the usuals: price, location, cleanliness, friendliness, etc.

So can anyone recommend a nice hotel with great shore diving?

It depends on how you define "Great"
Bonaire has Great shore diving. By that standard there is no Great shore diving on Coz
I have had ok shore dives mostly at night in front of Coral princes,Hotel Cozumel used to be called Fiesta Inn then Costa club, I can't remember the name of the hotel in the jungle at Dzulha.

 

[SteveFass]

GP - good point - I've been reading more threads and I think a better question is, for those of you on a budget who go to Coz just to dive, sleep and eat, how do you spend your afternoons? Boat dives in the a.m., have lunch, and then....?

Is the difference in quality between boat and shore diving so much that you don't bother with shore dives and you just sign up for another boat dive?

 

[ggunn]

Going to Coz for the first time and would like advice on a hotel. I've read a gazillion threads, but haven't seen one that raved about their hotel's shore diving. As most of the ops will pick you up at the hotel pier, it seems choosing a hotel with great shore diving should be one of the a key factors. That and of course the usuals: price, location, cleanliness, friendliness, etc.

So can anyone recommend a nice hotel with great shore diving?

There is no great shore diving on Cozumel, at least compared to what you'll see on just about any Coz boat dive. There is, however, shore diving worth doing in a few places. The area between Caribe Blu and Villablanca is the one with which I am most familiar, but I have heard good things about the diving near the Presidente.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

TE=GP - good point - I've been reading more threads and I think a better question is, for those of you on a budget who go to Coz just to dive, sleep and eat, how do you spend your afternoons? Boat dives in the a.m., have lunch, and then....?

Nap, lay around the pool, nap, relax, or nap.

Is the difference in quality between boat and shore diving so much that you don't bother with shore dives and you just sign up for another boat dive?[/QUOTE]

We sometimes opt for an afternoon boat dive but not all dive ops go out in the afternoon. I wouldn't base my choice on the ones that do though.

 

[GPdiver]

GP - good point - I've been reading more threads and I think a better question is, for those of you on a budget who go to Coz just to dive, sleep and eat, how do you spend your afternoons? Boat dives in the a.m., have lunch, and then....?

Is the difference in quality between boat and shore diving so much that you don't bother with shore dives and you just sign up for another boat dive?

FYI the light on the reefs is best in the afternoon as the sun moves West

In the afternoons after diving I like to snorkel and do some free diving.
You can acces Paradise for this through the souther Marina
This is a descent shore dive also.
DzulHA has facility for rentals, Just south of Chankaanab is acces to some good shore diving or snorkeling look for some mooring buoy's and some old concrete foundation leading into the water

 

[ggunn]

FYI the light on the reefs is best in the afternoon as the sun moves West

If you go on an afternoon boat dive, this is true for the first dive but not necessarily the second. As the sun gets lower in the sky, more of its light gets reflected away at the surface and consequently less gets to the reef. All things considered, I think that the light is overall better on morning dives, as long as you don't go out so early that the same thing happens on the first dive as can happen on the second afternoon dive..

 

[Charlie99]

GP - good point - I've been reading more threads and I think a better question is, for those of you on a budget who go to Coz just to dive, sleep and eat, how do you spend your afternoons? Boat dives in the a.m., have lunch, and then....?

Nap in the hammock, then if the urge hits me, grab a tank and splash in for a dive. IMO, the advantage of shore diving is that it's a totally spur-of-the-moment thing as opposed to signing up for the afternoon boat. This also applies to night dives. If I feel like a dive after coming back from dinner, I'll just grab one of the "empty" tanks left near the entry point by earlier divers and splash in for a nice quiet night dive.

Is the difference in quality between boat and shore diving so much that you don't bother with shore dives and you just sign up for another boat dive?

If it were strictly a comparison of boat vs. shore diving, then I'd never do a shore dive in Cozumel.

OTOH, I enjoy watching the details of interaction of marine life and a solo shore dive lets me hang out for 5 or 10 minutes watching a Sgt. Major defend it's egg patch --- something that you can't do on a group drift dive. More likely than not, the egg mass is on slabs on concrete in an artificial reef (i.e. junk pile) rather than in the awesome coral formations you see on boat dives. You'll have to decide for yourself what you are looking for.

The nicest hotel reef that I've seen is the Presidente Intercontinental. Significantly better than the La Ceiba / Scuba Club Cozumel / Villa Blanca / PLG shore dives. The Presidente has some nice coral ledges in the 7'-22' dropoff, and usually has some seahorses in the 7' flat area.

 

[scubadobadoo]

I just stayed at Caribe Blu last month and did the shore dive about 5 times. It really comes alive at night. It is true that shore diving in Coz won't compare to shore diving in Bonaire or Cayman but if you just love to shore dive and crave that 3rd and 4th shallow dive of the day, then Caribe Blu will make you very happy with much of the usual suspects and then some at night. Many dive professionals in Coz will say that Caribe Blu ranks a the top of the list for shore diving. I would have to agree. Scuba Club Cozumel is similiar, as it is just down the street. Head out to the left and you will find the best life and coral. Directly in front of the hotel is mostly just sand.

 

[1gromit]

Going to Coz for the first time and would like advice on a hotel. I've read a gazillion threads, but haven't seen one that raved about their hotel's shore diving. As most of the ops will pick you up at the hotel pier, it seems choosing a hotel with great shore diving should be one of the a key factors. That and of course the usuals: price, location, cleanliness, friendliness, etc.

So can anyone recommend a nice hotel with great shore diving?

I did several shore dives off the beach at Presidente Hotel - they have a very large shoreline and are quite near one of the reefs (I believe Paradise reef). Not bad at all, tho I've never been to Bonaire

1gromit