I need Cozumel help! PLEEEEEZ!

[klolson26]

WOW:

Sounds like you are getting a great deal at the Grand. Who did you book it through? Is that price for 7 nights and does it include diving?

Booked through Hotwire - so took a chance on the flight there, but there are only 4 flights a day that originate in Boston and end in Cozumel, so we were pretty comfortable with what we were doing. Would have been $3k if we'd booked through our travel agent.

 

[Karen Dancheck]

Hi

My husband and I love Cozumel! We stay at the Reef Club. It is an All Inclusive. It is at the southern end of the island. They have a great dive shop at the hotel, Sand Dollar Sports. They have tons of boats that go out everyday. You have to decide what you want. If you want to be able to walk into town, then the Reef Club is not for you. It is about a 15 min cab ride from town. We like the all inclusives because if you are going to be doing a lot of diving, you don't have to worry about where you are going to eat eveyday. Also, everytime we go to Cozumel, we hear about people who got sick from eating in some of the restaurants in town.

The Reef Club is also great because it is at the Southern end of the island. If you stay at an all inclusive at the Northern end, your boat trip to the dive sites will be a bit longer. They also have a beautiful stretch of beach which you will not get if you stay in town.

Vacation Express is great to book a trip with.

Have a wonderful trip!

Karen

 

[HammerNoMore]

They have a great dive shop at the hotel, Sand Dollar Sports.

Do yourself a favor on your next trip, even if it's just for one day. Book some dives with Blue Angel or Christi or one of the other highly reguarded shops. They will pick you up right at the Sand Dollar peir. I have dove with Sand Dollar, and while there is nothing wrong with them, some of the other options are really much better.

Also, everytime we go to Cozumel, we hear about people who got sick from eating in some of the restaurants in town.

Lemme guess, you hear that from other people at the Reef Club? . Seriously, I won't say it never happens but in reality Cozumel restraunts are very safe. The groundwater is Coz is bad and everybody knows it. All the resutraunts use bottled water.

The Reef Club is also great because it is at the Southern end of the island. If you stay at an all inclusive at the Northern end, your boat trip to the dive sites will be a bit longer.

My first Coz trip was at an AI north of town. They taxied us down to the Reef Club which was how I had my experience with Sand Dollar. It's a major PITA. If you are going to go the AI route and don't want to explore town then the southern region is the only place to go.

James

 

[sharky60]

Brandi,
If you are talking about the new Grand Occidental a friend of mine stayed there last year just after they opened and he really liked it, i don't know what you have heard but he really talks it up. he says the food is very good, the rooms are very nice and the service was good. and if you dive, the reef is just off shore from there.
It is quite a ways from town and the cab fair is around $12 one way, El Presedente is closer to town and is a very nice all-inclusive.
my wife and I stayed at an all-inclusive the first time we went to Cozumel and didn't have a very good experiance, but the Del Sol, (now under another name, maybe Park Royal, who knows because it changes every year!), was under construction and over half the hotel was closed down so i don't think they had very much money comming in. the food was awful, canned fruit for breakfast, CANNED FRUIT!! IN MEXICO?! and the meat at dinner was unidentifiable.
we stay at La Ceiba every year now, it's close to town, clean, the foods good and the service has always been very good. I think they even have an all-inclusive program now but I'm not sure.
there are a lot of nice places to eat in town that won't break the buget if you decide not to go all-inclusive. Casa Denis, Capt. Navagante, Prima's all have great sea food, and there's always Carlos 'n' Charlies and the Hard Rock. I'd suggest going to the Museum for breakfast one day. and visit some the beach grills like Playa Corona has very good food. also rent a jeep and go to the other side of the island and eat at Coconuts, good food, great Margaritas (be careful, very strong!!!!!!!!) and a beautiful location.
We are going down in September and staying there for 1/2 the week at La Ceiba and then moving to the Grand about mid-week to meet the friend I mentioned earlier.
Just remember when your there that you are on "island time", slow down and enjoy! life slows to 1/2 speed on an island, and sometimes 1/2 that in Mexico.
hope this has helped and not confused you, have a great trip
God bless,
sharky

 

[BostonPops]

My wife and I have only taken one dive trip and it was to the Occidental Allegro in Cozumel so take that for what it's worth. With that said, we loved it. The southern end of the island is isolated so it was quiet and relaxed. The rooms were very nice...not Waldorf-Astoria nice, but what would you expect?

The food is good, the drinks are good, and the people are almost too friendly to be believed. I don't really know what else to say except that I can't wait to get back there again this year.

 

[jsavannah]

Hi Brandi -

My boyfriend and I just returned from the Occidental Grand yesterday. We stayed for 8 days/7 nights and loved it!

The resort was beautiful and we enjoyed the all-inclusive option as it made it so much easier to just relax and not worry about having to go anywhere for drinks and food - it was our first trip out to Cozumel so I think it was a good choice. Most of the staff were extremely nice and accomodating. The food was decent and their restaurants were great - and a nice treat at an AI to have a nice atmosphere for dinner. The rooms are large and airy with a big bathroom and nicely decorated - we would even get fresh flowers placed around our room occassionally by housekeeping. We enjoyed being able to go sailing and kayaking which was included. We loved the thatched umbrellas on the beach and having drinks brought to us

Also, a big plus is that it's on the southern end which meant dive spots were 5-15 min boat rides. We did one 2-tank dive with Blue XT Sea Diving and Raul (DM) was awesome. We also did the twilight and night dive with the Grand's op - Dive Palancar. The twilight/night dive is highly recommended! It was a great time! (Also, we are newbies and we always made sure the DM knew just to be safe as most divers in Coz are experienced.)

Finally, we rented a Jeep one day and drove around the island - that was really fun too and that way, we spent some time in town and ate at some restaurants on the east side and in town. If you decide to do that, make sure you book on line - it's half the price that way!

Hope that puts some fears to rest as far as the Grand!

 

[sealskin98]

Brandi,

About everything has been covered here, the Grand will be just fine.

South AI pluses-you have child care, close to the reefs, food and drinks already paid for.

Minuses-far from town and the great restaurants, isolated, cab ride to town is expensive, and did I mention isolated? The resort has got ya.

The advise on renting a car and looking around is excellent. That's one of the best parts of going. An AI may be a good choice for a first trip until you can explore the island. My first trip there was at the Allegro when it was the Diamond. I stay closer to town now, but just personal preference.

I have some info posted at http://www.jumpstartmusic.com/cozumel/travelog that might be some help to you. Enjoy your trip!

Hey ggun, excellent website. Looks like you've been going for quite sometime, but you forgot one besides Carlos n' Charlie's. I saw that they moved last time I was there but didn't stop in.

Carlos n' Charlie's --
Drunken college kids, music at the threshold of pain and beyond, tabletop dancing by folks who can barely stand up, peer pressured guzzling of alcoholic drink of dubious origin. Interesting in an anthropological sense (quote from ggun's website).

You left out Caribbean Queen. You can see Merton's innovator, Sutherland's differential association, and Cloward and Ohlin's differential opportunity theories all at work at once!

Just kidding. Brandi, do not go there!

I'll leave it up to you to ask what it is when you get to Coz.

 

[richhagelin]

Just got back from a week at Occidental Grand AI for a week. Just LOVED it.

Far and away the best place to stay in Coz. Only downside is far from town, but I don't do the drunken American thing anyway so it didn't matter.

Stay at OG. You will love it.

Rich Hagelin

 

[DiveDad]

There are certainly places in the world where an all inclusive is the way to go...but not in Cozumel, IMHO. Half the out of water fun is going into town, walking around and visiting the local restaurants. We've been treated extremely well by the restaurant owner/managers when they found out we were divers and staying on the island (discount coupons and/or free drinks). My personal choice is the Fiesta Americana...

 

[ronrosa]

There are certainly places in the world where an all inclusive is the way to go...but not in Cozumel, ...

I totally agree, but there are a lot of people that love all inclusives. Nice thing about Cozumel is there are accomdations to fit everyone's preference.