Iberostar vs Westin

[ggunn]

Clearly they are not 2x the speed of the boats you use, but 25 min IS faster than 45, and BA is further south than “downtown,” so my point was that they are clearly faster… which is also probably why you originally imagined it would take an hour from the Westin. I didn’t say 2x faster. You can take your issues with Salty Endeavors’ claims up with them.

Salty Endeavors' boats are not "clearly faster" than "most boats"; they are about the same as the rest of the boats like them, which indeed are most of the boats I see out on the dive sites. It isn't all that unusual that a dive op (or any business, for that matter) will tout as a point of positive discrimination between their business and others something that is commonplace among their competitors. I have no quarrel with Salty Endeavors; they have their fans on Scubaboard. Their claim that their boats are over twice as fast (their numbers) as most of the other boats diving Cozumel, though, is a significant overstatement.

That's all I have to say about this. Carry on if you must.

 

[morecowbells]

Last year we went diving with Salty Endeavors. They are a nice operation with typical 6 pack boats that my regular dive operator as well as a majority of dive ops use on the island.
I have not stayed at either resort that you are considering, but it boils down to what you are looking for vacation wise. Westin is a short and inexpensive cab ride into town. Iberostar has better beaches and short boats rides to the reefs. I am not a fan of long boat rides or taking a taxi after diving. The resorts south of the marina are a better fit.

 

[nanches]

Salty Endeavors' boats are not "clearly faster” than “most boats"; they are about the same as the rest of the boats like them, which indeed are most of the boats I see out on the dive sites. It isn't all that unusual that a dive op (or any business, for that matter) will tout as a point of positive discrimination between their business and others something that is commonplace among their competitors. I have no quarrel with Salty Endeavors; they have their fans on Scubaboard. Their claim that their boats are over twice as fast (their numbers) as most of the other boats diving Cozumel, though, is a significant overstatement.

That's all I have to say about this. Carry on if you must.

I didn’t say “clearly faster than most boats” - - just “clearly faster” than the ones you have been describing since your first reply.

It’s great that you have been diving in Cozumel for so long. You must love it! I have only been to Cozumel 3 times and I’ve only been diving there twice, but I absolutely love it. I lived, worked, and traveled in other parts of Mexico for about 6 years. I love Mexico, its cultures, and people. My daughter is Mexican. I hope to move back some day.

I hope you continue to enjoy your diving trips in Cozumel.

 

[ggunn]

I didn’t say “clearly faster than most boats” - - just “clearly faster” than the ones you have been describing since your first reply.

Nope. The boats I ride on from Blue Angel are the same general type that Salty Endeavors uses; I see SE's boats frequently out at the dive sites and picking up from the BA dock. The time to dive site number you are quoting is from the same website that makes that other claim, which is not accurate, so I wouldn't put much stock in that, either. Not that it matters; it's just advertising. It doesn't have to be truthful.

But it really doesn't make any difference, does it? If you stay at the north end of the hotel zone, you are going to have a longer boat ride to the southern dive sites than you would if you were staying somewhere else - five miles farther than you would if you were staying at Blue Angel and 15 - 20 miles farther than if you were staying at a southern resort.

 

[jonhall]

It isn't all that unusual that a dive op (or any business, for that matter) will tout as a point of positive discrimination between their business and others something that is commonplace among their competitors

10-15 years ago you could go to a majority of the Cozumel dive op websites and the word "BEST" was used somewhere - they had the best dive boats, went to the best dive sites, had the best DM's, or were just the best dive op. I made a comment in a thread about it many years ago (I wish I could find it) about the Coz dive ops saying they were the best. I just thought it was somewhat humorous that they could all be the best. At some point the dive ops websites changed and now you don't see the term so much - I don't think I've seen it at all in the last few years.

 

[nanches]

But it really doesn't make any difference, does it? If you stay at the north end of the hotel zone, you are going to have a longer boat ride to the southern dive sites than you would if you were staying somewhere else - five miles farther than you would if you were staying at Blue Angel and 15 - 20 miles farther than if you were staying at a southern resort.

Well, we can agree on this!

I was just trying to give the OP an idea of how long the boat ride from the Westin to the southern reefs is. I did this boat trip on 3 days with Salty Endeavors. I estimated 20-30 minutes and folks called that into question, so I was just trying to get more accurate information for the OP. I agree that one shouldn’t necessarily put too much stock into advertising, BUT my estimate wasn’t too far off from what SE claims. Honestly, it didn’t feel long at all.
The OP has to weigh all the pros and cons of staying at the Westin or Iberostar, and I was just trying to get them a sense of how long the boat ride from the Westin would be. The boat ride from Iberostar undoubtedly is faster. But, there might be other considerations the OP is weighing.
I, personally, enjoy riding in boats, so speed isn’t an issue for me, though I know it is for some people.
I also really liked diving with Salty Endeavors this summer. Our private guide Freddy was wonderful, took such great care of my daughter and me, and even took pictures of us; ) The captains and other dms were so nice and helpful, too.
I know there are a lot of great ops in Cozumel with fast boats. We went with Tres Pelicanos last summer and loved them, but went with Salty this summer bc we were staying up north.
Can’t wait to go back again next summer!

 

[lionfish-eater]

Nope. The boats I ride on from Blue Angel are the same general type that Salty Endeavors uses; I see SE's boats frequently out at the dive sites and picking up from the BA dock. The time to dive site number you are quoting is from the same website that makes that other claim, which is not accurate, so I wouldn't put much stock in that, either. Not that it matters; it's just advertising. It doesn't have to be truthful.

But it really doesn't make any difference, does it? If you stay at the north end of the hotel zone, you are going to have a longer boat ride to the southern dive sites than you would if you were staying somewhere else - five miles farther than you would if you were staying at Blue Angel and 15 - 20 miles farther than if you were staying at a southern resort.

The boats may be similar, but there is a big difference between a single 70 hp engine and the same boat equipped with twin 300's. YMMV and 2 stroke for some folk and 4 stroke for other folk.

 

[NDL_Diver]

I believe Salts boats have a single Yamaha 150 4 stroke. Not the fastest but fast enough. Our DO uses twin 150's.

 

[ggunn]

The boats may be similar, but there is a big difference between a single 70 hp engine and the same boat equipped with twin 300's. YMMV and 2 stroke for some folk and 4 stroke for other folk.

Maybe there are still some, but I haven't seen a dive boat with a single 70hp outboard motor around Cozumel in a long time.

 

[Guitarcrazy]

I have stayed in the North, but not at the Westin. I have stayed at Iberostar, Grand Park Royal, Coral Princess, Casa Mexicana, El Cozumeleno, Casa Del Mar, Cozumel Palace. Most of these we have stayed two or three times. I have also dove with Salty Endeavors, from locations North and South.

Henry has had the Mental Floss and Living the Dream for many years. I hear they just added a third. I have also been diving with 5 or 6 other operators. All of the other operators were in "fast" boats, with the exception of Aqua Safari, which I wouldn't use again. Of the "fast" boats, the other ops had twin engines, which were a bit faster, as well as offer redundancy if there were a problem with the engine. While I have never been stranded at sea, it has happened and you can find threads about it here on scubaboard. While Salty Endeavors boats are faster than the large diesel boats, they are certainly not faster than the other ops using "fast" boats, and slower than the other ops I have used with twins.

Next, there is no comparison of North vs South. It is way better to be at Cozumel Palace, Grand Park Royal, or south for the diving. We dove with Pepe Scuba when we were at Coral Princess, and the op was good, but the boat ride was 45 minutes to an hour to get to the main sites in the south. When we dove with Salty from the north we would taxi to the marina and leave from there. That made for more time in cab, but less time in rough water. I generally prefer the 15 minute boat rides from Coz Palace or Grand Park Royal areas. I take photos and that gives me just enough time to get my camera rig ready, suit up, and roll in. When we stayed at the Iberostar we were always rushed because sometimes it was less than 5 minutes to get from their pier to the dive sites. That isn't enough time to get scuba gear on and camera ready, so I was usually the last one off the boat. Not a huge deal, but I prefer having time to get ready and not be rushed to get in the water.

My go to resort when traveling with others, divers and non-divers is Grand Park Royal. You can walk to town if you like a bit of exercise, the boat rides are short enough, and you have the Mega and Chedraui close by. Cab rides are cheap, and the resort has activities for most. The food isn't the best on the island, but I thought it was easily as good as the Iberostar, with a better location. Also, Iberostar fogs for mosquitos every morning, which I didn't enjoy. We like to get a walk in every morning and we would have to get out very early, or risk getting caught in the insecticide fog they spray. Also, they use reclaimed water for irrigation of the grass and plants. I appreciate the effort to conserve water, but the reclaimed water smells like sewage. The walk back from breakfast is always accompanied by a sewer smell, which I could do without.

For these reasons, our 'sweet spot' is the middle to lower third of the island. Coz Palace is nice, but expensive. Casa Del Mar is very cheap, but lacks some amenities. GPR is a good value, and best when we bring our adult kids to dive.