Is Christmas week a good or bad idea to come to Coz?

[Trailboss123]

FWIW, I have always heard that although air fares are up during the holidays, sometimes you can get a very good deal if you are willing to travel on the actual Xmas or T'giving day. A friend of mine found a screaming good deal to Hawaii on T'giving Day a few years ago.

This is quite true- My return fare from Cancun for this trip was significantly cheaper by flying on New Years Eve, because who is out flying on New Year's Eve night? Everyone is partying. Also, last year I flew on Thanksgiving Day to Portland, OR and saved hundreds of dollars. The airport was a ghost town and I had 5 people on my flight.

 

[deepsea21]

Is it worth visiting X-mas through New Years? ABSOLUTELY! I'd love to book my December trips to take me through the new year but good Lord does it get EXPENSIVE and BUSY the week X-mas falls on and thereafter. As such, our last 3, 2-week December trips including our upcoming 2-week trip have us departing with minimal room nights spent paying the premium peak season prices. This year X-mas falls on a Monday and we depart X-mas eve on Sunday so we only got stuck with crazy holiday premium pricing for 2 days that kick in the Fri and Sat before we depart.

We stay at the Casa Mexicana and up to X-mas the place is just like the 10+ years we stayed there in October - no where near full occupancy and pretty quiet. When the week of X-mas hits it signals the arrival of peak season and over those 2-weeks we stay pre-season everything seems to putting the last polish on whatever needs done.

If you have the $ by all means enjoy it but as others have commented, make dive reservations NOW and book your accommodations NOW because in very short order every place worth staying at and every dive op worth diving with is going to be fully booked.

 

[MMM]

My take? I'd try and wait a week or two and get there first couple of weeks of January. Dive ops don't jack up their prices but many years ago I did dive on Christmas when I was told there would be an involuntary "minimum" tip imposed (about 5x the normal amount).

Many ops don't go out on Christmas Day or New Years Day for two-fold reasons: they want their staff to be able to spend time with their families and they don't want hung-over crew taking divers out.

Airlines jack up airfare and drop them post-Christmas. Most restaurants are closed throughout town in the morning and don't open until at least mid-day on those days. And service will be "iffy".

 

[scubafanatic]

Don't forget the dreaded 'El Norte' season issue as well, be prepared to get totally blown out and the harbor closed when winter cold fronts blow in from the north.

 

[Dogbowl]

Thanks for all the information! Definitely lots to think about!

When is the El Norte season anyway? Are diving conditions during this time less ideal - stronger currents, less viz?

 

[Trailboss123]

Thanks for all the information! Definitely lots to think about!

When is the El Norte season anyway? Are diving conditions during this time less ideal - stronger currents, less viz?

Typically El Norte season coincides with the US winter season and is called such because there are times when strong winter storms in the US may push strong winds down into the Caribbean. Occasionally, these winds may be so strong that it results in marina closures in Cozumel. Viz and currents are not adversely impacted during this time necessarily.

 

[Dogbowl]

Oh well...can't be too much in fear of weather happening...although I hope it doesn't blow out my WHOLE trip.

 

[MMM]

Oh well...can't be too much in fear of weather happening...although I hope it doesn't blow out my WHOLE trip.

Nortes generally last 1-2 days at most.

 

[northernone]

Working illegally is definitely not what I was implying. Sorry you read it that way. I was referring to getting a work permit to help out a shop during the peak times, as dive pro's can be hard to come by during that time.

While I don't work myself in Mexico I do have a good number of friends who help out shops during the high season freelance under the table. The local laws are strict, I understand, so most of it is done unofficially (roughly quantified in the dozens). I believe paperwork is too intensive to make it an easy legal holiday job. Perhaps some of the dive ops will clarify.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[Basscat]

I've been to Cozumel around Christmas time for the last 7 years, and I think I have had 3 days of diving interrupted by Nortes, maybe 4. Not a big worry, overall. It's a nice time to be there.