Isla Mujeres vs Cozumel

[Aggiebq86]

How does Isla Mujeres compare to Cozumel? Both the diving as well as the on shore experience? I'm a mid 40s basic diver and would be traveling with my teenage daughter.

 

[svs]

If you are ready for deep, somewhat challenging sites, Cozumel is the best. For shallow sites you probably will not see much difference. For the shore experience mainland will be the best (with similar quality of shallow sites)

 

[Aggiebq86]

Oh, I forgot to say, we dove in Cozumel two years ago for our first dive trip. I'm not real interested in deep dives yet. I just have my Basic OW certification. Once I get my NITROX and learn better air management, then I'll look at more deep dives.

 

[ScubaduoAdventures]

We have been to both and actually stayed for 2 months in Isla Mujeres and had a great time.
from a diving standpoint Cozumel we believe is better but if your wanting to have some laid back, easy shallower dives then you probably will enjoy Isla. After all it does still have warm clear water!
As far as the difference between the islands Isla is a lot smaller and does get busy with tourists coming over by ferry from the mainland to use its main beach close to town and to go to its dolphin experience we would suggest staying at a small vacation rental outside of town or resort and renting a golf cart which most everyone does to drive around and is a lot of fun. It is also very easy to book other tours to the mainland if you want.
Cozumel probably has more to offer on the island itself but we think you would have a good time on Isla if you want to try something different.

 

[k374]

Once I get my NITROX and learn better air management, then I'll look at more deep dives.

Just FYI, Nitrox is not for deep diving, it has a lower MOD (Maximum Operating Depth) than air since the ppO2 cannot exceed 1.4 bar. For example if you use Nitrox 36 the MOD is only 95ft and Nitrox 32 the MOD is 110ft. Beyond this you risk oxygen poisoning which is pretty serious. By contrast air has a MOD of about 187ft. I am guessing by "deep dives" you are referring to 90-100ft, not sure if I would use Nitrox to dive this deep unless I was pretty experienced and knew what I was doing.

Nitrox is more for repetitive diving with long bottom times at shallower depths.

 

[vladimir]

Once I get my NITROX and learn better air management, then I'll look at more deep dives.

Just FYI, Nitrox is not for deep diving

But better air management might be; better gas management certainly is. And I guess it depends on what you consider deep.

Isn't Isla Mujeres where the "sleeping" bull sharks are found? That'd be worth seeing if they're still there. (And still sleeping!)

 

[hopefulist]

We chose Isla for our upcoming June visit for the whaleshark snorkel trips.

 

[beckerman]

I went to Isla Mujeres last October, sorry for not posting a trip report, and it was phenomenal. Dove with "Enriques Unique Dives" and they were fantastic, taking us to great sites for two tanks in the am, two in the afternoon and one at night. Whale Sharks weren't there in October, but the locals said it was a little overrated and expensive, plus you get the cattle call boats from Cancun over run the sites. There was only two of us on each dive plus the DM who ensured we saw everything to be seen. Giant turtles, squid, baracudas, eels and rays were some of the life plus great corral. Isla Mujeres is a great local town, extremely friendly and very safe, a true gem in Mexico. If you don't have accommodations yet there is a marina, El Milagro, that has a great cabana and a penthouse. The owner, Eric, lives in Santa Barbera and the two guys who manage the property Julio and Jose take great care of their guests plus they usually do a group dinner with all the crews from the boats. Really great time.

 

[flyhimd]

A teenage daughter in Cozumel or Isla? Well, I hope she likes to read, dive, and not much else...I'd think it would be a little boring, especially Isla. For what it's worth, you may want to consider Cancun (you can dive Isla from there easily)...and there's lots to do besides diving: malls, movie theaters, etc. Cozumel I hear is very sleepy after the cruise ships leave; personally, I'd probably stay on the mainland (Playa del Carman) and take the ferry over to Cozumel to dive. That leaves you in a town with nice activities, plus options to do some other things...day trips to Tulum ruins, cenote diving if so inclined, or just wandering about town. Diving in Cozumel has more coral diversity, swim throughs, canyons, and very cool walls. Isla has a little more dense fish life (my opinion). And there are a number of dive operators you could pre-connect with and tailor a trip in Cozumel to suit your dive preferences and skill levels. Even the wall dives aren't necessarily deep...after 90 feet the colors are gone, so deep diving isn't really needed or desirable if you want to see pretty fish and cool coral. If it's a two-tank dive, your second will be shallow anyway, and there are some magnificant spots in Coz.

 

[Ed Hatfield]

Cozumel For Diving

For world class diving you want to go to Cozumel. If you want good diving combined with LOTS TO DO for you daughter then Playa Del Carmen is the ticket. I prefer Playa to Cancun because everything is so close and it`s not wall to wall resorts. If you want see something in Cancun you need to take the bus.

I was in Playa two weeks ago and it was busy. We took a day trip to Cancun to go to the Costco and decided to stop by the beach on the hotel strip to see the beach reclamation. The beach was deserted.

Playa Del Carmen beach.



Cancun beach - hotel strip looking south towards Cancun Palace