Isla Mujeres vs Cozumel

[JRO]

Planning a trip to Mexico for the end of October.

My travel partner is fixated on Cozumel, but I keep hearing good things about Isla Mujeres.

Here are the deciding factors for us;
1) Undersea life in October...the diving is the biggest influence for us.
2) Cost...gotta do this one on the cheap
3) Hotel...don't need fancy, do need clean and safe

Really looking to hear from those of you that have been to both!

Thanks for the help SB'ers!!!

 

[Dirty-Dog]

We've done the vast majority of our diving from either Cancun or Cozumel. From Isla Mujeres, you'll be taking boat rides to the same sites that are used from Cancun on the mainland.
The diving is generally shallow, 60' or less. The only worthwhile sites I can think of in that area deeper than 60' are the two shipwrecks. The currents are generally mild. There's plenty of sealife. The critters are basically the same as what you see off Cozumel. In my experience, there are more big fish (Barracuda, sharks etc) off Cancun. What you will NOT find off Cancun are the spectacular reef structres you find on deep dives off Cozumel. The reefs tend to be flatish, with a few short swimthroughs. More arches than tunnels.
Cozumel offers the deeper dives with the amazing reef structures, and it's all drift diving.

You're going to be happy with either detination, in our opinion.

 

[Bill Parker]

You don't have to pick one or the other you can do both on the
same trip easily. You can fly into Cancun and stay at IM until
you get bored with it and go to Cozumel and fly out of there.
Easy to ferry from IM to Cancun, cab to the bus terminal, bus
to Playa Del Carmen, cab or walk to the Cozumel ferry (depends
on which PDC bus terminal you come in on), and ferry to
Cozumel. And that can be done in an evening when you'd be
slacking around anyway. Things I liked about IM was whale
shark trip where I saw dozens of them (but they might not
be there in October), Punta Sur dive (I saw 50+ large turtles
there), muchanes reef (shallow with almost no current), and
another dive on the Northeast part of the island that also
had tons of large turtles.

 

[kevl]

Went to Isla Mujeres this past June and Cozumel last October

Cozumel: Stayed at Aura (awesome hotel, great food, all-inclusive, $1000pp?) Diving was awesome, rare sightings (saw a rare bat fish), saw turtles, large eels, spotted eagle rays, enormous coral formations/reefs. Deeper dives than Isla, mainly drift dives. Had a REALLY good experience with the dive operation, "Living-underwater" with Jeremy. He picks up your gear from your hotel, picks you up at your hotel's dock with all your equipment setup for your dive. Fresh fruit at surface intervals, takes your gear back with him cleans it etc.. rdy for next day. Only downfall to that trip was the rain. 80% of the trip got rained out due to a nearby hurricane which also cancelled a day of diving for us. So you definitely run the risk of hurricanes at that time, if I were you i'd push your trip to early November. We also did the Lion fish safari, wonder if they're doing that again this year?

Isla Mujeres: Stayed at Aluxes all-inclusive, great food, around the same price as Aura. Very small island, you can rent a golf cart and take a spin around the entire island in 25 minutes. Shallow dives, lots of reefs/fish, relaxing. Very light current for the dives we did. Dive operation was good, though Living-underwater spoiled us.. Snorkeled with the Whale Sharks (awesome).

In the end you'll be good to go at either location!

Also, having grown up in Shelton, you know you can trust me

 

[Mike]

Planning a trip to Mexico for the end of October.

My travel partner is fixated on Cozumel, but I keep hearing good things about Isla Mujeres.

Here are the deciding factors for us;
1) Undersea life in October...the diving is the biggest influence for us.
2) Cost...gotta do this one on the cheap
3) Hotel...don't need fancy, do need clean and safe

Really looking to hear from those of you that have been to both!

Thanks for the help SB'ers!!!

Isla Mujeres and Cozumel are very different. Been to both multiple times. We go to Cozumel for a dive vacation and Isla Mujeres to vacation with some diving. There is no comparison between the two when it comes to diving to me. In 9 days of vacation at Isla Mujeres we do maybe 6 dives. In 7 days of vacation at Cozumel we do closer to 12 dives, the reason is that the diving around Isla Mujeres is just plain boring.

You'll get cheaper flights to Cancun than to Cozumel, there are cheap hotels to stay at both places.

Cozumel has a very Mexican flavor to it, Isla Mujeres has a more cosmopolitan flavor.

Another observation is that the diving conditions have the potential to be totally different between the two. Almost all Cozumel dive sites are sheltered sites on the leaward side of Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, there are many sites that are out on the windward side which means you almost always will have rougher conditions. Sea sickness is not uncommon to the un-initiated divers at Isla Mujeres. The fact that you're out on that seaward side also creates dive conditions that allow for unexpected surprises, such as dolphins, whale sharks, sharks, mantas... you'll spend 2 lifetimes diving Cozumel to see any of those, you'll spend 1/2 a life time diving Isla Mujeres to see them.

 

[Mario Chow]

If you are going to Isla mujeres just for the diving, I wouldn't recommend it. They'll take you to the same divesites you find in Cancun.

"The Horseshoe" and "Grand Pin"are the 2 best divesites Cancun has to offer along with the shipwrecks. Here's where I've seen the largest schools of Grunts-snappers in all of the Mesoamerican Reef.

Don't get tricked by the MUSA UW museum in Isla Mujeres, the photos are amazing, however actually diving there is dull. The statues are full of sea weed and makes them look like zombies, so yeah, the locals call it zombieland...

As for Cozu... Spectacular diving. Im going there next week for a few dives with Aldora, one of the only companies that use big steel tanks averaging your dive time to 60 minutes...

 

[tendi]

Isla Mujeres used to be nice. The beach used to be amazing. I went back for the first time in 5+ years and the beach is gone. Well, it's still there but it's ugly now. Nothing like it used to be. I was very disappointed and don't see a reason to ever go back. That being said, Coz doesn't have the best beaches but the diving is a LOT better. I would pick Coz over Isla Mujeres for sure and I am usually one that will pick the less touristy location.

Snorkeling with the whale sharks is pretty amazing which we did off of Isla Holbox. I know we went in the summer. I'm not sure how long the season lasts. Whale Shark Tours by Holbox Tours & Travel

 

[Mario Chow]

Isla Mujeres used to be nice. The beach used to be amazing. I went back for the first time in 5+ years and the beach is gone. Well, it's still there but it's ugly now. Nothing like it used to be. I was very disappointed and don't see a reason to ever go back. That being said, Coz doesn't have the best beaches but the diving is a LOT better. I would pick Coz over Isla Mujeres for sure and I am usually one that will pick the less touristy location.

Snorkeling with the whale sharks is pretty amazing which we did off of Isla Holbox. I know we went in the summer. I'm not sure how long the season lasts. Whale Shark Tours by Holbox Tours & Travel

I agree on your advice.

Whale Shark Season is about to end in 6 days though

The company you refer above is the same as Cancun whale shark tours, and the service is top of the line, You can search the reviews on trip advisor and see for yourself.

As for the diving in Cozumel... It's out of this world. I've been diving in Cancun as an Instructor, and just came back from a mini-trip to Cozumel and I was SO IMPRESSED. We went to Punta sur where not many places take you, I did "devils Throat" (which I do not recommend to beginners as it's a deep dive there are currents) and Dalila which is one of the most GORGEOUS dives I've done in the Caribbean. The dives where done with nitrox and Steel 120 tanks, so even though max depth was 120 feet, the first dive lasted over an hour. And the second dive (Dalila) was 65 feet and lasted 80 minutes... (almost 2 dives in one YEAH).

Dive Shop in Cozumel: Aldora Cozumel

I hope this helps!

 

[MMM]

I live part-time in Cozumel and can probably name at least 10 ops (mostly, but not exclusively, independent six-packs) off the top of my head that regularly take divers to Punta Sur. One issue is weather conditions, which need to be good. Also divers on the boat need to be good enough divers. Dalila is a great dive, but then most of the dives in Coz are pretty good.

We went to Punta sur where not many places take you, I did "devils Throat" (which I do not recommend to beginners as it's a deep dive there are currents) and Dalila which is one of the most GORGEOUS dives I've done in the Caribbean. T