Trip Report Jan. 27 - Feb. 6 Villa Aldora/Aldora Diving + some firsts

[ggunn]

I might give this a try just for fun. Where exactly at the round-about is the taxi stand?

Most folks I have heard talk about it mention Diego's Tacos but I don't know that there is an actual taxi stand there. To get to Diego's, go through the roundabout to the other side and keep going in the same direction; Diego's is about 40 yards farther on the right.

 

[divingjd]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I have been a fan for a long time. We've stayed in the North Suite, but when it's just me and my wife, we stay in the Falice Suite on the third floor. It has a full kitchen and a door between the main bedroom and the big room with the kitchen. That lets me get breakfast without bothering my wife. She's certified, but Cozumel currents don't agree with her, so she hasn't been diving there. I've made a number of solo trips and stayed in Courtyard Norte, Barracuda, Alexander, Falice, and San Juan. San Juan is the only one I would try to avoid. The configuration of the room makes it kind of cramped, even for one person, although the bathroom is large. Several rooms have full kitchens. In addition to the North Suite and the Falice Suite, the Aldora Suite (the mirror image of the North Suite, but on the south side), Alexander, Barracuda, and Cameron. The others all have a fridge, microwave, and coffee maker. You can manage some kind of breakfast in all the rooms. There are good descriptions of the rooms with pictures on the website. Betzabe is great. Actually, the managers generally offer rides to Mega or the dive shop. I've done a lot of night dives at the Villa. It's about 15 feet deep. There isn't much in the way of coral, but there are sponges and lots of critters, including octopus and mantis shrimp. It's a pretty good dive. Obviously, it's really convenient and the price is right. Overall, I can strongly recommend Aldora Divers and the Villa.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Most folks I have heard talk about it mention Diego's Tacos but I don't know that there is an actual taxi stand there. To get to Diego's, go through the roundabout to the other side and keep going in the same direction; Diego's is about 40 yards farther on the right.

Thanks for the tip! I see Diego's on Google Maps. I will take a look this Thursday as I arrive Cozumel for a 19-day visit.

 

[jonhall]

Most folks I have heard talk about it mention Diego's Tacos

Same here. I didn't see or look for Diego's Tacos as the taxis were all lined up on the street directly on the other side of the round-about from the airport. There are 2 small buildings on the corner (one is a scooter(?) rental place that wasn't opened) which is where the taxis were.

I will say there is a risk if you are a large family with lots of luggage. There aren't big shuttles like in the airport. For the 4 of us, with 4 large and 4 small suitcases, we were lucky a taxi driver with a small van managed to squeeze our stuff in so we could split the cost. Otherwise we would have been taking 2 taxi cars, each paying the same price as for the one vehicle.

 

[NDL_Diver]

Villa - villas stretch along the coast from the main until you hit an area where there are several restaurants (Rincon, Hemingway, La Monina) with beach areas. I saw it about 2 villas north of me and thought it was a snorkeler; when it got closer, I thought it could be a log. I guessed it to be about 5-6 ft. long. There were snorkelers several resorts the other direction but we lost sight of the croc- a small skiff made its way toward them, but none of them scattered off in fear for their life!

Was told by someone that cleaning fish in the marina may attract them. I was taking that to mean they were probably full and I didn't have to worry - ha ha!

Heading back in April, I'm not telling my son, daughter in law, or granddaughter what we saw.

Sorry, since you were at Villa Aldora I just said the Villa (since that is what I call it since we stayed there and use Aldora).

 

[ggunn]

Thanks for the tip! I see Diego's on Google Maps. I will take a look this Thursday as I arrive Cozumel for a 19-day visit.

Be advised that per Google Earth it's a little over 300 yards from the exit door of the airport to Diego's.

 

[Grateful head]

Thanks for the tip! I see Diego's on Google Maps. I will take a look this Thursday as I arrive Cozumel for a 19-day visit.

I will also add that in the last three or four times there over the last few years, we have had to walk past Diego’s to the next intersection. The taxis are very apprehensive about being seen picking up airport travelers and wanted the pick up to be more “out of sight”.

 

[ggunn]

I will also add that in the last three or four times there over the last few years, we have had to walk past Diego’s to the next intersection. The taxis are very apprehensive about being seen picking up airport travelers and wanted the pick up to be more “out of sight”.

Traveling light is not in our vocabulary, and our trips are always in April or later when it's starting to get hot, so the trek for a taxi has never been worth the trouble for us. The shuttle is crowded, yes, but it it is plenty fast and cheap for us. Of course, as always, YMMV.

 

[OregonDM]

Funny thing when we were there in December. The shared van was $14 per person I think. So for my family of 4, $56 total. Before doing that though, out of curiosity I approached the Cozushuttle and Flex Shuttle desks (which are right next to each other). I stood there between the desks as representatives from each asked me how many people and where we were going. I told both of them, and they both started saying prices. I sort of stood there without saying anything, and they both started saying lower and lower prices lol. Finally the Flexshuttle guy said "OK, $60, same price as the shared van" to which I immediately accepted (he was off by a few bucks but close enough). So we ended up in a private van to El Cantil. I don't really mind the shared van, but for the same price obviously I'll take the private. It was so funny though standing there as they did a Dutch auction against each other lol. Good to know for future trips!

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

@jonhall What restaurants did you dine at that deserve notice?