I was in cozumel 2/28 to 3/7, and want to share the great eating, as well as diving, experience (l love to dive but food is my first hobby). First, I want to thank Christi (Blue XTSea) for a fantastic dive week. We dove with both Rauls and have nothing but praise for the DMs and the captains. I highly recommend this outfit, and went with them because of the favorable comments from several sites. The reason that I recommend Blue XT is because they do not take out cattle boats, are always on time, are careful yet not boring, and are just plain friendly/helpful. There were never more than 6 divers on any trip; actually, the only time there were more than 4 was when the two others were with their own DM for training. We never waited in the water to be picked up, but did see two divers (with another outfit) bobbing in the water waving for their boat.
First surprise upon arrival was that you have to take the transportation vans to the hotel. It took us a couple of minutes to figure out that you cannot just take a taxi. no big deal, the ride to the Presidente is only $8. By the way, unless you love your travel agent, try hotwire.com. I got the trip, including airfare from baltimore and 8 nights at the hotel, for less than $1200.
El Presidente is a fantastic place, but I have not been to the other hotels. The service is pretty much impeccable, the food is pretty good, however, the beds are not all that comfortable, as i have found in other hotels in mexico. The pool is very nice and i highly recommended getting a message at the Serenity Spa, which is located in a big tent by the water. Breezes, bird calls, ocean sounds. . .it was great. Nice pool and the best guacamole i had on the island. but i'll get back to the food later. Presidente has really good snorkeling right in front of the hotel in the two roped off areas. I saw several people doing shore dives too.
We did not get a car, but the ride into town was $4.50 each way. We did rent a scooter one day and went to the other side of the island. It is a must do after diving one day, just don't expect great food on the other side. The trip, on a scooter, only takes about half and hour from town (going south past all the hotels) and then loops right back around. you literally can't get lost. the other side is just beautiful, with stretches of white sand beach interspersed with long stretches of rock where the clear, turquoise water crashes over them. Take along a lunch/snack and stop at a secluded place. there are plenty of them.
As for the diving, my boyfriend did his open water certification dives the first two days from the shore with Scuba Tony. I never met him but boyfriend said he was really excellent. Showed him lots of diving techniques as well as marine life. They dove at Paradise shallows (break?) just north of Presidente and the harbor. BF said he saw an eagle ray, eels, barracuda, most of the stuff i saw elsewhere.
As a newbie, I'm not good with fish id, but hope you get the picture anyway. First day of diving was at the Santa Rosa Wall. You know the trip is gonna be good when the first thing you see as you are descending is a Spotted Eagle Ray! Five minutes into the dive, we saw a giant lobster. from tail to head it was 4 ft! Went to Yucab for the second dive. I asked Raul (2) about seahorses and he found me two of them! (Yes i do use !!! a lot) they were tiny things, only a couple inches long. The water temp for the whole week was about 78 F. I get cold pretty easy so my 3/2 was fine for the first dive, but by the second or third dive, it was a bit chilly.
Christi called with the chance to see eagle rays mating to we went to Barracuda on day 2 with Raul 1. we were not able to catch sight of the numerous rays together but twice we did see pairs of them. Saw my first turtle of the dive. the current was pretty fast, but it made for an easy dive. Palacar breaks was our second dive and it was one of my favorites. the coral formations were breathtaking. diving up and down the formations, through the swim thrus, was so fun. the fish life was abundant. Paso del Cedral was a nice third dive, more turtles, lots of schools of fish, lobster.
Third day was at La Francesa and Tunich. More great diving but the current got really fast at one point at Tunich. for the beginning divers, like me (had about 18 dives before cozumel) the current can be a little, scary is too strong a word, different. At Barracuda, the current was fast, but pretty consistent. At Tunich, at least on that day, the current would go from nonexistent to fast to slow.
Day four was at Bolones and Las Palmas, which has beaucoup fish life. Day five was at Columbia and Tormentos, which is another favorite because i swam with a large turtle for a long ways. Lots of holes on the sand floor and saw several blennies (i think - they were translucent white to pink and swam head up, tail down). We dove Tormentos again for the night dive and saw octopus (including a red spotted one), squid, and a huge spotted eel out in the open. the lobster and crabs were out too.
Last day of diving was just wonderful. we went back to Santa Rosa and i swam behind an eagle ray for about ten minutes towards the end of the dive while it search the sand.
San Francisco wall was the last dive to round out the week.
And now for the food! Taco haters can stop reading here. Love my partner. Dragged him around town the second night (Sunday when lots of the locals are at the plaza and there's a live band) until we found a taco stand on the main drag, south of the plaza, along the sea wall. Pork tacos made to order with all the fixins, from mild to super hot!
Second night we went to Casa Denis right off the plaza to the west and had Tlalpeno (sp?) soup, the mayan pork tacos (excellent!) and chorizo (not so good). Partner had the grilled grouper.
I've lost track of when I ate, but I do remember where. If the boat stops at Reef Club between tank dives, walk down the road that leads straight back from the pier. there's a great stand that sells Tortas and tacos. Get the special torta with everything, or the pork and chorizo tacos.
If the boat pulls into the harbor, eat at the taco stand there too. not as good as the one by reef club but for a buck, you can't beat the food.
We heard some divers talking about a taco place in town and Raul (2) said it was pretty good so we took a cab to Seras (on 30 diagonally across the street from Chilangas, which unfortunately, i missed). Oh man are the the Tacos al Pastore wonderful. its the meat that's roasting on the two huge metal rods (like gyro meat) but its pork. I think i ate five of them myself. we order a chuleta and only had one cause I couldn't fit anymore in my belly. If you like meat, go to Seras.
Raul said he liked El Pique for the same stuff but I thought Seras had better flavor (also on 30 but farther north).
On another Raul recommendation (one i read about here) we went to El Moro. He was right. the biggest darn shrimp i'd seen on the island. Menu is pretty long, but get the shrimp grilled with butter and garlic. my mouth is watering thinking about it.
Last but not least, get lobster tail at Jeannie's Waffle House. when the cab driver told us to go to the palapa next to acuario, we were a bit skeptical, but he said it would be good. I found out later (dingdong because the sign says so) aquario, apparently where the waffle house gets the lobster, has a lobster tank. anyway, I could not finish the lobster tail. it was, literally, a 3 lb tail. the restaurant brought it out grilled, and cut away from the shell but still in the shell, with butter and a garlic butter sauces. Price? $35 but in the US, it would have been $90.
More food? shop at Chedraui for great, cheap fruit and bread. Or buy it from a pastry shop. I don't know the name, but i think it was on 30 south of Seras because we went there after dinner. there is another pastry shop by the square. take the first street going north after you pass Fat Tuesday. Go past all the little stores/stalls and walk 2-3 blocks. the shop is on the right. ask the stall owners and they'll tell you. while you are at the stall, by the fresh mango/pineapple/jicama and get it with the chile and salt!
by the way, I drank bottled water but, as you may surmise, at everything on the island and did not get sick! the ice is purified too. Sorry to ramble on. hope this helps someone planning a trip.
christine
First surprise upon arrival was that you have to take the transportation vans to the hotel. It took us a couple of minutes to figure out that you cannot just take a taxi. no big deal, the ride to the Presidente is only $8. By the way, unless you love your travel agent, try hotwire.com. I got the trip, including airfare from baltimore and 8 nights at the hotel, for less than $1200.
El Presidente is a fantastic place, but I have not been to the other hotels. The service is pretty much impeccable, the food is pretty good, however, the beds are not all that comfortable, as i have found in other hotels in mexico. The pool is very nice and i highly recommended getting a message at the Serenity Spa, which is located in a big tent by the water. Breezes, bird calls, ocean sounds. . .it was great. Nice pool and the best guacamole i had on the island. but i'll get back to the food later. Presidente has really good snorkeling right in front of the hotel in the two roped off areas. I saw several people doing shore dives too.
We did not get a car, but the ride into town was $4.50 each way. We did rent a scooter one day and went to the other side of the island. It is a must do after diving one day, just don't expect great food on the other side. The trip, on a scooter, only takes about half and hour from town (going south past all the hotels) and then loops right back around. you literally can't get lost. the other side is just beautiful, with stretches of white sand beach interspersed with long stretches of rock where the clear, turquoise water crashes over them. Take along a lunch/snack and stop at a secluded place. there are plenty of them.
As for the diving, my boyfriend did his open water certification dives the first two days from the shore with Scuba Tony. I never met him but boyfriend said he was really excellent. Showed him lots of diving techniques as well as marine life. They dove at Paradise shallows (break?) just north of Presidente and the harbor. BF said he saw an eagle ray, eels, barracuda, most of the stuff i saw elsewhere.
As a newbie, I'm not good with fish id, but hope you get the picture anyway. First day of diving was at the Santa Rosa Wall. You know the trip is gonna be good when the first thing you see as you are descending is a Spotted Eagle Ray! Five minutes into the dive, we saw a giant lobster. from tail to head it was 4 ft! Went to Yucab for the second dive. I asked Raul (2) about seahorses and he found me two of them! (Yes i do use !!! a lot) they were tiny things, only a couple inches long. The water temp for the whole week was about 78 F. I get cold pretty easy so my 3/2 was fine for the first dive, but by the second or third dive, it was a bit chilly.
Christi called with the chance to see eagle rays mating to we went to Barracuda on day 2 with Raul 1. we were not able to catch sight of the numerous rays together but twice we did see pairs of them. Saw my first turtle of the dive. the current was pretty fast, but it made for an easy dive. Palacar breaks was our second dive and it was one of my favorites. the coral formations were breathtaking. diving up and down the formations, through the swim thrus, was so fun. the fish life was abundant. Paso del Cedral was a nice third dive, more turtles, lots of schools of fish, lobster.
Third day was at La Francesa and Tunich. More great diving but the current got really fast at one point at Tunich. for the beginning divers, like me (had about 18 dives before cozumel) the current can be a little, scary is too strong a word, different. At Barracuda, the current was fast, but pretty consistent. At Tunich, at least on that day, the current would go from nonexistent to fast to slow.
Day four was at Bolones and Las Palmas, which has beaucoup fish life. Day five was at Columbia and Tormentos, which is another favorite because i swam with a large turtle for a long ways. Lots of holes on the sand floor and saw several blennies (i think - they were translucent white to pink and swam head up, tail down). We dove Tormentos again for the night dive and saw octopus (including a red spotted one), squid, and a huge spotted eel out in the open. the lobster and crabs were out too.
Last day of diving was just wonderful. we went back to Santa Rosa and i swam behind an eagle ray for about ten minutes towards the end of the dive while it search the sand.
San Francisco wall was the last dive to round out the week.
And now for the food! Taco haters can stop reading here. Love my partner. Dragged him around town the second night (Sunday when lots of the locals are at the plaza and there's a live band) until we found a taco stand on the main drag, south of the plaza, along the sea wall. Pork tacos made to order with all the fixins, from mild to super hot!
Second night we went to Casa Denis right off the plaza to the west and had Tlalpeno (sp?) soup, the mayan pork tacos (excellent!) and chorizo (not so good). Partner had the grilled grouper.
I've lost track of when I ate, but I do remember where. If the boat stops at Reef Club between tank dives, walk down the road that leads straight back from the pier. there's a great stand that sells Tortas and tacos. Get the special torta with everything, or the pork and chorizo tacos.
If the boat pulls into the harbor, eat at the taco stand there too. not as good as the one by reef club but for a buck, you can't beat the food.
We heard some divers talking about a taco place in town and Raul (2) said it was pretty good so we took a cab to Seras (on 30 diagonally across the street from Chilangas, which unfortunately, i missed). Oh man are the the Tacos al Pastore wonderful. its the meat that's roasting on the two huge metal rods (like gyro meat) but its pork. I think i ate five of them myself. we order a chuleta and only had one cause I couldn't fit anymore in my belly. If you like meat, go to Seras.
Raul said he liked El Pique for the same stuff but I thought Seras had better flavor (also on 30 but farther north).
On another Raul recommendation (one i read about here) we went to El Moro. He was right. the biggest darn shrimp i'd seen on the island. Menu is pretty long, but get the shrimp grilled with butter and garlic. my mouth is watering thinking about it.
Last but not least, get lobster tail at Jeannie's Waffle House. when the cab driver told us to go to the palapa next to acuario, we were a bit skeptical, but he said it would be good. I found out later (dingdong because the sign says so) aquario, apparently where the waffle house gets the lobster, has a lobster tank. anyway, I could not finish the lobster tail. it was, literally, a 3 lb tail. the restaurant brought it out grilled, and cut away from the shell but still in the shell, with butter and a garlic butter sauces. Price? $35 but in the US, it would have been $90.
More food? shop at Chedraui for great, cheap fruit and bread. Or buy it from a pastry shop. I don't know the name, but i think it was on 30 south of Seras because we went there after dinner. there is another pastry shop by the square. take the first street going north after you pass Fat Tuesday. Go past all the little stores/stalls and walk 2-3 blocks. the shop is on the right. ask the stall owners and they'll tell you. while you are at the stall, by the fresh mango/pineapple/jicama and get it with the chile and salt!
by the way, I drank bottled water but, as you may surmise, at everything on the island and did not get sick! the ice is purified too. Sorry to ramble on. hope this helps someone planning a trip.
christine
Makes me long to go back. Thanks for sharing!
