Maui or Cozumel

[tridacna]

I love Cozumel but would never EVER take my non-diving wife down there. She needs more than "getting her nails done".

Curacao, Puerto Rica or St. Croix have much better topside activities for non-diving spouses. Cozumel has better diving. I suppose that you could take her over to Tulum or take a plane to Chichen Itsa. But that kills the entire day for you.

 

[crabbyfiddler]

I love Cozumel but would never EVER take my non-diving wife down there. She needs more than "getting her nails done".

Curacao, Puerto Rica or St. Croix have much better topside activities for non-diving spouses. Cozumel has better diving. I suppose that you could take her over to Tulum or take a plane to Chichen Itsa. But that kills the entire day for you.

Sorry, didn't mean to offend with the "getting her nails done". It was just one suggestion. I know I am considerably lower maintenance on trips than some women...I want to be under the sea as much as possible....but I have done the trip with a non diving female friend. She read poolside, went for runs, worked out in the hotel gym, did the spa, shopped, toured the town taking pics, and snorkeled a wee bit in front of the hotel. Granted we stayed at the Palace, so it has lots to do and great location. At night, we all went out on the town and had a great time.

YMMV (or your wife's...it's a personal thing).

 

[Scubagolf]

Been to both Coz and Maui many, many times. The diving in Coz is waaay better, Coz is way less expensive, and Coz is a safe destination. The Palace is not inexpensive but is great for non-divers. We live in California so Maui is a quick trip, but for dive vacations the long haul to Coz is worth it.

 

[JamesBon92007]

shes not a big fan of snakes.

I forgot to mention that Maui has zero snakes. Or very close to zero.

 

[Oldbear]

I have done both too.

Coz in my opinion has better diving, but Maui has better topside activities. But both are worth the trip.

BTW as mentioned before, Coz is nothing like the mainland but still Mexico and a tourist destination, especially with all of the Cruise Ship traffic.

 

[Token]

I have done both too.

Coz in my opinion has better diving, but Maui has better topside activities. But both are worth the trip.

BTW as mentioned before, Coz is nothing like the mainland but still Mexico and a tourist destination, especially with all of the Cruise Ship traffic.

I've been to both places too...I would say it's pretty much a tossup. Cozumel may be cheaper but you still pay for a lot in [expensive, for Canadians] US dollars. There's plenty to do topside in both places...it's good to have a car so you can get out of town. Cozumel does have some poor areas, but it's not extreme or scary unless you are particularly nervous in non-English speaking territory.

 

[EricTheDood]

My opinion is that Maui is underrated and Cozumel is slightly overrated. I think they're much closer than some people make them out to be.

The complaints most often heard about Maui is that it's expensive and it's less colorful. Expense is up to you and your planning abilities. For example, stay at a condo rather than a resort. As for wildlife, if you love sponges then yeah, Maui doesn't have any, but it has a lot of endemic species of fish and I found the quantities of fish/turtle life to be similar, not the "desert" that some folks reported about Maui.

Coz has a lot of sponges. Sponges are colorful. They're also boring, IMO. I want to see corals and the invertebrates that live in them. I didn't get a chance to see stuff really close up in Coz because the current is swift. It's all drift diving and if you notice something interesting, you get all of about 10 seconds to enjoy it before being swept away.

The water temps and visibility are similar in both places, both warm and pristine, but my experience is that Maui had the edge in visibility, especially in Lanai. You can see the 60-70 foot bottom from the boat and there's little to no current. Amazing.

Topside, it's what you make of it. Can't knock Coz, but also can't deny that Maui is still the US of A. There are certain comforts and conveniences that you just won't find elsewhere.

 

[pjhansman]

Gotta say I really enjoy both destinations.

Overall I think the diving is better in Coz....but I mainly shore dive in Maui so it's much cheaper and great fun, and I'm a real fan of turtles....lots of turtles. There's also some pretty special boat dives in Maui. The food in Coz is great but Maui is no slouch in that category either. In my opinion, Maui offers more to do outside of diving.

But really....why does it have to be one or the other? Just got back from a great trip to Coz a couple weeks ago.....and we're headed to Maui for 2 weeks in May, and back to Cozumel in September. Retirement is good