Multi-family villa or AI?

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Barrod

Contributor
Messages
124
Reaction score
35
Location
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
# of dives
25 - 49
So now this is getting bigger.

My father, who was a commercial oyster diver in the Chesapeake Bay exclusively, is going to come. He's in shape but hasn't dove in 30 years. He'll get a refresher course, so many things have changed since he dove, and most of his diving was on surface supplied air in 0-10ft viz about 15ft deep.

My fathers friend, who just picked up diving a couple years ago, says he has 70 logged dives, he's going to come, bring his wife and two daughters who are all certified divers of varying skill levels, but all experienced OW or J OW not sure... So the divers will be 6 certified divers.

My Sister wants to do a try dive here in NoVA and decide whether to pursue OW before she goes. That means we may have 7 certified divers.

My mother and wife don't dive or swim (wife is phobic of water and immersion)

It could be 11 or 12 people staying in total.

Question to the dive community is if anyone knows of a spectacular multi-family villa for a reasonable price in January? If they've stayed at our had some great experiences in the same kind of multi-family dive vacation. Interesting would be specific villas which have great dive access and setups like fresh water tubs.

Or - anyone do the multi-family AI experience with diving? Would that be a better choice? Specific AI's

We would also need a dive op unless a specific AI has an in-house op.
 
It's not exactly what you are asking for, since I don't really know about a lot of ocean-front homes for rent further south, but there are some REALLY nice properties in town (Corpus Christi mainly, but not exclusively...there's a nice place across the street from me that has three or so very large bedrooms) that will accommodate large groups and are LOVELY properties.Check VBRO website. You would probably want to dive with an op that picks up in town (as opposed to having to make your way to caleta). Given the number of you diving, you might want to plan on chartering your own boat....
 
Yea, you could charter a boat and rent one of the big houses in the little development with its own pier down south. What the heck is the name of all them? one of them went up for auction a while ago?
 
Yea, you could charter a boat and rent one of the big houses in the little development with its own pier down south. What the heck is the name of all them? one of them went up for auction a while ago?


Its called Costa del Sol. Great community with a pier, sandy beach and an infinity pool. Check out Villa Debra Home Page the couple that own it live on the island and manage the property themselves. It's beautiful and right on the beach very close to the pier. There are several others in the complex available to rent, just google Costa del Sol Cozumel. Villa Debra is in the best location by far!
 
Verify that everyone has a C-card, especially your dad.

---------- Post added September 21st, 2013 at 06:42 PM ----------

That villa looks great if the sleeping arrangements is adequate. Price is probably better than four rooms at a non-AI hotel plus the environment just looks more casual/less hotely.

Problem is availability so check other ones. Plus you would have to cook. That may not be a big deal. Have a light breakfast and if you use a dive op that stops at a beach club, you could eat there then go into town each/most evenings.
 
Verify that everyone has a C-card, especially your dad.

---------- Post added September 21st, 2013 at 06:42 PM ----------

That villa looks great if the sleeping arrangements is adequate. Price is probably better than four rooms at a non-AI hotel plus the environment just looks more casual/less hotely.

Problem is availability so check other ones. Plus you would have to cook. That may not be a big deal. Have a light breakfast and if you use a dive op that stops at a beach club, you could eat there then go into town each/most evenings.

Wow....didn't check availability. The house almost next door and still on the beach is Casa Calypso.Cozumel Island Vacation Rental - VRBO 392963 - 4 BR Quintana Roo Villa in Mexico, Oceanfront Beach House, Great Views, Close to Dive Sites! It is beautiful as well. We have been out diving with the owners a few times. They own 2 houses in the community and are on the island quite a bit. Looks like they have a few weeks available in January. As far as food goes, it's an easy drive into town. You can also hire a private cook/ chef for areasonable amount. There are 2 large grocery stores in town to pick up supply's as well. If that does not appeal, ask the owners if they can have the house stocked for you when you arrive. We have been renting houses and condos in Cozumel for a very long time and have always preferred it to staying in a hotel.
 
Casa Calypso looks great. The meals part can be worked when you are in a great place like that. I have seen this complex by boat and I would stay there in a similar situation.
 
Like the others, I think renting a villa down south is your best bet (unless your group really likes to go out at night, then you might want to rent something in the Corpus Christi area of town).

As someone else noted, with that number of people I would certainly recommend chartering your own dive boat. Also, given that you will have a very diverse group of divers, I would pay for an extra divemaster at least the first day or two. While maybe it is just my bad luck, I have had bad experiences with commercial divers who were used to surface supplied air burning through their air very quickly on SCUBA. With two dive masters, it is less of an issue if the group gets strung out a bit in the current or if some of the divers need to come up well ahead of the rest of the group.
 
That would be awesome if you rented a house, chartered a boat and hired a cook. That sounds awesome. Of course you have to get in and experience El Centro.
 
It's a close race between one of this villas like Villa Debra and Iberostar Cozumel. Iberostar is $1695 for a D/O room all taxes, fees included. Is our money better spent buying that food at the grocery store and our entertainment is different obviously - any night time entertainment on the island? Shows are pretty exclusive to the AI's I bet. And I bet the parents or at least mom/sis would enjoy them.....
 

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