Need recommendations for our summer dive trip to Cozumel

[Jayfarmlaw]

Not a liveaboard...I wish....(but then Again we love downtown) it's just a small hotel on the water North of town owned by Aldora Divers. I'd say it's more than a "divers hotel" but it's not a resort either.

ALDORA VILLA

ALDORA DIVERS

I don't work for Aldora, we just dive with them, 2-3 times a year. Last October they had a special for free lodging during the month. I like to dive on my birthday in April, (we leave Sunday) but I won't miss day of the Dead in October. We took advantage of the special and stayed at Villa Aldora and it was nice, very quiet, on the water, beds were a little firm for my preference, and no food or drinks close so you have to have your own there. Mega is like a super Walmart and they give you a ride there when you arrive to load up. If Mega doesn't have it...it does not exist.

I can't really give an opinion on the shore diving, we tried to do a night dive but the surge was really strong. We called the dive after about 10 minutes and it took another 10 to get back in. On a calm night, I'm sure it would have been great. That night, it was a little too much to call fun.

Last October it was managed by Chris and Chris, great hosts that would do just about anything to make your stay perfect.

I'd definately give it a thumbs up.... I still prefer Casa Mexicana, but my situation is completely different. We like our favorite restaurants and walking through downtown. I also love the buffet at CM. Pricewise, CM is our choice but Should Aldora run the October Special again, we will be there. Cabs are cheaper than rooms.

There are many excellent operators on the island. Aldora works best for us. Shoot them an email and see if they will work best for you.

Good luck, safe travels,
Jay

 

[ggunn]

What is a troll? Those ugly dolls with big nose and Rodman hair?? No seriously, new to the scuba board.

A troll is someone who posts incendiary material on forums for the purpose of self entertainment. Alternatively, the post itself may be labeled a "troll". It is, I believe, a referent to a method of fishing where baits are "trolled" behind a moving boat to attract fish. I did not see the post in question in this case, so I say this only as information, and it isn't specific to ScubaBoard.

 

[gearbow]

Check out Dive With Martin great prices, fast boats, and very good dive masters. You can probably get your own boat with your group of six divers for $65.00 USD for two tanks per person. If your experienced divers that are good on air expect to get at least 1 hour bottom time. You will see this on every dive....
Tell them GoPro Mike sent you! Dive With Martin

 

[dwellerbottom]

Not a liveaboard...I wish....(but then Again we love downtown) it's just a small hotel on the water North of town owned by Aldora Divers. I'd say it's more than a "divers hotel" but it's not a resort either.

ALDORA VILLA

ALDORA DIVERS

I don't work for Aldora, we just dive with them, 2-3 times a year. Last October they had a special for free lodging during the month. I like to dive on my birthday in April, (we leave Sunday) but I won't miss day of the Dead in October. We took advantage of the special and stayed at Villa Aldora and it was nice, very quiet, on the water, beds were a little firm for my preference, and no food or drinks close so you have to have your own there. Mega is like a super Walmart and they give you a ride there when you arrive to load up. If Mega doesn't have it...it does not exist.

I can't really give an opinion on the shore diving, we tried to do a night dive but the surge was really strong. We called the dive after about 10 minutes and it took another 10 to get back in. On a calm night, I'm sure it would have been great. That night, it was a little too much to call fun.

Last October it was managed by Chris and Chris, great hosts that would do just about anything to make your stay perfect.

I'd definately give it a thumbs up.... I still prefer Casa Mexicana, but my situation is completely different. We like our favorite restaurants and walking through downtown. I also love the buffet at CM. Pricewise, CM is our choice but Should Aldora run the October Special again, we will be there. Cabs are cheaper than rooms.

There are many excellent operators on the island. Aldora works best for us. Shoot them an email and see if they will work best for you.

Good luck, safe travels,
Jay

I would agree with Jay, Villa Aldora & Aldora divers would be a great choice for what you are looking for.

 

[Brules]

How old are your kids Abby? I mean, if they are old enough to dive - are they not old enough to not have to corral at a hotel lol?

One advantage the larger hotels have over smaller is stuff to keep the kids busy and entertained post dive......AI hotel is great with kids as they like to eat all hours of the day. I couldn't imagine taking my kids to non AI lol. I would go broke! My 17 yr old eats me out of house and home as is!!!

 

[nwflyboy]

Abby, I think you mentioned you stayed at the "Fiesta Inn" years ago. That hotel is still there. It has gone through several name changes, is now called "Hotel Cozumel and Resort" (my first trip to Cozumel was in 1986 and I believe it was called Fiesta Inn back then, have been back a handful of times between now and then, as recently as this past February).

Do you recall much about the hotel? It had (and still has) a large pool, and is across the street from the waterfront. It used to be a short walk south of the downtown (maybe 10-15 minutes). Over the years, the walk has become shorter - not because the hotel moved (it didn't) but because the town has expanded. I'd say it's now 5-10 minutes walk south of town. Really, I like the location - just far/close enough (and near enough the large shopping center)

I like this hotel, have stayed at it 4 or 5 times (under various names) since the late 1980s. Close enough to town to be an easy walk, far enough to be out of the hustle & bustle, even when town center is crawling with cruise ship passengers. The pool is still huge (I think the largest on the island). Not 5 star luxury, but comfy enough, and modest prices. Any reasonable dive shop will pick-up/drop-off at the hotel dock. I like "Living Underwater".

Note that the Hotel Cozumel does offer an "all inclusive" option (all meal plan). Almost everyone correctly points out that's a bad choice, with all the wonderful restaurant options in town. We pick the plan for room + breakfast (breakfast is fine, and it's easy to grab a good, full breakfast, and then get your dive op to pick you up at the dock).

Cozumel is still worth visiting.

 

[deepsea21]

Another vote for staying at the Casa Mexicana and diving with Tres Pelicanos. Check out the reviews of both on Tripadvisor (I've posted several reviews of them there). When you've narrowed it down to a few ops and a few places to stay, send Jeanie an email through the Tres Pelicano's website and ask her to give you a quote for a dive and stay package at the Casa Mexicana. We've been staying there for 14 years but just moved to 3P's 3 years ago as it's the right dive op for us now. For us, we really enjoy staying in town and getting out and about the back streets for walks, dining, etc. We aren't at all fans of AI's which I heard called long ago "land-based cruise ships" and felt that hit the nail on the head for numerous reasons. Have fun in your search, lots of great places to stay and quality dive ops to chose from... It will end up coming down to what accommodations, location, type dive op works best for you, and price point you want to be at as there a combo that fits absolutely every different taste, experience level, can be put together in Coz.

 

[DjDiverDan]

I've been to Cozumel a lot, and stayed at several places, from el cheapo hotels downtown (great when you're solo and only want to dive and eat) to Casa Mexicana (a much nicer downtown hotel, great location to walk to restaurants, nice comfortable rooms, pretty skimpy on the pool), Hotel Cozumel (nice big resort hotel, still close enough to town to walk to restaurants, comfortable rooms and HUGE pool area), Casa Del Mar and El Cid (both decent hotels farther south, near international pier, with nice pool areas, a long walk to town, but not a bad taxi ride, 80 pesos). I have never stayed south of the Fiesta Americana (I won't do All-inclusive on Cozumel; too many favorite restaurants that I'd miss) or in the North Hotel Zone (not convenient for diving; very few ops pick up north of town, and long boat rides to the reefs and back).

I've never traveled with kids, though, so that might limit your choices. I would think that Hotel Cozumel would be your best choice. Convenient location, great pool area for the kids post-dive. I would not do the AI option - as mentioned, you can get the room + breakfast only option, and while their breakfast is OK, IMO their lunch/dinner food is terrible (or was 5 years ago; I did the 2012 ScubaBoard Cozumel Invasion and an AI package was mandatory for that stay). But with kids, you MIGHT want to see about doing the AI just for the kids. Then they can take care of themselves, including hamburgers, fries, tacos, etc. by the pool during afternoons, and you can leave them to eat dinner there while you go out for dinners. The house Dive Op is Dive Paradise, and they are a decent op, but not my choice. I would go with any of about 6 or so downtown operators - Aldora (my choice, I love the HP Steel 120 tanks, and Aldora is a first class operator), Blue XTSea, Tres Pelicanos, Liquid Blue, and others -you'll see plenty of reviews on this forum. All can pick you up at the Hotel Cozumel pier, and with 5 divers, I'm pretty sure at least a few of them can give you your own boat so you can pick your dive sites.

For what it's worth, while I like Casa Mexicana, I won't stay there in summer, especially July and August. In summer, Cozumel is hot and muggy, and I've GOT to have a decent pool to jump into. I would think that the same goes for your kids. The "pool" at Casa Mexicana is just a slightly oversized kiddie pool on the Mezzanine level, overlooking the street, and, for me at least, just won't cut it in a Cozumel July.

 

[ggunn]

My fave is Blue Angel. Google it.

 

[pfirejack]

My fave is Blue Angel. Google it.

I have to agree Blue Angel works best for me for many reasons. Cant wait to return.