need the pros: Cancun/Cozumel 2 weeks at CHRISTMAS

[DandyDon]

Great...keep the posts coming!!
We may now spend four days on the mainland and check out the cenotes, with ten days on Coz. PS: Am I right that Villa Aldora, Scuba Club and Blue Angle Resort are all a good 1/2 hour from town?

Thanks again.

Half hour walk maybe, $7 taxi ride for 3 I think - and quick. But Coz discussions are best done on the Coz subforum where you'll get more replies.

Yeah, diving Cenotes is wonderful, and you'll be on the peninsula/mainland anyway so I would suggest a couple of days, different Cenotes. They're really trust-me cave dives with an excellent safety record, 4 divers max per cave certified Instructor if I understand the requirements correctly - and mind boggling. Swimming between cave features, maybe dropping thru purple layers of hydrogen sulfide bacteria, thinking your mask is fogged when you go thru a halocline with a layer of salt water, etc. Don't miss it...!

With two weeks, you might take in some Mayan ruins and other sites. We did a night at Chichen Itza last month, the morning touring those ruins and Ek Balam, visited a Cenote at Coba on the way back (also a very interesting Mayan ruin site we did last year along with Tulum ruins) and still caught the 5pm ferry to Coz.

For cheapest car rentals, I don't think you can beat Easyway: Easy Way Cancun Car Rental: your Cancun Airport Rental Car I'm guessing you have your own gear so I'd go for a 7 person van, 4 doors, Auto trans & AC, full insurance, with taxes for $567/week less 10% discount for AAA or other possibilities. Driving there is relatively easy. Be sure to get good directions to the Playa del Carmen office (no drop charges!), but drop the wife & kid off at the ferry dock with the bags first.

Are you planning on all 3 of you to one room for two weeks?! :shocked2: I'd have to have 2 rooms, and while the places you mentioned are fine properties and dive Ops - that could get pricey. Since you said you are watching your budget, I'll mention that I just changed from Blue Angel to Villablanca because of prices, and found an Op I liked better. Before holiday season, BA rooms are about $100/night with their diving packages, while VB Superior rooms are about $55/night with Scuba Mau packages - and gawd the rooms are huge, 650 sq ft I think. We got an even better package they way we booked (too late, you've already booked your air, and you return in 2011 anyway) so we had connecting private rooms, mine with a dining table and a Microwave, both with full fridges, and we got a coffee maker at Mega. I don't know the holiday rates for Scuba Mau & Villablanca, but ask. We booked our diving separate and got a great cash discount off of their online rates.

One more thing (I seem to be doing that with this thread), since you are going to be in Cozumel for ten days and might want to travel around San Miguel and the island as well as dive, check out the Cozumel map at cancunmap.com-Your information source. For $10 you can't go wrong with it. It has much more than just streets but just about everything on the island. Mine is from 2005 and I still use it.

Good maps! Get several: Coz, Riviera Maya, Mayan Adventure if you like the ruins idea (has locations of all gas stations, and the national monopoly has only one here and there!) plus request the free Cancun airport map.

 

[eisenhauer]

Thanks for both postings, ColoDale. The details you provided were helpful to visualize where we would be staying and the walk or taxi to town for meals etc. We've decided to go with Villa Aldora and Aldora Divers so I'll update in the new year with a brief update on our experiences. I'm anticipating a great trip! (PS: we had a great holiday in RMNP this August in your 'neck of the woods' in Colorado...beautiful state.)
Thanks again,

 

[eisenhauer]

Will check these locations further, thanks DandyDan. It looks like everything is pretty busy during holiday season so we wanted to pre-book to be sure to get the dive op we want. We are now going to stay on the mainland three nights so will for sure check out the car rental/cenotes/ruins etc. I've sent enquiries to VillaBlanca for rates...wasnt sure if they had packages over the holiday period.
Thanks for your input on this thread.

 

[DandyDon]

Will check these locations further, thanks DandyDan. It looks like everything is pretty busy during holiday season so we wanted to pre-book to be sure to get the dive op we want. We are now going to stay on the mainland three nights so will for sure check out the car rental/cenotes/ruins etc. I've sent enquiries to VillaBlanca for rates...wasnt sure if they had packages over the holiday period.
Thanks for your input on this thread.

Oh yeah, I'd want to book everything well in advance for that, the busiest time of the year I suppose. If you're only going to do 3 nights on the mainland, you could book the van for those days, or just take a commercial van to Playa del Carmen. The local Cenotes dive Op will take care of your transportation to the dives.

The ruins idea may not appeal to you. I think those on the mainland are fascinating, but skip to ones on Coz. I heard the best ones there were bulldozed in WWII to build the airport; true or not, what's left is not much.

If you have already selected Aldora, that's fine. I don't know much about Dave's properties; maybe he has a 2 bedroom villa for you. This is VB's site Villablanca Garden Beach Hotel, Cozumel but the rates are higher booked with them than thru Scuba Mau.

 

[eisenhauer]

We'll likely do one ruin day on the mainland...we've enjoyed same in Tikal, Guatemala and Machu Picchu, Peru among others and know it is very worthwhile even if one does have to give up some bottomtime. I'm researching places to stay near the ferry in PDC for the three nights for easy connections to Coz. I emailed Scorpio about the cenotes and we'll see what that brings,
and emailed Villablanca about holiday 'packages' to compile notes...even for 'next trip'.
Can't wait! Thanks again for the help all!

 

[DandyDon]

Haha, they may not compare to Tikal and Machu Picchu, but if you do like that sort of thing, then I would approach it a little differently. Chichen Itza is world renown, nearby Ek Balam more popular with many of us who have done both, and Coba is interesting. I think you might want to spend the first night in the Valladolid area near CI & EK, then consider Coba as it's really on the way to Playa del Carmen. I've driven PDC to Valldolid both ways and I prefer the road thru Coba over the toll road by Cancun airport. Tulum ruins are between Coba and PDC, and also of some interest.

Anyway, those are the top 4 for that part of the peninsula, and you can save some time and driving with the circular approach. With 2 weeks to play with, you might want to spend more than 3 nights on the mainland before getting settled on Coz. Get the Cando maps ASAP and look at some reference sites. Merida, Yucatan, Mexico: Destination description, photos and links and Playa del Carmen info are a couple.

 

[DandyDon]

I just found a fascinating video about Mayan astronomers of Chichen Itza, why & how the buildings were built, etc...

The Ancient Maya: Tools of Astronomy | Watch Free Documentary Online

 

[annlaur]

Haven't stayed at Villa Aldora (I travel extra cheap as far as hotels go), but it's a gorgeous place, with nice hosts, lots of amenities and awesome Caribbean views. It's an easy walk to town (15 minutes) yet very quiet. The boats will pick you up/drop you off in the morning, you can shore dive/snorkel right there too. No need for a car, unless you want to tour the island one day. I haven't dove with other ops in Cozumel, but Aldora was definitely awesome.
Enjoy your trip !

 

[Bullshark135]

Hello Janice well i know you are interested in cozumel diving but why not you try Playa del Carmen aswell is a great place you will have to g playa anyways to get the ferry...we just been there my wife and myself and we had a great time we dove with phantom divers and they were exellent very professional,very good service and very nice people we were there for a week and we did some graet dives in playa,cenotes,cozumel and also snorkeling with whale sharks wich was the best experience ever highly recommend this guys they been there for 25 years and they just bulit their new dive shop wich is incredible
Hope this info is helpful for you
Regards from england

 

[eisenhauer]

Thanks for the tips. We've ordered the maps and do plan to stay 3-4 nights at PDC. I'm checking into DOps and doing at least one day of cenotes and ruins. Woke up to snowflakes up here in Calgary so Mexico is looking really good!!