I love Cozumel, and it's easy to do on a budget if you don't need a lot of luxury. And I would NOT do AI on Cozumel, especially at Hotel Cozumel. I like Hotel Cozumel, nice big hotel, well maintained, big comfortable rooms, great pool area, good location - about a 10-15 minute walk to downtown, and close to the Chedraui, a big superstore where you can pick up beer, tequila, mixers, or snacks for your room. But, IMO, the food is terrible. Unless you are going to drink enough to make the AI supplement worthwhile (I don't drink much at all), I just wouldn't do it. But there are perfectly acceptable hotels on Cozumel that are cheaper. There are trade-offs involved. If you want to stay in the downtown area, check out Casa Mexicana - very nice place with a breakfast buffet included, right downtown, but no big pool, just a small wading-type pool in the lobby area. Probably less than Hotel Cozumel, you can find deals for about $65 a night. Or Suites Bahia, older, less luxurious than Casa Mexicana, but the breakfast buffet at Casa Mexicana is also included, and even cheaper, you can find deals on Orbitz or Hotels.com for about $44.00 a night. Being downtown means that you are walking distance to a lot of great restaurants, many very reasonably priced. BUT it will cut down on your choices of Dive Ops, or require taxi rides both ways. While Dive with Martin is a very good affordable dive opp (and I've been diving with them several times - I really like one of the DMs, Miguel Estrella), it leaves from the International Pier, about 2 miles south of town. Very convenient if you stay at Casa Del Mar (Superor rooms at about $80 a night, includes breakfast; standard rooms cheaper, but smaller, in the back, and a bit dingy, IMO) or El Cid, but an 80 Peso (about $5.00, at current exchange rates) taxi ride each way if you stay downtown. There are, however, a number of very good dive ops that will pick you up at a downtown pier, like Aldora (my very favorite Dive Op, for its HP Steel 120 tanks, very long bottom times, long SI at a beach club, and great DMs and service, but definitely high-end - among the more expensive Dive Ops), or provide transportation to the Caleta where the dive boats leave from, like Tres Pelicanos (I've never used them, but they have a very good reputation among the lower cost dive ops), Blue XTSea, or others. As to dining in Cozumel on a budget, there are a ton of very good options. Several "loncherias" that will serve you a lunch that includes chips and salsa, soup, an entree with rice and beans, and agua fresca (usually Jamaica, a sweetened tea made with red hibiscus flowers - looks like rec Koolade, but with a unique flavor), all for 75-80 Pesos. And the little locally-owned gems, like Pescaderia San Carlos, where you can eat with the locals and get great fresh seafood for lunch (I think it closes about 3:00 P.M. - it doesn't serve dinner), or El Moro, a must see place way back in town, which has a huge menu, all of it excellent, and all very reasonably priced. And if you are on your honeymoon, you should splurge at least once and eat at Kinta or Kondesa, and get a wonderful meal for less than $35-40 per person. I could go on and on with my own list of favorite Cozumel restaurants, but you can find lots of recommendations on these boards at the Cozumel forum, or at CozumelmyCozumel.com, a very good source of info on all things Cozumel.
