DallasNewbie
Contributor
My wife and I just got back from our first trip to Cozumel and we had a great time. We just got certified about a month ago, specificaly for this trip, so prior to Cozumel we both had only 1 post certification dive. I can't really comment on the specifics of the diving since I have nothing to compare it to and I'd just say something like, "Its the most wonderful, surreal, unimaginably majestic experience I've ever had." 
So I'll stick to the facts.
We stayed at Caribe Blu and dove with Blue Angel. I picked Caribe Blu because of reviews here, and Blue Angel because they are right there. Caribe Blu was everything I expected and nothing more. I would describe this hotel as perfect for a dive vacation. The room was fine, soft beds, TV, air conditioning (that actually got the room cool after a couple of hours), but there's not really anything do there other than dive. There's a smallish swimming pool, and three hammocks, a bookcase in the lobby with a bunch of novels, and that's it.
We arrived at CZM Friday, got to the hotel, checked in, ditched our luggage and went over to Blue Angel to grab some tanks for a shore dive. Blue Angel is right there, probably closer to our room than the front desk, and the entry for the shore dive is no more than 50' from their desk. We didn't do much on this shore dive since it was our first experience in the ocean, but it did allow us to get weighted and acclimated. Already we were amazed at what we were seeing under water.
Saturday was our first day of boat diving. After a bit of musical boats we were on our way. We wound up on a boat with two other couples, one from Texas and one from CA. All very friendly. On the way out we were talking about our very limited experience, and I started getting nervous that we were on the wrong boat. The couple from TX are both DM's, and the couple from CA, while they've only been diving for 6 months have done a ton of it, and were on their 10th day of diving in Cozumel.
My worries were quickly aleviated by R&R, the couple from TX. During our briefing the DM said the bottom for our dive was around 80' (Columbia), but that we should not go deeper than we were comfortable and just keep him in sight. R&R said they would hang with us where ever we were comfortable, and that made me feel much better.
Once we got under it was just amazing. As soon as I stuck my face under water I was too awestruck to be nervous. My left ear is usually a little slow, but I had no problems equalizing. I was also a bit overweighted, so I had no trouble getting down. Before I knew it, my computer said 70'. Our DM for this dive seemed to be in a hurry, and took off basically as soon as we were all down. I was really glad that R&R stuck with us. The rest of the dive was amazing, we saw several sea turtles, unbelievable formations and tons of colorfull fish. It was like diving in an aqaurium.
After our two dives that day we went back and had lunch at Caribe Blu's little cafe. Not much more than two guys grilling stuff, but the food was decent. After lunch, we went on a shore dive with R&R and found one of the local Sea Horses!
Two more days of boat diving, and the DM's we had on both days were a bit better for beginners than the first. On the second day there was only one other couple on the boat (also relative beginners) so we were all able to stay together. On the second day we missed seeing a pair of sharks that some of our dive mates saw in the distance. We did see several huge lobsters, sea turtles, baracuda, an absolutely enormous grouper, and more coral and sponges than I knew existed.
We didn't spend much time exploring the town, although we did wander around the square and had dinner out a couple of nights. The lobster at Capi Navigante was great.
We will definately be going back, and we will stay at Caribe Blu again. We'll probably try one of the "nicer" hotels the next time we go just to see what that's like, but I can't imagine anyplace being more perfect for just diving. If we don't stay at Caribe Blu, we probably won't dive with Blue Angel. Since it was my first time I don't have anything to compare them to, but I would say they were adequate. Small fast boats, but only one of the DM's really stood out. No complaints (other than they charged us for the day my wife didn't dive), but the way folks here rave about some other dive ops, I wonder if we aren't missing out.
Equipment --
We brought our own BCD's and used Reg's and weights from Blue Angel. The idea was to be comfortable, and this worked out in our favor. Blue Angel's rental gear was certainly acceptable, but we were much happier in our own BC's
We rented computers in Dallas and brought them with us. This also worked out well since we were the only ones using the computers and we could hang onto them for the duration.
So I'll stick to the facts.We stayed at Caribe Blu and dove with Blue Angel. I picked Caribe Blu because of reviews here, and Blue Angel because they are right there. Caribe Blu was everything I expected and nothing more. I would describe this hotel as perfect for a dive vacation. The room was fine, soft beds, TV, air conditioning (that actually got the room cool after a couple of hours), but there's not really anything do there other than dive. There's a smallish swimming pool, and three hammocks, a bookcase in the lobby with a bunch of novels, and that's it.
We arrived at CZM Friday, got to the hotel, checked in, ditched our luggage and went over to Blue Angel to grab some tanks for a shore dive. Blue Angel is right there, probably closer to our room than the front desk, and the entry for the shore dive is no more than 50' from their desk. We didn't do much on this shore dive since it was our first experience in the ocean, but it did allow us to get weighted and acclimated. Already we were amazed at what we were seeing under water.
Saturday was our first day of boat diving. After a bit of musical boats we were on our way. We wound up on a boat with two other couples, one from Texas and one from CA. All very friendly. On the way out we were talking about our very limited experience, and I started getting nervous that we were on the wrong boat. The couple from TX are both DM's, and the couple from CA, while they've only been diving for 6 months have done a ton of it, and were on their 10th day of diving in Cozumel.
My worries were quickly aleviated by R&R, the couple from TX. During our briefing the DM said the bottom for our dive was around 80' (Columbia), but that we should not go deeper than we were comfortable and just keep him in sight. R&R said they would hang with us where ever we were comfortable, and that made me feel much better.
Once we got under it was just amazing. As soon as I stuck my face under water I was too awestruck to be nervous. My left ear is usually a little slow, but I had no problems equalizing. I was also a bit overweighted, so I had no trouble getting down. Before I knew it, my computer said 70'. Our DM for this dive seemed to be in a hurry, and took off basically as soon as we were all down. I was really glad that R&R stuck with us. The rest of the dive was amazing, we saw several sea turtles, unbelievable formations and tons of colorfull fish. It was like diving in an aqaurium.
After our two dives that day we went back and had lunch at Caribe Blu's little cafe. Not much more than two guys grilling stuff, but the food was decent. After lunch, we went on a shore dive with R&R and found one of the local Sea Horses!
Two more days of boat diving, and the DM's we had on both days were a bit better for beginners than the first. On the second day there was only one other couple on the boat (also relative beginners) so we were all able to stay together. On the second day we missed seeing a pair of sharks that some of our dive mates saw in the distance. We did see several huge lobsters, sea turtles, baracuda, an absolutely enormous grouper, and more coral and sponges than I knew existed.
We didn't spend much time exploring the town, although we did wander around the square and had dinner out a couple of nights. The lobster at Capi Navigante was great.
We will definately be going back, and we will stay at Caribe Blu again. We'll probably try one of the "nicer" hotels the next time we go just to see what that's like, but I can't imagine anyplace being more perfect for just diving. If we don't stay at Caribe Blu, we probably won't dive with Blue Angel. Since it was my first time I don't have anything to compare them to, but I would say they were adequate. Small fast boats, but only one of the DM's really stood out. No complaints (other than they charged us for the day my wife didn't dive), but the way folks here rave about some other dive ops, I wonder if we aren't missing out.
Equipment --
We brought our own BCD's and used Reg's and weights from Blue Angel. The idea was to be comfortable, and this worked out in our favor. Blue Angel's rental gear was certainly acceptable, but we were much happier in our own BC's
We rented computers in Dallas and brought them with us. This also worked out well since we were the only ones using the computers and we could hang onto them for the duration.
