"Non-Economy" Dive Trip - What would your best trip look like?

[lionfish-eater]

I would start with at least 14 to 21 days for a relaxed trip with time for all I like to do.

Rent a decent car with full insurance

Stay at a nice place, like my friend's condo

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/628965...earch_id=5ade9e5e-75b3-4511-98a1-e598bfac2144

Contract with Memo at Aldora for private diving with my choice of times and location. 5 am sunrise dive, 10 am after breakfast start. etc.

Contract with a fishing charter for some billfishing.

Contract for sunset cruises and sailings

Schedule massages at the condo. I do this even when staying at a discount place

Do some dives out of the park for lionfish hunting and make ceviche

Go to the east side of the island for sunrise

Take the bikes to the east side and ride the bike path

Eat whole fried snapper on the beach at Chen Rio

Hang out by where the fishing boats return in the afternoon and buy fresh lobsters to cook at the condo

Enjoy happy hour at money bar and watch the sunset without cruise ships blocking the view

Go into town in the evening and meet others, eat, drink, play pool, sing karaoke, enjoy all the live music

Go get a haircut at a barbershop and maybe some of that black shoe polish all the men use on their hair

Birdwatch and wildlife watch in the northern farm area leaving from the traffic circle by the airport

Look at properties and vacant lots and try to talk myself out of buying

Go to art galleries and talk to local artists

Shore dive from the boat ramp by Hemmingways

Shore dive from Tikila

Shore dive and find the statues of Cousteau and Ramon Bravo

Snorkel at Sky reef out along the rope

Eat tacos late at night

Sleep well and get up and do it all again

The point I am trying to make is that most of the enjoyment of Cozumel can be done for free or at low cost and at the same time is priceless.

And be sure to stop and smell the flowers.
These are the ones that smell so sweet on the east side beaches in the springtime.

And also don't forget the skillet breakfasts at Aqui & Ahora

 

[mcpowell]

I would start with at least 14 to 21 days for a relaxed trip with time for all I like to do.

Rent a decent car with full insurance

Stay at a nice place, like my friend's condo

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/628965...earch_id=5ade9e5e-75b3-4511-98a1-e598bfac2144

Contract with Memo at Aldora for private diving with my choice of times and location. 5 am sunrise dive, 10 am after breakfast start. etc.

Contract with a fishing charter for some billfishing.

Contract for sunset cruises and sailings

Schedule massages at the condo. I do this even when staying at a discount place

Do some dives out of the park for lionfish hunting and make ceviche

Go to the east side of the island for sunrise

Take the bikes to the east side and ride the bike path

Eat whole fried snapper on the beach at Chen Rio

Hang out by where the fishing boats return in the afternoon and buy fresh lobsters to cook at the condo

Enjoy happy hour at money bar and watch the sunset without cruise ships blocking the view

Go into town in the evening and meet others, eat, drink, play pool, sing karaoke, enjoy all the live music

Go get a haircut at a barbershop and maybe some of that black shoe polish all the men use on their hair

Birdwatch and wildlife watch in the northern farm area leaving from the traffic circle by the airport

Look at properties and vacant lots and try to talk myself out of buying

Go to art galleries and talk to local artists

Shore dive from the boat ramp by Hemmingways

Shore dive from Tikila

Shore dive and find the statues of Cousteau and Ramon Bravo

Snorkel at Sky reef out along the rope

Eat tacos late at night

Sleep well and get up and do it all again

The point I am trying to make is that most of the enjoyment of Cozumel can be done for free or at low cost and at the same time is priceless.

And be sure to stop and smell the flowers.
These are the ones that smell so sweet on the east side beaches in the springtime.


And also don't forget the skillet breakfasts at Aqui & Ahora

Excellent advice!

My upcoming trip is only my wife and me, and is only a week. But this really inspires me to stay 10-14 days next time. Who knows, maybe one day I can manage 3 weeks....

 

[Grateful head]

Why restrict it to diving and possibilities in the real world? I would like to go back to sometime in the early 1980's and go to a three night stand of the Grateful Dead in the Colorado Red Rocks amphitheater.

But for Cozumel diving I still say I would just stay longer.

How about the Dead in Egypt at the pyramids in 1978? That would be something.

 

[sefuchs]

My upcoming trip is only my wife and me, and is only a week. But this really inspires me to stay 10-14 days next time. Who knows, maybe one day I can manage 3 weeks....

You are staying at one of the higher end resorts price wise anyway. Extending your stay would be highest priority. Warning it becomes an addiction, we used to go for 7-10 days and now 3-4 weeks is a minimum. I am retired and wife can work remotely so have that on our side. Time aside my next luxury item would be to use a dive op that lets to charter the boat and dive when and where you want; in the park, up north or the east side. We’ve done that with our DO a couple times and it is awesome! We prefer villas (w/BBQ & pool) verses resorts. We made local friends (this is a true luxury!) and have had local cooks come to the villa when we didn’t want to go out or cook ourselves. I guess we are doing “higher end” trips to Coz but costing us less than the average resort trip.

 

[lowwall]

Probably my favorite drive trip was to Coz. It was in 2007 and my wife and I had met another couple on a previous trip (to Little Cayman) and we all got along very well, so we decided to do a trip together. We rented a double master bedroom unit at El Cantil and arranged for Pelagic Adventures to pick us up at the condo dock everyday. For whatever reason this turned into a private charter since it was just the 4 of us on the boat for the whole week. I can't remember the captain and DMs names, but they were great.

We'd do a 2 tank morning dive, make a simple lunch and pitcher of daiquiris or margaritas at the condo, take a siesta, walk to a restaurant for dinner, have another drink or three on the balcony (sometimes in the hot tub). And then do it all again the next day. We did one night dive where we saw an octopus color changing display that was a highlight of all of our diving careers.

If I had more money, I'd do the same trip. But hire a chef to fix breakfast and lunch and keep the boat on standby to get in an extra dive or two per day. Especially long twilight into night dives on the shallow reefs.

Good food, good friends, good diving, no hassles. What could be better?

 

[ggunn]

I would start with at least 14 to 21 days for a relaxed trip with time for all I like to do.

Rent a decent car with full insurance

Stay at a nice place, like my friend's condo

Rental unit in Cozumel · ★4.97 · 3 bedrooms · 3 beds · 3.5 baths

Contract with Memo at Aldora for private diving with my choice of times and location. 5 am sunrise dive, 10 am after breakfast start. etc.

Contract with a fishing charter for some billfishing.

Contract for sunset cruises and sailings

Schedule massages at the condo. I do this even when staying at a discount place

Do some dives out of the park for lionfish hunting and make ceviche

Go to the east side of the island for sunrise

Take the bikes to the east side and ride the bike path

Eat whole fried snapper on the beach at Chen Rio

Hang out by where the fishing boats return in the afternoon and buy fresh lobsters to cook at the condo

Enjoy happy hour at money bar and watch the sunset without cruise ships blocking the view

Go into town in the evening and meet others, eat, drink, play pool, sing karaoke, enjoy all the live music

Go get a haircut at a barbershop and maybe some of that black shoe polish all the men use on their hair

Birdwatch and wildlife watch in the northern farm area leaving from the traffic circle by the airport

Look at properties and vacant lots and try to talk myself out of buying

Go to art galleries and talk to local artists

Shore dive from the boat ramp by Hemmingways

Shore dive from Tikila

Shore dive and find the statues of Cousteau and Ramon Bravo

Snorkel at Sky reef out along the rope

Eat tacos late at night

Sleep well and get up and do it all again

The point I am trying to make is that most of the enjoyment of Cozumel can be done for free or at low cost and at the same time is priceless.

And be sure to stop and smell the flowers.
These are the ones that smell so sweet on the east side beaches in the springtime.
View attachment 804755

And also don't forget the skillet breakfasts at Aqui & Ahora

View attachment 804756

It all sounds great, but I am already doing most of that stuff every April/May.

 

[ggunn]

My immediate response to the question was "stay longer" but in reality we always stay 14 days or so every time we go to Cozumel, and truth be told, by the end of that time I am ready to get back to my life here. I would, however, like to go to Cozumel more than our usual and customary once a year. I would like to amend my response from "stay longer" to "go more often".

 

[mcpowell]

We have been staying a week, twice a year, since about 2017 (minus the pandemic years). I think twice a year is about right for me, but I would like to bump our stay to be a bit longer.

I am hoping the sargassum will be minimal in November. The last couple of trips it’s been heavy, and we weren’t able to enjoy the East side like I want. Hopefully we’ll get to eat at Chen Rio this next trip, and then make our way over to Punta Morena (sp?) where I can get a massage on the beach while sipping on a margarita….

 

[arew+4]

So two weeks at El Cantil, hire a private local chef give them carte blanche, pay for daily house keeping. Contract 3Ps skinny shark to be locked and loaded, and at my beck and call, and driver with a lux SUV to do the same. I think that would do it for me, don't know how I would improve upon that.

 

[cozcharlie]

I see quite a few "economy" based questions for Cozumel diving. And I do love diving Coz due to the value I get for a dollar.

But if you weren't on a really tight budget, and you could stay where you want and eat where you want and dive with whomever you want, what would that look like?

We have always stayed at El Cantil (no complaints), dove with either Blue Xt Sea, or now Bottomtime divers (no complaints), and then eat at nice restaurants at night, and split breakfast / lunch in the condo or a close by restaurant.

I usually dive ~ 4 days of the week and then we explore the island 1 or 2 days of the week.

At the end of our week's vacation, I always ask myself "what could we do that would make the next trip better"?

What would make your next trip better?

Sounds like you are just traveling with your significant other , but with a family group renting one of the larger houses down south could be fun. A friend who lives on the island in nice condo actually rented a house for a week when he had a large family group down to visit—they seemed to really like it. I think the link below is the one he rented (not 100 percent sure , he mentioned it over a year ago ). I think it is $2-$3k a night but sleeps 20+. Staff of dozens and own water slide running through house. Obviously not something I would rent traveling solo , but could be kind of fun for an extended family or large group of friends.

[Resort Features & Floor Plans - Private Paradise]