Planning a trip to Cozumel - Advice?

[caruso]

Why stay near town?

I prefer to stay out of town. Taxis are always available they run up and down the main road all day long and even off hours you won't have to wait too long. You can always call for one too. For a few bucks you can get into town from the south and get groceries or go to a restaurant or shop or whatever.

 

[Dogbowl]

Everyone is different. My reasons are that I like to be within walking distance of the dive shop and restaurants. My shop drives me to the boat and back. Being close to restaurants mean I don’t have to take a cab most anywhere, meaning I save money and hassle. I also like walking around downtown after dinner and catch the sights, people watch, etc. If I would like to explore beyond downtown I will take a cab around town. This works for us and we like it.

 

[caruso]

Agree that everyone is different. I don't see waiting no longer than 5 minutes and spending about $5 to go just about anywhere on the populated side of Cozumel to be a hassle. The cab drivers are always friendly, nobody tried to cheat us and most spoke good English and had something useful and informative to say about the island. It's all part of the experience.

P.S. when we shopped for groceries the cab drivers were more than happy to wait, to get the return cab fare back to where we were staying.

 

[samplin]

There is no pickup pier at Paradise Condos.

Two options (I don't know about Fiesta Americana other than it's closer to Paradise Condos than the Money Bar)

1- Walk about 10 minutes up the road to the Money Bar pier and they'll pick you up there. Of course if you've got gear it's not going to be fun and I don't see the point in doing it. Although if you want to stay dry and Aldora is holding your gear for you then I'd imagine it's not all that bad, and on the way back you can hang at the Money bar for a drink or eats or whatever. We didn't do that

2- Hang out on the lounge chairs on the beach at the condo and relax and look at the ocean while waiting for the Aldora boat, it could be 10-15 minutes sometimes more if they're running late. When you see the boat get yourself ready and wade out into 3-4 feet deep water, keeping anything you need dry above your head (or packed in a dry bag), hand your stuff to the friendly crewmember, and climb the ladder and hop into the boat. No big deal.

I like Option #2.. Only take my Camera and LavaCore. Maybe a towel in a drybag.

Is there a favorite condo # you like at the Paradise Condos?

I image if the port was closed you could take a cab to Aldora to dive the East side.

Thanks for the reply..

Joe

 

[Dogbowl]

For me, I would eat out twice a day. So it would be easier to be in town. And I don’t like AI food so as I said, everyone’s preferences are different. And I respect that.

Agree that everyone is different. I don't see waiting no longer than 5 minutes and spending about $5 to go just about anywhere on the populated side of Cozumel to be a hassle. The cab drivers are always friendly, nobody tried to cheat us and most spoke good English and had something useful and informative to say about the island. It's all part of the experience.

P.S. when we shopped for groceries the cab drivers were more than happy to wait, to get the return cab fare back to where we were staying.

That’s another thing where we diverge in preferences. We do not cook so staying in a condo with kitchen would not be a benefit for us.

 

[caruso]

That’s another thing where we diverge in preferences. We do not cook so staying in a condo with kitchen would not be a benefit for us.

I don't cook either. My girlfriend does. But she might only cook one or 2 dinners during a weeklong stay (wherever the destination may be). We typically grab cereal and breakfast bars and coffee for the morning, cold cuts, fruit, bread, and yogurt for lunch, and eat dinners in town. Sometimes we'd just have the Aldora boat drop us at the pier in town, they hold our gear overnite, we'd do whatever in town and then grab a cab back.

Is there a favorite condo # you like at the Paradise Condos?

I don't recall our condo number, only that it was on the left, closest to the road, and it was on the top floor which has the added benefit of access to the roof which made it very handy to dry our gear. Even though there was another set of buildings in front of us we still had a great view of the water due to the wrap around porch and the way the buildings are situated.

One thing to be aware is that they do a "briefing" when you arrive at the condo- the primary purpose being to make sure you understand not to throw toilet paper in the bowl because it's bad for the septic. You gotta toss it in the trashcan next to the bowl which takes a bit of getting used to.

 

[ChuckP]

An explorer can explore in town.

I've stayed all over - I'm big on breakfast and sometimes I don't want to cook or clean. Fiesta Americana and Secrets/Sabor had great breakfast, stuff to do if you weren't diving. El Presidente was nice but'll never see my pesos again. One of the in town places has a big deal for breakfast, forget who though.

Condos are great for peace and quite, security. Some are on the ocean, others are in town.

North and South of town are sort of out on their own. South of town, dive ops will pick you up, some places you wade, some places you step off the dock. North of town is different in that I think the only pick up spot is Aldora Villas other than there are boats at the north marina, maybe they pick up people there, I'm not sure.

Dive op's - they're all there for you mostly. Valet, cattle boat - it's all there. Some AI resorts have in house diving, some like it, some hate it. There are dive ops there that will make you feel part of their family - you will absolutely become friends - one of the reasons you see so many say great things about their favorite op and even their favorite spot to stay.

What I think is the coolest thing about Cozumel is the multiple personalities. In town between 8 and 5, pure tourist. In town after 6 is completely different and Sunday afternoons are even so much better. The southern AI's or more resorty, I've never stayed north so I can't speak of that. I think you could stay at eight different places over eight weeks and have eight different experiences - it's truly a unique place.

 

[caruso]

Is there a favorite condo # you like at the Paradise Condos?

I found the place we stayed, it was in my bookmarks. The owner was very nice, very helpful and responsive to a few questions we had during our stay. The "rooftop terrace" is more of a "roof" with heating/ac units, not really a great place to hang out although as I said, handy to dry gear. You will notice there are no photos of it, for good reason. The photos show the wrap around porch from various angles. One nice thing about the rooftop is that you get an unobstructed ocean view. Other than the rooftop being advertised as something more than it is, the rest of it was spot on. Very spacious and well kept. Also there's a small onsite Dive Op. One night when I wanted to do a night dive and Aldora wasn't available they took me out as the only diver for about $50.

DISCOUNT!! ON THE BEACH LUXURY 3B2B PVT RO... - HomeAway

 

[Snoweman]

You guys think May is a good time to go?

May is an awesome time to go. Very little worries of a norte killing dives. The temperature is perfect.

Why stay near town? I'm an explorer

If you're going to explore, you're going to need a car. Don't get fooled by the $3/day rentals you can find on Kayak or other travel websites. You will need to get insurance and that will bring everyone up to $45 - $50/day. A one day drive around the island is plenty. Ok, maybe two days if you're diving.

 

[BrewingDiver]

You guys think May is a good time to go?

Maybe the best overall.