Planning Group trip late September early October suggestions please

[Trailboss123]

If you are now considering an all inclusive, which I think is wise with your group size and the fact that you want to do 3-4 dives a day, then you might want to consider Case del Mar. I have not stayed there myself, but I know lots of groups your size like it there and it is well priced. They also have shore diving, but I can't speak to it. I think their website is horrible and not the easiest to navigate, but you should add them to your list of potential alternatives: Home | Casa del Mar | Cozumel, México

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

Suit yourself, but finding a place to eat, and eat well, on Cozumel is ridiculously easy.

Ever so AMEN!!!

Jay

 

[ggunn]

Some of us have been to Scuba Club Cozumel and that was ok but the shore diving sucked...

The shore diving at SCC is typical of all that you will find on Cozumel. Blue Angel's shore diving is a bit better because of the stingray pen next to it.

 

[peeweediver]

We've done SCC, Blue Angel and Hotel Cozumel (but used Del Mar Aquatics) with groups between 8 and 24...never again with 24. I'd pick Blue Angel. Though breakfast is the only included meal, we ended up eating lunch and dinner at the resort except for 2 nights. Shore diving is a bit better than SCC. We pre-arranged 2 afternoon boat dives or one afternoon and one night dive with Blue Angel for every day. We just included the extra dive charge with the total package we charged the group....dive it or not. No problem at all. Best DMs there IMO.
We'll go back...just not with 24 people.

Rob

 

[Greg #504]

Getting 12 people organized can be like herding cats. If I was trip leader, I'd pick the AI. Trying to get 12 people to decide on a place for dinner and get ready and get there will make dinner a 3 or 4 hour production. Wouldn't want to deal with that every lunch and dinner.

^^This
I had a group of 10 this past September into October and we stayed at Iberostar Cozumel. Our group loved the AI aspect of it and not having to worry about meals. The on site dive operator is Dressel Divers and you can purchase all your dives before hand and receive 20% discount. We averaged 14-16 dives each for the week. That time of year, our rooms and food per couple was $1050. Adding diving through Dressel and air, my wife and I were at $2100 for the week. Coincidentally, we are also from Ohio (central). We flew out of Cleveland, but am sure you can find great deals through Cincy/Ky. I thought this was a great deal and we had a blast. Drinks are included and it was nice to have a couple cocktails at the end of the dive day and sit with our group at the pool. Several non divers would gather and listen to our stories of what we saw and many went on to do discover scuba dives after listening to us.

Another big plus for Iberostar and Dressel is their proximity to the dive sites. They are literally 5-15 minutes from the main sites on Cozumel and often times will come back to the resort between the two tank dives in the morning. This allows divers to use the restroom, grab a snack or drink and head right back out after a 10 minute break. We would use this operation again in a heartbeat.
Good luck in your research!

 

[Greg #504]

I forgot to mention, there is no shore diving at the Iberostar.

 

[DjDiverDan]

deepsea21 Thanks for the information. I looked at Tres Pelicano's dive center and decided that even tho it is a good deal it is not for our group. We need a larger more accommodating boat for our multiple large cameras. I also guess I am recanting and think that we would like the all inclusive without alcohol better than having to find a place to eat.

Keeping a group together, or even mostly together, while dining ala carte on Cozumel can be difficult, but it can be done. Let me offer two suggestions that have worked well on Mensa Dive trips to Cozumel - and trying to keep Mensans all on one page can be harder than herding cats. One, find someone in the group who has a lot of experience on Cozumel, preferably an adventurous foodie, and appoint him or her as Dining Coordinator, responsible for coming up with a schedule for all lunches and dinners, restaurants, times, etc. Two, do it yourself, come up with a schedule for 7 days of lunches and dinners. Tell everyone, "look, this is the group schedule; Saturday, Lunch, 1:30, Pescaderia San Carlos; Dinner, 7:30, El Moro. You don't have to join us, you are free to go off on your own, but if you want to join the group, this is where we'll be." You can even distribute a preliminary draft before the trip and ask for comments, objections, suggestions. But you'll get better meals and more variety dining out than you ever would at an AI.

 

[BDSC]

We are going to Cozumel in May with a group of 32 and we will be staying at Blue Angel. We have stayed there before and folks loved it. Very good food at the restaurant and we have the 2 morning dive package but they will give you afternoon dives as well you'll just pay extra over their already low group rate. I suspect some in our group will do that. Last time we went we stayed at Blue Angel as well with 28 folks and it worked out just fine. Cab into town is $8 or you can walk. Really great restaurants in Cozumel to try.

 

[deepsea21]

^^This
I had a group of 10 this past September into October and we stayed at Iberostar Cozumel. Our group loved the AI aspect of it and not having to worry about meals. The on site dive operator is Dressel Divers and you can purchase all your dives before hand and receive 20% discount. We averaged 14-16 dives each for the week. That time of year, our rooms and food per couple was $1050. Adding diving through Dressel and air, my wife and I were at $2100 for the week.

Holy cow! Well, that's AI pricing. My wife and I stayed at the Casa Mexicana for 15 nights this past December, dove 13 days with 3P's (26 tanks), dined out each night without skimping on food/drink but stayed focused on the little great restaurants in town all here know with a couple of splurges here and there, cabbed it where we needed, shopped as we wished for snacks and beverages at the Mega, tipped appropriately everywhere and spent a total on island for 15 days of about $2,800 or $1,400/PP which included Christmas week when room rates spike up. Of course, that excludes airfare. Others can do it much cheaper but we like the Casa Mexicana, its big breakfast buffet and dining out every night as opposed to "PB&J'n it".

Heck, every year people ask me, "How can you afford all these trips?". I point at the Starbucks creation they're usually holding and say "That's a simple daily pleasure... about $5? We set our coffee maker and over the course of a year what we'd drop at Starbucks pays for 2-weeks in the Caribbean". They look at me like I have somewhere between 2-3 heads but later the wheels start turning in their heads and, wouldn't you know it a week later they've purchased the Mac Daddy of a travel thermos mug and a programmable coffee maker. Sorry Starbucks!