I originally posted this in my old thread, but I moved it here to ask a new question.
Quick Report:
Park Royal.
A very nice resort, redone after Wilma so it's like new. Impeccably clean. Decent food especially for an AI. Two of the three restaurants required reservations and wouldn't take walk-ins even though the place was almost empty. We went into town most evenings so we only ate dinner at PR twice. They nickel & dime you for stuff like $5/day to use the exercise room. We would stay there again if we got another half price deal like we did through bookit.com.
Blue Magic Scuba.
Blue Magic is a new OP recently purchased from STAFF Divers a few months ago. I initially chose them because their morning trips start later than most. As it turned out, I couldn't have been happier with an OP. Joyce, Mark & Sandro make a wonderful team. I dove with Pumbo and Sandro; both were excellent DM's. Mark happened to be there during my trip and I dove with him all of my ten dives. These are genuinely great people, and we left the island feeling like we had made life-long friends. I've been self-employed for 33 years and have seen many businesses come and go. The universal commodity is customer service, and the people at Blue Magic are doing the right things. Park Royal was located between the dive shop and the marina. They picked me up and dropped me off at my hotel each day, and took care of my gear between dives. I simply showed up with my camera and dove. Bottled water was available before, between & after dives, fresh fruit during the SI (watermelon never tasted so good!). Other than the fact some of the signage hasn't been changed (boats won't be painted until the off-season) you would never know this is a new OP. I believe they will succeed in becoming a favorite dive OP for many. Tell Joyce I sent you.
Commute.
The only unpleasant experience was getting from Cancun airport to Cozumel. The original plan was to take a cab to the ferry in Playa del Carmen. We knew the schedule was going to be tight, and then our flight into Cancun was delayed just enough that the hacks didn't think we would make the 9 PM ferry. Since the cab fare was $90 and they said we'd miss the ferry anyway, we took a $60 shuttle ($30X2). I remembered reading about the ADO bus on scubaboard, but couldn't remember where to find it. Anyway, a cab could have made it; we got to the pier just as the ferry was pulling away. Had to wait 2 hours for the 11PM. On the way back, we took the ADO for $18 ($9X2). Pay for the bus in pesos, that was the worst exchange rate we found; 180 pesos or $18.
Now, my question. If I remember correctly, we flew into terminal 3. When we returned to the airport at the end of our trip, the ADO bus dropped us off at terminal 2 and we took a free airport shuttle to terminal 3. But when we arrived in Cancun at the beginning of our trip, we made our way through customs and were immediately set upon by all the hawkers. I didn't see anything about the ADO or the shuttle to terminal 2. Does the ADO pick up at terminal 3? Is there a place to catch the airport shuttle from the arrival side of terminal 3? Maybe I just missed it, but there didn't seem to be any info at terminal 3 about the ADO bus. It wouldn't suprise me if they do that on purpose, but I don't want to get suckered again.
Looking at my pics, I can't wait to go back already. We have two other trips planned for this year, so I don't know if we can afford Cozumel again in '09, but I'll keep an eye on fares just in case. Thank you all again for helping me plan this trip. Happy bubbles.
Brad
Quick Report:
Park Royal.
A very nice resort, redone after Wilma so it's like new. Impeccably clean. Decent food especially for an AI. Two of the three restaurants required reservations and wouldn't take walk-ins even though the place was almost empty. We went into town most evenings so we only ate dinner at PR twice. They nickel & dime you for stuff like $5/day to use the exercise room. We would stay there again if we got another half price deal like we did through bookit.com.
Blue Magic Scuba.
Blue Magic is a new OP recently purchased from STAFF Divers a few months ago. I initially chose them because their morning trips start later than most. As it turned out, I couldn't have been happier with an OP. Joyce, Mark & Sandro make a wonderful team. I dove with Pumbo and Sandro; both were excellent DM's. Mark happened to be there during my trip and I dove with him all of my ten dives. These are genuinely great people, and we left the island feeling like we had made life-long friends. I've been self-employed for 33 years and have seen many businesses come and go. The universal commodity is customer service, and the people at Blue Magic are doing the right things. Park Royal was located between the dive shop and the marina. They picked me up and dropped me off at my hotel each day, and took care of my gear between dives. I simply showed up with my camera and dove. Bottled water was available before, between & after dives, fresh fruit during the SI (watermelon never tasted so good!). Other than the fact some of the signage hasn't been changed (boats won't be painted until the off-season) you would never know this is a new OP. I believe they will succeed in becoming a favorite dive OP for many. Tell Joyce I sent you.
Commute.
The only unpleasant experience was getting from Cancun airport to Cozumel. The original plan was to take a cab to the ferry in Playa del Carmen. We knew the schedule was going to be tight, and then our flight into Cancun was delayed just enough that the hacks didn't think we would make the 9 PM ferry. Since the cab fare was $90 and they said we'd miss the ferry anyway, we took a $60 shuttle ($30X2). I remembered reading about the ADO bus on scubaboard, but couldn't remember where to find it. Anyway, a cab could have made it; we got to the pier just as the ferry was pulling away. Had to wait 2 hours for the 11PM. On the way back, we took the ADO for $18 ($9X2). Pay for the bus in pesos, that was the worst exchange rate we found; 180 pesos or $18.
Now, my question. If I remember correctly, we flew into terminal 3. When we returned to the airport at the end of our trip, the ADO bus dropped us off at terminal 2 and we took a free airport shuttle to terminal 3. But when we arrived in Cancun at the beginning of our trip, we made our way through customs and were immediately set upon by all the hawkers. I didn't see anything about the ADO or the shuttle to terminal 2. Does the ADO pick up at terminal 3? Is there a place to catch the airport shuttle from the arrival side of terminal 3? Maybe I just missed it, but there didn't seem to be any info at terminal 3 about the ADO bus. It wouldn't suprise me if they do that on purpose, but I don't want to get suckered again.
Looking at my pics, I can't wait to go back already. We have two other trips planned for this year, so I don't know if we can afford Cozumel again in '09, but I'll keep an eye on fares just in case. Thank you all again for helping me plan this trip. Happy bubbles.
Brad
