Reef Club- Cozumel

[plmbrok]

We have a trip for April to Cozumel; i have been diving in Cozumel 5 times , but not in last 3 yeears;
My travel agent booked us at the Reeef Club. We are seeing very mixed reviews on this place. All help, experinces and advice appreciated

 

[redacted]

They had a package thru Funjet (tour) that was too good to pass up. I was quites satisfied - no unexpected dissappointments. Knew from research that some complained about availability of drinking water and they were right. Not many bottles and usually empty early in the morning. Make sure you have a couple (4 is about right) small bottles and fill them when the water is available.

In-house dive op is a cattle boat op and enforces very conservative profiles. Most other ops will pick you up at Reef Club dock (a couple hundred meters north of the hotel). I was very satisfied with Papa Hogs.

 

[No Fish]

I was at the reef club a few months ago. There are two sides to the place. newer and more expensive and the older section. Unfortunately I stayed in the older. (one speed ceiling fan - hurricane speed, dirty floors , and black gunk out of the tub faucet for the first 5 seconds, and had trouble getting washcloths)

If you are picky, pay a little more and stay on the newer side. Overall I would say: food was good (for buffet), my room was not good, new rooms nice, staff was on and off. You will go broke making a call home. and it is too far from town if you want to go there. The taxi rides add up and they WILL try to rip you off every once in a while. I found it frustrating.

Personally I think the Mainland diving and accomodations are better. You can get a cenote dive in too. Grand cenote is really neat.

I wouldn't go back.

 

[Petra]

I haven't stayed at the Reef Club myself, but I have talked to 2 different groups that stayed there several months apart last year. General consensus...they will not go back. Rooms were dirty. Staff was inefficient and generally did not appear to like being there. And one group said they had a bee problem. Seems a bunch of bees decided to take up residence near the bar. I'm sure that's something that management took care of though. Given the feedback I've gotten on the place, I don't plan on using them. I'll be going to Coz in August. Plan on staying at Brisas if the price isn't too high.

Mark

 

[No Fish]

We also had a continual problem with our dive boats getting out of the harbor when the wind was blowing too hard. They had smaller boats. In town there are operators that are well rated that have larger boats. Some people dont like the larger boats but it is better than sitting around not diving watching other operators taking divers out.........................

 

[chipster]

:doctor:

We stayed at the Reef Club last February, the price was right but like most people are saying here, it is not very good. Food was ok, entertainment sucked, drinks had very little alcohol, our room was nice though, second floor right on beach, right next to kayaks. Would not dive with House Dive centre(cattle boats) and no quarantee that you would be on on of there smaller boats. I dove with Papa Hogs, would recomend them. It all depends on your Budget I guess. If you are looking for a cheap place to stay then this is the place, just don,t expect alot.

Although not top notch, wife and I did enjoy ourselves there and a good time. The swim up bar can be fun time in the afternoon with the right bartender. A little intoxicated after leaving there.

 

[diveski01]

I've stayed at Reef Club once and Allegro Diamond twice. Allegro is MUCH better place for nearly same cost. Dive Op at Reef Club ok, good DM's, but not situated very well. It's next to the resort, not exactly in the resort. You have to carry your gear through a short patch of jungle then down a bunch of stairs to the docks which means you have to lug everything back up after diving. This lovely path is not lighted so you have to use your dive light to get back after a night dive. The food was not very good and there are tip jars everywhere. Entertainment? NOT.

In comparison, the Allegro Diamond is a lovely place. No tipping is allowed (other than DM's/boat capt) and the food was excellent. Rooms are spacious and very clean. Ample drinking water in your room every day at no extra charge. The buffet dinner is a different theme each night but there is always several routine items served. There are two additional restaurants, mexican and italian, on premises that require reservations but no extra charge and the meals there were even better than the main buffet. Evening entertainment is sometimes corny but usually a fun show. Staff is required to mingle with guests during meals but they are genuinely friendly and very helpful. Always something happening at the activities pool and the quiet pool is just that. Nice hot tub between activities pool and beach.

Dive op on-site, Dive Palancar, is excellent! Lots of boats of all sizes and they go out 4 times a day. Boats return to resort between dives so if you need to get a refreshment or change your gear no problem. Most dive sites only 5-10 minutes away. Very nice gear storage and rinse tanks and all just a few steps away from the main pool. Resort will put you into rooms closest to the dive op/docks upon request.

 

[diveaustin]

=-) My family and I have stayed at the Reef Club twice and will be going back in June. We have never had any real problems with the service or the facilities. We go to dive and thats about it. The new rooms are very nice and the old ones are good enough to lay your head down in. Try and upgrade to one of the suites if you can. They are closer to the dock and you wont have to lug your dive gear as far.

Whatever you do dont dive with Sand Dollar. Scuba Gamma is who we use. A young California native by the name of Jason started it a couple years ago and he delivers great service. We had our own boat for all 19 of our dives and never had a complaint. You can contact him at dive@scubagamma.com or call him at 52 987 872 0011.

As far as the food is concerned....I never had a complaint. The dining room has set hours and when they are closed the snack bar is open from 11am thru midnight with an assortment of burgers, pizza, bbq, ect. Do take slacks or a dress for the reservation (I forget what they call it but the food is great...a 5 course meal) Make reservations when you get there. Males must wear slacks...it's kind of formal. Hope this helps. Matt

 

[Zeina]

Here are some extracts from my trip report:

"The Reef Club was VERY nice!!
Our room was large and clean, the beach was beautiful (with very comfy hammocks and lounge chairs), the snorkeling was pretty good (dozens of lobsters, cuttle fish, 1 octopus, a bunch of flounders, pipefish, crabs, 1 beautiful spotted eel-black and white-, 1 green eel) off of the volley-ball court.
Great food, great cocktails. We never had to wait in line for the meals, snacks or beverages.
We saw hummingbirds all over the place. A couple of resident Iguanas lived in a tree right next to our room.

A few tips:

- The hotel pier where the diving boats picked us up was a good 10 minute walk from the rooms (although our room was one of the closest to the pier, per our request).
- The bars would serve “no brand” alcohol in the drinks, unless we asked specifically for Jose Cuervo or Bacardi. Also, the drinks were weak, unless we asked for them strong. These guys got to know us pretty quickly, though , especially in the poolside swim-up bar, and we were soon playing cards with them while trying to guess what was in this or that “new” cocktail they wanted us to try.
- As soon as the sun went down, it was bug fiesta time!! And those mosquitoes are the hungriest I have ever seen!! Just don’t forget that insect repellent at home…
- Humidity was very high out there (although the weather was perfect). My cotton t-shirt spent 3 days hanging on a chair and it was still wet… Next time I go I’ll bring my Coolmax hiking shirts and quick dry shorts along. "

We dove with Deep Blue, and they were good. Sand Dollar looked like a cattle operation

Hope this helps

 

[jeffcali]

i don't know how much money you want to spend or what, but if you can, spend it on renting a villa and a vehicle. nothing's better than leaving and going whenever, where ever you want. get some friends to go with and split costs and it becomes very manageable.

never get into a taxi without first asking how much it's going to be...keeps you out of a lot of unnecessay and preventable situations...