Returning to Coz Next Week, Diving with Salty Endeavors Again

[Guitarcrazy]

We are returning to Coz next week to get my adult kids certified with Salty Endeavors. My wife and I do 2 or 3 trips to dive each winter (We live in Montana and are happy to have an excuse to head south!). Last year my wife did her advanced training with Salty Endeavors and Raymundo was a great instructor. We went to Anthony's Key in Roatan last month and that was a great trip, but I would still give a slight edge to Cozumel.

We are staying at Grand Park Royal for the first time. Hopefully it is as good as the reviews seem to be. We have stayed at El Cozumeleno (not recommended), Casa Mexicana (recommended), and the Coral Princess (also recommended). Since we are bringing my adult kids we decided to do the all inclusive again.

Henry at Salty Endeavors took good care of us last time so we are looking forward to diving with them again.

We are planning to take a day trip to Tulum. Any suggestions on other non-dive activities while we are there? My wife and I rented a car in February and drove around the island but it was a bit underwhelming. We usually dive every day but my kids are looking to do some other activities as well. Hopefully when they get certified they will realize that the best place to be is underwater.

 

[NDL_Diver]

That is great!

You need to keep an eye on the weather and plan your Tulum trip maybe early next week. A weak Norte is comming in Sat - Mon afternoon that may close diving.

Keep in touch with your dive OP and have a plan just in case. It is hard to tell if port will be closed since it is a weak Norte and borderline wind speed for port closure. The Harbor Master is a bit unpredictable.

 

[nodakdive]

Across the street from the Park Royal and a little north is the Atlantis Submarine center. The museum, downtown just a couple blocks (?) north of the square, is a neat couple of hours.

If you're asking about after your Tulum trip, I'm a fan of Xcaret. It's an all day kind of place and I highly recommend staying for the show at night. It starts around 6pm or so and is over at about 9pm. Quite a production and really beautiful. I haven't been to Xel Ha which is right by Tulum. Tulum/Xel Ha is often packaged together as an excursion. Xel Ha and Xcaret are somewhat the same from what I've read, but there's no show at Xel Ha. Oddly, I just check both websites and both have the same message saying that purchasing is down for maintenance, so you can't see the prices.

Has anyone been to both that could offer a comparison?

 

[WetInPortland]

... The museum, downtown just a couple blocks (?) north of the square, is a neat couple of hours.

The museum is closed and expected to remain so for roughly another year for renovations.

 

[DandyDon]

We are planning to take a day trip to Tulum. Any suggestions on other non-dive activities while we are there?

If y'all like ruins, there are several nice complexes on the mainland. Coba is spread out, but you can rent bicycles. For Chichen Itza, I'd suggest staying at the lovely, restored Mayaland Hotel at the back gate the night before (3 restaurants, 3 pools, etc), doing the ruins before the tour buses arrive in the morning, then nearby Ek Balam ruins in the afternoon.

Mayan Ruins Mexico: Yucatan Peninsula Mayan Ruins, Mexico - LocoGringo

The driving is easy enough unless you get lost in a city as the signs are all Spanish, no English subtitles. Edit: See car rental suggestions in the next post.

 

[mediumone]

If y'all like ruins, there are several nice complexes on the mainland. Coba is spread out, but you can rent bicycles. For Chichen Itza, I'd suggest staying at the lovely, restored Mayaland Hotel at the back gate the night before (3 restaurants, 3 pools, etc), doing the ruins before the tour buses arrive in the morning, then nearby Ek Balam ruins in the afternoon.

Mayan Ruins Mexico: Yucatan Peninsula Mayan Ruins, Mexico - LocoGringo

The driving is easy enough unless you get lost in a city as the signs are all Spanish, no English subtitles. I like this company for rentals, insurance included: Easy Way Renta a car - Cancun Car Rental - Cancun Airport Car Rental

At one time, roughly 2006 -2009, Easy Way was an outstanding company - on par with Rentadora Isis. Over a one or two year period, they turned into skunks. They frequently rented junk that left renters stranded, and worse, credit card account numbers were regularly stolen.

It's quite possible that they've cleaned house, but I wouldn't give them another chance.

I would recommend:

Cancun Car Rental - Cancun Rent a Car | Caribbean Rent a Car

DandyDon has mentioned in earlier posts his advice to get all insurance. I wholeheartedly and enthusiastically agree. I think economizing on auto insurance (i.e. credit card or whatever else), is stupid.

 

[DandyDon]

They frequently rented junk that left renters stranded, and worse, credit card account numbers were regularly stolen.

It's quite possible that they've cleaned house, but I wouldn't give them another chance.

Ok, I did have issues with them last time. Your suggestion looks good.

 

[LimitedSlip7]

The ruins at Coba were neat but crowded when we went. If they are non-divers, there are 3 cenotes close to Coba that are really cool. One has a lot of neat stalactites/mites and another has a couple of cool high-diving platforms. It's an easy drive but kind of an all-day trip coming from Cozumel. We did get lost in PDC for an hour or two trying to find our rental car company so maybe you could still squeeze in everything if you don't have any delays.

 

[mikeycanuk]

At one time, roughly 2006 -2009, Easy Way was an outstanding company - on par with Rentadora Isis. Over a one or two year period, they turned into skunks. They frequently rented junk that left renters stranded, and worse, credit card account numbers were regularly stolen.

It's quite possible that they've cleaned house, but I wouldn't give them another chance.

How things change, not for the better. I liked the free beer for the road. Hard to believe that was over 10 years ago. How time flies, a lot of us remember how long it took before the expressway allowed zipping over PDC and puerto morelos.

 

[DandyDon]

The ruins at Coba were neat but crowded when we went.

There were hordes of people the way we went, but we just zipped around them on our bikes. Most were walking even as far back as the tall pyramid. You might want to take some ribbons to tie to your bikes so you can find them after parking them with others, but we just took some out of the lot since we'd left some.

It seems that everyone was taking the left path as did we, but when we got back to the fork, we took the other path next and had it almost to ourselves.

If they are non-divers, there are 3 cenotes close to Coba that are really cool. One has a lot of neat stalactites/mites

Stalactites that non-divers can see?

We did get lost in PDC for an hour or two trying to find our rental car company

That can happen if you don't plan & map well. Our agency sent a guy to meet our ferry, but we were on a later ferry and no way to call then. Now we have smart phones, free calling in Mexico, and google directions, but sometimes I don't know which was is west when it says go that way. I've added a compass app, but I have seen it wrong when inside a car so not sure I trust it even walking.