Returning to Cozumel 8 Feb. Where to Stay?

[Guitarcrazy]

My wife and I received our open water certification two weeks ago in PDC. We had a great time, but the rough seas prevented us from diving the Gulf, so we did all of our dives in Cenotes. They were great, but I wanted to see the reef so I took the ferry to Cozumel on my last day and dove Santa Rosa Wall and Chankanaab. My wife was feeling poorly so she stayed behind at Riu Palace RM (awesome resort). After I told her how great Cozumel was she felt bad for missing the dives. Long story longer, we bought tickets to Cancun again and will be taking the ferry over to Cozumel to stay for 6 days. I enjoyed the dive on Santa Rosa Wall, but I am not sure my wife would have liked the strong current. I am looking at Coral Princess Hotel and Pepe Dive Shop, and also Scuba Club, and possibly another hotel and dive with Aldora. This is a last minute trip and we are trying to do it more affordably than our trip in early January, hence no Riu Palace. Any suggestions for beginning divers? Looking for good combination of quality of stay and overall Value. Thanks.

 

[Trailboss123]

Scuba Club Cozumel would likely be a great fit for you guys, given your recent certification and desire to keep costs reasonable. You'd benefit from being in a true dive resort with the opportunity to interact daily (on the boat and pre/post dive) with other divers. It will enhance your experience and likely create new friendships for future dive adventures. Added bonuses of having some easy shore diving on site to supplement the boat dives and gain additional bottom time and experience + easy walking access to downtown and all that it offers.

 

[deepsea21]

Well.. I guess everyone here knows my opinion as I've only shared it about 1000 times. Check out the Casa Mexicana in town where we've been staying tor 14 or 15 years now and check out Tres Pelicanos dive center (right around the corner and on the same block as the Casa). Affordability? I have sliced and diced Cozumel dive trips every which way I can and as we love the Casa, the dive and stay rates Tres Pelicanos offers matches or beats the best price I could ever find screwing around hoping for a drop in Casa room rates. I played that game a few years ago as 3P's had a good dive and stay package but I thought I could do better waiting for the Casa to unload some rooms cheap. Well... the Casa hiked rates and I ran to Jeannie at 3P's with my tail between my legs and asked if their dive/stay package price was still good. Thank God it was as they lock in their rates with the casa for the year as a preferred partner. No more screwing around with that for us!

With regard to your dives and your wife who may not like the drift, while others may rave about SF wall I personally find it quite boring as well as some other sites that many crow about. We prefer a slower drift that provides for more UW photo ops. Contact 3P's, share you experience with Jeannie who will usually respond in an instant by mexico standards and see if they can be of service. Staying in town is SO much better than staying outside at a higher end place and, in-town I say the CM is the best of the best.

 

[Bob Richter]

For the money of a hotel you can't beat Hotel Barracuda. Dive with Blue Angel and Mateo Moran as DM and then eat at Mateos restaurant called Ohana

 

[DjDiverDan]

Lots of options for lodgings. My preference is to stay downtown, as the dining options in Cozumel are nearly all downtown, and nearly as big a draw as the diving. Casa Mexicana is nice, and great location, with a very good breakfast buffet. You can save a few buck and still get the breakfast buffet staying at Suites Bahia, an older hotel, but still comfortable. Or stay right across from the Ferry Pier at the Plaza Cozumel, which has a rooftop pool. There are other cheaper options downtown, not quite as nice or conveniently located. From any of these downtown hotels you can dive with any of several excellent dive ops, Aldora, Blue XTSea, Tres Pelicanos, and others. Do NOT do All Inclusive on Cozumel - it won't be cheaper, as you can eat well very reasonably in Cozumel, and the food will be a lot better.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

We stay at Casa Mexicana and dive with Aldora. Aldora costs a little more, but they use steel 120 tanks for 80 to 90 minute dives. If you and your wife can get long dives out of an 80cf tank, that benefit would not be worth the cost. They are still an incredible dive op...big tanks or not. Tres Pelicanos, Blue Magic, Dive With Martin, are all excellent ops as well , Dave with Aldora and Christi with Blue XT Sea are tremendous supporters of this site and deserve a shot at your business. I would happily dive with any of the ops listed above if they used 120cf tanks. Most ops can get 100cf aluminum tanks as an option if your an air hog like me. We have dove with Aldora, Blue Magic, and DWM and can recommend either from personal experience. 3p's and Blue XT Sea I can only recommend by reputation on this board but do so from years of good reports....in fact, I don't remember a bad review of either.

Shoot several ops an email and let them know when you will be arriving and see what kind of a deal they can put together. Dive With Martin includes basic gear with their rental packages and is probably the cheapest route to go with a multi day dive package. Suites Bahia and DWM would be one of the cheapest routes to go.(and the breakfast buffet is damn good.....it just sucks that I cant eat like the fat man I am and go diving right afterwards).

We enjoy staying downtown. No beach, but that's not our thing. Mega is one of the large super Walmart type stores on the island and you can stock up on room snacks and drinks and save some lunches that way. It's about 2 blocks South of Casa Mexicana or 4 or 5 blocks South of Suites Bahia.

Safe travels,
Jay

 

[DjDiverDan]

While I heartily endorse Dive with Martin, one of the best low cost operators on the island IMO, the logistics are tough if you stay downtown. DWM operates out of the International Pier, about 2-1/2 miles south of downtown; I don't know how far north they go for pick-ups, but it isn't to downtown. If you stay at Casa Del Mar, or El Cid/La Cieba, DWM will pick you up at your hotel pier, and is very convenient and a good choice, but then you'll either be limited in your dining choices, or be looking at long walks or taxi rides to go downtown for meals. If you stay downtown, you'll be looking at taxi fares to and from the International Pier for diving. Better to pick a dive op that picks you up downtown or provides transport to/from the marina for diving.

 

[JamesBon92007]

Lots of options for lodgings. My preference is to stay downtown, as the dining options in Cozumel are nearly all downtown, and nearly as big a draw as the diving. Casa Mexicana is nice, and great location, with a very good breakfast buffet. You can save a few buck and still get the breakfast buffet staying at Suites Bahia, an older hotel, but still comfortable. Or stay right across from the Ferry Pier at the Plaza Cozumel, which has a rooftop pool. There are other cheaper options downtown, not quite as nice or conveniently located. From any of these downtown hotels you can dive with any of several excellent dive ops, Aldora, Blue XTSea, Tres Pelicanos, and others. Do NOT do All Inclusive on Cozumel - it won't be cheaper, as you can eat well very reasonably in Cozumel, and the food will be a lot better.

Can you give us some numbers? I've stayed at Scuba Club Cozumel twice so far and when I add up the room rates and a dive package elsewhere it always comes out cheaper at SCC. I keep reading about Casa Mexicana but their rooms are around $100/night and four days of diving is an additional $300. So, for five nights and four days of diving that's $800. SCC usually has a deal for around $540-$580 for five nights and four days of two-tank dives and that includes breakfast and lunch and unlimited shore diving. True that's for double occupancy so if you are a couple and only one dives it's perhaps not such a great deal. Plus SCC is only a couple of blocks from Chedraui, another block to MEGA, and a few blocks from lots of restaurants. The 3Ps don't appear to post their hotel/diving package deals. SCC's dinner package is not so great with only three choices and $20/meal, especially when you can get a lobster dinner a few blocks away at Jeanie's for $23 or eat just about anywhere else for 150 pesos (or less).

After my stay at SCC last December we switched over to Los Alcatraces which is inland several blocks but only $41/night (plus taxes). I don't know if anyone will pick you up from there but it was only 40 pesos to take a taxi to go diving. Los Alcatraces only has two rooms but they have a rinse tank, a sturdy drying line, a nice room, good security, and a dog named Rosa who greets you. They also appear to have an unlimited supply of coffee (that you make in the room) but no longer offer breakfast. There are several places to eat nearby plus lots of stores and services.

I'd love to learn about how to stay and dive Cozumel for less so I can go more often!

 

[Guitarcrazy]

Thanks for all the input. Has anyone done a stay at Coral Princess and Pepe's Dive shop? They were recommended by a friend. J

 

[DjDiverDan]

Thanks for all the input. Has anyone done a stay at Coral Princess and Pepe's Dive shop? They were recommended by a friend. J

I can't speak for either, as I've never stayed there. But Coral Princess is up north of town, while nearly all of the dive sites are way south. The Cozumel Marine Park starts south of the International Pier, about 2-1/2 miles south of San Miguel. While there are a few dive sites up north, Barracuda and San Juan Reef and some far north sites that only Aldora visits, these are advanced sites, not really for newly certified divers. And very few dive ops pick up divers up north - the gas costs are prohibitive. You'll do much better either staying in town or south of town.