Scuba Club Cozumel?

[radinator]

I was there in April. I thought the food was ok, but it was diving food (not exactly a zagat or 5-star restaurant). The thing I was most disappointed in was that, even though it was Mexico, they made the absolute worst margaritas I ever had in my life.

 

[HammerNoMore]

James, are you and jlyle talking about the same place?

Yes. SCC has a following. I attribute this to the fact that people just don't know how much better some of the competeing dive resorts are, or how much better the food is in town.

James

 

[redacted]

Yes. SCC has a following. I attribute this to the fact that people just don't know how much better some of the competeing dive resorts are, or how much better the food is in town.

James

Don't you just hate it when everyone else in the world is wrong?


You, apparently, had a bad experience at SCC. Your description of the beds is right on. If you don't like a hard bed (cement slab covered with 3 - 4 inch mattress) then look elsewhere. I stayed at 7 different facilities in Coz and the only one I found to be cleaner than SCC was Occidental Grand (Grand applies in both an aesthetic and cost sense). Meals are nothing to write home about but they are good, some are great. Theay are not as good as what can be had in town or at a couple other resorts. I believe I have noticed improvement over the last 6 years. The dive op is also good, but not among the best that Coz has to offer. Larger, stable boats but never crowded. Dives are generaly NDL/gas limited. But they are not going to the more distant and challanging sites. But, overall, I don't think you can find an easier dive/vacation (with the emphasis heavier on the dive than the vacation) on the island. I like having diving, lockers, rooms, and meals all within a short walk. If the body can take it, it is easy to get up a 0630, breakfast at 0700, boats head out 0800 to 0830, lunch is served when the boats start returning, shore (taxi) tank and a nap in the pm, dinner between 1800 and 2100, leaving you the option of an early or late night dive. It just doesn't get much easier than that.

The only folks I have ever seen have a real problem with SCC are those who copped an attitude with the local management. They are not very tolerant of the bad or rude guest. I have never seen Sophia get nasty or rude with a guest, but when she says "NO" it is pretty clear that is what she means.

 

[HammerNoMore]

The beds are indeed rock hard tile with a matress on top.

That doesn't quite truely describe the setup there. What you have is a concrete slab/pedistal about a foot off the floor. What is laid on top of it is not a matress as most would define it. It's about 4-6" thick and contains no springs but rather is stuffed to the gills with some unknown material. The end result is that a carpeted floor with decent padding is softer.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good hard matress, however after 3 days on this my back was killing me.

As for the food, the one and only time we ate dinner there it was a bed of pasta with grilled chicken breast on top all smothered in canned cream of mushroom soup. Lunch was a buffet, and since I don't like mass produced food I just ordered chips and guac, for which I had to pay. Some people who have been there have never seen a buffet. I think that is because I went with a group from a dive shop.

James

 

[jlyle]

James,

Yes, the beds at SCC are hard. Some people like hard beds, others don't. Most hotels in Cozumel have hard beds. (BTW, Tim has, in past few years, added mattress pads to all the beds.)

The general consensus is that the food at SCC is good to very good.I've stayed there twenty times, often for two-weeks at a time, eating three meals a day. Your opinion is based on one dinner? I have never had a meal at SCC like the one you describe.

I have taken groups of up to sixty divers to SCC and they have never had a lunch buffet - are you confusing the salad bar with a buffet? If you were charged for ordering off the menu instead of eating the "diver's special" at lunch, it was an error.

I am sorry that you did not like Scuba Club Cozumel, for whatever reasons. Personally, I love the place; the ambience, the food, the staff, the convenient shore diving, and, yes, even the hard beds.

DSAO,
Jim (jlyle)

 

[Charlie99]

Some people who have been there have never seen a buffet. I think that is because I went with a group from a dive shop.

That's probably true, since on one of my trips there, the format for lunch and dinner changed when a very large group from a Sacramento dive shop showed up.

My other comparisons to SCC have been PLG, El Cid/La Ceiba, and Presidente Intercontinental. Each of the places has its strong and weak points.
The best we can do it to try and make them clear to others, so they can pick what best suits them. For example, If my wife comes along, Presidente is the place. For me alone, SCC is the best.

My experience is like AWAP's in that my dives were limited by my NDL and gas consumption, and only indirectly by the DM's timetable. I buddied up with two women photogs that had low SAC, and the agreement with the DM was that the hour SI started when the DM got out of the water around the 60 minute runtime point. Since the DM was on air and the 3 of us were on nitrox, adding another 15 or 20 minutes to our dive was no problem.

 

[HammerNoMore]

Don't you just hate it when everyone else in the world is wrong?

Don't you just have having discussions with people who cannot take a dissentinting opinion without making smart assed remarks?

You, apparently, had a bad experience at SCC. Your description of the beds is right on. If you don't like a hard bed (cement slab covered with 3 - 4 inch mattress) then look elsewhere. I stayed at 7 different facilities in Coz and the only one I found to be cleaner than SCC was Occidental Grand (Grand applies in both an aesthetic and cost sense). Meals are nothing to write home about but they are good, some are great. Theay are not as good as what can be had in town or at a couple other resorts. I believe I have noticed improvement over the last 6 years. The dive op is also good, but not among the best that Coz has to offer. Larger, stable boats but never crowded. Dives are generaly NDL/gas limited. But they are not going to the more distant and challanging sites.

.

So I hear:

1. hard bed (cement slab covered with 3 - 4 inch mattress)
2. Meals are nothing to write home about...Theay are not as good as what can be had in town or at a couple other resorts.
3. The dive op is ... not among the best that Coz has to offer.
4. Larger...boats
5. they are not going to the more distant and challanging sites

What a glowing review. Sounds like you echo'd what I said and added some...

But, overall, I don't think you can find an easier dive/vacation (with the emphasis heavier on the dive than the vacation) on the island. I like having diving, lockers, rooms, and meals all within a short walk. If the body can take it, it is easy to get up a 0630, breakfast at 0700, boats head out 0800 to 0830, lunch is served when the boats start returning, shore (taxi) tank and a nap in the pm, dinner between 1800 and 2100, leaving you the option of an early or late night dive. It just doesn't get much easier than that.

I guess if going to town for dinner is not an option it doesn't get any *easier*, otherwise there are much better choices to be found for both diving and ambiance.