Shore diving in Coz

[Painter]

I'm planning on going to Cozumel in a couple of months and I'd like to stay someplace that has decent shore diving. One dive op that I communicated with said that the only decent shore diving at a hotel is at Casa Del Mar. I know that Scuba Club has shore diving and I have heard that there is shore diving at Tikila Bar. Anyplace else with decent shore dives?
I will be travelling solo so will want to be able to meet up with others for buddying. Also, because of some issues with walking, I will want to be someplace where I don't have to carry equipment for long distances.

 

[rick00001967]

we have enjoyed shore diving across from casa del mar. also done the shore by scuba club and hotel coz.

keep in mind the dives are shallow and not exactly spectacular lol. but we like it at night. we have seen all kinds of cool stuff at night.

i cannot comment on where your gear would be in relation to the water at scuba club, but at hotel coz the lockers, rinse tanks, showers, and hanging racks are right down by the water.

when i stayed at casa del mar, there were lockers (crates really) at marine world across from the hotel, but they were not accessible at night. the pier was locked. not sure how it works these days.

 

[nodakdive]

Casa del Mar and Tikila are basically the same dive, as is Scuba Shack for that matter. They're all right next to each other. Village Tan Kah is the very, very small hotel associated with Scuba Shack. Very convenient to stay there, dive and shore dive there. Staying at Casa del Mar and diving with Scuba Shack or another dive op that would pick up there would be very convenient too. Blue Angel is another hotel known for decent shore diving and as I understand, very easy access to shore dive and dive. The "Papa Hogs" shore dive is decent and I think you can stay at Papa Hogs or Villa Blanca for that, but I don't think the access is as easy as Casa del Mar or Blue Angel. Of these, Blue Angel is probably the most convenient, with Village Tan Kah/Scuba Shack coming in a close second.

 

[ReefHound]

I like entering at Scuba Shack where if you go right (north) you get the Tikila/CDM dive but if you go left (south) you can see other stuff including the plane at El Cid.

 

[Rob9876]

I'll drop a link here to my recent question about shore diving at Hotel Barracuda. As it turned out, due to weather and a sick dive buddy, I did not get a shore dive in on this trip.

Question - Tell me about Shore Diving at Hotel Barracuda

I'll soon be staying at Hotel Barracuda for the first time. One draw is the potential to do shore dives and/or snorkeling right from the hotel. I've never been in the water there -- can someone tell me about the best direction to head out initially, about how far out to go, what type of...

scubaboard.com

 

[flyboy08]

Hotel Barracuda has shore dives...and no name bar is a nice place to chill...

 

[BrewingDiver]

Blue Angel has convenient and good shore diving. The tanks are stored near the restaurant which overlooks the water, so you would not have to move them too far. You can enter by walking in below the restaurant, or jump in off the dock. I have not done this in several years but I doubt anything changed, it's a good setup. I really enjoy it at night especially. Either way you've got the stingray pen immediately south of where you would get in, which attracts a lot of life, and you can swim around it.

 

[hilljo88]

I’ve done the Casa Del Mar shore dive. Very convenient when staying at CdM. It’s a decent dive although nothing to write home about. One disappointment is that when the Port is closed, you can’t do a shore dive either. Ops aren’t allowed to rent you a tank.

 

[ggunn]

I’ve done the Casa Del Mar shore dive. Very convenient when staying at CdM. It’s a decent dive although nothing to write home about. One disappointment is that when the Port is closed, you can’t do a shore dive either. Ops aren’t allowed to rent you a tank.

With good reason. Most of the time when the port is closed, wind and high seas are onshore on the NW coast of the island where the hotels are. Getting in and out of the water for a shore dive would be hazardous.