Trip Report Suites Colonial, dentist, diving, food

[BRT]

Suites Colonial: I wanted someplace inexpensive because I was coming down for a few days of dental work. The room had a living area with a dinner table for 4, a small kitchen area with stovetop, sink and fridge, and then a bedroom with two full size beds and nice sized bathroom. The place is owned/managed by the same parent company as Casa Mexicana (which we love) and we saw a few CM employees, which was nice. Colonial provides a continental breakfast of toast, fruit with yogurt, granola and honey, as well as coffee included. If you want to order from a menu it’s limited. My husband got a ham and cheese omelette for $150 pesos (no bacon or sausage, sadly).

The beds were fine. The room was clean. The staff was nice – but there’s nobody to help with luggage or to hold the door. It really was a lovely place to stay, with lots of room. It was also quiet. If you ask the taxi to let you out at Machete that’s just across the street from the entrance (on the walkway toward the park).

I love my dentist in Cozumel – Dr Yazmin Ibrahim, at Dental Care Cozumel. I thought I had two big problems but it turned out to only be two small cavities (one filling had popped out while flossing). $84 I was done, and I was prepared for crowns! I also got a cleaning and a whitening tray for two teeth that need some help. The total for that stuff was $142. Dr Yazmin has done major work for me and I’ve been very happy with her. We’ve gone to her for about 5 years for cleanings and other work.

Did a couple of dives with Jungle Divers – love them. We only had time for two dives and both were 80+ minutes at Tikila.

Le Lechonaria – great Cuban food – their juice smoothies are divine.

El Cielito – always good food for reasonable prices.

La Cocay - love their scalloped sweet potatoes with their bacon wrapped stuffed chicken breast. Yum.

Casita de Indio – at 20 & 5, so a little off the beaten path, but the prices reflected that too. I met a girlfriend there and we both ended up getting the coconut shrimp, which was tasty.

We had a bad experience with a burger joint not dealing fairly on the conversion rate. It was our last night, we were nearly out of pesos and hadn’t brought a credit card and were forced to pay $30US for a $435 peso bill (should have been about $22US). When we challenged the bill they did not back down an inch. I really liked this place and am very disappointed and won’t return. I don’t speak Spanish well enough to bring out my ‘Karen’ to ask for the manager, so I was stuck feeling cheated.

However, we got a great taxi driver when we were leaving for the airport. Romero’s name is on the back of his taxi van. Nice guy. Spoke with us occasionally on the way to the airport. My husband knew how much the total ‘should’ be and gave a generous tip. Romero offered back 50 pesos!! Husband of course said ‘no, keep it, thank you!’. And here I am, telling you all to look for Romero because he was honest with us. It’s not about the money, it’s the honesty and integrity. I’m happy we left on a high note.

Hi Kimela, Did Dr. Yasmin ever tell you about her background?

 

[Kimela]

Hi Kimela, Did Dr. Yasmin ever tell you about her background?

She went to dental school in Veracruz. I think she told me she did her advanced work in Barcelona (yep - just confirmed it on her website - Cosmetics and Oral Rehabilitation). I remember asking her how the prices in Mexico could be THAT much less than the US. She said she uses all the same tools/machinery that are used in the US but she doesn’t have the overhead as US dentists. My local dentist has a huge building dedicated to dentistry (he still has to send out crowns/bridges - and he just did his certifications to do implants, including a practicum in Dominican Republic) - and a huge staff. Dr Yazmin’s office is in the same building as her home. And of course the qualify of the crowns, etc are German engineered so it’s great quality.

When she did my x-rays she found that the maxillofacial surgeon (expensive) left behind a root with a root canal in it when he extracted a tooth. Hoping that doesn’t become an issue someday, but it’s frustrating because he should have done an x-ray after the extraction to make sure he’d gotten everything. She was surprised that he hadn’t caught that and said ‘we’ll keep an eye on it'.

 

[BRT]

She went to dental school in Veracruz. I think she told me she did her advanced work in Barcelona (yep - just confirmed it on her website - Cosmetics and Oral Rehabilitation). I remember asking her how the prices in Mexico could be THAT much less than the US. She said she uses all the same tools/machinery that are used in the US but she doesn’t have the overhead as US dentists. My local dentist has a huge building dedicated to dentistry (he still has to send out crowns/bridges - and he just did his certifications to do implants, including a practicum in Dominican Republic) - and a huge staff. Dr Yazmin’s office is in the same building as her home. And of course the qualify of the crowns, etc are German engineered so it’s great quality.

When she did my x-rays she found that the maxillofacial surgeon (expensive) left behind a root with a root canal in it when he extracted a tooth. Hoping that doesn’t become an issue someday, but it’s frustrating because he should have done an x-ray after the extraction to make sure he’d gotten everything. She was surprised that he hadn’t caught that and said ‘we’ll keep an eye on it'.

I believe her dad was Arabic and her mom Israeli. Grew up going to a Catholic school in Cozumel.

 

[ggunn]

You should have asked what the exchange was before you sat down. You had options/leverage at that point. After you'd already eaten, reasonable is whatever they decide it is, not you. You definitely paid for the convenience though, I'll grant you that.

14.5:1 is a bit low, for sure, but taxi drivers were converting at 10:1 for a long time after that rate was gone. Paying in cash with US$ will always put one at a disadvantage, especially after the fact.

 

[Kimela]

I believe her dad was Arabic and her mom Israeli. Grew up going to a Catholic school in Cozumel.

Wow - for some reason I was thinking she was Egyptian (I guess that could be the Arabic part?). She’s such a nice person. She’s younger than me, so I don’t think I’ll have to worry about her retiring before all my dental needs are complete.

 

[BRT]

Great lady, I like her.

 

[scubadada]

Here’s a link to her website: Dental Care Cozumel – Your Smile, Our Island. The office number listed on the website is also her whatsapp - and I think she’s the only one who reads/responds to it.

We only dove two dives on Tikila (shore dive - our max depth was 34 ft) and I don’t know if I’d call that much of a ‘reef’, but there is coral there and it looked ‘ok’. There are coral heads here and there, but not like a long reef structure. I hadn’t been in the water since last May and I would have been happy with anything. I also am always looking for macro - and Tikila never lets me down. You might want to check with someone who has been to Palancar or some of the other reef sites for better info.

But we did see a school (?) of cuttlefish of about 30, and plenty of cleaner shrimp, a drum and a juvenile high-hat, several morays, pipe fish, etc. The cuttlefish were a treat!

I took this shot of a small coral head - and then some cuttlefish.
View attachment 890672

View attachment 890670

Caribbean reef squid

 

[ggunn]

Caribbean reef squid

Yes, and the only place we seem to see them is on night shore dives at BA.

 

[ReefHound]

Thanks for the info. Out of curiosity, does Dr. Yazmin send your tooth impression/molding out to a lab to complete the crown? That is the problem I have at home. Getting fitted and using a lousy temporary crown which EVERYTHING I eat sticks to until I get the permanent; not to mention the $1800+ cost which my dental insurance may pay half if I am am lucky.

@mcohen1021 you must be referring to La Caretta. I love their Ropa Vieja! I will hop, skip and run to a different terminal if it means I get a meal there.

Yes, but the lab is on island and only takes 2-3 days. I had temps put on Tuesday and the permanents on Friday. I was fine eating tacos just not crispy nachos. Some places have an onsite machine for zirconia milling if you can't wait a few days. The labs will probably have higher quality equipment.