Craig66
Contributor
Just returned from a trip to Cozumel - OK not just but took a little time to recover. Was my 4th in 2 years and I think I am now a Cozumelaholic which is probably a good thing to suffer from.
Was part of my annual mancation which my wonderful family give me each year as a means to decompress and chill. Flight was out of Newark with connection in Charlotte My trip started on Friday evening as my drive home from work was interrupted by an automated call from USAir telling my Newark to Charlotte flight had been cancelled but that my Charlotte to Cozumel flight was on time – Great news on the assumption that I could get to Charlotte. Called US Air and was told that they had a 6 am flight out of Newark ( my scheduled flight was for 8:30am!!!!! Not having a choice I resigned my self to the fact that my night was shot as I got ready for a 4am airport departure. While I understand the costs of flying I am amazed at how nickeled and dimed I felt by US Air specifically. Baggage fees down to Cozumel but not on the return flight ….go figure???? When all was said and done I arrived safetly and on time in Cozumel – albeit a little tired. Customs was quick and once again got the green light. (The only time I get the red light is when I am traveling with my tired and cranky wife and daughters and then we are taken aside and every one of our umpteen pieces of baggage is taken apart – still I am always cognizant of the fact that we are visitors in another country and accept graciously what we need to do)
Took the collectivo to Casa Mexicana and felt like I had arrived home. After 4 trips to Casa Mexicana I am at the point of being recognized and since my daughters made quite an impression last time they now have little interest in how I am doing and only want to know how my girls are  . Casa Mexicana is great for anyone wanting to be close to the action. I find that being at the end of the “cruise drag” makes it a little quieter but it is close enough to the action. Being so close to all the main restaurants is great and the Mega and Chedraui are around the corner. The only thing missing from Casa Mexicana is a large pool and beach but the small pool they have in the lobby is very pleasant as it is somewhat shaded and although there is no beach to walk to one can walk to Jennies or Hotel Barracuda and swim directly from their piers. Jennies also has a small “beach” with loungers and is a really friendly hangout. I had a room looking over the breakfast courtyard which was great. On various trips I have stayed in all the different facing rooms and have never had an issue with noise and even the noise from Carlos and Charlies is a non issue once the sliding door is closed. Casa Mexicana is very dive friendly and I think at least half of the guests are divers. The breakfast is amazing (and free) and any Cozumelina will tell you that it is the best breakfast on the Island.
I am an intermediate diver. Got into diving only in the last 3 years but have done about 180 dives in the last 3 years. I traditionally have used one of the valet services as I loved not having to come up after 35 mins with 1500PS, I and loved the 6 pak boats and loved not having to deal with my gear. For various reasons I decided to try a different operator and on this occasion decided on Scuba Mau.
I fired off an email to Opal and within a couple of hours I had an answer to each one of my questions. It seemed almost too good to be true as she was offering almost all of what some of the Valet outfits ordered but for a fraction of the price. I was looking for 2 morning dives with an option for pm dives on most or some days, long dives with computer driven profiles and beach surface intervals of at least an hour and small 6 pak boats with divers of my similar experience level. Opal promised it all to me and even stated that she would get me out for several afternoon dives – something that is very very rare in Cozumel unless you are talking about the larger “cattleboat outfits. Over the days prior to my departure I got multiple emails from Opal clarifying any questions I might have. I have to say that I was amazed at the awesome experience I had with Scuba Mau.
The boats are all fast boats with at least two boats going out each day. For the most part I got to dive with people of like experience although on one or two dives one of the divers was probably not at the same level but the reality is that I have had that happen with all the dive ops that I have used and in part is often due to divers overestimating their experience level but at no time on this trip or on any other trip have I had that interfere with my dive. Dive times were excellent and were possibly shorter by 4 or 5 mins than some of the other valet services but my average dive time was 57 mins with many over one hour. I only once came back on board with >600 PSI and somehow Opal and Mao must have extra mins to their day as despite leaving the dock at a more vacationally time of 8:30 am and despite having >1hr surface intervals we still managed to get in 2 one hour dives each am.
Dive masters were great with each having their little niche and interest and whether it is due to that or just general reef recovery I saw more on this trip that on my several prior trips. I have a new favorite dives site and am totally blown away by Santa Rosa although the Cozumel wreck (aside from the silversides) I could totally miss and would probably sit it out rather than return to it.
I dove Nitrox the whole week and with Scuba Mau having the lowest price for Nitrox on the Island it was a safety feature that did not cost me an arm and a leg – yeah I know the safety feature is hotly debated especially given the potential for down currents in Cozumel but I personally feel better and less tired with nitrox and don’t like riding the deco wave. Opal had me open a tab and amazingly I was allowed to settle up at the end of the week which is not my usual experience where at times I have had to almost offer my first born as a non refundable deposit LOL.
I found the afternoon dives to be another great draw. As a single traveler when I travel to dive I want to dive and dive and I really don’t need the afternoon to chill on the beach however a lot of the Valet Dive Outfits on Cozumel tend to limit their activities to morning only dives where as with Mau I had the opportunity to dive every afternoon even with just one or two divers and that was great. We also weren’t limited on the afternoon dives to Paradise reef and went to many of the further off reefs. In 7 days of diving I did 22 tanks and loved everyone of em (except the C53). Got to see an amazing amount with the dive masters and whether it is due to reef recovery or just different DM knowing different “Hot spots” got to really see some amazing stuff including an overhang with three nurse shots chilling underneath.
Another great feature of Scuba Mau is that dive shop is surrounded by lots of good eats and drinks and so one can come off their morning dive, have a good lunch, relax and then go on for an afternoon dive. Hogs café is great but I got to try the new restaurant across the road which is called La Hatch and was truly AMAZING. I landed up eating lunch there almost daily and everything I tried was great. I definitely suggest trying it even as a special trip from one of the hotels or downtown. Got to eat at the usuals which as always were excellent including Kinta, La Choza (love the fish soup), Camilo’s (Stuffed grouper – superb), Otates (got caught in the rain and just worked my way down the menu until the rain stopped - cows cheek, brain and tongue – yummy), Casa Dennis – be careful the Salsa is hot although excellent and the hot dog stand outside Carlos and Charlies.
Yet again a truly amazing trip that makes it so much harder to even think about going somewhere other than Cozumel. Scuba Mau was truly an amazing find and I look forward to joining them again soon
Craig
Was part of my annual mancation which my wonderful family give me each year as a means to decompress and chill. Flight was out of Newark with connection in Charlotte My trip started on Friday evening as my drive home from work was interrupted by an automated call from USAir telling my Newark to Charlotte flight had been cancelled but that my Charlotte to Cozumel flight was on time – Great news on the assumption that I could get to Charlotte. Called US Air and was told that they had a 6 am flight out of Newark ( my scheduled flight was for 8:30am!!!!! Not having a choice I resigned my self to the fact that my night was shot as I got ready for a 4am airport departure. While I understand the costs of flying I am amazed at how nickeled and dimed I felt by US Air specifically. Baggage fees down to Cozumel but not on the return flight ….go figure???? When all was said and done I arrived safetly and on time in Cozumel – albeit a little tired. Customs was quick and once again got the green light. (The only time I get the red light is when I am traveling with my tired and cranky wife and daughters and then we are taken aside and every one of our umpteen pieces of baggage is taken apart – still I am always cognizant of the fact that we are visitors in another country and accept graciously what we need to do)
Took the collectivo to Casa Mexicana and felt like I had arrived home. After 4 trips to Casa Mexicana I am at the point of being recognized and since my daughters made quite an impression last time they now have little interest in how I am doing and only want to know how my girls are  . Casa Mexicana is great for anyone wanting to be close to the action. I find that being at the end of the “cruise drag” makes it a little quieter but it is close enough to the action. Being so close to all the main restaurants is great and the Mega and Chedraui are around the corner. The only thing missing from Casa Mexicana is a large pool and beach but the small pool they have in the lobby is very pleasant as it is somewhat shaded and although there is no beach to walk to one can walk to Jennies or Hotel Barracuda and swim directly from their piers. Jennies also has a small “beach” with loungers and is a really friendly hangout. I had a room looking over the breakfast courtyard which was great. On various trips I have stayed in all the different facing rooms and have never had an issue with noise and even the noise from Carlos and Charlies is a non issue once the sliding door is closed. Casa Mexicana is very dive friendly and I think at least half of the guests are divers. The breakfast is amazing (and free) and any Cozumelina will tell you that it is the best breakfast on the Island.
I am an intermediate diver. Got into diving only in the last 3 years but have done about 180 dives in the last 3 years. I traditionally have used one of the valet services as I loved not having to come up after 35 mins with 1500PS, I and loved the 6 pak boats and loved not having to deal with my gear. For various reasons I decided to try a different operator and on this occasion decided on Scuba Mau.
I fired off an email to Opal and within a couple of hours I had an answer to each one of my questions. It seemed almost too good to be true as she was offering almost all of what some of the Valet outfits ordered but for a fraction of the price. I was looking for 2 morning dives with an option for pm dives on most or some days, long dives with computer driven profiles and beach surface intervals of at least an hour and small 6 pak boats with divers of my similar experience level. Opal promised it all to me and even stated that she would get me out for several afternoon dives – something that is very very rare in Cozumel unless you are talking about the larger “cattleboat outfits. Over the days prior to my departure I got multiple emails from Opal clarifying any questions I might have. I have to say that I was amazed at the awesome experience I had with Scuba Mau.
The boats are all fast boats with at least two boats going out each day. For the most part I got to dive with people of like experience although on one or two dives one of the divers was probably not at the same level but the reality is that I have had that happen with all the dive ops that I have used and in part is often due to divers overestimating their experience level but at no time on this trip or on any other trip have I had that interfere with my dive. Dive times were excellent and were possibly shorter by 4 or 5 mins than some of the other valet services but my average dive time was 57 mins with many over one hour. I only once came back on board with >600 PSI and somehow Opal and Mao must have extra mins to their day as despite leaving the dock at a more vacationally time of 8:30 am and despite having >1hr surface intervals we still managed to get in 2 one hour dives each am.
Dive masters were great with each having their little niche and interest and whether it is due to that or just general reef recovery I saw more on this trip that on my several prior trips. I have a new favorite dives site and am totally blown away by Santa Rosa although the Cozumel wreck (aside from the silversides) I could totally miss and would probably sit it out rather than return to it.
I dove Nitrox the whole week and with Scuba Mau having the lowest price for Nitrox on the Island it was a safety feature that did not cost me an arm and a leg – yeah I know the safety feature is hotly debated especially given the potential for down currents in Cozumel but I personally feel better and less tired with nitrox and don’t like riding the deco wave. Opal had me open a tab and amazingly I was allowed to settle up at the end of the week which is not my usual experience where at times I have had to almost offer my first born as a non refundable deposit LOL.
I found the afternoon dives to be another great draw. As a single traveler when I travel to dive I want to dive and dive and I really don’t need the afternoon to chill on the beach however a lot of the Valet Dive Outfits on Cozumel tend to limit their activities to morning only dives where as with Mau I had the opportunity to dive every afternoon even with just one or two divers and that was great. We also weren’t limited on the afternoon dives to Paradise reef and went to many of the further off reefs. In 7 days of diving I did 22 tanks and loved everyone of em (except the C53). Got to see an amazing amount with the dive masters and whether it is due to reef recovery or just different DM knowing different “Hot spots” got to really see some amazing stuff including an overhang with three nurse shots chilling underneath.
Another great feature of Scuba Mau is that dive shop is surrounded by lots of good eats and drinks and so one can come off their morning dive, have a good lunch, relax and then go on for an afternoon dive. Hogs café is great but I got to try the new restaurant across the road which is called La Hatch and was truly AMAZING. I landed up eating lunch there almost daily and everything I tried was great. I definitely suggest trying it even as a special trip from one of the hotels or downtown. Got to eat at the usuals which as always were excellent including Kinta, La Choza (love the fish soup), Camilo’s (Stuffed grouper – superb), Otates (got caught in the rain and just worked my way down the menu until the rain stopped - cows cheek, brain and tongue – yummy), Casa Dennis – be careful the Salsa is hot although excellent and the hot dog stand outside Carlos and Charlies.
Yet again a truly amazing trip that makes it so much harder to even think about going somewhere other than Cozumel. Scuba Mau was truly an amazing find and I look forward to joining them again soon
Craig
