Probie591
Registered
Greetings all. Here is my attempt at a trip report I did with a friend during the above dates.
We used Fun Jet to book our trip and dove with Aldora Dive shop. Flying American Airlines from Indianapolis to Texas and then onto Cozumel. American Airlines was a blessing as they do not charge for baggage, the first two, on international flights. The flights were ontime, not too full and had manageable layovers. We stayed at the Occidental Grand on the south end of the island. I'll try to segment my opinions from here on out.
Arrival: Stepping out into the warm, sunny climate and walking onto the airport grounds we were excited to begin our adventure! Customs was a breeze. I have heard that we were lucky as it is possible to have up to three planes arriving at once. This makes for long lines and waits. We walked right through that day. Leaving the airport, we were bombbarded with timesshare people and eager taxi drivers. My suggestion is to smile, walk fast and find your transportation quickly. It was cool to see an outside Margarittaville bar outside!. Our hotel transfers were switched for a taxi so we could get right to the dive shop and into the water! From landing to under the water... it took approx 1.5 hrs. I'll get back to the dives later.
Hotel: We opted for the all inclusive based to reviews online. The Occidental Grand sits near the southern end of the island and the grounds are exceptional. Check in was casual and everything was taken care by a friendly staff. Ample palm trees line the walks of the grounds with fountains as centerpieces towards the front of the property. These fountains were only working on the last two days of our trip. The ground floor room was clean. There are several iguanas on the ground. Two pools with activities, ping pong, a huge chess set and daily drinks. The beds were rock hard. I ended up sleeping on extra pillows from day 2 'till the end. Housekeeping was professional and did a great job everyday. The hotel puts out a newsletter everday with events and specials. The food was lacking for a 4 star hotel. We dove until late mid day and found the quality of lunch to be lacking. I've never had ice cream soup. We had to ask for fresh ice cream twice as they brought out soup both times. Dinner, with the exception on one speciality night, was only so so. Service during one of the reservations required nights was poor. We did have one steak night that was equal to a 4 star hotel. The night life at the hotel was interesting. I really enjoyed the fire dancers show. 3 guys did some cool things with fire sticks for around an hour. Other nights included a jewelery show, and Salsa dancing. The beach area had plenty of sitting areas that were covered and it was a peaceful feel. Like I said, the grounds were in great shape and the staff were friendly. that's about it.
Transportation: A taxi cost us $15 U.S. to get into the city. The service is
prompt and clean.
Aldora Dive Shop: I have nothing but great things to say about this operation. The service and attention to detail and safety were complete and friendly. I felt well informed and enthused about every dive. Now, this is my first time to Coz, and it is my first time using Aldora. If you do a search on the site for Aldora, you will find great reviews. From the 120 steel tanks that allow for LONG bottom times, to the fast, covered boats, to the water on the boat, to the experience of the staff, I felt justified in paying alittle extra for what I got. Our shortest dive was 51 minutes and most were 75 to 90 minutes. Drift diving is amazing! It was nice not to have to deal with gear all week long. Aldora cleaned and stored our gear every day and had it all set up for us the next morning. At first I was not sure about doing a night dive. Wow!! that dive was amazing. My first night dive, I know, but the wildlife, petting the octopuss, playing with a puffer, huge stone crabs, squid.... on and on...I highly recommend a night dive. I think we ded 10 dives total. Punta Sur Devil's Throat, Santa Rosa Wall -down to 137', Palancar Gardens and Caves and a few others. Memo and his staff have 90 percent of this dive op thing down to a tee. Fresh fruit on the boat would be nice, even though we had our surface interval at a nice ocean side joint. DM Shariff, a.k.a. the egyptian, at one point thanked us for a great dive!! DM's Edgar and David were fantastic as well. It will be hard to dive with anyone else after the kind of service we received from Aldora.
We saw several turtles, a splendid Toad fish, sea cucumber, I met up with some black coral
, a huge green eel, a squirrel fish, a small ray and much more.
I know I left out plenty of details... we saw so much.. I was able to use my Sealife DC 1000 for the first time. I got some nice video and a few good pics. I really need a strobe. I can not forget to mention that I had the pleasure of meeting a few members of this board while on the trip. I am blessed to have had the chance to meet these folks. Thank you all for the conversation and good times.
Airfare and Hotel = approx $750.
Diving = $500.00 plus $20 a day tip to the boat, DM and crew
Another $300.00 for gifts and such
This was only my second time travelling abroad. I am looking at Roatan next!!
We used Fun Jet to book our trip and dove with Aldora Dive shop. Flying American Airlines from Indianapolis to Texas and then onto Cozumel. American Airlines was a blessing as they do not charge for baggage, the first two, on international flights. The flights were ontime, not too full and had manageable layovers. We stayed at the Occidental Grand on the south end of the island. I'll try to segment my opinions from here on out.
Arrival: Stepping out into the warm, sunny climate and walking onto the airport grounds we were excited to begin our adventure! Customs was a breeze. I have heard that we were lucky as it is possible to have up to three planes arriving at once. This makes for long lines and waits. We walked right through that day. Leaving the airport, we were bombbarded with timesshare people and eager taxi drivers. My suggestion is to smile, walk fast and find your transportation quickly. It was cool to see an outside Margarittaville bar outside!. Our hotel transfers were switched for a taxi so we could get right to the dive shop and into the water! From landing to under the water... it took approx 1.5 hrs. I'll get back to the dives later.
Hotel: We opted for the all inclusive based to reviews online. The Occidental Grand sits near the southern end of the island and the grounds are exceptional. Check in was casual and everything was taken care by a friendly staff. Ample palm trees line the walks of the grounds with fountains as centerpieces towards the front of the property. These fountains were only working on the last two days of our trip. The ground floor room was clean. There are several iguanas on the ground. Two pools with activities, ping pong, a huge chess set and daily drinks. The beds were rock hard. I ended up sleeping on extra pillows from day 2 'till the end. Housekeeping was professional and did a great job everyday. The hotel puts out a newsletter everday with events and specials. The food was lacking for a 4 star hotel. We dove until late mid day and found the quality of lunch to be lacking. I've never had ice cream soup. We had to ask for fresh ice cream twice as they brought out soup both times. Dinner, with the exception on one speciality night, was only so so. Service during one of the reservations required nights was poor. We did have one steak night that was equal to a 4 star hotel. The night life at the hotel was interesting. I really enjoyed the fire dancers show. 3 guys did some cool things with fire sticks for around an hour. Other nights included a jewelery show, and Salsa dancing. The beach area had plenty of sitting areas that were covered and it was a peaceful feel. Like I said, the grounds were in great shape and the staff were friendly. that's about it.
Transportation: A taxi cost us $15 U.S. to get into the city. The service is
prompt and clean.
Aldora Dive Shop: I have nothing but great things to say about this operation. The service and attention to detail and safety were complete and friendly. I felt well informed and enthused about every dive. Now, this is my first time to Coz, and it is my first time using Aldora. If you do a search on the site for Aldora, you will find great reviews. From the 120 steel tanks that allow for LONG bottom times, to the fast, covered boats, to the water on the boat, to the experience of the staff, I felt justified in paying alittle extra for what I got. Our shortest dive was 51 minutes and most were 75 to 90 minutes. Drift diving is amazing! It was nice not to have to deal with gear all week long. Aldora cleaned and stored our gear every day and had it all set up for us the next morning. At first I was not sure about doing a night dive. Wow!! that dive was amazing. My first night dive, I know, but the wildlife, petting the octopuss, playing with a puffer, huge stone crabs, squid.... on and on...I highly recommend a night dive. I think we ded 10 dives total. Punta Sur Devil's Throat, Santa Rosa Wall -down to 137', Palancar Gardens and Caves and a few others. Memo and his staff have 90 percent of this dive op thing down to a tee. Fresh fruit on the boat would be nice, even though we had our surface interval at a nice ocean side joint. DM Shariff, a.k.a. the egyptian, at one point thanked us for a great dive!! DM's Edgar and David were fantastic as well. It will be hard to dive with anyone else after the kind of service we received from Aldora.
We saw several turtles, a splendid Toad fish, sea cucumber, I met up with some black coral
, a huge green eel, a squirrel fish, a small ray and much more.I know I left out plenty of details... we saw so much.. I was able to use my Sealife DC 1000 for the first time. I got some nice video and a few good pics. I really need a strobe. I can not forget to mention that I had the pleasure of meeting a few members of this board while on the trip. I am blessed to have had the chance to meet these folks. Thank you all for the conversation and good times.
Airfare and Hotel = approx $750.
Diving = $500.00 plus $20 a day tip to the boat, DM and crew
Another $300.00 for gifts and such
This was only my second time travelling abroad. I am looking at Roatan next!!
