jerrycsr
Contributor
Just got back from Cozumel where myself and my family stayed five days at the Occidental Allegro all-inclusive resort in Cozumel and dived with Blue Bubble.
First I want to say, we had a great time. I go on dive trips about once every two years, and this time four members of my family were on this trip who were brand new certified and this was their first ocean dive trip in clear water.
THE HOTEL ALLEGRO:
I liked this place. The resort is landscaped beautifully and has two large swimming pools. There is a bar close by where food/snacks are served, as well as bartenders who make drinks, or you can help yourself to water or beer. However, the water treatment plant for the hotel is too close to the resort and there is a smell in one part of the complex. So you want to get a room on the south side of the complex or in a building close by the beach. Avoid the rooms that start with numbers in the 2100's to 2800's. They are the first set of rooms on your right after you walk through the hotel lobby/check-in area.
The food was fair to good served buffet style. I had no complaints about it whatsoever. The breakfasts were good in that you could get a custom-made omlet. There were the usual breakfast buffet choices and lots of them. I particularly liked the freshly made chalupas. Lunch was more like a snack, like burgers, hot dogs, but I enjoyed eating quesadillas with the fresh guacamole. I liked it that they served it by the pool area, but you can also go up to the main dining area above the check-in desk and eat up there and get some different food choices. For dinner you can make reservations for the italian restaurant or the mexican restaurant. Do this as early as possible as these slots fill up fast. Our crew ate at the italian restaurant and enjoyed it. Or you can eat in the main dining room. One night they served fresh grouper which was as good as any fish I have ever eaten. Otherwise the food was fair to decent. It was exactly what I expected from an all-inclusive and I wasn't disappointed at all, and loved the convenience of it. Also, I got no ill effects from eating and drinking there, no upset stomach, and no extra time spent on the john.
There is a smoothie fruit drink bar that opens in the afternoon where you can get a freshly made cold drink by the pool area. I liked that too.
The rooms are smaller than American hotel rooms, but sufficient. The air conditioner worked good, and there was a TV. Bottled water is provided to brush your teeth with. Do not use water from the sink to do this as it is not chlorinated. We had three people in one of our rooms and although it was tight with the extra bed, it was perfectly adequate as we spent as little time as possible there. I loved the hammock on the porch and snoozed in it outside in the afternoon. Loved it.
The beach there is very nice, and there are Hobie Cat sailboats and kyaks there you can take out. There is no reef close by to snorkle on, but we were diving so that was a non issue for us.
You are far enough from downtown staying at this resort where you will pay anywhere from $17 to $19 one-way to get there. I wasn't interested in going downtown but just diving and relaxing at the resort so this was a non-issue for me.
If you are flying in on a Fun Jet or Adventure Tours package, be aware if you leave EARLY and arrive in Cozumel in the morning, you probably will NOT have a room ready when you get to the resort. This happened to us, and rooms were not available until 2:00 o'clock. You park your bags outside and just have some drinks and get into the Cozumel frame of mind. No biggie.
DIVING:
I liked Blue Bubble. They have small fast boats that take up to six divers. They put the regs and bc's on the tanks for you and help you get into your gear. Never have had that kind of service in the Bahamas or Grand Cayman. Our dive master, Raul, was very safety conscious and was mindful that four out of five divers were brand new. He watched us carefully and was great at pointing out critters we would have missed. I would recommend Blue Bubble and will use them again.
The diving in Cozumel was so much fun. There was current on every dive but we loved it because it made your diving more like effortless flying once we got used to it. We loved the swimthroughs and the wall diving there. Highlights were...
PALANCAR CAVES:
Great swimthroughs, lots of critters, huge grouper and we saw a couple of big turtles on this dive.
SANTA ROSA WALL:
Beautifull wall dive. It was like jet packing through blue space next to the wall over a blue abyss.
CEDRAL'S PASS:
Shallow drift dive (50 feet) that we enjoyed so much we did it three times. There are swimthroughs and lots of critters, but the highlight was seeing the multiple nurse sharks swimming around and the large barricuda.
DO THESE DIVES!!!!!!
Even though four of our party were new divers they all were relaxed and scuba diving like pros in the current very quickly. They are all scuba addicts now and I couldn't be happier that they enjoyed it as much as I have for the last 20 years. We were blown away by the beauty of Palancar reef and we will be going back as soon as we can. I enjoyed this trip far more than my trips to Grand Bahama and Grand Cayman because it was considerably cheaper, the dive service was considerably more helpful and had a great attitude, and I saw more critters in Cozumel than both Grand Cayman and Grand Bahama island combined.
First I want to say, we had a great time. I go on dive trips about once every two years, and this time four members of my family were on this trip who were brand new certified and this was their first ocean dive trip in clear water.
THE HOTEL ALLEGRO:
I liked this place. The resort is landscaped beautifully and has two large swimming pools. There is a bar close by where food/snacks are served, as well as bartenders who make drinks, or you can help yourself to water or beer. However, the water treatment plant for the hotel is too close to the resort and there is a smell in one part of the complex. So you want to get a room on the south side of the complex or in a building close by the beach. Avoid the rooms that start with numbers in the 2100's to 2800's. They are the first set of rooms on your right after you walk through the hotel lobby/check-in area.
The food was fair to good served buffet style. I had no complaints about it whatsoever. The breakfasts were good in that you could get a custom-made omlet. There were the usual breakfast buffet choices and lots of them. I particularly liked the freshly made chalupas. Lunch was more like a snack, like burgers, hot dogs, but I enjoyed eating quesadillas with the fresh guacamole. I liked it that they served it by the pool area, but you can also go up to the main dining area above the check-in desk and eat up there and get some different food choices. For dinner you can make reservations for the italian restaurant or the mexican restaurant. Do this as early as possible as these slots fill up fast. Our crew ate at the italian restaurant and enjoyed it. Or you can eat in the main dining room. One night they served fresh grouper which was as good as any fish I have ever eaten. Otherwise the food was fair to decent. It was exactly what I expected from an all-inclusive and I wasn't disappointed at all, and loved the convenience of it. Also, I got no ill effects from eating and drinking there, no upset stomach, and no extra time spent on the john.
There is a smoothie fruit drink bar that opens in the afternoon where you can get a freshly made cold drink by the pool area. I liked that too.
The rooms are smaller than American hotel rooms, but sufficient. The air conditioner worked good, and there was a TV. Bottled water is provided to brush your teeth with. Do not use water from the sink to do this as it is not chlorinated. We had three people in one of our rooms and although it was tight with the extra bed, it was perfectly adequate as we spent as little time as possible there. I loved the hammock on the porch and snoozed in it outside in the afternoon. Loved it.
The beach there is very nice, and there are Hobie Cat sailboats and kyaks there you can take out. There is no reef close by to snorkle on, but we were diving so that was a non issue for us.
You are far enough from downtown staying at this resort where you will pay anywhere from $17 to $19 one-way to get there. I wasn't interested in going downtown but just diving and relaxing at the resort so this was a non-issue for me.
If you are flying in on a Fun Jet or Adventure Tours package, be aware if you leave EARLY and arrive in Cozumel in the morning, you probably will NOT have a room ready when you get to the resort. This happened to us, and rooms were not available until 2:00 o'clock. You park your bags outside and just have some drinks and get into the Cozumel frame of mind. No biggie.
DIVING:
I liked Blue Bubble. They have small fast boats that take up to six divers. They put the regs and bc's on the tanks for you and help you get into your gear. Never have had that kind of service in the Bahamas or Grand Cayman. Our dive master, Raul, was very safety conscious and was mindful that four out of five divers were brand new. He watched us carefully and was great at pointing out critters we would have missed. I would recommend Blue Bubble and will use them again.
The diving in Cozumel was so much fun. There was current on every dive but we loved it because it made your diving more like effortless flying once we got used to it. We loved the swimthroughs and the wall diving there. Highlights were...
PALANCAR CAVES:
Great swimthroughs, lots of critters, huge grouper and we saw a couple of big turtles on this dive.
SANTA ROSA WALL:
Beautifull wall dive. It was like jet packing through blue space next to the wall over a blue abyss.
CEDRAL'S PASS:
Shallow drift dive (50 feet) that we enjoyed so much we did it three times. There are swimthroughs and lots of critters, but the highlight was seeing the multiple nurse sharks swimming around and the large barricuda.
DO THESE DIVES!!!!!!
Even though four of our party were new divers they all were relaxed and scuba diving like pros in the current very quickly. They are all scuba addicts now and I couldn't be happier that they enjoyed it as much as I have for the last 20 years. We were blown away by the beauty of Palancar reef and we will be going back as soon as we can. I enjoyed this trip far more than my trips to Grand Bahama and Grand Cayman because it was considerably cheaper, the dive service was considerably more helpful and had a great attitude, and I saw more critters in Cozumel than both Grand Cayman and Grand Bahama island combined.
