If you have never been to Cozumel then read this first: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/413080-arriving-cozumel-airport-guided-tour.html
I read it twice before arriving so I was ready. At the red light/green light button, I pushed it and was the third in a row to get red. I didn't know I had red because I could not see the difference. The button pusher lady rolled her eyes and sent me to the table to the far left along with a waiting couple. There was one security guy checking a couple at the right table. The person behind me pushed the button and he got red too. So there were four sets of people waiting for bag checks and one guy doing the checking. The button pusher lady rolled her eyes again and came to my table. She told us to open our bags, stuck her hands in each bag and told us to go. She didn't do any searching.
I was ready for the salesmen when I exited so I looked one in the eye and said, "No thank you" and they left me alone. I went to the far right, paid $10 for a shuttle ticket, walked past the salesmen, exited the door and was on the road within a minute.
Villa Blanca Villablanca Garden Beach Hotel, Cozumel
I checked into the Villa Blanca a few minutes later. Not a great hotel but adequate as a comfortable place to stay between dives. I got one of the worst rooms since I was alone. Ground floor, no view and one king sized bed. There was no glass in the windows, just screens and wooden slats that closed. It did have a very capable A/C and a ceiling fan so I was never hot when I was in the room. Frankly, I was only in the room for sleeping and ablutions.
The front left of the hotel.
The front middle of the hotel.
The front left of the hotel.
Hot tub
Pool and restaurant/bar in the back.
Path to my room on the left
Interior
Interior
Bed
Bathroom. Notice the toilet seat. It was there the first morning but gone after the room was cleaned while I was out diving on the first day. It took over 24 hours for them to figure out that the toilet seat was gone.
Sunken tub.
The mystery of the missing toilet seat
I got up after the first night and got ready for diving. When I returned at lunchtime, my toilet seat was missing. I thought that was curious. I asked around and no one had heard of any traditions involving taking the toilet seat from a room so I reported it to the front desk. I returned from my afternoon dive to find the toilet seat still missing but black marks in the toilet like someone had used a plunger. I reported it to the front desk again and he assured me that it would be taken care of. I went to dinner and still no toilet seat but more plunger marks. I reported it again using my hands to make sure he understood that it was not clogged, the seat was missing. I also apologized in case I had offended the housekeeping crew. He looked at me like I was crazy and said it would be taken care of. I'm at the bar a few minutes later when I see someone going towards my room with a plunger in his hand. A few minutes later the guy from the front desk rushed up to me and said my top was missing! Yes, I replied, can you get me a new one? No, we have none. Can you get me a new room? No, we have no available rooms but we can get you a new seat in the morning. Fine, I say. They got me a new seat in the morning but I'm sure that they think I stole their toilet seat. It was strange because my room had lots of stuff laying around worth more than a toilet seat.
Restaurants
The restaurant/bar at Villa Blanca was adequate but we ate most of our breakfasts and lunches at Papa Hog's, just to the south of Villa Blanca. Papa Hogs Scuba Emporium of Cozumel - Mexico
We ate dinner at El Moro, an established hole in the wall that was my favorite, after the first day of diving. El Moro Home Page It's inexpensive, away from the tourists and mainly populated with locals. I told the server I was a vegetarian and they created an off-menu meal for me that was very good. I would recommend El Moro.
We ate at Pepe's Grill on the second night . Pepes Grill, Restaurant Cozumel Mexico . They are located on the main street across from the Playa del Carmen ferry terminal. They are expensive and full of very incompetent busboys circling the tables. They did not deliver one plate to the person who ordered the food, we all had to switch. It also took 1 1/2 hours to get out the door after we finished eating dinner. I would not recommend going there.
The last night we ate at Casa Mission. The Best restaurant of Mexican and Seafood in Cozumel || Casa Mission Restaurant || A beautiful restaurant on amazing grounds. They created an off-menu vegetarian meal for me that was excellent. I would recommend this restaurant.
I'll add a thread about the dive operator and the dives later.
I read it twice before arriving so I was ready. At the red light/green light button, I pushed it and was the third in a row to get red. I didn't know I had red because I could not see the difference. The button pusher lady rolled her eyes and sent me to the table to the far left along with a waiting couple. There was one security guy checking a couple at the right table. The person behind me pushed the button and he got red too. So there were four sets of people waiting for bag checks and one guy doing the checking. The button pusher lady rolled her eyes again and came to my table. She told us to open our bags, stuck her hands in each bag and told us to go. She didn't do any searching.
I was ready for the salesmen when I exited so I looked one in the eye and said, "No thank you" and they left me alone. I went to the far right, paid $10 for a shuttle ticket, walked past the salesmen, exited the door and was on the road within a minute.
Villa Blanca Villablanca Garden Beach Hotel, Cozumel
I checked into the Villa Blanca a few minutes later. Not a great hotel but adequate as a comfortable place to stay between dives. I got one of the worst rooms since I was alone. Ground floor, no view and one king sized bed. There was no glass in the windows, just screens and wooden slats that closed. It did have a very capable A/C and a ceiling fan so I was never hot when I was in the room. Frankly, I was only in the room for sleeping and ablutions.
The front left of the hotel. The front middle of the hotel. The front left of the hotel. Hot tub Pool and restaurant/bar in the back. Path to my room on the left Interior Interior Bed Bathroom. Notice the toilet seat. It was there the first morning but gone after the room was cleaned while I was out diving on the first day. It took over 24 hours for them to figure out that the toilet seat was gone. Sunken tub.The mystery of the missing toilet seat
I got up after the first night and got ready for diving. When I returned at lunchtime, my toilet seat was missing. I thought that was curious. I asked around and no one had heard of any traditions involving taking the toilet seat from a room so I reported it to the front desk. I returned from my afternoon dive to find the toilet seat still missing but black marks in the toilet like someone had used a plunger. I reported it to the front desk again and he assured me that it would be taken care of. I went to dinner and still no toilet seat but more plunger marks. I reported it again using my hands to make sure he understood that it was not clogged, the seat was missing. I also apologized in case I had offended the housekeeping crew. He looked at me like I was crazy and said it would be taken care of. I'm at the bar a few minutes later when I see someone going towards my room with a plunger in his hand. A few minutes later the guy from the front desk rushed up to me and said my top was missing! Yes, I replied, can you get me a new one? No, we have none. Can you get me a new room? No, we have no available rooms but we can get you a new seat in the morning. Fine, I say. They got me a new seat in the morning but I'm sure that they think I stole their toilet seat. It was strange because my room had lots of stuff laying around worth more than a toilet seat.
Restaurants
The restaurant/bar at Villa Blanca was adequate but we ate most of our breakfasts and lunches at Papa Hog's, just to the south of Villa Blanca. Papa Hogs Scuba Emporium of Cozumel - Mexico
We ate dinner at El Moro, an established hole in the wall that was my favorite, after the first day of diving. El Moro Home Page It's inexpensive, away from the tourists and mainly populated with locals. I told the server I was a vegetarian and they created an off-menu meal for me that was very good. I would recommend El Moro.
We ate at Pepe's Grill on the second night . Pepes Grill, Restaurant Cozumel Mexico . They are located on the main street across from the Playa del Carmen ferry terminal. They are expensive and full of very incompetent busboys circling the tables. They did not deliver one plate to the person who ordered the food, we all had to switch. It also took 1 1/2 hours to get out the door after we finished eating dinner. I would not recommend going there.
The last night we ate at Casa Mission. The Best restaurant of Mexican and Seafood in Cozumel || Casa Mission Restaurant || A beautiful restaurant on amazing grounds. They created an off-menu vegetarian meal for me that was excellent. I would recommend this restaurant.
I'll add a thread about the dive operator and the dives later.
