HeyMikey
Guest
We just returned from Cozumel (July 25-29). Flew out of Dallas, Texas with MLT Vacations using Champion Airlines. Flight was both smooth and prompt! We were a bit apprehensive returning to Cozumel so soon after hurricane Emily but found the majority of cleanup on the west side of the island already completed. Only visible signs of the hurricane were a few uprooted trees. Because of the hurricane, we were forced to change our hotel reservations from Casa Del Mar to Casa Mexicana further in town. This change was one of the first pleasant surprises of our trip! Casa Mexicana is beautifully kept. Located just south of Downtown, directly across from the Punta Langosta Pier. We upgraded to an ocean view room on the top (5th) floor for only 25$ more per night and the view was beautiful. We had a lovely balcony with comfortable chairs to sit and watch the cruise ships come in and out. Our room was cleaned extremely well every day and the maid even left little animals made out of folded towels on the bed - a different one each day. Breakfast was included in our trip package and each day the food was very fresh with lots of variety. Would highly recommend this hotel for anyone wishing to stay in town without having to spend a fortune!
We ventured out a little more on this trip and tried several local restaurants. We ate at The Shrimp Bucket in the Punta Langosta Mall the first night. Food was very good, prices were decent but service was incredibly slow. We waited for our check for over 20 minutes after the table was cleaned off. The second day we lunched at Girasoles. The service was very good, food was incredible we had the Guacamole (very fresh), Pancho Villa plate, Tacos Norteno and all were very very good. Prices were extremely reasonable as well. $25 for 3 people with sodas. Our personal favorite restaurant in Cozumel is Capi Navigante. We ate there the last night and had the lobster. As always, it was grilled to perfection. The Flan is also really good there - the best Ive had anywhere! A bit pricey, but worth every penny (or peso!!).
The highlight of our trip was the diving. We had decided to try the more personal approach to diving and instead of one of the larger dive operations we chose Scuba with Alison. This turned out to be the best decision we could have made. With a maximum of 6-7 divers per boat, and personal attention from Alison, her boat captain Carlos and the other dive master Chucho. This type of diving is so much different than any diving we had done in the past. We got to choose where we wanted to go each day, and dive times were not prearranged, but decided upon by air consumption and decompression limits. I am a notorious air hog and Alison compensated for this by supplying me with 100s instead of 80s so that I could enjoy the longer dive times with my wife and son. This really paid of as we were averaging over an hour bottom time each and every dive.
Our favorite day dive was Palancar Caves. The swim thrus were breathtaking. We also dove Cedral, Yucab, Dalila, Santa Rosa Wall, Columbia Deep, French Reef for our day dives. Alison asked us at the beginning of our trip what wildlife we wanted to see before we left. We listed turtles, sharks, eels, lobster, crabs and eagle rays. I guess she placed a call to Captain Nemo because she came through with everything except the eagle ray (and she saw that they day after we left, guess they didnt get the message in time!). Our night dives were with Chucho and we dove Paradise and Chakanaab. Chakanaab was by far our favorite because Paradise was just a bit too crowded for our tastes. Chucho was excellent at spotting every bit of living marine life we passed over!
We enjoyed our trip so much that weve already booked a follow up trip in September to complete our Advanced Open Water certification with Alison!
We ventured out a little more on this trip and tried several local restaurants. We ate at The Shrimp Bucket in the Punta Langosta Mall the first night. Food was very good, prices were decent but service was incredibly slow. We waited for our check for over 20 minutes after the table was cleaned off. The second day we lunched at Girasoles. The service was very good, food was incredible we had the Guacamole (very fresh), Pancho Villa plate, Tacos Norteno and all were very very good. Prices were extremely reasonable as well. $25 for 3 people with sodas. Our personal favorite restaurant in Cozumel is Capi Navigante. We ate there the last night and had the lobster. As always, it was grilled to perfection. The Flan is also really good there - the best Ive had anywhere! A bit pricey, but worth every penny (or peso!!).
The highlight of our trip was the diving. We had decided to try the more personal approach to diving and instead of one of the larger dive operations we chose Scuba with Alison. This turned out to be the best decision we could have made. With a maximum of 6-7 divers per boat, and personal attention from Alison, her boat captain Carlos and the other dive master Chucho. This type of diving is so much different than any diving we had done in the past. We got to choose where we wanted to go each day, and dive times were not prearranged, but decided upon by air consumption and decompression limits. I am a notorious air hog and Alison compensated for this by supplying me with 100s instead of 80s so that I could enjoy the longer dive times with my wife and son. This really paid of as we were averaging over an hour bottom time each and every dive.
Our favorite day dive was Palancar Caves. The swim thrus were breathtaking. We also dove Cedral, Yucab, Dalila, Santa Rosa Wall, Columbia Deep, French Reef for our day dives. Alison asked us at the beginning of our trip what wildlife we wanted to see before we left. We listed turtles, sharks, eels, lobster, crabs and eagle rays. I guess she placed a call to Captain Nemo because she came through with everything except the eagle ray (and she saw that they day after we left, guess they didnt get the message in time!). Our night dives were with Chucho and we dove Paradise and Chakanaab. Chakanaab was by far our favorite because Paradise was just a bit too crowded for our tastes. Chucho was excellent at spotting every bit of living marine life we passed over!
We enjoyed our trip so much that weve already booked a follow up trip in September to complete our Advanced Open Water certification with Alison!
