ScubaERDoc
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Hi!
This is my report from my 10 day first time trip to Cozumel in the first few days of April. I went with my girlfriend and 4 other divers of varying experience levels from 100+ dives to a newly minted OW. Also went with another couple who were not divers but stayed with us to party. We were all first timers to Cozumel but most of us have gone on dive trips together to places such as Koh Tao, Koh Phi Phi, Bonaire, Belize, Roatan, Curacao, etc. This is a two part review, first of Cozumel Palace and second of Aldora divers. Afterwards is a compilation of my trip videos.
Cozumel Palace.
We chose this place to stay after a lot of debate but ultimately were drawn to the central location and the well reviewed food/drinks. Thought that it would be a good choice since we had two non-divers with us. When we first got there after a redeye flight, we were immediately presented with non-alcoholic refreshments and some of us got our rooms immediately (at noon). However since there was a wide range of housekeeping completions, my girlfriend and I didnt get our rooms until after 4. Just sat around for a couple hours kinda tired and dirty waiting at the bar, but started drinking to pass the time. Drinking would become a central theme to our stay there. Booked an Oceanside suite with balcony but they were completely full so we got an alleyway view of Cozumel for our first night which was a bummer but they moved us after the first night.
The place was small for a resort, which is understandable being that it is in the center of town. Really nicely maintained with classy appearing marble floors. Yes they did get slippery when wet but not enough to be a broken-hip hazard despite what Mossman says. The staff was crazy attentive. Someone leaves a napkin at a table, and its cleaned in a minute. Floors are constantly being cleaned. You finish a drink at a poolside lounge and someone asks if you want another. Really couldnt ask for any better service. Also the staff was exceptionally friendly.
The pool gets crowded at times and sometimes its hard to find a lounge chair, but oh well, thats what you call a first world problem. The demographics of the guests there is slightly older than our normal crowd, in fact I think we were the youngest people there who didnt have parents or a nanny following us around. Most everyone was friendly and in a good mood. It was rather pleasant to swap dive stories around the swim-up bar
As far as drinks, they are plentiful and slightly watered down, although not as much as other AIs I have stayed at. The lobby bar makes the best drinks hands down. In fact when hanging next to the pool its worth it to go to the lobby to get the best drinks. Gotta ask for top (well ok, middle) shelf drinks. Don Julio Silver is kept under the bar. Was told Grey Goose was not available until I spied it in an open cabinet.
The food was a pleasant surprise. I pretty much always assume AIs have sort of blah food but this place was the exception. Breakfast, for example, had a lot of variety of selection. The 3 indoor restaurants were good; my favorite was the Italian one where you had to wear long pants. One tip is to get the fish tacos at the lunch buffet very good. Stay away from the poolside grill.
The location is great. Right close to the center of town. It was very easy to go out for drinks, although honestly there isnt much of a nightlife in Cozumel. Our nights out on the town primarily consisted of going to Viva Mexico and listening to the Red Eye Band who, by the way, are really fun. That lead singer has a hell of a voice. The only downside of the location is that there really isnt much of a beach, more like a small patch of sand
All in all, Cozumel Palace really fit what we wanted to do. Our group came into town all on different days and it made it real easy to meet up after dives. I would definitely do it again but would also consider other options such as Aldora Villas. Which brings me to my next subject
Aldora Divers.
When I write reports/reviews, I really try not to sound like a cheerleader for specific dive ops. That is not possible here. Aldora Divers essentially really made our trip great. I picked Aldora after some local Nor Cal divers recommended them to us. Dave was really easy to get a hold of and it was obvious that he really cared about running his op well. We all put in reservations online with our different schedules. The day we got into Coz we showed up with our gear at the shop, which was carefully bagged for the boats.
My previous experiences are that dive ops can be generally placed into two broad categories. Big operations with big boats or boutique small boat ops. Aldora seems like a big op that gives off a boutique personalized feel. They run a number of six-packs and a larger boat which is spacious and comfortable and fast. The real key is that Aldora really spends a lot of effort putting divers with similar experience levels on the same boats. On the days that our entire group was not in town, we were always with other divers who pretty much matched us well. This is important especially when doing drift dives. Fortunately most of the time we had six divers so had a six-pack to ourselves and pretty much did whatever we wanted
The day of the dives is a piece of cake. Really top service, all the gear is setup well and you really only have to bring your wetsuit, which was not a problem at all. The boats are all fast and well maintained. There is shade on the boats and in general they are very comfortable. The crew is top notch, always there to help you out when getting ready. SIs are done at Mr Sanchos which is a beach club where you can chill and get some food and use the restrooms and outdoor showers. One of the days we just went to a secluded pier at our request and had a beach to ourselves (plus a pair of lovers who thought they were having a romantic moment).
All of our dives except for the first day were done with Pepe as our DM/Instructor. This dude was awesome. We explained to him the differences in our experience levels and he was able to make the dives comfortable for our newbie and totally interesting for our more experienced divers. Really, he totally had a huge focus on making sure we did all the kinds of diving we wanted and had fun. We didnt do the same dive site twice not once in our entire week of diving there. Before each dive Pepe gave a detailed briefing about what to expect and we had no surprises at all. He also spent a lot of effort making sure that our new diver was cool with what we were doing. Every morning he had a huge smile as he asked us what we wanted to do that day. Wreck dive done. Palancar Caves sure. Devils Throat no problem (although our beginner diver sat this one out). We pretty much did whatever our hearts desired for an entire week underwater. It was also fun hanging with him for a couple nights and sharing a beer.
Would I dive with Aldora again. Absolutely. These guys were literally the best dive op I have ever been with. I dont think this was much of a secret as all the other divers we met on their boats were seriously experienced divers who pretty much only dove with Aldora. Kind of a different crowd from the guys we saw diving with the house dive shop at our resort.
As for the diving itself. Well, it was pretty much amazing. Again, probably the most fun week of diving I have ever had. The viz was better than Bonaire!! The underwater formations were varied and we must have been entertained with several dozen fun swim-throughs. Palancar Caves was my favorite site of all. Also Devils Throat was really awesome. The water temp was a little colder than I expected but still I didnt need a wetsuit, just did a neoprene vest, rash guard and board shorts and was fine. My girlfriend, however, felt her shortie was insufficient and got a shop full suit. We experienced some serious currents on our drifts, but never any of those dreaded down currents we had heard about.
Here is a compilation of the videos that I took on the trip, most have been posted previously already. There are links to the full screen versions on Vimeo. Enjoy!
This is Cozumel
https://vimeo.com/92121447
[video=vimeo;92121447]https://vimeo.com/92121447[/video]
Palancar Caves
https://vimeo.com/91452616
[video=vimeo;91452616]https://vimeo.com/91452616[/video]
C-53 Wreck
https://vimeo.com/91363821
[video=vimeo;91363821]https://vimeo.com/91363821[/video]
Devil's Throat
https://vimeo.com/91281504
[video=vimeo;91281504]https://vimeo.com/91281504[/video]
Coastin' Cozumel
https://vimeo.com/92376421
[video=vimeo;92376421]https://vimeo.com/92376421[/video]
This is my report from my 10 day first time trip to Cozumel in the first few days of April. I went with my girlfriend and 4 other divers of varying experience levels from 100+ dives to a newly minted OW. Also went with another couple who were not divers but stayed with us to party. We were all first timers to Cozumel but most of us have gone on dive trips together to places such as Koh Tao, Koh Phi Phi, Bonaire, Belize, Roatan, Curacao, etc. This is a two part review, first of Cozumel Palace and second of Aldora divers. Afterwards is a compilation of my trip videos.
Cozumel Palace.
We chose this place to stay after a lot of debate but ultimately were drawn to the central location and the well reviewed food/drinks. Thought that it would be a good choice since we had two non-divers with us. When we first got there after a redeye flight, we were immediately presented with non-alcoholic refreshments and some of us got our rooms immediately (at noon). However since there was a wide range of housekeeping completions, my girlfriend and I didnt get our rooms until after 4. Just sat around for a couple hours kinda tired and dirty waiting at the bar, but started drinking to pass the time. Drinking would become a central theme to our stay there. Booked an Oceanside suite with balcony but they were completely full so we got an alleyway view of Cozumel for our first night which was a bummer but they moved us after the first night.
The place was small for a resort, which is understandable being that it is in the center of town. Really nicely maintained with classy appearing marble floors. Yes they did get slippery when wet but not enough to be a broken-hip hazard despite what Mossman says. The staff was crazy attentive. Someone leaves a napkin at a table, and its cleaned in a minute. Floors are constantly being cleaned. You finish a drink at a poolside lounge and someone asks if you want another. Really couldnt ask for any better service. Also the staff was exceptionally friendly.
The pool gets crowded at times and sometimes its hard to find a lounge chair, but oh well, thats what you call a first world problem. The demographics of the guests there is slightly older than our normal crowd, in fact I think we were the youngest people there who didnt have parents or a nanny following us around. Most everyone was friendly and in a good mood. It was rather pleasant to swap dive stories around the swim-up bar
As far as drinks, they are plentiful and slightly watered down, although not as much as other AIs I have stayed at. The lobby bar makes the best drinks hands down. In fact when hanging next to the pool its worth it to go to the lobby to get the best drinks. Gotta ask for top (well ok, middle) shelf drinks. Don Julio Silver is kept under the bar. Was told Grey Goose was not available until I spied it in an open cabinet.
The food was a pleasant surprise. I pretty much always assume AIs have sort of blah food but this place was the exception. Breakfast, for example, had a lot of variety of selection. The 3 indoor restaurants were good; my favorite was the Italian one where you had to wear long pants. One tip is to get the fish tacos at the lunch buffet very good. Stay away from the poolside grill.
The location is great. Right close to the center of town. It was very easy to go out for drinks, although honestly there isnt much of a nightlife in Cozumel. Our nights out on the town primarily consisted of going to Viva Mexico and listening to the Red Eye Band who, by the way, are really fun. That lead singer has a hell of a voice. The only downside of the location is that there really isnt much of a beach, more like a small patch of sand
All in all, Cozumel Palace really fit what we wanted to do. Our group came into town all on different days and it made it real easy to meet up after dives. I would definitely do it again but would also consider other options such as Aldora Villas. Which brings me to my next subject
Aldora Divers.
When I write reports/reviews, I really try not to sound like a cheerleader for specific dive ops. That is not possible here. Aldora Divers essentially really made our trip great. I picked Aldora after some local Nor Cal divers recommended them to us. Dave was really easy to get a hold of and it was obvious that he really cared about running his op well. We all put in reservations online with our different schedules. The day we got into Coz we showed up with our gear at the shop, which was carefully bagged for the boats.
My previous experiences are that dive ops can be generally placed into two broad categories. Big operations with big boats or boutique small boat ops. Aldora seems like a big op that gives off a boutique personalized feel. They run a number of six-packs and a larger boat which is spacious and comfortable and fast. The real key is that Aldora really spends a lot of effort putting divers with similar experience levels on the same boats. On the days that our entire group was not in town, we were always with other divers who pretty much matched us well. This is important especially when doing drift dives. Fortunately most of the time we had six divers so had a six-pack to ourselves and pretty much did whatever we wanted
The day of the dives is a piece of cake. Really top service, all the gear is setup well and you really only have to bring your wetsuit, which was not a problem at all. The boats are all fast and well maintained. There is shade on the boats and in general they are very comfortable. The crew is top notch, always there to help you out when getting ready. SIs are done at Mr Sanchos which is a beach club where you can chill and get some food and use the restrooms and outdoor showers. One of the days we just went to a secluded pier at our request and had a beach to ourselves (plus a pair of lovers who thought they were having a romantic moment).
All of our dives except for the first day were done with Pepe as our DM/Instructor. This dude was awesome. We explained to him the differences in our experience levels and he was able to make the dives comfortable for our newbie and totally interesting for our more experienced divers. Really, he totally had a huge focus on making sure we did all the kinds of diving we wanted and had fun. We didnt do the same dive site twice not once in our entire week of diving there. Before each dive Pepe gave a detailed briefing about what to expect and we had no surprises at all. He also spent a lot of effort making sure that our new diver was cool with what we were doing. Every morning he had a huge smile as he asked us what we wanted to do that day. Wreck dive done. Palancar Caves sure. Devils Throat no problem (although our beginner diver sat this one out). We pretty much did whatever our hearts desired for an entire week underwater. It was also fun hanging with him for a couple nights and sharing a beer.
Would I dive with Aldora again. Absolutely. These guys were literally the best dive op I have ever been with. I dont think this was much of a secret as all the other divers we met on their boats were seriously experienced divers who pretty much only dove with Aldora. Kind of a different crowd from the guys we saw diving with the house dive shop at our resort.
As for the diving itself. Well, it was pretty much amazing. Again, probably the most fun week of diving I have ever had. The viz was better than Bonaire!! The underwater formations were varied and we must have been entertained with several dozen fun swim-throughs. Palancar Caves was my favorite site of all. Also Devils Throat was really awesome. The water temp was a little colder than I expected but still I didnt need a wetsuit, just did a neoprene vest, rash guard and board shorts and was fine. My girlfriend, however, felt her shortie was insufficient and got a shop full suit. We experienced some serious currents on our drifts, but never any of those dreaded down currents we had heard about.
Here is a compilation of the videos that I took on the trip, most have been posted previously already. There are links to the full screen versions on Vimeo. Enjoy!
This is Cozumel
https://vimeo.com/92121447
[video=vimeo;92121447]https://vimeo.com/92121447[/video]
Palancar Caves
https://vimeo.com/91452616
[video=vimeo;91452616]https://vimeo.com/91452616[/video]
C-53 Wreck
https://vimeo.com/91363821
[video=vimeo;91363821]https://vimeo.com/91363821[/video]
Devil's Throat
https://vimeo.com/91281504
[video=vimeo;91281504]https://vimeo.com/91281504[/video]
Coastin' Cozumel
https://vimeo.com/92376421
[video=vimeo;92376421]https://vimeo.com/92376421[/video]
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![13900078908_636840d867_o.jpg](http://[URL="https://flic.kr/p/nbixbU"][IMG]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7179/13900078908_636840d867_o.jpg)
