Trip Report Scuba Club Cozumel Jan 28 2012

[cvchief]

Ben, that isnt exactly fair. SCC doesn't provide food for the entire island of Cozumel. I won't compare Islands, but I would say I have had a bunch a terrific meals on Cozumel. Several places I have been to serve 'food network fancy' plates at Denny's prices.

 

[nodakdive]

Personally, the second post gave me the urge to write what I did. I can understand how someone could book a trip to Scuba Club, show up to an entirely full Scuba Club, and not have their expectations met. Not because of Scuba Club, but because one could get the impression that they're supposed to arrive at diver nirvana and not realize that, as Mike said, you get what you pay for. And I say that with all due respect to Scuba Club, because as I said, I think they provide a great option. Just not for the OP, and with the post made by same, it seemed pretty clear that there were unmet expectations that, to those of us who know better about Cozumel, were possibly a little, oh, jaded sounding maybe, but the written word comes off far differently than the spoken word does. I've had buddies with me that didn't know the ropes, didn't listen to my explanation of the ropes, and then thought they needed to argue that they got charged for dives that they didn't do. Well, they called the dives off the morning of the dives. We had bad weather that week. The shop had a sick DM. My buddies were doing their AOW. The person at the desk wasn't the owner or who my buddies had been dealing with. The shops owner, Deborah of Deep Blue, was on her way in. And she did what? She ate the missed dives, actually ate a tank for each of the 3. (AOW is 5 dives, not an even 6. I won't go through all the details.) This is the kind of accommodation I've seen in Cozumel, not just at Deborah's shop, but at other establishments as well. And God Bless anybody running a dive shop down there, and God Bless Scuba Club Cozumel. In my book, most of them make it look easy, and it ain't.

So, did the OP do all the necessary research to ensure his/her best time? Maybe not, but the person did post about his experience, and the only way to point out that there may have been, or are, better options is by responding with some directed feedback. Hey, for the record, and get your napalm ready those of you that need to, I sorta wish all the cruise ships would go away, and take most of the non-diving vacationers with them.

I'll save ya the napalm. I've doused myself with gasoline. Just light the match and toss it at me. LOL

-Blair

 

[Mike]

in fact my favorite place to dive is Coco View which is hardly gourmet on food and Four Seasons accommodations. However, CCV has a system that works very well. I have never had a bad time there and have been many times. This trip was my first time back to Cozumel in 12 years. Don't be offended if I didn't like your island or resort, like another said be happy that I leave you more space there and move on.

I'm also admittedly confused that you've not given any cudos to the diving part of your trip. Disregarding a clip board incident, you didn't find your diving quite a notch or two higher than Roatan? If you've done a lot of your diving in Roatan, it seems pretty strange not to have been really excited about the differences between them or at least just the excitement of something different.

 

[robint]

well, now that I have your frame of reference, I can understand some of your gripes.
We have also been to CCV and SCC, and although they are different, we like them both. CCV is a step up for us as far as the resort, staff, and dive op for sure. They are both good for us though - more rustic accomodations (we don't like fancy) and freedom to dive on our own at both.

The dive op at SCC does have a system, though it is not as smooth as CCV -- but for a reason. SCC is 3x the size and has more divers to arrange. Also, the boat rides are longer in Cozumel. Being moved around on different boats happens due to the fact that everyone at SCC is not staying Sat to Sat, like at CCV. So as people leave the groups can get moved to different boats.

Food - CCV charges for sodas and beers also, so I don't get that issue. WE always walk down to Chedraui to get beer for our room fridge on arrival day. Roatan there is no option to do that... you buy at bar or go without.

diving - both have nice walls and swim-throughs but Cozumel as 10x the fishlife!


Roatan is much like Cozumel was 10-15 years ago, but that is changing due to ... gasp.... cruise ships. Grr.

just some thoughts....

robin

 

[nodakdive]

Roatan is much like Cozumel was 10-15 years ago, but that is changing due to ... gasp.... cruise ships. Grr.

just some thoughts....

robin

MUST...GET...TO...ROATAN....FAST!!!
-Blair

 

[cvchief]

Hey, for the record, and get your napalm ready those of you that need to, I sorta wish all the cruise ships would go away, and take most of the non-diving vacationers with them.

I'll save ya the napalm. I've doused myself with gasoline. Just light the match and toss it at me. LOL

-Blair

Well, ignoring the results for the people and place we go to now, who wouldn't want all the stuff that is there now without having to share it? The swineflu time was hell for the island, but I loved being there during it!

 

[nodakdive]

Well, ignoring the results for the people and place we go to now, who wouldn't want all the stuff that is there now without having to share it? The swineflu time was hell for the island, but I loved being there during it!

I hear ya. It was nice to have the restaurants to ourselves, even if it was a little sad.

I wonder if the new La Terraza will accept a reservations a month and a half early...?
Or maybe a dry ice delivery could be made this far north?

Some of "all the stuff" could go away too. About half the shops selling the same trinkets could disappear, and the rest would be busy enough that they wouldn't have time to yell "Hey!! Meatloaf!! Come buy my stuff!!".

Ok, that pretty much ended after I cut my hair, but some of them still harangue a little more than I like.

-Blair

 

[zrsteve]

My wife (non diver) and I spent last week at SCC with my LDS and this was our 1st trip to Cozumel. There were no surprises as the LDS informed us what should be expected. The rooms were good, the meals OK and the diving was great. My wife read, napped and walked around town everyday, and I dove every day. That's why we went to Cozumel. We'll be at Invasion 2012 and we'll return to SCC in 2013 with LDS, without hesitation.

 

[rickthescot]

Sorry I said nothing about the diving. It was great, although I don't know if I would classify it as better than Roatan, which I like due to the fact that there is little or no current making it easier to shoot pics. Sure there were more larger fish off Cozumel but I saw a dozen or so Seahorses last time off Roatan so I'd call it a draw.

 

[Sorrows]

It's a bit harder to get there [the Western Pacific]but worth it. Of course, different people like different things. Maybe you like McDonald's, maybe you don't.

As a matter of fact, I DON'T like McDonald's. And I, too, have been to "mecca" [Palau, in our case] and are planning a long, expensive trip to Lembeh next December. But this isn't an option for everybody for every vacation; no, Cozumel can't compare to the locations you mention--neither in bio-diversity OR in cost. What's a diver to do when he has neither the money nor the time for Micronesia--forego diving altogether?

It's been several years since our first visit to Cozumel, where we stayed at Scuba Club for Spring break; we are returning next week, again to SCC, again for Spring break. If there's a better deal for people who want to (comfortably) eat, sleep, and dive, then I haven't found it*--not in Bonaire, Utila, Belize, the Keys, certainly not in Cayman, and not even the beloved CCV in Roatan. So if you want a dive vacation that won't break the bank, with flights that are relatively painless and inexpensive, with decent and varied diving, Cozumel pretty much fits the bill, IMHO. And just because the diving isn't as good as the PI or Indonesia, doesn't mean it is without merit. That said, drift diving isn't for everybody, particularly UW photographers, for obvious reasons.

Of course, I may come back from SC and post an absolutely scathing report on the resort and Cozumel, but I hope not!

*Now, if YOU know of a better deal, for goodness' sake, SHARE!