As most of you, I only get to go on 1-2 dive trips a year and therefore thoroughly research my options before deciding where to spend my limited dollars and time. This was the same approach I took when choosing to go to Scuba Club Cozumel and therefore would like to help the next person who researches SCC with my input. Again, just my opinion and take on the place. (shielding from rocks being thrown 
)
I know this is a contentious topic with a lot of opinions. I know SCC has a lot of fans and we met plenty of them when we were there who had been to SCC 5, 10, 20 and more times than they can count. We also met several people who were in agreement with us that this trip was their first and last time there. I will also say with Cozumel being relatively cheap and easy to get to, we really wanted to become avid fans.
First, a little about me so you know my perspective. My partner and I have been certified for 3 years with over 175 dives logged each in 6 different Caribbean locations. We typically dive Nitrox and stay above 100’. We like fairly easy dives with lots of life to see with long bottom times. We don’t generally go for wreck dives or dive places just to check it off a list
I am also going to separate out the dive operations from the hotel itself as I don’t think it’s fair to review them together.
Hotel
Rooms
Despite other reviews, we actually thought the hotel was fine. No, it’s not a 5* resort, but it was clean, big enough for 2 people, had good A/C, hot water, plentiful drinking water, decent WI-FI and was comfortable enough. Our room (I assume all rooms) had a mini-fridge which was great for cold beverages. The bed and pillows were a bit lumpy, but if you are tired enough from diving, you won’t care. It also accommodated divers with large patios to dry your gear with a rack and hangers. It’s always difficult when you stay somewhere and don’t dive on property to store and dry your gear. We also appreciated the lockers outside to store less valuable gear.
Food
Based on other reviews we saw, we decided not to do the dinner package, but only do breakfast and lunch. So we can’t comment on dinner.
The food was fine. It was a good mix of basic Mexican and American. Which was good for me as I don’t like Mexican food. I didn’t go hungry, but it was far from gourmet. There were hit and misses. If you don’t like the dessert, be sure to ask for ice cream. If you are a vegetarian you might have a hard time. I think there was a veggie burger and that’s about it. There was plenty to eat and lots of fresh fruit. It was fine. I wasn’t blown away, but like I said, I didn’t starve either.
Location
The hotel was a little south of town. About a 5 minute walk from a big grocery store and 15 minutes from town center. We walked to dinner and sometimes walked back or took a cab. A cab one way was about $5 USD. We tried to find more “local” places for dinner where we were the only Gringos. We recommend El Pique. Always felt safe and never had any problems. I know some people complained about the proprietor harassment. Compared to other touristy areas I have been too, I really didn’t find it that bad. We were also never in town while a cruise ship was in, so maybe it’s worse during that time. If you said “No Gracias” you were left alone.
Service
Again, this wasn’t a 5* hotel. The service was adequate. It ranged from indifference to very nice and friendly. Our room was always very clean and had plenty of towels.
Overall, the hotel facilities were fine. Nothing to complain about.
What I didn’t like was the emphasis on tipping. I know this is customary and I feel the same everywhere I go when tipping is so stressed. I would rather see them charge more and pay their employees a wage that didn’t rely so heavily on tips and let me tip extraordinary service at my discretion rather than feeling if I don’t tip someone they won’t be able to pay their rent.
Dive Operations/Shop
Unfortunately, we were less impressed with the dive operations. We spoke to several people that had visited SCC over and over we heard about professionalism and safety and we just didn’t see it. We did 16 dives over 6 days.
Land operations
Nothing special. We just were not blown away. I will say they wouldn’t let me analyze my partner’s tanks without him present. I know $10 a tank for Nitrox is a standard for smaller dive shops, but I think a bulk operation like this, the price per tank is high.
They only change the rinse tank 1x day. (eww, after 40 people rinse their stuff) and I asked for an tank to be refilled and although they did it, it was with a bit of annoyance.
The sign up process for extra dives is a little wacky. Understandably, they have minimums for special and extra dives like afternoon and night dives, but you can’t sign up until the day of and then you don’t know if enough people sign up until after lunch some times. So it makes it hard to plan. Also, it made it hard if you knew which day you wanted to have a special dive, you couldn’t sign up in advance and try to get enough people. We were lucky we found other people that wanted to do our schedule, but we could have easily not.
There was one land op guy that was really nice and helpful, but everyone else was okay… one guy downright grumpy.
Boat and boat Crew
This is where things were less than stellar. I will say they were eager to be helpful, but obviously not divers nor have been diving. Over our 16 dives, on 3 occasions the air was not turned on before getting off the boat (I caught mine right before getting off and 2 other people after in the water). That is simply not okay and inexcusable to me. This is the first time I have ever been on the boat where someone didn’t check the air right before you leapt off. There were also several occasions that my equipment wasn’t set up correctly. I prefer to set up my own gear, but the crew would try to stop you if they saw you setting up your gear and then I had to redo it because it wasn’t right. There were no safety briefing of the boat, if you needed to abort a dive, the boat needed to abort the dive or where the emergency equipment was kept. Heck, I didn’t even know there was a bathroom on the boat until someone told me. I will say they were very helpful in getting you out of the water and helping you get your BC off.
We were provided plenty of juice and water, but considering we left at 8:30 and don’t return until 1 at the earliest, it was surprising fruit or snacks weren’t also provided.
The boats themselves seemed fine and in working order. No complaints about the boats.
Divemasters
We dove with 3 different masters. One dive master was terrible and unsafe, one was middle of the road and one was really good.
I won’t really go into the ones that were fine, but the one that was terrible, here are my proof points: Again, a lackluster safety briefing. Our first dive, although we had done drift diving before, we were really not prepared for the currents and he kept stopping and zipping around making it really hard to keep up. He knew it was our first dive there. He also didn’t let us know what to do if we needed to abort. At that point I wanted to change DMs, but my partner convinced me to stick it out with him. We also later learned since there are so many dive boats, if another picks you up, what channel to use to get the SCC boat, this DM with our several dives with him, never mentioned that.
We then went on a dive where he told everyone to get in and descend because of the current. We were the last ones off the boat by maybe 60 seconds and when we got down there was no one there with at least 100-150 ft of visibility. Again a lackluster briefing was “if the current is one way, we will follow it or we may follow it the other way” We follow the current for a bit, shake our noise makers and nothing. So after a few minutes we aborted the dive. The dive crew was good at seeing us and picking us up, but there was no reason for us to get down there and not find anyone. If the current is that strong, then they should throw a drag line for everyone to hang on and descend together. Before that dive, we had earlier agreed to go to Devil’s Throat (100-130’ swim through, but after getting left behind, we decided we would not feel safe going with this DM. When those who went returned, they said the same DM lost 2 people on each of the dives that morning, including the deep swim through.
Overall, I think the biggest difference was the attitude of the DMs. Most places we have been to, the DMs are there because they LOVE diving and are really passionate about it. It was apparent at SCC, that this was just their job and how they make a living. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it was just an attitudinal adjustment from what we have seen in other DMs.
The Dives
The dives themselves were nice. Good visibility, lots of critters. We saw a good bit of turtles and rays. The current was tough. There were places it was fine and others it felt like you couldn’t stop if you wanted to. I really like taking pictures underwater, so the current made it difficult and therefore my dives less enjoyable, but I can see how some people like to just ride the current and go. Also, it’s a pretty long boat ride out and back every day. Usually an hour out and 30-45 minutes back depending where the second dive is.
The house reef is actually pretty nice. We only did it once, but I wish I had done it as a night dive as well. Not much coral, but lots of critters. Great for taking pictures. During just one house reef dive, we saw a flounder, a few rays, star fish, several eels, several lobsters and lots of anemones and urchins.
If even after this review, you still want to go to SCC are some tips:
1. Get the lockers away from the dive shop. There is a nice shaded table and a fresh shower there. There does not seem to be a fresh water source at the other lockers. The other lockers may be a little closer to the boat, but we liked this area better.
2. If you know what “extra” dives you want, try to recruit other people to meet the minimum requirements before the day of
3. I can’t say if you shouldn’t get the dinner plan, but we enjoyed going out for dinner and it was significantly less expensive.
4. Use pesos. Everywhere takes dollars, but most places didn’t have the best exchange rate.
5. Don't forget to bring padlocks.
6. BTW, if you do the Cenotes, we LOVED Cenotes Experience.
I hope this review helps you. Happy diving.
)I know this is a contentious topic with a lot of opinions. I know SCC has a lot of fans and we met plenty of them when we were there who had been to SCC 5, 10, 20 and more times than they can count. We also met several people who were in agreement with us that this trip was their first and last time there. I will also say with Cozumel being relatively cheap and easy to get to, we really wanted to become avid fans.
First, a little about me so you know my perspective. My partner and I have been certified for 3 years with over 175 dives logged each in 6 different Caribbean locations. We typically dive Nitrox and stay above 100’. We like fairly easy dives with lots of life to see with long bottom times. We don’t generally go for wreck dives or dive places just to check it off a list
I am also going to separate out the dive operations from the hotel itself as I don’t think it’s fair to review them together.
Hotel
Rooms
Despite other reviews, we actually thought the hotel was fine. No, it’s not a 5* resort, but it was clean, big enough for 2 people, had good A/C, hot water, plentiful drinking water, decent WI-FI and was comfortable enough. Our room (I assume all rooms) had a mini-fridge which was great for cold beverages. The bed and pillows were a bit lumpy, but if you are tired enough from diving, you won’t care. It also accommodated divers with large patios to dry your gear with a rack and hangers. It’s always difficult when you stay somewhere and don’t dive on property to store and dry your gear. We also appreciated the lockers outside to store less valuable gear.
Food
Based on other reviews we saw, we decided not to do the dinner package, but only do breakfast and lunch. So we can’t comment on dinner.
The food was fine. It was a good mix of basic Mexican and American. Which was good for me as I don’t like Mexican food. I didn’t go hungry, but it was far from gourmet. There were hit and misses. If you don’t like the dessert, be sure to ask for ice cream. If you are a vegetarian you might have a hard time. I think there was a veggie burger and that’s about it. There was plenty to eat and lots of fresh fruit. It was fine. I wasn’t blown away, but like I said, I didn’t starve either.
Location
The hotel was a little south of town. About a 5 minute walk from a big grocery store and 15 minutes from town center. We walked to dinner and sometimes walked back or took a cab. A cab one way was about $5 USD. We tried to find more “local” places for dinner where we were the only Gringos. We recommend El Pique. Always felt safe and never had any problems. I know some people complained about the proprietor harassment. Compared to other touristy areas I have been too, I really didn’t find it that bad. We were also never in town while a cruise ship was in, so maybe it’s worse during that time. If you said “No Gracias” you were left alone.
Service
Again, this wasn’t a 5* hotel. The service was adequate. It ranged from indifference to very nice and friendly. Our room was always very clean and had plenty of towels.
Overall, the hotel facilities were fine. Nothing to complain about.
What I didn’t like was the emphasis on tipping. I know this is customary and I feel the same everywhere I go when tipping is so stressed. I would rather see them charge more and pay their employees a wage that didn’t rely so heavily on tips and let me tip extraordinary service at my discretion rather than feeling if I don’t tip someone they won’t be able to pay their rent.
Dive Operations/Shop
Unfortunately, we were less impressed with the dive operations. We spoke to several people that had visited SCC over and over we heard about professionalism and safety and we just didn’t see it. We did 16 dives over 6 days.
Land operations
Nothing special. We just were not blown away. I will say they wouldn’t let me analyze my partner’s tanks without him present. I know $10 a tank for Nitrox is a standard for smaller dive shops, but I think a bulk operation like this, the price per tank is high.
They only change the rinse tank 1x day. (eww, after 40 people rinse their stuff) and I asked for an tank to be refilled and although they did it, it was with a bit of annoyance.
The sign up process for extra dives is a little wacky. Understandably, they have minimums for special and extra dives like afternoon and night dives, but you can’t sign up until the day of and then you don’t know if enough people sign up until after lunch some times. So it makes it hard to plan. Also, it made it hard if you knew which day you wanted to have a special dive, you couldn’t sign up in advance and try to get enough people. We were lucky we found other people that wanted to do our schedule, but we could have easily not.
There was one land op guy that was really nice and helpful, but everyone else was okay… one guy downright grumpy.
Boat and boat Crew
This is where things were less than stellar. I will say they were eager to be helpful, but obviously not divers nor have been diving. Over our 16 dives, on 3 occasions the air was not turned on before getting off the boat (I caught mine right before getting off and 2 other people after in the water). That is simply not okay and inexcusable to me. This is the first time I have ever been on the boat where someone didn’t check the air right before you leapt off. There were also several occasions that my equipment wasn’t set up correctly. I prefer to set up my own gear, but the crew would try to stop you if they saw you setting up your gear and then I had to redo it because it wasn’t right. There were no safety briefing of the boat, if you needed to abort a dive, the boat needed to abort the dive or where the emergency equipment was kept. Heck, I didn’t even know there was a bathroom on the boat until someone told me. I will say they were very helpful in getting you out of the water and helping you get your BC off.
We were provided plenty of juice and water, but considering we left at 8:30 and don’t return until 1 at the earliest, it was surprising fruit or snacks weren’t also provided.
The boats themselves seemed fine and in working order. No complaints about the boats.
Divemasters
We dove with 3 different masters. One dive master was terrible and unsafe, one was middle of the road and one was really good.
I won’t really go into the ones that were fine, but the one that was terrible, here are my proof points: Again, a lackluster safety briefing. Our first dive, although we had done drift diving before, we were really not prepared for the currents and he kept stopping and zipping around making it really hard to keep up. He knew it was our first dive there. He also didn’t let us know what to do if we needed to abort. At that point I wanted to change DMs, but my partner convinced me to stick it out with him. We also later learned since there are so many dive boats, if another picks you up, what channel to use to get the SCC boat, this DM with our several dives with him, never mentioned that.
We then went on a dive where he told everyone to get in and descend because of the current. We were the last ones off the boat by maybe 60 seconds and when we got down there was no one there with at least 100-150 ft of visibility. Again a lackluster briefing was “if the current is one way, we will follow it or we may follow it the other way” We follow the current for a bit, shake our noise makers and nothing. So after a few minutes we aborted the dive. The dive crew was good at seeing us and picking us up, but there was no reason for us to get down there and not find anyone. If the current is that strong, then they should throw a drag line for everyone to hang on and descend together. Before that dive, we had earlier agreed to go to Devil’s Throat (100-130’
swim through, but after getting left behind, we decided we would not feel safe going with this DM. When those who went returned, they said the same DM lost 2 people on each of the dives that morning, including the deep swim through. Overall, I think the biggest difference was the attitude of the DMs. Most places we have been to, the DMs are there because they LOVE diving and are really passionate about it. It was apparent at SCC, that this was just their job and how they make a living. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it was just an attitudinal adjustment from what we have seen in other DMs.
The Dives
The dives themselves were nice. Good visibility, lots of critters. We saw a good bit of turtles and rays. The current was tough. There were places it was fine and others it felt like you couldn’t stop if you wanted to. I really like taking pictures underwater, so the current made it difficult and therefore my dives less enjoyable, but I can see how some people like to just ride the current and go. Also, it’s a pretty long boat ride out and back every day. Usually an hour out and 30-45 minutes back depending where the second dive is.
The house reef is actually pretty nice. We only did it once, but I wish I had done it as a night dive as well. Not much coral, but lots of critters. Great for taking pictures. During just one house reef dive, we saw a flounder, a few rays, star fish, several eels, several lobsters and lots of anemones and urchins.
If even after this review, you still want to go to SCC are some tips:
1. Get the lockers away from the dive shop. There is a nice shaded table and a fresh shower there. There does not seem to be a fresh water source at the other lockers. The other lockers may be a little closer to the boat, but we liked this area better.
2. If you know what “extra” dives you want, try to recruit other people to meet the minimum requirements before the day of
3. I can’t say if you shouldn’t get the dinner plan, but we enjoyed going out for dinner and it was significantly less expensive.
4. Use pesos. Everywhere takes dollars, but most places didn’t have the best exchange rate.
5. Don't forget to bring padlocks.
6. BTW, if you do the Cenotes, we LOVED Cenotes Experience.
I hope this review helps you. Happy diving.
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