Trying to Plan trip to Cozumel...need suggestions!

[waynel]

I just got back from 8 days at Hotel Cozumel. Christi, and others are correct. If you have a 12 year old, Hotel Cozumel is best. The actually have scheduled activities for kids his age all day long. The buffet food on AI is not the best, but most the kids went for the hamburgers, nachos, quesadillias etc. and you he can get it himself. They also have a great dock for your husband's dive op to pick him up. He can store his gear in a big locker right at the dock, with a couple of nice wash basins for the gear and showers for the divers. Again, if you're thinking AI is going to have 5 star food, you won't find it at Hotel Cozumel, or anywhere else for that matter. It's not a cruise ship, it's a dive resort for serious divers who also want something for families members to do while diving. Downtown is a very short and nice walk and a cab is only 3 or 4 dollars US, depending on the cab. If they ask you for $5 US, tell them no. It's just a driver trying to rip you off (happens all over the world).

Bottom line, while my wife and I have no children and want to explore other resorts on the island. I would recommend Hotel Cozumel for your situation.

 

[I'm a Dork Fish]

Wow, Thank you to everyone. The suggestions have been very helpful.

Here are a few updates...

Unfortunately, my husband's boss did not approve his vacation for the 1st week in July. So now we are left with picking a new date. We are trying to do the 2nd week in July. <shrug>

This will be my husband and my sons first dives. So they are definitley not experienced. My husband wants to stick with the afternoon dives because our son can only go down to a max of 60-70feet. The am dives are deeper. I am not sure if you can get the faster boats for this trip. It may not even be needed????

parrotheaddiver - This is nice to know about the lockers. Thanks

niu roadkill - We went to that show also but I found when you add in the airfare, it really was no deal. Airfare out of O'hare is running 500 - 520. grrrr

fin59 - We will definitely look into that. The only problem...because we are new, we really do not know what to look for in a dive OP.

loudives - this is what I was thinking also. I have spent way too much time researching all of this. It is very over-whelming. You recommend Christi at Bluextsea, why is this? Do they pick you up from the hotel dock?

 

[DandyDon]

loudives - this is what I was thinking also. I have spent way too much time researching all of this. It is very over-whelming. You recommend Christi at Bluextsea, why is this? Do they pick you up from the hotel dock?

There are many great Ops on the island, some cheap & basic, some higher priced but usually worth it. BlueXTseaDiving seems to be the ultimate in quality and safety. This is certainly true of the handful I have dived with, and while some others might be equal, there could be none better. If you're gonna shop, do your comparisons with that in mind.

You can find shallower, beginner boat trips in the morning, and many Ops do not do seperate afternoon trips.

 

[pilot fish]

DorkFish, since price is a big consideration for you, and these are the first dives for your son and husband, I recommend the onsite Dive Op, Dive Paradise, because they are cheaper and will take your son and husband to the closer, shallower sites in the more comfortable larger boats. Hope this helps?

Wow, Thank you to everyone. The suggestions have been very helpful.

Here are a few updates...

Unfortunately, my husband's boss did not approve his vacation for the 1st week in July. So now we are left with picking a new date. We are trying to do the 2nd week in July. <shrug>

This will be my husband and my sons first dives. So they are definitley not experienced. My husband wants to stick with the afternoon dives because our son can only go down to a max of 60-70feet. The am dives are deeper. I am not sure if you can get the faster boats for this trip. It may not even be needed????

parrotheaddiver - This is nice to know about the lockers. Thanks

niu roadkill - We went to that show also but I found when you add in the airfare, it really was no deal. Airfare out of O'hare is running 500 - 520. grrrr

fin59 - We will definitely look into that. The only problem...because we are new, we really do not know what to look for in a dive OP.

loudives - this is what I was thinking also. I have spent way too much time researching all of this. It is very over-whelming. You recommend Christi at Bluextsea, why is this? Do they pick you up from the hotel dock?

 

[pilot fish]

What Don says is correct, if you can afford a few extra dollars, go with Blue XT. They are worth the few extra bucks. Dive Paradise is good too but much slower.

There are many great Ops on the island, some cheap & basic, some higher priced but usually worth it. BlueXTseaDiving seems to be the ultimate in quality and safety. This is certainly true of the handful I have dived with, and while some others might be equal, there could be none better. If you're gonna shop, do your comparisons with that in mind.

 

[ggunn]

There are many great Ops on the island, some cheap & basic, some higher priced but usually worth it. BlueXTseaDiving seems to be the ultimate in quality and safety. This is certainly true of the handful I have dived with, and while some others might be equal, there could be none better. If you're gonna shop, do your comparisons with that in mind.

You can find shallower, beginner boat trips in the morning, and many Ops do not do seperate afternoon trips.

Wow, Don, what a hat! ;^)

 

[tlmainer]

Did you ever try Funjet for air/hotel AI package? It would not include diving but you can get some great deals and book diving seperate. You can get air/hotel AI out of Dallas or Houston for approx $400-$450 p/person including all taxes/transfers etc. We've been getting the same price w/Funjet for 10 years.

 

[ReefHound]

Did you ever try Funjet for air/hotel AI package? It would not include diving but you can get some great deals and book diving seperate. You can get air/hotel AI out of Dallas or Houston for approx $400-$450 p/person including all taxes/transfers etc. We've been getting the same price w/Funjet for 10 years.

Funjet used to be a lot better 10 years or so ago when they had good working relationships with charter airlines and most hotels. In the past several years most of their packages are on commercial air (at least out of Houston) with a corresponding bump in price to where they are no longer the best deal out there. Used to be nobody could touch their prices. Plus they are very rigid with departure dates and number of nights.

 

[loudives]

Christi is very safety oriented. Has the best boat captain on the Island (Hector aka Mago) and has very good divemasters. She has 2 fast boats so can probably get what you need. Picks up at the pier also keeps your gear. I go with her when my guy is booked or he has no others. My guy will not pick up that far north thats why I will not recommend him to you, you seem to want to save $ and have the convenience. It would cost you 10 to get to the marina and back.
There are many other good operators on the Island. Blue Angel which is just a 5 min. walk south of Hotel Cozumel at Caribe Blue hotel is an option also they are good with novice divers. BTW Caribe Blue is a nice no frills hotel with large rooms, on the water, small pool, AC, TV, small snack shop for breakfast ($5) and lunch ($7). 15 minute walk to town or $5 cab, not an AI . No activities, no bar, just a nice relaxing place on the water. www.travelnotes.cc has good prices for them. about 75-85 a night.

 

[loudives]

The problem you have is that the tour operators don't have charters to coz from Chicago in July. The air price will be around 500 each. Sometimes you get a sale to Cancun then bus and ferry to Coz but if you never did that trip before it can be overwhelming.