Trip report for my Cozumel trip for the week of December 3, 2023.
Context / about me: this was my first visit to Cozumel. I was OW certified this summer and had 15 dives and 2 SSI specialties complete when I arrived. This was a solo trip for me. I'm a 35 year old man from the USA. This report is going to go heavy on logistics and light on diving, as that's what I was most curious about when planning my own trip as a first timer.
Lodging: stayed at Casa del Solar in Centro San Miguel. It was cheap ($45/night) and looked decent enough online. I was overall pleasantly surprised, but I did get a room in the older building (Rooms #1 & 2) which meant old bathrooms, not the pretty ones shown in most of the property's photo gallery. For the price, I was super pleased, but it is a little rough around the edges. The owner Teresa lives on property and is often around handling upkeep and talking with guests. The location is awesome for walking to restaurants, night life, and the pier my dive op picked up at. More on that later. I'd stay here again if I were planning another budget trip, but I'd get one of the apartment style rooms in the new building.
Diving op: I chose Salty Endeavors to dive with because of their positive reputation on SB and because they're an SSI shop. I planned to do a mix of specialities and fun dives. To date, all my courses have been SSI, and while I realize mixing is fine and common practice, I have a slight preference toward SSI so everything is in the same app. The courses and fun dives together would get me to SSI Advanced Open Water Diver (4 specialties + 24 dives in total). I'm just skipping the poorly-named SSI Advanced Adventurer cert which is the true equivalent to PADI Advanced Open Water.
Pre-arrival: Salty was very easy to communicate and plan with before my arrival. I opted to pursue the wreck and deep specialities as well as stress/rescue diver. Shamik in the office built out a schedule for me over 5 days of diving for my 7 night stay. I added on AL100 tanks with nitrox fills (EAN32) for most of the dives as I'm an air hog (something I was hoping to work on during this trip!).
Arrival: I made it to CZM easily on Southwest with a connection in Houston. I took Cozushuttle from the airport by following the instructions found in this forum. The instructions were spot on. I paid with cash USD, no issues. The driver wasn't familiar with my hotel, but showing him the address on Google maps did the job just fine. Staying downtown in Centro San Miguel meant I was the first dropoff, just 5 mins away from the airport.
Dive logistics: Salty picked me up on dive days at Aldora Pier, downtown, across the street from the Thirsty Cougar. This was a 10 minute walk from my hotel. Salty kept my dive gear after the first day, so the walk was very easy, right through the main square and down Melgar Avenue. Note that it costs $1 USD or $20 MXN to get picked up from Aldora Pier, paid to the security guard working the pier. You might not see him, but he will see you and get his dollar before you board. There is no shade nearby, so be ready to stand in the sun until the boat arrives. Salty was delayed for some of my afternoon pickups - which they communicated to me promptly by email and WhatsApp - and I was sure glad I had water, a long sleeve sun shirt, and a hat with me. Fwiw, all the morning pickups were on-time or even early.
Courses: I didn't know what to expect with respect to how big my classes were going to be. I basically just told Salty what I wanted to take, and they made it happen, so it seemed to be courses on demand. That turned out to be true. All my courses were one-on-one with the instructor. For deep & wreck, the dives were onboard a boat that also had divers doing "fun dives" with their own DM while I worked with my instructor separately. Julijana taught wreck and deep. Shamik taught stress/rescue. Both were excellent teachers and affable folks in general. The rescue course was taught as shore dives from Tiki-la Beach, a restaurant/beach club a bit south of downtown. On one day I was dropped off there after I finished my morning dives. On another, I went back to Aldora Pier and took a cab down to Tiki-la (~$120 MXN). One of the best parts about the surface interval at Tiki-la was that Javier the Churro Man came by both days and sold me some delicious filled churros. He's a super friendly guy, and you simply must get some churros if you see him. He carries them in a blue bucket - you can't miss him if he's nearby. As for the actual courses, Shamik's rescue course kicked my ass. He did a great job keeping it comprehensive and rigorous. I have read all too many threads on SB recounting wholly inadequate rescue diver courses. This wasn't one of those. In fact, I hauled my instructor out of the water and up the stairs to shore while he played "unconscious" so convincingly that some onlookers thought there was an actual emergency afoot. After, I was absolutely and completely exhausted, which seems to be by design, like would happen in an actual rescue scenario.
Dives: Viz was phenomenal (to me, anyway, coming from diving in NW Florida in the Gulf). Water temps were 82-84 F with no thermocline. I was comfy in my 3mm full suit, but most others wore just a rashguard and trunks. Only one day of diving got cancelled due to weather (Wed, Dec 6), but I did my CPR/AED/o2 classroom session for the stress/rescue class then.
Salty runs three boats, all pretty similar. They're fully covered and carry 8 or fewer divers, a captain, and a divemaster/instructor or two. I loved the group size. I honestly can't imagine diving a so-called cattle boat. The captains were super friendly (and pretty hilarious) and helpful getting into and out of the water. As is apparently the case across Cozumel, divers remove their BCD in the water and hand it to the captain, making climbing the ladder into the boat very easy. What luxury! I think the largest group I was ever in was 5 divers to one DM. Speaking of the DMs, they were uniformly excellent, truly masterful at their jobs. I'm pretty sure I was on the beginner boat, but the DMs did their best to ensure everyone was safe, saw what they wanted to see, and made it to around 60 mins bottom time. When the first diver got to 1000 psi, the DM would shoot his DSMB and when they hit 700ish, they'd do their safety stop. Everyone did not have to surface together, but pretty much everybody surfaced within 10 mins of one another.
We hit the C53 wreck (2x for my cert), Santa Rosa (x2), Yucab Reef, Santa Rosa shallows (night dive), San Francisco wall, Paradise Reef, La Francesa, and the shallows around Tiki-la. Only at Santa Rosa (and only once) did it ever feel crowded with other divers around. I saw tons of rays (4 kinds on a single dive) including some huge spotted eagle rays, some splendid toadfish, barracuda, and a big nurse shark on La Francesa. I'd like to have seen some other sharks, but there's always next time. Also the DMs were so good as finding toadfish that I think the toadfish may be on the payroll at Salty.
Food: There were tons of options within walking distance of my hotel in Centro. A few favorites were La Clasica (directly across from my hotel) and Ruta 25. La Clasica is a bit upscale Mexican fare with great cocktails. Ruta 25 is essentially a food truck parked in a building with stellar tacos, specifically Suadero and Al Pastor. The Pan Árabe is also not to be missed. It was super affordable too. Tacos are ~$20 MXN. Also grabbed a great breakfast burrito at Burritos Gordos and other good stuff for breakfast at Jolly.
Closing thoughts: I had a great time and hope to come back soon. I'd definitely dive with Salty Endeavors again!
Edit/PS: forgot to mention how easy it was to order taxis via Facebook messenger when needed! Here's their page: Taxis Cozumel | San Miguel de Cozumel
Context / about me: this was my first visit to Cozumel. I was OW certified this summer and had 15 dives and 2 SSI specialties complete when I arrived. This was a solo trip for me. I'm a 35 year old man from the USA. This report is going to go heavy on logistics and light on diving, as that's what I was most curious about when planning my own trip as a first timer.
Lodging: stayed at Casa del Solar in Centro San Miguel. It was cheap ($45/night) and looked decent enough online. I was overall pleasantly surprised, but I did get a room in the older building (Rooms #1 & 2) which meant old bathrooms, not the pretty ones shown in most of the property's photo gallery. For the price, I was super pleased, but it is a little rough around the edges. The owner Teresa lives on property and is often around handling upkeep and talking with guests. The location is awesome for walking to restaurants, night life, and the pier my dive op picked up at. More on that later. I'd stay here again if I were planning another budget trip, but I'd get one of the apartment style rooms in the new building.
Diving op: I chose Salty Endeavors to dive with because of their positive reputation on SB and because they're an SSI shop. I planned to do a mix of specialities and fun dives. To date, all my courses have been SSI, and while I realize mixing is fine and common practice, I have a slight preference toward SSI so everything is in the same app. The courses and fun dives together would get me to SSI Advanced Open Water Diver (4 specialties + 24 dives in total). I'm just skipping the poorly-named SSI Advanced Adventurer cert which is the true equivalent to PADI Advanced Open Water.
Pre-arrival: Salty was very easy to communicate and plan with before my arrival. I opted to pursue the wreck and deep specialities as well as stress/rescue diver. Shamik in the office built out a schedule for me over 5 days of diving for my 7 night stay. I added on AL100 tanks with nitrox fills (EAN32) for most of the dives as I'm an air hog (something I was hoping to work on during this trip!).
Arrival: I made it to CZM easily on Southwest with a connection in Houston. I took Cozushuttle from the airport by following the instructions found in this forum. The instructions were spot on. I paid with cash USD, no issues. The driver wasn't familiar with my hotel, but showing him the address on Google maps did the job just fine. Staying downtown in Centro San Miguel meant I was the first dropoff, just 5 mins away from the airport.
Dive logistics: Salty picked me up on dive days at Aldora Pier, downtown, across the street from the Thirsty Cougar. This was a 10 minute walk from my hotel. Salty kept my dive gear after the first day, so the walk was very easy, right through the main square and down Melgar Avenue. Note that it costs $1 USD or $20 MXN to get picked up from Aldora Pier, paid to the security guard working the pier. You might not see him, but he will see you and get his dollar before you board. There is no shade nearby, so be ready to stand in the sun until the boat arrives. Salty was delayed for some of my afternoon pickups - which they communicated to me promptly by email and WhatsApp - and I was sure glad I had water, a long sleeve sun shirt, and a hat with me. Fwiw, all the morning pickups were on-time or even early.
Courses: I didn't know what to expect with respect to how big my classes were going to be. I basically just told Salty what I wanted to take, and they made it happen, so it seemed to be courses on demand. That turned out to be true. All my courses were one-on-one with the instructor. For deep & wreck, the dives were onboard a boat that also had divers doing "fun dives" with their own DM while I worked with my instructor separately. Julijana taught wreck and deep. Shamik taught stress/rescue. Both were excellent teachers and affable folks in general. The rescue course was taught as shore dives from Tiki-la Beach, a restaurant/beach club a bit south of downtown. On one day I was dropped off there after I finished my morning dives. On another, I went back to Aldora Pier and took a cab down to Tiki-la (~$120 MXN). One of the best parts about the surface interval at Tiki-la was that Javier the Churro Man came by both days and sold me some delicious filled churros. He's a super friendly guy, and you simply must get some churros if you see him. He carries them in a blue bucket - you can't miss him if he's nearby. As for the actual courses, Shamik's rescue course kicked my ass. He did a great job keeping it comprehensive and rigorous. I have read all too many threads on SB recounting wholly inadequate rescue diver courses. This wasn't one of those. In fact, I hauled my instructor out of the water and up the stairs to shore while he played "unconscious" so convincingly that some onlookers thought there was an actual emergency afoot. After, I was absolutely and completely exhausted, which seems to be by design, like would happen in an actual rescue scenario.
Dives: Viz was phenomenal (to me, anyway, coming from diving in NW Florida in the Gulf). Water temps were 82-84 F with no thermocline. I was comfy in my 3mm full suit, but most others wore just a rashguard and trunks. Only one day of diving got cancelled due to weather (Wed, Dec 6), but I did my CPR/AED/o2 classroom session for the stress/rescue class then.
Salty runs three boats, all pretty similar. They're fully covered and carry 8 or fewer divers, a captain, and a divemaster/instructor or two. I loved the group size. I honestly can't imagine diving a so-called cattle boat. The captains were super friendly (and pretty hilarious) and helpful getting into and out of the water. As is apparently the case across Cozumel, divers remove their BCD in the water and hand it to the captain, making climbing the ladder into the boat very easy. What luxury! I think the largest group I was ever in was 5 divers to one DM. Speaking of the DMs, they were uniformly excellent, truly masterful at their jobs. I'm pretty sure I was on the beginner boat, but the DMs did their best to ensure everyone was safe, saw what they wanted to see, and made it to around 60 mins bottom time. When the first diver got to 1000 psi, the DM would shoot his DSMB and when they hit 700ish, they'd do their safety stop. Everyone did not have to surface together, but pretty much everybody surfaced within 10 mins of one another.
We hit the C53 wreck (2x for my cert), Santa Rosa (x2), Yucab Reef, Santa Rosa shallows (night dive), San Francisco wall, Paradise Reef, La Francesa, and the shallows around Tiki-la. Only at Santa Rosa (and only once) did it ever feel crowded with other divers around. I saw tons of rays (4 kinds on a single dive) including some huge spotted eagle rays, some splendid toadfish, barracuda, and a big nurse shark on La Francesa. I'd like to have seen some other sharks, but there's always next time. Also the DMs were so good as finding toadfish that I think the toadfish may be on the payroll at Salty.
Food: There were tons of options within walking distance of my hotel in Centro. A few favorites were La Clasica (directly across from my hotel) and Ruta 25. La Clasica is a bit upscale Mexican fare with great cocktails. Ruta 25 is essentially a food truck parked in a building with stellar tacos, specifically Suadero and Al Pastor. The Pan Árabe is also not to be missed. It was super affordable too. Tacos are ~$20 MXN. Also grabbed a great breakfast burrito at Burritos Gordos and other good stuff for breakfast at Jolly.
Closing thoughts: I had a great time and hope to come back soon. I'd definitely dive with Salty Endeavors again!
Edit/PS: forgot to mention how easy it was to order taxis via Facebook messenger when needed! Here's their page: Taxis Cozumel | San Miguel de Cozumel
