Hi, Gang,
I am going to go way out on a limb here and suggest some things that may border on heresy. I will await the slings and arrows--and the watchful eye of Christi--for a list of my transgressions.
First and foremost some confessions: I started going to Cozumel before this wonderful Board with its voices of experience came into existence. And, man, would we have loved to have had it. No one in our area except the dive shops knew much about it and the dives shops wanted to sell us a group adventure, which we did not want. Second, and less important, I speak Spanish and traveling in Mexico was not a problem.
All that said we came to the island with pretty much a blank slate other than what we read in books. (Man, has the internet changed our lives!). We picked a hotel and a dive shop based on what we thought our needs were. I will not talk about them because they are not important. Suffice it to say we stayed at that hotel for many more visits and we used that dive shop several times before hooking on with our current outfit...which we love.
So, when it came to restaurants, we just looked in the door, counted the customers, smelled the aroma, and dove in. Very few disappointed. Later in our lives I joined the Board and was brave enough to suggest some of the places at which we dined. Surprise! They were not universally recommended. One that really surprised me was the "French Quarter"; we found that simply excellent, but others did not. I have not seen it recommended recently and I fear it may have seccumbed to the hurricane. Now I see that Guidos has received bad reviews...that was one of our standards...on a two or three week stay we would eat there at least 4-5 times.
So, I guess where I am coming to is that folks heading there for the first time are served well by using the excellent advice here. However, I would like to be bold enough to suggest that everyone just take a walk around and, if you see someplace that looks good, give it at try. If it turns out wonderful, please come tell us about it.
As I wrote earlier, we have not been to Cozumel since the hurricane and a lot could have changed. However, in the past, we walked all over the city with impunity. It seemed very safe to me. I hope that things have not changed, but I feared they would when the pier facilities expanded and more cruise ships cruised up. More cruise ships = more money. Sometimes more money = more crime. But I just do not know. I guess we will find out when we are on-island again.
It will be a shame if my wife and I cannot take an evening stroll back to our digs without fear...a very big shame...
joewr
