Where to stay in Cozumel? Recommended dive shops?

[DreaLeigh]

I am going diving in Cozumel solo for the last week of October and need help deciding where to stay. I intend on renting a car because I don't want to be in town, just relatively close. I'm coming to dive, not shop. However if there are areas on the fringes of town that fit what I'm looking for, I'm open. Never been there, so I don't know what to expect. I REALLY don't want to see a Walmart because I think my eyes will melt out of their sockets. I know its there, I just don't want to see it so I can remain blissfully in denial.

For perspective, in case you're familiar with Roatan, I love to stay on the quiet end of West Bay (diving with Anemona), but have a car to head into West End in the evening if I want to have some fun.

My lodging preferences:


-Not a template, sterile resort. Don't need a swim-up bar, no all-inclusive (isn't part of the adventure trying new restaurants?). I like a place with character.


-On a sandy beach that had shade, and is a peaceful place to read. Doesn't necessarily need to be swim-in... I'll be spending my water time below the surface. If it exists, a beach where I will not constantly be hassled by vendors.


-I do appreciate luxury/comfort and am very aesthetically oriented, but don't need a 5-star. For a place that is really cool, HAS CHARACTER and a friendly vibe, I do not mind sacrificing luxury... I just want a clean, tastefully decorated, ocean view room, preferably with a private balcony, hot water with good pressure, a/c and a mini-fridge. Can't stand tacky decor. And I would like to pay no more than $130, preferably a good deal less.


-A dive shop that DOESN'T CROWD THEIR DIVES in close walking distance would be AWESOME, but again, I will have a car, so can be flexible there. I like to dive with shops that have knowledgable, friendly, playful staff who will not crowd advanced divers in with newbies to save a buck, can assess a diver's skill level, and give them latitude accordingly.


I'm a somewhat mischievous 36-year-old woman traveling solo, who apparently enjoys emoticons, and would like to be in a place where I can meet others to play with:blinking:, and can also have quiet at night in my room if I choose not to go out.


Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!!


Andrea

 

[cbm32]

Andrea.......you sound like fun (not hitting on you as I am happily married and she goe everywhere with me LOL)

From San Fran, why not try Fiji??? From what you describe the resort I represent there would fit you very well (although it is AI due to being on an Island with nothing on it but the resort and one small village of 50 people). But the diving is fantastic...including the house reef that has black tip sharks and eagle rays hanging out there and is available for unlimited shore diving with a dive package.

The Bures are spacious and clean but not 5 star...more in the 3 star category.

I wont go on any more than this as you asked about Coz, but really from CA Fiji would be a great option for you. If you are interested at all just PM me here or email me at naiganiusa@gmail.com

Oh and my wife and I will be on Island during the last week in October. We would love to show you around and dive with you. If you love to dive as much as it sounds like, we could be dive buddies for some shore dives

 

[DjDiverDan]

Andrea, I'm an old Cozumel hand, been going there since 1990, often multiple trips a year. You can find many, many choices on lodging, nearly all of them well below your $130 a night budget. Don't dismiss out of hand staying in town. You really won't have any resorts with a true beach unless you go north of Downtown or well south. Most of the west side of Cozumel (the developed side) has ironstone shore - most hotels have "beach areas" where the sand is brought in, but you'll need to navigate the ironstone to get into the water. Bring some beach shoes, as walking across the ironstone in bare feet is not comfortable. Since nearly all of the diving is well south of Downtown, I've never stayed at the North end, as the diving is much less convenient from the North Hotel Zone, although there are some nice resorts up there, including some with beautiful beach areas. In Downtown, consider Casa Mexicana. It is nice, very comfortable rooms, with ocean view, and centrally located. It does NOT have a real pool - what it calls a pool is really just a slightly enlarged kiddy pool up on the mezzanine level - you take an escalator up from the street to the lobby- pool area. Going south from Downtown, there is Hotel Cozumel, across he street from the ocean. It is much more a resort, with a huge pool, lots of lounging area, and the house dive-op, Dive Paradise, as well as a smallish artificial beach area is right across the street. Hotel Cozumel does have an AI option, which I would strongly recommend against - IMO, the food is TERRIBLE, so, unless you are a heavy drinker and can down $35-50 worth of alcohol daily to make the AI worthwhile and still go out to restaurants, DON'T do the AI option. Closer to town is Cozumel Palace, one of the nicer places, but it is AI. I have my own personal reasons for hating Cozumel Palace - I used to own a timeshare at Plaza Las Glorias, the predecessor of Cozumel Palace, but Plaza Las Glorias went into bankruptcy, and the Palace Resorts bought the hotel. Even though it was a condition of the sale that Palace Resorts assume all of the timeshare contracts, they proceeded to violate every one of the agreements, raising the maintenance rates despite limits in the contracts, converting to AI and demanding that timeshare users pay exhorbitant AI fees as a condition of using the units, and generally screwing every time share owner until they gave up. Palace Cozumel is nice, but its owners are thieves; please do not go there. Moving south, there are a few dive-focused resorts, including Blue Angel and Scuba Club Cozumel. Down close to the International Pier there is Casa Del Mar, which I have stayed at many times (I'm going there again in December). It has a decent pool area, nice rooms (DO upgrade to at least the Superior Oceanview Rooms), but no minifridge. It has a smallish beach area across the street, where there is also a pier to meet your dive boat. I would not use the house dive op, but other ops can pick you up there. Across the street from Casa Del Mar is El Cid. It is on the waterfront. I haven't stayed there in many, many years, so I have no idea what the rooms are now like. Moving south from the International Pier, there are several nice resorts, like El Presidente, Occidental Grand, and several others. I've never stayed at those, as it was always my preference to be closer to town (and I preferred cheaper lodging options), but thse would seem to meet your criteria. I'd recommend a visit to the Cozumel Discussion Board for questions on lodging choices and Dive ops. There is a tremendous variety of Dive Ops on Cozumel. My own favorites are Aldora and Dive With Martin, but there are numerous other Ops, like Blue Xtasy, Tres Pelicanos, and others, that can provide you with an excellent dive experience. Again, check out the Cozumel Discussion Board.

 

[cvchief]

Andrea, I'm an old Cozumel hand, been going there since 1990, often multiple trips a year. You can find many, many choices on lodging, nearly all of them well below your $130 a night budget. Don't dismiss out of hand staying in town. You really won't have any resorts with a true beach unless you go north of Downtown or well south. Most of the west side of Cozumel (the developed side) has ironstone shore - most hotels have "beach areas" where the sand is brought in, but you'll need to navigate the ironstone to get into the water. Bring some beach shoes, as walking across the ironstone in bare feet is not comfortable. Since nearly all of the diving is well south of Downtown, I've never stayed at the North end, as the diving is much less convenient from the North Hotel Zone, although there are some nice resorts up there, including some with beautiful beach areas. In Downtown, consider Casa Mexicana. It is nice, very comfortable rooms, with ocean view, and centrally located. It does NOT have a real pool - what it calls a pool is really just a slightly enlarged kiddy pool up on the mezzanine level - you take an escalator up from the street to the lobby- pool area. Going south from Downtown, there is Hotel Cozumel, across he street from the ocean. It is much more a resort, with a huge pool, lots of lounging area, and the house dive-op, Dive Paradise, as well as a smallish artificial beach area is right across the street. Hotel Cozumel does have an AI option, which I would strongly recommend against - IMO, the food is TERRIBLE, so, unless you are a heavy drinker and can down $35-50 worth of alcohol daily to make the AI worthwhile and still go out to restaurants, DON'T do the AI option. Closer to town is Cozumel Palace, one of the nicer places, but it is AI. I have my own personal reasons for hating Cozumel Palace - I used to own a timeshare at Plaza Las Glorias, the predecessor of Cozumel Palace, but Plaza Las Glorias went into bankruptcy, and the Palace Resorts bought the hotel. Even though it was a condition of the sale that Palace Resorts assume all of the timeshare contracts, they proceeded to violate every one of the agreements, raising the maintenance rates despite limits in the contracts, converting to AI and demanding that timeshare users pay exhorbitant AI fees as a condition of using the units, and generally screwing every time share owner until they gave up. Palace Cozumel is nice, but its owners are thieves; please do not go there. Moving south, there are a few dive-focused resorts, including Blue Angel and Scuba Club Cozumel. Down close to the International Pier there is Casa Del Mar, which I have stayed at many times (I'm going there again in December). It has a decent pool area, nice rooms (DO upgrade to at least the Superior Oceanview Rooms), but no minifridge. It has a smallish beach area across the street, where there is also a pier to meet your dive boat. I would not use the house dive op, but other ops can pick you up there. Across the street from Casa Del Mar is El Cid. It is on the waterfront. I haven't stayed there in many, many years, so I have no idea what the rooms are now like. Moving south from the International Pier, there are several nice resorts, like El Presidente, Occidental Grand, and several others. I've never stayed at those, as it was always my preference to be closer to town (and I preferred cheaper lodging options), but thse would seem to meet your criteria. I'd recommend a visit to the Cozumel Discussion Board for questions on lodging choices and Dive ops. There is a tremendous variety of Dive Ops on Cozumel. My own favorites are Aldora and Dive With Martin, but there are numerous other Ops, like Blue Xtasy, Tres Pelicanos, and others, that can provide you with an excellent dive experience. Again, check out the Cozumel Discussion Board.

You know I love you and all, DJ, but a small suggestion?

 

[DjDiverDan]

Oh, come on Chief. Grammar is for sissies! At least I put in word breaks and a few periods.

 

[cicopo]

I don't think there's a resort or hotel that meets all of your wish list but Blue Angel (dive shop & hotel) would be my first recommendation.

https://picasaweb.google.com/CozumelTimeCapsules/BlueAngelResortFormerlyTheCaribeBlu

But October is low season so many good resorts (All Inclusive) in the southern hotel zone may have very good prices then & are on a real beach PLUS close to the dive sites. You haven't asked about a dive op so if an in house one is all you need shop for the best deal & then ask more questions to get a cross sectional view of the resort & in house op.

 

[cvchief]

Oh, come on Chief. Grammar is for sissies! At least I put in word breaks and a few periods.

I ain't worried about the grammer; I just can't keep the attention span up for that one big paragraph. I mean I try and I am reading and then SQUIRREL.

[youtubehq]bBWrMQVsuak[/youtubehq]

If it was in three or four smaller bits, the ADD might not kick in.....

 

[Carlos Diver]

Hey Andrea,
I just went solo back in May. If you want to be within ``distance'' of town, you arent going to get a sandy beach. There are good swim areas, with good snorkling, but if you want a real beach you will need to head way south of town. I stayed at Hogtown Motel. Its owned and ran by the dive shop Papa Hogs. They have good rates for singles. Their penthouse room is very nice. There is a snorkle/swim area right across the street. Their pier and dive pickup is right there as well. There is also two places to eat right there, and about four more within walking distance north or south. Its not fancy nor decorative though, so it might not meet your standard.

The Blue Angel is about five minute walk north. It has a very good rep on this site, and I thought it was a very nice place when I visited during my trip. They might have everything you are looking for based on your post.

---------- Post added August 25th, 2013 at 12:18 AM ----------

Good lord, I didnt realize how much my paragraph is styled like Hemingway.

 

[DreaLeigh]

Thanks for your input. Yes, I have become obsessed with diving and have a bit of a tic that I struggle with in the 3 months I have to suffer through between trips. Okay, not really a tic... just being a little dramatic.

Fiji is high on my list. Very high. I would much prefer to go there but I didn't consider it for this trip because it seemed a bit too far to travel when I'm only going for nine days. How long are flights there? And what do they run? I just tried looking it up but there are many airports... didn't know which one to look at. What are prices like there? I'd be open to checking it out, and it looks like I have nine minutes before my 24 hour cancellation window closes for my flight. Yikes!

---------- Post added August 25th, 2013 at 02:39 PM ----------

cvchief, DJ... ya'll are funny. :chuckle:

---------- Post added August 25th, 2013 at 02:42 PM ----------

When I used to live in SE Asia, whenever I travelled I didn't make reservations, showed up and haggled to get a good price. This being the low season, would that be outlandish to do in Coz?

 

[DjDiverDan]

When I used to live in SE Asia, whenever I travelled I didn't make reservations, showed up and haggled to get a good price. This being the low season, would that be outlandish to do in Coz?

Not at all. I've done several spur of the moment trips to Cozumel and just showed up without reservations. Back before 9/11, when a number of Vacation Charter Operations, Like Funjet, Apple, Worry Free Vacations, etc., ran Charters out of DFW, I would occasionally show up at DFW with all my bags packed & no reservations at all. If the Charter Operator had an empty seat for a 3 or 4 day weekend, I could even haggle on the empty airplane seat. Occasionally I got a very cheap round trip to Cozumel (once I did it for $129.00 round trip, air only, from DFW), and then I would go to 2 or three cheap hotels in the Downtown Area that I liked & haggled over room rates - you'll get the best rates offering cash up front (no credit cards or travelers' checks), and there are several places that you can probably get for $25-$35 a night in low season. With the heightened Air security, it's pretty much impossible to show up at an airport without reservations anymore, but hotels in Cozumel are a different story. Even in high season, it will mostly be the higher-end places that are booked up - I once got a very good deal on a room for 9 nights starting right after Christmas and going over New Year, which is very high season, but it was definitely one of the cheaper hotels - no web site, very little English spoken. Just be sure to have an idea about Dive Operators, and check in with them as soon as possible in the afternoon after getting a room. The real desirable Dive Ops are probably more likely to be booked up than the hotels.