Where to stay in Cozumel? Recommended dive shops?

[DandyDon]

I'm also going to Cozumel, but not until February, and with a whole bunch of family members. There will be 6 of us diving; ranging in ability from 16 year old who will be doing her referral dives, to a 50 year old 100+ dive veteran. I've never been to Cozumel before, but I'd like to find a reputable dive shop that is family friendly and patient with, and won't be intimidating for beginner divers.

Any suggestions?

Yep, as MMM suggested - get a private boat. With many Ops you can do that for the same cost as booking 6 separately, altho the 16 yo student and maybe his/her parent will be in check-out the first two days. 100+ dives is a good start if most of those are ocean dives, but depending on the experiences of the others - you might want to pay extra to book two DMs per boat. Coz diving is pretty much all drift diving, and the currents can vary. Anyone can learn to do it safely, but it's not like the shallow reefs of Key Largo. There's lots of info on this forum about first time in Coz with good suggestions. Look over it, then maybe start a new thread telling more about your group.

 

[Ron Lee]

I'm also going to Cozumel, but not until February, and with a whole bunch of family members. There will be 6 of us diving; ranging in ability from 16 year old who will be doing her referral dives, to a 50 year old 100+ dive veteran. I've never been to Cozumel before, but I'd like to find a reputable dive shop that is family friendly and patient with, and won't be intimidating for beginner divers.

Any suggestions?

Any dive op with six passenger boats. If you ask to all be together then you get to dive what works for the group. Your hotel location may be a factor but without knowing that, Aldora is one to check since they have multiple boats.

aldora.com

 

[Fireworkswi]

Just got back from diving with Liquid Blue Divers August 11-17. They have multi-day dive discounts. They can fit 6-7 divers on their boat. The owners Steve and Kami usually are on the boat diving with the group. So, you would have Hector the DM and Steve and/or Kami diving too staying in the back making sure everyone stays together. It was our first experience drift diving. We had about 35 dives under our belt before diving Cozumel. After one day of figuring out buoyancy with the current it was awesome. They also have steel 100 & 120 tanks for more bottom time. Here is a link to their website: Scuba Diving Cozumel | Dive Cozumel | Diving in Cozumel

 

[peedinmywetsuit]

We love Hotel Cozumel. You can walk to downtown, they have a dive shop (Dive Paradise) onsite and a dock plus lockers. Good deals on their website. Papa Hogs was also good for diving.

 

[DandyDon]

We love Hotel Cozumel. You can walk to downtown, they have a dive shop (Dive Paradise) onsite and a dock plus lockers. Good deals on their website. Papa Hogs was also good for diving.

Welcome to SB.

Are their beds still hard? Two years ago, they were soft enough - but last year, pretty hard! Had hell getting to sleep as I like a soft one. Also had to push for another lamp as the room was too dark.

My Op picks me up and drops me off at the dock there - a bit of a climb on lower tides. He rinses and stores as much as I leave him, but I like to sleep with my regs - both of them. My preference is to rinse my regs, suit, computers, camera, etc. at the dock, then lunch, then wash my regs and soak my camera in my room - but they never seemed to have water in the dock tanks?! Oh, I like to shower on the dock but no way can it run while running water into the tank...!

I don't care for their lockers, unless you get a top row so no one else's gear is dripping down on yours.

 

[Saagax]

Last time I was in Cozumel was in January and stayed at the hotel "B" (yes, just Be) it is on the north part of the island, it is small and quiet outside the populated area. I liked it very much. They also have a dive shop there (Scuba Du) but I went diving with Yolanda Ros, she takes small groups of people and usually goes where the divers want to go and not the other way around. She has a small operation.

I would not rent a car, it is usually a hassle to find parking places downtown, the island is small and taxis are not expensive.

This links can help:
http://www.hotelbcozumel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Tortuga-Azul/117651241591265

If you need any more info about those DM me.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Ron Quido]

After we were yelled at for walking through the lobby of a supposed 5 star hotel in Playa 12 years ago, we have rented houses or B and Bs, and since we are off season, I have yet to score breakfast. We were chastized for not allowing the luggage man carry our dive bags out to our car. The only bad experience I had was when I was the only guest in a small apartment building. It was nice to have the place be quiet but it did get a bit odd to be the only guest. I want to be able to walk to the plaza and not be stuck out in BFE at the ends of the island. I live in BFE year round so being close in is good for me. Walking with the folks from the cruise ships can be entertaining knowing that I will be on a better boat than they the next morning. And there are plenty of grocery stores for breakfast and drinks indeed, the Mega, while expensive perhaps, is cleaner than the grocery stores near our house in the USA.