Where tostay and who to dive with in Cozumel?

[gil]

Try the Hotel Lopez in town. Less than $ 25.00/ night.

 

[stevsgarage]

I just a couple of days ago booked an all-inclusive package to Fiest Americana. I have never stayed there before but I had lunch there on a trip over from Cancun to dive. It looked very nice with some coral within snorking distance from the hotel beach. They are about 3 miles south of town, 3 or 3.5 dollar taxi ride, and have a reputable in house dive shop. The Dive house. They also have lockers showers and gear washing facilities on sight.

I think what I liked best is the location far enough to be quiet but close enough to town for a quick afternoon of shopping and exploring with my wife after a morning of diving.

They are also close to a divable cenote if you like that kindof thing.

 

[MikeGB]

Well you sound like us. We just want to dive! Check out Blue Angel Dive Shop, they have packages with the Lorena Hotel and it is next door to the dive shop. Blue Angel Dive Shop

Blue Angel prices are good, their service is GREAT.

Lorena is clean with TV - but priced cheap. All rooms are oceanview.

Blue Angel offers extra tanks for shore diving while you dive with them for free. Great way to explore from the shore!

 

[stevsgarage]

Hope I'm not starting to sound like a time share salesman but the Fiesta does offer tanks for shore diving and is on the edge of Chankanaab reef. Thier beach isn't really much, lots of rocks with a little sandy area, but it is pretty and protected from the surf making it good for swimming and snorkling. One thing though the ocean view is sometimes blocked by Mexicos largest cruise ship.

 

[Kat]

I really like the Park Royal. It's an older property, all-inclusive. It's listed as 'across from beach' but has an underpass to a nice little cove. The price is very reasonable too.
As for a dive shop, we used Scuba Shack. We were able to walk there. Go through the underpass, and across the beach-heading North. You will find Aquaworld, which I don't care for because of the large amount of divers per boat. Next door to Aquaworld is the Scuba Shack. When we were there, we got one free shore dive for every boat dive we booked. We were able to see the Cesna plane wreck, shore diving. Very cool. They had lockers there,(free) which was really nice, as we didn't have to lug our gear with us everytime. Highly recommened! Both the dive shop & hotel. Watch out for the timeshare people at the hotel. They sit in the lobbies & have shirts on that say Royal-so we thought they were hotel employees. Lost 2 hours of vacation time, but did get a rental car for $10

 

[stevsgarage]

Thanks for sharing the info on Park Royal and the dive Shack. I have already made me plans for this trip but will give them a look over for the future. I do like what I've seen in that area, although I only spent an afternoon there.
Although I will probably never use Aquaworld again you'll never here me say a bad word about them. I learned to dive through them a few years ago and I still feel they are very good and safe operation for the masses of tourist with little or no experiance.
As for time share salesmen, I reciently returned from Puerto Vallarta, the time share capitol. Or as they say in PV "Where Mexico comes to Time Share". I swear I have been to Tijauna, Rosarito, Ensanda, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Cozumel, (not to mention Branson Missouri) and there is nothing like Puerto Vallarta for time shares.

 

[FastDen]

I'll second the Blue angel recommendation! I dove with them for a week in Feb. and had a fabulous time! Great folks, and terrific DMs- very knowledgable, and helpful and patient with this newbie!

The Lorena is pretty basic (but cheap!), but very laid back and convenient to Blue Angel (they're on-site) and some fairly decent shore diving (free for Blue Angel divers). Otherwise, I'd recommend staying at Villablanca or at Plaza Las Glorias (I stayed at PLG because I like being able to walk into town). I'm not an all-inclusive fan, so I can't help you there.

Have a great trip!
FastDen :rainbow:

 

[seylerdl]

I'll chime in for another recommendation for Blue Angel. My wife and I completed our open water certification (with Kelly Coleman [www.divewithkelly.com]) in April, and Kelly used Blue Angel as her base of operations. It was a great experience, especially diving with Kelly. The place was not fancy, and was pretty basic, but they had very good boats, and the captains and divemasters were very experienced, friendly, and helpful. The Blue Angel shop is right next door to the Lorena. We did not stay there. Rather, we stayed at the Plaza Las Glorias, in town. It is a 40 peso cab ride from PLG to the Blue Angel. The Lorena looked pretty basic, but clean, and was right on the beach. There was some nice shore diving across from Blue Angel, especially if it is your first time, but nothing compared to taking the boat out to Palacar, etc.

Dave

 

[shangalang]

I've stayed at Costa Club several times even before it was Costa Club. It used to be Fiesta Inn. The service has always been great with clean rooms and COLD A/C. The pool is huge and there is a beach across the street (which you can reach by an underground walkway) with a dive shop. You can snorkel there or rent a tank and go for a shore dive. They have a dock where your dive operator will pick you up.
Speaking of dive operators, I have been to Cozumel at least a dozen times and ALWAYS dive with Cozumel Equalizers. Darwin Zappata is the owner-operator and will bend over backwards to accomodate you. They take no more than six divers at a time and have a boat with twin 150 hp engines so they get there fast! The divers take a vote on the way out to pick the dive site. Just tell the divemaster what you want to see and he will find it for you.
Good luck and remember to avoid the "land sharks" (timeshare pests).

 

[icebox]

I went to Mexico in March and dove with Alison. Let me tell you that she is running a first class operation. The comments on her guestbook do not begin to describe how great she really is. Read other peoples comments here: Alison's Guestbook

For more information about diving with Alison, check out her website... http://www.scubawithalison.com/