Worst of Cozumel.

[Mike]

I'm happy to be shown the error of my thinking, but can you tell me how Cozumel is better in your mind than Galapagos, Indonesia, Fiji, Coral Sea, PNG or any other of the popular warm water reef dive destinations without citing how inexpensive it is to get to (or conversely how expensive it is to do the others) or how easy it is to get there (or conversely how hard and time consuming it is to get to the others)?

Coz is a good dive trip, don't get me wrong (I've done it myself because it was cheap and easy). I just think it's a compromise and that it's disingenuous how folks have it up on a pedestal.

I totally agree. Straits of Lembeh, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, Sardine Run, Fiji, Truk are GREAT diving destinations. Coz is a convenient "get away" but nothing as awesome as the cheerleaders make it out to be. I enjoy it but it's not nearly my first pick were it not for the travel convenience factor. On a 1-10, it gets a solid 5. (Together with Belize and a few other mediocre Caribbean spots).

LOL. Good luck with this. Many of the people who rave about Cozumel, have little experience outside of diving there, but they will argue till the cows come home.

Cozumel is in the top 10 dive destinations of the Caribbean for diving experience, it's not even in the top 100 of the world.

Anybody who thinks price and ease of access aren't two out of the three dominant factors that help Cozumel's dive industry is fooling themselves. Make Cozumel harder to get to and more expensive and watch it drop in popularity and those same folks start exploring other options...

In another thread I made the same comments and lightly touched on the ability to dive with pelagics being a major draw of some of the destinations outside the Caribbean. I mentioned diving and interacting with dolphins and the Cozumel clique blasted the thread with once in a lifetime pictures of dolphins taken off of boats where they got to see a dolphin on the surface to prove how Cozumel is just the same... they just don't get it, and I believe it's mostly because they really just don't have any other frame of reference.

 

[Aquabot]

The OP asked the question of what people don't like about Coz, I simply answered the question. There are better and more interesting dive sites to be had in Americas (Soccoros, God's Pocket, San Clemente Island, Malpelo, Cocos, Cayman Brac & the Grenadines - off the top of my head). They cost more and take more time and planning to get to (and some are not warm water).

Actually you didn't answer the op question.

It would be interesting to hear what is the worst experience you've had, or something
you would like to see change on that beloved island?

He asked about your worst experience, not how it ranked as a dive destination.....just saying

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[mathauck0814]

Correct. The worst experience I had was expecting it to be something that it wasn't based on the opinions of others.

 

[robint]

Correct. The worst experience I had was expecting it to be something that it wasn't based on the opinions of others.

So, just out of curiosity, when did you visit Cozumel? Where did you stay and who did you dive with? Maybe those are the factors that have tainted your impression of Cozumel.

FYI - I have never said Cozumel was the best diving in world. I have said it is the best in Caribbean IMHO. BEST is such a personal question, just like comparing food, we are not all the same in what we like and why we like it.

 

[mathauck0814]

So, just out of curiosity, when did you visit Cozumel? Where did you stay and who did you dive with? Maybe those are the factors that have tainted your impression of Cozumel.

FYI - I have never said Cozumel was the best diving in world. I have said it is the best in Caribbean IMHO. BEST is such a personal question, just like comparing food, we are not all the same in what we like and why we like it.

2007, stayed at the Occidental Grand, don't remember the dive operator's name, it was a small blue boat, max maybe a 6 pack (we had chartered it for the two of us for the week so not to have to contend with crowds and other divers on sites). Nothing wrong with the operator, or the hotel. The diving was just sort of mediocre - typical Caribbean reefs. I didn't find the restaurants to be of very high quality on the island, but I could have just missed the better spots due to ignorance.

 

[njones259]

These guys are right there are much better places to dive such as Truk,Palau,Mauritius,Panama,Thailand and Fiji to name a few,but Cozumel is easy to get to,the people are great and the value is still ok but not like it used to be 10 or 12 years ago.There is a big world out there to explore.

 

[TCDiver1]

For me the the worst of Coz is the proliferation of the cruise ship culture. When i first went to Coz you might see a couple cruise ship a week not bunches each day like it is now. It took a sleepy little carribean island and turned it into a commercial island.

Progress is what it is but it left me wanting of the old Coz.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

My opinion of the worst is the thousands of cruise ship passengers, and the resulting hordes of hard-sell vendors. I prefer to stay on the back side of town anyway, but it's nice to go downtown occasionally. Unfortunately you can't walk three feet without being accosted to buy something, and often insulted if you don't. And while the diving is very good, it's not world-class.

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[SailNaked]

I have some serious complaints about COzumel.
1. The food is too good and I eat too much of it all the time because it is cheap, I get soo full I have to sleep it off.
2. the dive masters do everything for me, I never have to carry a tank, or even wash my gear for a week, this is just too lazy for me I am getting fat.
3. I have to negotiate with the vendors to get 75% off of jewlery, my wife gets so much she no longer needs any lead.
4. why are they always so nice and happy, please have a few authorized grumpy people installed at every corner so I feel at home.
5. the current diving, is too easy, all I do is float along, there is no work involved.
6. the variety of sea life is too much, I run out of space on my SD card and have to download it to my PC every night.
7. the weather is awfull, who wants warm days and cool nights, every single day. i mean it never snows. at least they have an occaisional wind day that gives me a break from diving all the freaking time.
8. it is too economical, my wife keeps wanting to go back, and with all of these complaints I cant even say it is too expensive.

Cozumel is terrible, you should never go there.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

7. the weather is awfull, who wants warm days and cool nights, every single day.

I'm guessing you've never been there in the summertime?

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