Hotel Cozumel & Resort
Our previous trip to Cozumel was in 1993. We had not planned on returning. We are dive snobs, thinking that the only good warm water diving was in the South Pacific. We were wrong. Over the years I have found that my enjoyment of a trip is directly related to my expectations. I was not expecting much, and I had a very good time.
Hotel Cozumel is much larger than any dive resorts I’ve been to in recent history. We arrived early in the day and had to wait in the large comfortable lobby for our room to become ready. We were on an all-inclusive plan which worked quite well. A plastic wrist band was put on us at check in and we could eat as often as we wanted and as much as we wanted at any of three locations subject to their hours. The main dining room had hours for breakfast, lunch and dinner and was closed between times. There was some confusion at first on what time they opened, so we ate poolside in order to make it to the boat dock in time for our group’s pre-dive devotions. Later we discovered that they opened earlier than we had thought. All meals there were served buffet style and breakfast included fruit, rolls, scrambled eggs, omelets made to order, pancakes and several Mexican dishes. Lunch and dinner had a variety of Mexican and American dishes and pasta cooked to order. There were always several delicious pastries for dessert.
Poolside you could always get hamburgers, tacos, guacamole and drinks as well as a couple of prepared dishes.
Across the street by the dive shop was another place to eat. The theory was that you would come back from your dive and have food readily available. We rarely got back in time to eat there.
Our room was on the 3rd floor, a l-o-n-g way from the elevator which we seldom used. The most direct path to our room would have been out the lobby, through the pool (we went around) and up two flights of stairs. This was the preferred path, except during a rain squall.
The rooms were air conditioned (though our dripped and got the floor wet), spacious and comfortable with a covered balcony that had built in pegs for drying wetsuits, swim suits and towels. There was also free wifi.
Hotel Cozumel also has a lot of amenities you don't find at smaller resorts. Exercise room (never saw it) large pool (never used it), and I think they offered massages and of course shopping, both in their own shops and in kiosks around the pool.
Water coolers were available near the hotel rooms so we could fill up our bottles. Even though I was very careful, Montezuma did make a brief appearance.
The Paradise Dive Center was across the busy street but also accessible by underground tunnel. It was well equipped with rinse tanks, drying racks and lockers in which to store dive gear. These did not drain, so we always put fins on the bottom. It was only a short walk from locker to dive pier where boats would pick up divers at scheduled times. A lot of divers move through this area but it is well organized.
The dive shop was well equipped with both rental equipment and things to buy.
Our package had 4 days of two tank boat dives and we added one night dive and one additional 2 tank boat dive. The slow boat we had chosen was large enough to transport our large group (about 20) without feeling too crowded, but there were few amenities other than the head. (Smaller, faster boats are also available for a little more money.) Drinks and cookies were provided. Nitrox was available for an additional charge. It was really was not needed, although one of my two computers had me in “deco” on the 2nd dive our last day.
The diving was surprisingly good. We didn’t visit any of the places that I remember from 21 years ago, (Tormentos, Santa Rosa, Colombia, etc) and I would be hard pressed to tell you where we did go. The reefs seemed to be in good shape with a lot of animal life...and lots of new pelagic life that doesn't look good in pictures. Along with the usual snappers and sweetlips , we saw several turtles, some nurse sharks, a couple of eagle rays, and arrow crabs. I wish we were as observant as our cameras, for when we got home we saw that the lobster was carrying eggs and there was a juvenile spotted drum on the wreck.
Most dives were “drift dives” but our captain was always diligent to watch our bubbles and meet us when we surfaced.
The night dive was particularly good. We saw a couple of flounder, several octopus, two varieties of stingray and the highlight was the “splendid toadfish”. One member of our group now has its croaking sound as his ringtone.
We usually do a lot more diving on a dive trip, but this one was also a “missions” trip with the Worldwide Christian Scuba Divers Organization (WCSDO). We spent a couple of days helping out an inner city church make improvements to their property. It felt good to make a contribution to the community as well as to get in some good diving.
