We have now been to Cocoview three times. For us, like many others it seems, it's an easy place to meet up with old diving friends and get masses of underwater time in the most relaxing way possible. We love to be left to our own devices in the water so that we can spend as much or as little time on a photo subject as we wish. Cocoview is the perfect place for this. The second boat dives, both morning and afternoon, are 'drop off' dives, where the boat drops you at your chosen spot and you make your own way underwater, back to the resort in your own time. But for me, the best feature of all is that at any time of day or night, you can grab a tank and make your own way out to the house reef (or the interesting wreck right in front of the resort) even if you have no dive buddy. There is masses to see in the shallows, and I have been known to spend two and a half hours underwater (thank goodness for Nitrox) not far from the resort playing around with different settings on the huge variety of macro subjects.

We have only good things to say about the resort itself - the rooms are great, the food is very good, the bar is fun and the staff are helpful and friendly. The same can be said about the diving facilities - there is even a new camera room now for the serious photographers and the dive crews are wonderful. But for me, the real reason to go is for the never ending supply of new photo subjects.

You can spend hours watching the numerous jawfish, waiting for the perfect shot of them aerating their (mouth incubated) eggs or with the sergeant majors as they tend their patches of purple eggs on the remains of the plane wreck nearby. There are always many different juveniles, from drumfish, to filefish and angelfish. The rocks are full of blennies and you can find pikeblennies and sailfin blennies in the sand. In a week of diving, you'd be sure to see turtles, morays, octopus and reef squid and the hard and soft corals are beautiful in the sunlit shallows. It's a great place for watching out for interesting behavior too, as you can take the time to look, especially around the reef at night. It could well be the best biodiversity in the Caribbean from our experiences, so I'm sure we'll head back there again soon.

We were going to be in a condo in Kona for a week, so we figured it would make life easier to pick one dive shop and do all our diving with them - and we are so happy we picked Jack's!
Firstly, it's a big, professional dive operation so they have plenty of dives to choose from. The shop itself is huge and has everything you could want, whether to rent or buy. They took our gear on day one and brought it to and from the boat for every dive, rinsing it at the end of each day. If you don't have a car to get to the marina, they will transport you from the dive shop in the center of Kona. So in short, they make life very easy.
Secondly, they offer a great option for divers with a bit more experience - one boat each day heads out with only 'advanced divers'. OK, it's slightly more expensive, but you have your pick of dive sites that are not on most itineraries. Some of these sites are a longer boat ride away, but not all, and we never ran into another dive group on any of them. The crew and guides are very flexible too - if you have a preference for a site or type of dive, they will do their best to accommodate you. They also go to great lengths during the surface interval to seek out whales, dolphins etc - and you can jump in with mask and snorkel for a closer look. 'Advanced' dives may include lava tubes, drift diving, slightly deeper wrecks etc.
Thirdly, Jack's really understands that after spending thousands of dollars on a trip, you don't want to be told that you have to surface after an hour, or when the first person gets low on air. The norm was 80mins, but we often had longer. This was a big plus in my book.
Next big plus was the marine life. We added all sorts to our tick list - conger eels, dragon morays, viper morays and an assortment of fish that are only found in Hawaii, such as flame angelfish and various butterfly fish. The dive guides were great at letting us know what to expect to see at each site, so we knew what to look for and where, plus of course they also found many of the creatures for us.
And I've saved the best for last - the Pelagic Magic dive. I would go back to Kona and do this every night for a week if possible. Jack's offered this dive twice, but we were so desperate to do it again we added a third with another dive shop. Jack's definitely have the edge - they show you an intro video at the dive shop before you go out for the first time, which is very reassuring for those who need it and also very informative. The dive is limited to six, plus guides, which works well and once again they allow an 80 minute dive time so no one feels cheated. Jack's use a parachute in the water to keep the boat from drifting in the wind - this is a great feature as without it all the tiny creatures drift by too quickly to see them properly or take photos. I can hardly begin to list what we saw, mostly because they all have long latin names, but it was awesome and each of the three nights threw up a myriad of different creatures from the depths, from larval stage fish, crabs and lobsters to pelagic octopus and box jellies. One night we had dolphins hunting around us for a full hour, on the others we had squid darting all around feeding.
So, in short, if you are considering Kona, head to Jack's Diving Locker and you won't be disappointed.

The Presidente Intercontinental is amongst the top end hotels in Cozumel. Most aspects of this hotel are of the standard one would expect in this market sector. Our Pool View Room was large and comfortable and only a short walk to the dive boat. There was also a sizable terrace - great for spreading out any wet gear that we hadn't left with our dive valet. The room wasn't hugely light, but there were at least plenty of surfaces for camera gear and lots of electrical outlets for charging cameras and strobes.

All hotel staff are very friendly and helpful, from reception, to restaurants, bars and maintenance staff. The grounds are beautiful with a couple of pools and plenty of greenery (and many resident iguanas). There is wifi throughout the hotel, which can be a bit spotty, but broadly works. The beach areas are protected and pleasant. The food service in the hotel is quite good, but not great – if you are there for a full week it lacks variety and even the non-Mexican dishes have a definite Mexican flavor. It is of course not cheap either. It is about a ten-minute taxi ride to town, if one is seeking variety, a ‘local’ experience, or just a cheaper meal.

For divers, ScubaDu operates from a dive center and dock conveniently in the heart of the hotel. ScubaDu is a professional operator, with several boats and as much diving as one could want, though afternoon dives and night dives are subject to demand, requiring a minimum of four divers. A scuba package that includes unlimited shore diving is a must for keen divers as the two house ‘reef’ areas are teeming with life, especially at night. For divers staying at the Presidente, the dive valet service is very welcome, especially when you arrive back at the dive center after a night dive. Every member of the Scuba Du staff is extremely helpful and fun, on shore and on the boats.

All of the diving in Cozumel is toward the south end of the island. The Presidente Intercontinental is located somewhat closer to these dive sites than the numerous hotels in the town and near the airport. This means a thirty minute boat ride to the dive sites rather than a forty-five minute boat ride – so not great, but better. There are a few resorts well down the coast to the south, which would more or less eliminate this boat ride – so perhaps worth considering for every-day divers.