Cozumel Diving
My dive buddy is my wife and this trip was a great vacation, romantic destination, and dive trip. We went in 6/2012.
We stayed at Fiesta Americana which is further south on the beach than most dive resorts on the island. We were two miles south of downtown which was nice because we had no idea which days were cruise ship days. The resort is closed, however is a nice property and location so when it reopens under a different name it may viable. It was an all inclusive at the time we stayed.
Diving: We have been diving in St. Croix and Roatan in the Caribbean and this is reputed, and in our opinion the best diving in the Caribbean. The majority of the diving is drift diving, and the entire West and South West sides of the island are rocky which makes for varying topography offering reefs, walls, caves, and significant swim throughs, the most notorious being Devil's Throat. As far as marine life we saw everything you would expect to see in the Caribbean, from all the tropical fish, turtles, eels, barracuda, and even a lobster that was 20 pounds.
Dive operation: We dove with Dive House which had a location on property but had other locations on the island and at the time of this writing was still in business. They were nice boats, and the crews were amazingly helpful and hospitable, yet professional. Our favorite dive master was Orlando, with a close second of Victor. As the week went on we were paired with divers of similar abilities and desires, and felt like we could see or go wherever was desired or best suited for us,
Top side: Downtown area at night (after cruise ships are gone) was perfect. Safe, and romantic, with a plethora of shopping and dining choices. Cozumel being an island seems to have a safer feel than any other destination we have been to in Mexico. There are kids playing in the street after dark, and even in the non tourist areas we may have looked out of place but didn't feel that way. Our favorite restaurant was La Mission. The whole downtown area is lit up with little lights and restaurants that aren't packed after cruise ships depart which makes for great competition, thereby value, with a romantic and fun vibe. Lastly we met new diving friends that we still maintain a friendship and diving relationship with,
Want to dive in the Caribbean, Cozumel is hard to beat.