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Cozumel: September, 2000 |
Travel
We visited Cozumel during the last week of September, 2000. We
traveled from the US mainland to Cancun via a Sun
Country Airlines Charter from Detroit (booked through Funjet
Vacations). When we arrived in Cancun, we had to take a shuttle
to the other terminal to catch our puddlejumper fligt to Cozumel.
Once we arrived at the Cozumel airport, we had to purchase a shuttle
ticket to our resort. Cozumel has a system where only shuttles can
pick up arriving passengers at the airport for transportation to the
resorts, but only Taxis can pick up departing travelers at resorts to
take them to the airport. Strange, but it seems to work ok except for
the massive crowds upon arrival trying to get directed to the correct
shuttle for their resort
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Accomodations
We stayed at the Costa
Club Resort (Formerly the Fiesta Inn) which was about a 15
minute walk South of downtown. We booked our stay through Bay
Adventures Travel and were thrilled with the package we got. The
rooms are nothing special -- two beds, a dresser, table and chairs,
Cable TV and a bath. Nonetheless, the resort is well maintained, has
the best pool on the island, and a great bar/restaruant that will
serve your drinks and food to you at the pool if you like.
The Costa Club is across the street from the beach. However, they
have a tunnel running under the street (no need to worry about
wayword taxis) connecting to their beach which also has a bar and
restaurant located on it. The beach is fairly small with some beach
chairs and tables. Its not the typically sandy beach running down to
the ocean. Their is sand above the beach wall, with steps leading
down into the ocean. We did some snorkeling there a couple of days.
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Food
The Costa Club has a good restaurant on site which is nice if you
like to get breakfast before the morning dive boats leave We also
found a nice little waffle house that opened earlier than the Costa
Club for breakfast -- something we needed the morning we left early
for our trip to Chichen Itza.
Let's face it, you came to Mexico for traditional Mexican food and
there are so many good places to get it that you'll want to go out.
We tried a ton of restaurants in town and liked them all. We even
successfully avoided getting any intestinal distress from the local
fare by drinking only bottled water and putting lime juice on
everything (its supposed to kill any stray bacteria)
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Activities
We did two big "non-diving" trips while we were there. We
did an excursion to Chichen Itza and a Dolphin
Discovery Dive. Both of them are very popular so I recommend
making reservations soon after you arrive. We booked both events
right at the Costa Club.
We did the Chichen Itza trip by airplane. You can also take a
boat/bus trip but we had heard stories about people leaving early in
the morning and getting back after midnight. As it was on the
airplane trip, we left the airport at 7am and we didn't get back
until late afternoon. The plane lands about 10 minutes outside
Chichen Itza and they take you over to the site in an air conditioned
bus. We were led by an english speaking guide that took us all over
the site and told us the history of what we were seeing. Personally,
I found the trip fascinating. On the return our guide gave us a tip.
Although taxis cannot legally pick up people in the airport, if you
walk outside the airport (about 200 yards) taxis can pick you up (and
they are waiting to do so). Four of us grabbed a taxi and split the
fare back into town for about $5 a person. This works great when you
have no luggage. I don't think I'd try it when arriving with a ton of luggage.
As for the Dolphin Discovery dive....I wasn't sure how I felt about
it before we did it and honestly, I still am not sure. Certainly it
is exploiting a wonderful sea creature but at the same time they do
such a great job of educating their visitors about the marine
environment I wonder if, in the balance, it works out for the
betterment of the world. Like I said, I'm still not sure how I feel
about it. All that aside, it was truly remarkable being in the water
with these beautiful creatures. They offer a few different
experiences from just getting a chance to pet the dolphin as it swims
by (Encounter) to a full blown get in the water and interact with
them (Swim). We went for the full experience. If you decide to do it,
you'll never forget it. This one definately sells out quickly so make
reservations as soon as you arrive or better yet before you arrive if
you really want to do it.
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Diving
Our dive package was with Dive
Paradise. They picked up up every morning at the Dock at Costa
Club. The only time we went to their shop was on the day we arrived
to pick our dive days and get our free welcome tank. They let you do
a shore dive right off the beach behind the shop for free so bring
your gear when you sign up! This is a great idea as it let us get our
bouyancy all worked out before we dropped in for our first dive. The
reason they do this is because almost all of the diving off Cozumel
is drift diving. Since the currents can be fairly strong, everyone
gets in the water as a group and descends with a divemaster. The boat
follows along with the group and picks people up as they surface.
If you want to take full advantage of the diving in Cozumel, make
sure you have a good dive computer. The reefs are so beautiful and
have tons of swim throughs. Problem is, some of the swim throughs get
you down 90 feet. No problem if you have a computer, but it totally
blows your profile if you use tables. Do yourself a favor and buy or
rent a computer. We were usually the first ones up in our group
because we were diving tables.
Our overall impression of diving in Cozumel -- Everything is bigger
there. The coral, the fish, the lobster......everything. I understand
why people go back year after year.
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