Cozumel, Mexico

Dates: June-July 1997, October 1988, June 1987, August 1986

In June 1997, we returned with eleven divers to Cozumel for the 4th and best time. Why best? The answer can be found with Aldora Divers. To backtrack, our 3rd trip had been 9 years earlier, a week and a half after Hurricane Gilbert struck the island, but that’s another long story. Anyway, after 9 years, things can change quite a bit, so in doing some research for the trip on the Internet, I kept seeing messages raving about an outfit called Aldora Divers. The owner, Dave Dillehay (Aldora is his grandmother’s name) actually responded to e-mail messages, often by the next day! This was a good sign. Everything seemed too good to be true, but they pulled it off and then some.

Diving: Personally, I have always enjoyed Cozumel diving. I like the walls and all the swim-through tunnels. One of our long-time divers, Lori says, "First real drift diving for me. Wow! Did anybody mention easy, no effort?" Our group of eleven divers agreed, though there was some spirited debate about preferences between Bonaire and Cozumel. Frankly, I believe more research is needed! We did all the favorite sites: Yocab, Santa Rosa, Palancar, Columbia...but this was the first trip in which our dive operator was flexible to take us "anywhere" we liked. For our first time we dove, Punta Sur and Maracaibo, which are just about as far south on the island as you can get. One of the best dives of the week was Devil’s Throat, so we did it twice! We had tried requesting this location at another resort on an earlier trip and got shot down.

As usual, there were more moray eels than one could count, large grouper, octopus feeding at night, the Cozumel Toadfish; each dive had plenty to see from towering coral heads to macro subjects.

Most of our Sundivers are very experienced but for each trip it is not unusual to welcome a new diver to the fold. This time we had an apprehensive diver taking her first dive following certification, and another diver doing her open-water certification. We make it a habit to keep a close eye on new divers, and we were impressed with the dive masters’ ability to help increase their comfort level.

Dive Operation: Aldora Divers has set the hurdle high, is clearing it, and will force others (I am convinced) to upgrade their services. What what so unique about them?

• Everyone dives with a computer (they supply them if you don’t have one).
• Large-capacity steel tanks are available for the heavy breathers (DIN fittings are also available to accommodate normal regulators).
• You are at the dive site well before the fleet of other dive boats arrive, so diving is NOT crowded.
• They practice long safety stops as a group before the boat picks you up (many times cruising over shallow reefs and extending the dive time to well over an hour).
• Your gear stays with the boat and is rinsed, stored over night, and then set up for your next trip.
• You are met by an Aldora rep at your hotel on arrival for a greeting and introduction to the week’s diving.
• The boat is on time every morning.

Aldora keeps the number of divers per boat to 6 or 7, so we had two boats with other divers who joined us throughout the week. It was our request that both boats go to the same general location, which they did with no problem.

The dive day is very relaxing. Unlike many of the other operators, Aldora does not rush you back to the dock by noon so they can turn around with another group of divers for the afternoon. Pick-up at 8:00 am, returning by 3:00 pm or so is the typical day, unless you go for a double-header (two 2-tank boat dives, with the latter a twilight and night dive). Ok, so maybe four dives isn’t exactly everyone’s idea of "relaxing."

One night, many in our group wanted to do a shore night dive. That time, the divers took their gear off the boat and Aldora delivered tanks to the site. An hour later or so, the truck was back to pick up the tanks. Who could ask for anything more?

In short, Aldora Divers provides personalized, quality service. Big thanks to Daniel and Antonio, our two divemasters for the week. They were both very professional, and by the end of the week, Antonio was taking us to his favorite ice cream place.

Resort: In the past, we have stayed at Hotel Bahia in town, at Casa del Mar twice (the first time right after they opened), and for this trip, we chose Fiesta Inn (about a 15-20 minute walk south of town). Check-in and out was smooth, the rooms were comfortable, the pool and patio in the courtyard was immense, and a good gathering place for a cold daiquiri or a to-die-for Pina Colada in the hot sun. You can revel in the sun or choose to park your lounge under one of dozens of palm trees. A tunnel under the insanely-busy road makes for an easy walk to a small sand "beach" and pier where Aldora picks up and delivers. In short, Fiesta Inn was a good place to stay, convenient to town, and we would return.

Meals: An on-premise restaurant had ok food (but was way over-priced compared to some great eating in town). Appetizers pool-side, however, were good. The restaurant also runs a small outside eatery by the "beach." But you need to get there early for breakfast, else the dive boat may arrive before your huevos rancheros.

Lunch is in a covered "pavilion" on the beach during a couple-hour surface interval. You order off a menu and the food is very good Mexican fare, but relatively expensive. You must try the sopa de lima, however. Magnificent! Lunch is also uncrowded, because you are there while the other dive boats are just finishing their first dive -- masterfully arranged by Aldora!

One cannot travel to Cozumel without taking the time to experience the town of San Miguel in the relative cool of the evening for dinner. There are so many good places to eat, and the food seems to be far better now than before. Highly recommended are La Choza, Prima, La Mission, Pepe’s Grill, to name only a few.

Value: Prices seemed to have increased in Cozumel and are more comparable to other islands in the Caribbean, but service, good, and ambiance has improved, making it well worth the price. Cozumel is also a great stop for non-diving friends and family. For us, it was a great trip with little we could think to change.

Postscript: Many of our group took a day off for an excursion to Chichen Itza. If you haven’t been, it is a very worthwhile trip. Aldora was very flexible with the pre-paid diving arrangements and allowed the excursioners to double-up on their diving one day. For a reasonable cost, some of us added dives to the schedule, another way Aldora proved to be accommodating.

Little motor scooters are for rent everywhere, and another fun excursion is a drive around the south part of the island, then back across the east-west road cutting the island in the middle. There are numerous beaches, restaurant/bars, shopping and a couple Mayan ruins for interesting stops along the way. The best on-island ruins is San Gervasio, which is definitely worth the stop.