Travelers Info
Air Travelers
Cruise Passengers

Cozumel Island
About Cozumel
Holidays & Events
Getting There
Cancun to Cozumel
Weather
Exchange Rates

Accommodations
Hotels
Vacation Properties
Bed & Breakfast
Rentals Online
Dive/Hotel Packages

Water Activities
Scuba Diving
Scuba Dive Shops
Snorkeling
Deep Sea Fishing
Reefs
Beaches
Marine Park Rules

Adventure Tours
All Adventure Tours
Jungle Jeep Tours
Horseback Tours
Snorkel Tours
Scuba Diving Tours
Deep Sea Fishing
Jungle Bike Tours
Jungle Trek Tours
Tarzan Tours

Tours/Sight Seeing
Special Attractions
Tours/Excursions
Island Tours
Day Excursions  

Island Guides
Beaches
Nightlife
Restaurants
Shopping
Food

Mayan Ruins
Chichen Itza
Tulum
Coba

Ecological Parks
Chankanaab
Crococun Crocodile Park
Tres Rios
Xcaret
Xel-Ha
Cenotes
Xpu-Ha
Sian Ka'an Biosphere
Punta Laguna
Garrafon

More Services
Specialty Services
Car/Vehicle Rentals
Getting Married
Real Estate
Travel Agencies
Tour Operators
Emergency Info
Great Links

Travel Essentials
Travel Tips
Packing List
Taxi Fares
Ferry Schedule
Spanish Lessons
Photo Gallery
Consulates

About Travelnotes
Contact Us

Rentals

Online Hotels

Car Rentals

Adventure Tours

Scuba Tours

Cozumel Trip Report
Submit a Trip Report

Posted by Connie Springer on 02/26/04

Fiesta Americana/Dive House

Our trip to Cozumel Feb. 7-14 was the first for my husband Lloyd
and I, and we had many firsts on this trip. We saw our first Splendid
Toadfish, it was the first time I’d seen an octopus (we saw 2, batteries
died on the camera, of course), first time we’d seen a squid (saw 2), first
time I went past 110 ft on a dive (went to 123) and the first time I did a
backroll entry.

Flights:
We booked Continental Airlines out of Omaha, connecting through Houston to
Cozumel. Terrific schedule, we left Omaha at 6:05AM and landed in Cozumel
at 11:30AM. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of competition in this market,
and it was high season, so the price was very high. We considered
connecting to a city that offers charter service (Chicago, St. Louis,
Minneapolis, etc.), however we would have to overnight either going out or
coming back. Also considered flying to Cancun and taking the ferry over.
In the end, we decided it was worth the extra money to avoid the hassles and
go with Continental. Everything went smoothly, no lost luggage, no problems
with entry or customs. After claiming our luggage, saw a Funjet
representative outside, they put us into a van and once it was filled we
were off to the hotel.

Hotel:
I booked the all-inclusive option at the Fiesta Americana through Funjet.
I also checked Expedia. The price we paid was only $175.00 more total for
the all-inclusive option for the entire week through Funjet, vs. booking
room only with Expedia. It was definitely worth it to us, as the prices for
drinks and meals are expensive at the Fiesta. We made a point to venture
into town for dinner on 3 evenings, so glad we did! One drawback: when the
hotel is filled to capacity, it’s very difficult to obtain lounge chairs by
either pool or on the man-made beach after returning from diving in the
morning.

Room:
We booked what Funjet called a Deluxe room at the Fiesta Americana. I
faxed the hotel the week of our arrival and requested a king room on a high
floor. The hotel was completely sold out when we arrived, the best they
could do for us was a room with 2 double beds on the 3rd floor. We had a
view of the ocean, so I was happy. The Fiesta will not allow you to check
in prior to 3PM, so be sure to take a change of clothes in your carry on
luggage if you are arriving prior to that time.

After talking with the front desk, it seems Funjet does not receive room
allotments on the upper floors. Probably not a problem if the hotel is not
full. However, if you are expecting a 6th or 7th floor room, and it’s high
season, I would suggest booking with an operator that has more than one room
category. Make sure you don’t take anything out of the mini-bar or the
basket of goodies, as these items are not included in the all-inclusive and
are pricey. We even brought our own coffee and filters, as they charge for
the coffee to use in the in-room coffee maker. They have an in-room safe,
which we used, cost is about $1.00 USD/day. There is a hairdryer in the
room, however no alarm clock/radio.

Drying Racks:
The Fiesta does not have drying racks on the balconies, and they have
signs on the sliding glass door to your balcony that states “Please don’t
hang things to dry from the balcony railing”. Of course no one heeded that
suggestion. We hung stuff on the chairs and table, but wet suits needed to
be hung over the railing to dry.

Food at the Fiesta Americana:
There are 3 restaurants at the Fiesta, the Reef, which is next to Dive
House, the on-site dive op, the Tropical, and Miramar. The Reef is open for
breakfast and lunch daily, with buffet service. You can request menus at
lunch, possibly at breakfast too. We ordered off the menu for lunch a
couple of days when we grew tired of the buffet. It’s very convenient, as
it’s so close to the pier. We always asked for bottled water (agua
purificada) in the morning at breakfast, and at lunch after diving, and took
it back to our room. The Tropical is open for dinner nightly in high
season, and also for breakfast. It’s always a buffet, which gets a little
old, but the desserts were good.

We received 2 coupons for dinner at Miramar as part of the all-inclusive.
We loved this restaurant! Wonderful service, great food (loved the lime
soup), and both evenings we were there they had 3 strolling musicians. Two
played guitar, the third sat on a box and used his hands to play it like a
drum, and had some sort of chimes attached to the front. They were so good!
They played for us twice, the 2nd time we requested La Bamba. Everyone in
the restaurant seemed to enjoy the rendition. The harmonies were lovely.
The only thing I found strange regarding the all-inclusive is that they
still make you sign for all meals, drinks, etc. They make you wear a
bracelet, kind of like Club Med used to do with the drink bracelets, however
you still have to wait for the bill and sign.


Dining in San Miguel:
We ventured into town 3 different evenings, and I’m so glad we did!
Sunday night we went to Pancho’s Backyard, we had a lovely dinner. I had
Mahi Mahi wrapped in banana leaves. Yummy! And of course the margaritas
were fabulous. Fun to see all the preparations for Carnival, they had
performers on the square. Another evening we went to Prima, it was busy,
but so good! I had the Surf and Surf, lobster and shrimp, with fettucini
alfredo, it was to die for! Our last evening, we went to El Capti
Navigante. Again, we had wonderful service, a terrific meal. Thanks to all
the D2D who have posted info regarding restaurants, they were all great!
While walking around San Miguel, we saw other places I’d read about, Casa
Denis, French Quarter, La Choza, hope to hit those on our next trip!

Diving:
After a lot of research, we decided to go with Dive House for our diving.
I contacted them several months prior to our trip to arrange the diving.
Their fleet of boats, Dive House I, II, III, and IV, are in great shape.
They have all the amenities. We dove most days with Eddie and Manuel as our
Divemasters. I wanted to complete my AOW while on this trip. My instructor
was Jorge Rodriquez. He was great! He worked for Dive House for 7 years, I
think he said. He no longer works for them. His family owns some
beachfront land north of San Miguel, and he is trying to open a beach club.
Said he already has some palapas up. Since it’s high season, he helps Dive
House out when they are in need of instructors. I had to do quite a bit of
reading for the AOW, especially considering we were on vacation, wish I had
received the book on Saturday when we checked in with Dive House. Jorge
didn’t provide me with the books until Sunday. Not only did I complete my
AOW, I also passed the 50 dive mark while on this trip! Might not seem like
much of a milestone, but it was special to me. I completed 14 dives this
trip.

Water temps averaged 79 degrees. I get cold easily, so I wore a Henderson
Trilam, a Henderson hooded vest, and a Seaquest 3/2 full suit and never got
cold. We were amazed every day at the armada of boats that rushed to the
reefs, quite a site!


Now for the dives:

Santa Rosa
78’ max for 43 minutes
Saw several lobsters and spotted eels on this dive. Several swims
throughs. Visibility wasn’t as good as I know it can be, an El Norte’ went
through on Saturday and it was still pretty choppy on Sunday.

Punta Tunich
60’ max for 44 minutes
Really fast current on this dive, the highlight was near the end of the
dive, we saw a huge spotted eagle ray! It was too far away to photograph,
but it was so graceful.

Palancar Caves
123 ‘ max for 43 minutes
This was the Deep Dive for my AOW course. The rest of the group on our
boat, including Lloyd, stayed around 70-75 ft. Saw more lobsters and some
huge French Angelfish, and another spotted eagle ray.

Chankanaab Bolones
65’ max for 43 minutes
This was the Drift Dive for my AOW course. The Atlantis submarine made an
appearance near the end of this dive. We waved as they took pictures of us.

Yucab
52’ max for 42 minutes
We did this site as a Night dive for my AOW course. Saw my first octopus
on this dive! The first one was small, I believe it was a juvenile
Caribbean Reef Octopus. The 2nd one was probably an adult. I was so
excited to see these. Our Divemaster, Eddie, chose this site because I told
him I wanted to see an octopus. Also saw my first Splendid Toadfish on this
dive. Man, could you hear them! Burb, burb, burb! We also encountered a
huge nurse shark that was sleeping. A terrific dive!

Palancar Gardens
74’ max for 48 minutes
Dive House put us on a slow small boat, the Adriana, for the 2 tank
morning trip. I don’t mind a small boat, but I do mind a slow small boat.
I had never done a backroll entry, I’ve always done giant stride entries,
and the first one I did was not pretty. On this dive we saw the largest
barracuda I had ever seen. We estimated it was about 5 ft long. It was
sitting behind a large coral head, just waiting for something to pass by.

Tormentos
58’ max for 48 minutes
Loves the colors of the reef on this dive!

2 Shore Dives at Fiesta Americana
I did my AOW Navigation and Underwater Naturalist on shore dives from the
Fiesta Americana. There was more to see on these dives than I thought. Saw
lots of cushion sea stars, tons of sergeant majors, a spotted drum, a
balloonfish, squirrelfish, not bad shore dives. Completed my AOW, whoo hoo!

Palancar Horseshoe
78’ max for 50 minutes
Saw lots of parrot fish on this dive, did several swim-throughs.

San Francisco
58’ max for 51 minutes
Tons of fish, saw a stingray at the end of this dive.

Paradise
40’ for 40 minutes
Night dive, we only had 4 divers, plus the Divemaster. Saw a huge
porcupinefish on this dive, probably 3 ft. long. Also saw several Sharptail
eels out feeding, a king crab, a Splendid Toadfish that was all the way out
of it’s “cave”, 2 Caribbean Reef squids, and a sculptured slipper lobster.
One of the Caribbean Reef Squid actually ran into Lloyd after he took its
picture.

Columbia Deep
90’ max for 42 minutes
Awesome dive! Saw 3 Hawksbill turtles on this dive. Also saw a barracuda
during the safety stop.

Tormentos
57’ max for 50 minutes
Last dive of the trip L. We didn’t mind doing this dive twice. Saw
another Splendid Toadfish and a Flamingo Tongue.

Observations:
Absolutely loved Cozumel! The people, San Miguel, the restaurants,
enjoyed it all. Not so crazy about all the cruise ships and people. I was
glad we were removed from it, until the evening when we would venture into
town. A must for the next trip, learn more Spanish! Hola, Gracias, etc.,
only go so far.

We took a trip to the East side of the island, rented a jeep from Avis,
the onsite car rental agency at the Fiesta Americana. We had a great time,
but the rain got a little wild and we ended up going back to the hotel
sooner than we intended. Stopped at Coconuts for lunch. Nice place, the
owner is definitely an animal lover. I thought I heard a cat when we
arrived, and found a tiny little kitten meowing, wet from the rain and
sitting near a barstool. I walked over and it crawled onto my foot, looking
up at me and meowing pathetically. The owner asked if I wanted a cervesa
and I burst into tears! That poor little kitten really pulled at my
heartstrings, so tiny, and no momma around. He later explained that he
found it on the side of the road a couple of days ago, and that he was
caring for it. It was meowing because it was hungry. He fed it while we
were there, and said it was fat compared to when he found it. I told him
that he had a good heart. After a couple of cervesas, we feasted on nachos
and the jumbo shrimp, really good! Got to see his parrott, owl, and iguana.
Lloyd enjoyed looking at their photo album!

Dive House: A first rate op, however they are large and cater to groups.
Or at least they did while we were there. If you’re looking for a
personalized dive experience, you may want to look elsewhere. The dive
boats were in great condition. Received wonderful service from the staff,
taking our BC’s before we got into the boat, setting them up for the 2nd
dive, everyone was terrific. I like the luxury of the larger boats, being
able to stretch out a little, especially if the boat wasn’t full. I think
we had a reputation for tipping well after the first couple of days, as I
always got great service from the staff on the boats.

If we stay at the Fiesta next time we’ll take 2 locks and use 2 drawers,
as 1 was a little cramped for our stuff. Nice having the rinse tanks so
close. The only thing we hauled to our room after diving were our wetsuits.
I liked the fact that they let everyone pretty much dive their profile,
those who would run out of air would surface, the rest could stay down until
they hit 700 psi. At that point we always did a 3 minute safety stop at 15
ft. We surfaced a few times with more air than that. Diving with computers
is the only way to go in Cozumel. Next trip we may do Nitrox. We met some
very nice people from all over the U.S., Japan, and England while diving
with Dive House.

We purchased the Cozumel Dive Guide published by Deep Blue prior to our
trip, www.cozumeldiveguide.com. This is a fabulous book! Helped us
research where we wanted to dive. Another very useful tool was a map on
Cozumel we purchased through www.cancunmap.com. This was a great map,
especially for someone going to Cozumel for the first time. Looking at the
weather this week, we really lucked out. It rained on Saturday when we
arrived, and the following Friday, the rest of the week the weather was
terrific. Visibility could have been a little better, but hey, it sure beat
the 27 inches of snow and near zero temps we left!

This was our first trip to Cozumel, it certainly won’t be our last!

Trip Reports

Lodging Reviews
Mayan Tour Reviews
Scuba Dive Shop Reviews
Things to Do Reviews
Restaurant Reviews

Email us to have your review listed or removed. Thanks!

back to top