Today is

*Online Specials*

*Discussion Boards
Cozumel Chatters Central
Cozumel Scuba Central  

Travelers Info
Air Travelers
Mainland Travelers
Cruise Ship Passengers
Crew Members

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

Accommodations
Choosing a Place
Hotels
Vacation Properties
Vacation Rentals Online
Bed & Breakfast
Diving/Hotel Packages

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

Island Guides
Beaches
Nightlife
Restaurants
Shopping
Food

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

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

Mayan Ruins
San Gervasio
Chichen Itza
Ek Balam
Tulum
Coba

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

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

100's of Recent Reviews
Trip Reports  
Lodging Reviews
Things to Do Reviews
Dive Shop Reviews
Restaurant Reviews
Mayan Tour Reviews

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

About Travel Notes
Advertise
Affilate Program

Contact Us

Cozumel

Allegro Resort Cozumel

I want to thank all of those who posted information on this bulletin board. I read and read, printed and copied and put in a three ring notebook with partions for Car rental, diving, places to stay and places to go. The information was great and it helped the Allied Engineering crew (8 of us) have an awesome time. We were rookie divers and did our pool certification in snowy Bozeman, Montana.

We stayed at the Allegro and half us scored rooms in the 4000-5000 range, within one building of the beach. I don't think we could have done better. We ate at the buffet most of the time but did the Italian Caruso Resteraunt thing one night (good but small portions, one of us had ravioli and got ....... two raviolis. She retaliated by ordering and eating two desserts.)

Weather was made to order - January28 to February 4 only had one cloudy day. Air temperature was 84-86 degrees F and the water was 79 most of the time.

After reading all of the diving reports we chose Sea Urchin Diving with Isidro Narvaez. We did two shore dives at Caleta (just past Chaankanaab) and went to 30 feet in minimal current. Luis actually was our divemaster and was very good but insistent that people do all of the safety exercises properly. We went out on the boat the next day and did a drift dive on the Santa Rosa wall with a four or five knot current - way cool. Went to 60 feet, saw shark, barracuda and lobsters in addition to huge angels and loads of purple staghorn coral. Did the San Francisco Reef next and saw tons more, including rays. I think at this stage of the game we were beginning to enjoy diving and start to feel pretty confortable in the water. We rested up a couple of days and then bokked a two tank dive with Palancar Diving right at the Allegro, figuring the convenience would outweigh the cattleboat effect and were pleasantly surprised. The Palancar rental gear was in good shape, everything fit everybody and we headed to the Palacar Horseshoe where we dropped to 80 feet and cruised through deep canyons - cave diving without the cave. Everything was really clicking and we had a great dive. Our divemaster was Miguel, and the only scary part was when a scorpion crawled out from under some gear on the boat. Our second dive was at a spot called La Lila ???? and we saw a sea turtle and more rays. My only disapointment was having to come up with 1100 pounds of air left - dive seemed way to short although we were down for 40 minutes.

I would say you get more of an adventure with Sea Urchin, and probably get a little more personlized service with Isidro, but Palacar ran a good operation - solid - and I wouldn't hesitate to dive with either again.

We also found the scuba shop in the southeast corner of the Plaza n San  Miguel and bought all kinds of great stuff - pretty neat shop when you compare it to Montana Dive shops.

We also ate out twice - did the Roma's thing and although good, it took two ours to get a meal and another 40 minutes waiting in the street to get a table - probably not worth the effort. We also did Pancho's Backyard and enjoyed it immensely. A word of caution - if you order a margarita and they ask you if you want a big one say no. The big one comes in a goldfish bowl on a stem and costs nine bucks and if you drink it before you eat, they will have to carry you out. The food was awesome.

We rented a jeep and toured the island - great views, but serious surf, lots of rocky coast and a lot of garbage washed up on shore. We found a couple good buys for blnkets and such, but the highlight was lunch at Coconuts. It is a small eatery on the top of a hill, and you can sit under an umbrella, eat a great lunch at the edge of a cliff and see forever. Maybe the highlight of the trip for my non-scuba spouse - don't miss this one.

We ventured to the Reef Club and went through one of their timeshare presentations to get a cheap rig for the day ($20 for a jeep). Antonio made our sales pitch and he was very nice, but we didn't bite. We got our car without problem but increased the cost by another $15 for insurance. One of our group rented a jeep but didn't go for the insurance. He hit a barricade in the dark at the edge of town and ruined a tire and a wheel. It took him two trips to town and a lot of aggravation plus $400, but it looks like his platinum master card will cover the cost. Buy the insurance.

Reef Club was OK but not as nice as the Allegro.

Another neat thing to do is the Xel-ha - Tulum trip. We got a super tour guide - David - who is 1/2 mayan and was just super knowlegeble. Tulum is a mayan ruin on the edge of the sea on the mainland and Xel-ha is a salt and fresh water lagoon. Dive in the souteast corner for lots of fish and by the floating bridge for lots of big fish 20-30 pound jacks and big barracuda too. Preeety neat snorkeling. $97 per person, all inclusive, includes ferry boat, bus, admission to Tulum and Xel-ha, all meals and ger/lockers at Xel-ha.

We had a great time and I hope I can provide some information that will be of use for others. People can email me direct at mtchrome@attglobal.net if they want and I'll try and answer questions. I probably won't watch the chat board much for a while - trying to re-adjust to Montana winter again. We were back on Monday, snowed on Tuesday (already had a foot) wind blew and drifted on Wednesday so that I only made it 400 feet down our 1000 foot driveway and today, Thursday it is 15 below (F). Its so great to be back!