Dive Review of Pro Dive/Occidental in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan

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Pro Dive/Occidental: "Occidental/Pro Dive Cozumel November 2023", Nov, 2023, by Jon Hoffmann, GA, US ( Contributor 17 reports with 19 Helpful votes). Report 12852.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The Hotel: We have stayed at over 6 resorts in Cozumel more than once and this was our 2nd stay at the Occidental. The resort is 4+ star rated and an all-inclusive. All-inclusive resorts are like a cruise ship on land and not for everyone, but it they are a simple way to keep most everyone happy with whatever activity they want to do at any given time. There are 10 three story complexes with 8 large and updated rooms on each level. None of the rooms will give a decent direct view of the ocean. Request a ground floor unit when booking, but the offset is some minor noise depending on who stays above you. The floors are thick cement so any noise you do hear will be faint unless they are throwing a rager. The hotel grounds are lush and tropical. Bring DEET as the No See Ums come out on the beach as the sun descends and occasionally some mosquitos around the lobby area at night. All hotel staff are warm and friendly. They all seemed genuinely passionate about making everyone’s vacation fun and memorable. There is about a 100-yard boardwalk over a mangrove swamp to get to the beach, dive shop and main swimming pool, but the walk is beneficial in helping to burn off all the calories consumed from the excellent food. Thousands of cruise ship passengers visit Cozumel daily, except most Sundays. There are websites (such as: [cozumelinsider.com link]) that will give you the cruise ship port schedules. I highly advise only leaving the resort outside of the cruise ship schedules as the crowds and chaos around the island when the ships are in town is disappointing. I believe that there is also an annual Ironman competition that happens the week of or before Thanksgiving which can also add to the crowds. The Diving: We pre-purchased our dive package to receive a 10% discount directly with Pro Dive, the onsite operator, to completed 17 dives over 5 days, including a night dive. You can get other operators to pick you up at the hotel dock for better pricing, but we opted for the convenience of keeping it local. The Occidental is one of the furthest south hotels, which means less boat ride time to the better dive spots, which also meant returning to the hotel for intervals to switch tanks. Everyone at Pro Dive was professional and kept things fun for everybody. They don’t offer the concierge diving of the past, so you must now lug your own gear, set up your tanks, and rinse and store your stuff at the end of the day. But tank fills are still always well in excess of 3000 psi. I was told that November thru February were the high season in Cozumel and it showed. All of the boats departing for the morning and afternoon dives were full, and because of that, we were not able to move any of our dive schedule around. So make sure you lock in your schedule prior to committing to any dive packages. Over the 25+ years we have been coming to Cozumel, we have noticed how the cruise ships have transformed it from a sleepy little island to something more commercialized and bustling. Expect to see boats from multiple operators at every dive site and multiple groups prowling below the surface. Given the vast number of visitors to Cozumel, expect cattle-car type operations with little flexibility. The temperature on my computer registered 84 degrees at the bottom for most dives, but for some reason it seemed chillier and we all wore 3MM suits. The onset of SCTLD was a big issue for the island on our last visit pre-COVID, and it is clear to see how much it has progressed. Coz has always been one of our favorite Caribbean destinations because of ease the of travel, fascinating reef structures, reliable fish life and colorful corals. Most dive sites are seeing the impacts of SCTLD, with some looking like a desert that received a dusting of snow. The vast majority of the reefs are still healthy, but some have patches of completely white coral with a “desert dusting” of white on corals in the periphery. One of our guides, Javi T., did a great job of explaining and pointing out corals that were in the various stages of SCTLC. It’s sad to see and hopefully the deterioration reverses soon.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	FL Keys, Caribbean, Costa Rica, Thailand, Micronesia, Maldives, Indonesia, PNG, Palau, Malaysia, Philippines
Closest Airport	CZM	Getting There	Delta recently resumed direct flights to CZM from Atlanta since shutting down the route during COVID. It was nice to resume a family tradition of spending Thanksgiving week in Cozumel. We booked the flite and hotel through Delta Vacations for a good value.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	82-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	60-100 Ft/ 18-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Generally 45 minutes bottom time, but most dives were closer to an hour if good on air consumption.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Pro Dive/Occidental in Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan

Pro Dive/Occidental: "Occidental/Pro Dive Cozumel November 2023", Nov, 2023,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Pro Dive/Occidental in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan