tyedye33

I am trying to plan a trip to Cozumel for 2 Adults and 2 young males (one 15 the other 9). We plan to travel in mid July and spend one week. We are looking to rent a 2-3 bedroom apartment/condo/house on a nice beach preferably on the west side of the Island. 3 of the Travelers are Certified Diver so we would like to be near to a Dive shop or at a place with Dive pick-up. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

TC

Consider the Coral Princess Resort. www.coralprincess.com

You can get a two or three bedroom condo, on a wonderful stretch of coral reef. They offer all the amenities -- heated pool, restaurant, Internet, concierge, car rental, and an excellent in-house dive shop, Pepe's Scuba. We have been going there for over 15 years and continue to love the place. They get wonderful comments on TripAdvisor.

If you would rather have a private apartment, I would recommend Puesta del Sol, Nah Ha, Las Brisas -- all in the same general location -- about 1 mile north of the downtown. The southern locations are quite far from town and don't offer very easy access to the town, which is a wonderful place to spend evenings and dine. From any of these private condos, you could organize SCUBA with Frank from Pepe's at the Coral Princess.

BTW: There is only one small hotel on the East ("wild") side of the island. The beaches are not good for swimming -- strong undertow -- and there is no SCUBA from that side of the island.

Happy to answer any other questions.

tyedye33

I will look into your suggestions. I do have a few questions. The places you recommend are they on the West Coast, are they beach properties? Is the water relatively calm and are there any sea creatures that can occupy the imagination of the 9 year old off the shore of the beach area??
thank you for the response!!

TC

The island of Cozumel is really only inhabited on the West Coast -- the side that faces the mainland. On the other side (known as the wild side) there are beach bars and one little hotel. Although there are long beaches on the wild side, they are not for swimming. There are no SCUBA shops there. Although there are some underwater wrecks on that side, currently only one dive shop has permission to go to "the other side" with dive boats and they were in jeapordy of losing their license for doing so last February. Its just too dangerous to SCUBA there.

All the properties I mention are on the water. They do not have "beaches" -- sand going into shallow water. They have sand filled areas that are surrounded by a low wall. The water is accessed by way of a set of steps. The north end hotels and condos are located on a long coral wall populated by millions of colorful fish. The snorkeling is easy and beautiful. You can sit under an umbrella, sipping your drink and watch your kids snorkel in the ocean in front of the Coral Princess Resort. Its wonderful. There is very little tide change and no surf on this stretch of water, so it is very calm. You will get a few waves if a storm blows in or once in awhile from passing boats. I have tons of photos of the beach, condos rooms, and underwater life at the Coral Princess if you would like. I used to have them posted on-line, but the web site died. I'll try to get them up again somewhere or you can post our email and I'll send them to you directly.

TC

Not sure if it works, but try this address and code to see my photos of Coral Princess Resort on Snapfish.com.

http://cozumeltonna.snapfish.com/sna...c=SYE/otsi=WCR

room code: coral

beanweb24

We stayed at Na Ha, unit 702, over Christmas and loved it.

http://www.cozumel.tc/rental-homes-l...ah-ha-702.html

The view from the balcony is really amazing - you feel as if you could dive into the ocean below. There is no beach here - rocky coast. But there is a nice pool area, as well as a ladder to get down into the water and snorkel if the waves are calm. Just make sure you don't swim too far out since the area is trafficked by boats.

The kitchen is really large and nicely equipped, and we *loved* having our own washer and dryer. It's about a 5 minute drive to "downtown," and I really would recommend getting a car so that you have very easy access to the whole island.

We loved Cozumel - you are in for a treat!

tyedye33

Thank you all for your suggestions we have decided to rent a 3 bedroom condo at Paradise Condos. The beach is natural and entry is from the beach and not rocky which is important with a 9 year old nephew who is hoping to be the next Michael Phelps (hopefully with better decision making skills)!