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: : am so jealous that you are going to Cozumel. I would give anything to leave right about now! You are going to have a blast!!! : Casa Del Mar - We've stayed there three times and have enjoyed it. We've never had a problem. The staff is friendly and you never have to worry about things disappearing from your room - ever! There are certainly bigger and more expensive hotels on the island - but we really were happy with the Casa. Ask for a room on the ground floor - facing the pool - not the parking lot. This way you can leave your patio door open and walk back & forth to your room. Makes it very convenient. We never locked our patio door. Casa is basically a diver's hotel, so the pool area is never crowed. The pool is small but functional for cooling off. Across the street (there is a bridge over the road) there is a nice small beach area with chairs and hammocks. You can hop right in the water there and snorkel - if you do that. I don't know if you dive or not. If you do, let me know and I will recommend some dive masters. DO NOT use the dive operators and the Casa. They run strictly "cattleboats" and have heard bad things about them. : The food at the Casa is ok at best. We spent alot of time next door at Ernesto's. We've met some great guys that work there and will be friends for life with them. If you stop in, ask for Jesus (pronouced Hey Zuess) and tell him we chatted. He'll probably buy you a beer. The beer at the Casa is $3 and at Ernestos it is $2. Ernesto's is about 10 steps to the left of the hotel and there is another bar called Betos about 10 steps to the right. They have cheap beer also. I never ate there, but I heard it was good. : Another nice thing about the Casa, is for $20 they will let you keep your room if you have a late flight, which was really nice the last two times down, we had a early evening flight home. We were able to lounge around and shower up when we felt like it. No need to hurry up and be checked out by 11:00 a.m. : : Ah, where to eat. There are SOOO many good places. My favorites include Prima's, Poncho's Backyard, La Mora, Santiagos, La Choza. Read the restaurant reviews on the travel notes pages (www.travelnotes.cc) for more ideas. We have never had a bad meal. The biggest thing is to stay away from the Cruise Ship Tourist traps. : Rent a car for at least one day to explore the other side of the island. There are great restaurants on the other side and the beaches are beautiful. : Where to party....Carlo's & Charlie's is always a blast! Fat Tuesday's and Joe's are also good bets. You won't walk away sober if that is your goal. I've heard Viva Cozumel is a hot night spot, but never had made it our of Carlo's & Charlies to check it out. : The best advise I can give you, is to bring a soft sided collapsable cooler with you. You can buy beer in town at the grocery store for $0.47 a can, definately a better deal than $3 at the hotel. Fill it with ice from the ice machine at the hotel and haul it with you to the pool. The hotel doesn't care if you bring your own to the pool. The grocery store is across the street from the Plaza Las Glorias hotel. They have EVERYTHING, it is more like a WalMart. Remember to bring a bottle opener for the beer bottles. We didn't and searched all over the island for one - never found one. : Definately make time to go mini golfing in town. It is a hoot. The course is beautiful and you can order beers while you golf with walkie-talkies. We stumbled off the course. If you haven't ordered a map yet, buy one at the golf course. They are great and provide tons of information on beaches, restaurants, etc. I've been there five times and still learned a lot from the map. : If you have anymore questions, let me know. I love to talk about Coz and will do my best to help you. : Terri : : : We are going in August and thinking of staying at the Casa del Mar. It seems like a reasonable price and a good location. Does anyone have any experiences with this property they could share? There are many more expensive hotels but I am not sure they are worth the extra money. We just want a clean place with a pool, near the beach, not too far from town, and shore diving would be a bonus. Thanks in advance.

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