Budget Travel - Budget Cozumel?

I'm not sure if this thread should be here or in the Mexico forum so moderator please move it if you see fit.

I'm a college student and I've found a great deal on tickets to Cozumel on Thursday but I'm wondering about cheap accommodation when I get there. I'm really into scuba diving so I'm ideally looking for an accommodations/diving combo rate. I found one hostel online called Hostelito but from it's website it seems a little sketchy. The last place I was diving was in Koh Tao so all of the prices in Cozumel seem high to me. (Rates seem to run $60+ per dive and closer to $100 for hotels). I'm wondering if I would do better on walk-up rates when I get there. Since I'm looking to book either today or tomorrow any advice you could give would be most appreciated.

Can't answer your question specifically, but Tripadvisor.com does a good job of posting additional information and feedback not on FT.

Not sure if you already booked, but a couple of things to keep in mind:

March is very busy in Cozumel, so just walking up at dive shops can be a "hit or miss" situation.

Most of the small boats (6 people) charge around 50-60 for a two tank dive. The longer the dive package, the lower you can get the rates. I just came back from a 10 tank package that was $250, but I think that was a mis-quote by the US-based travel agent as the guy in CZM was amazed it was sold for that cheap, but he honored it.

I went with Dive With Martin and thought they were great.

The hotels will be in the $80 range at the absolute low end. I did Suites Bahia through hotels.com. The hotel is nothing special, but if diving is what you want, spending cash on a nice hotel room is not worth it.

You should also head over to scubaboard.com and check thier forums -- they have a specific forum for Diving in CZM.

Have fun.

Thanks for the advice. I've decided to hold off on this one but may try to get down to Roatan where things are cheaper in April instead.