TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We stayed for 5 nights, which was just right do a final that was doing a lot of diving. If we weren’t diving or had stayed longer we would have been bored out of our minds. This is an excellent place to stay if you’re diving. They have a great dive shop on-site and the pool and beach are pleasant for the times and days you are not diving. This is 2.5 star resort pretending to be a 4 star resort. It’s small and totally serviceable but it is not luxurious or extraordinary in any way. The pool and the beach are fantastic. That’s what you came to Mexico for right? You can ignore the mediocre rooms, hit or miss food, and meh drinks and just sit by the pool or hang out in the shade looking at the ocean. The pool has occasional activities. They are lame. The sunshine is legit though. The pool has a swim up bar. That’s great. But the pool bar and the beach bar are serving bottom shelf liquor slopped into plastic cafeteria cups. It’s fairly disappointing. The rooms are fine. Something will always be broken about your room. The water situation isn’t great. Of course gringos cannot drink tap water or even rinse their toothbrushes without getting immediate gastric distress. The room is stocked with large, Fragile, glass water bottles with bases that are smaller than their tops to encipher to tip over and break. Bring your own water bottles. You have to fill them yourself at stations scattered around the resort. So if you go to bed and you want a falls of water or a may to rinse your mouth when you brush your teeth, get ready to trek outside and find a water station. At least one of them will be broken so this takes 20 minutes the first time you do it. No robes or slippers in the bathroom. Towels are fine. Housekeeping is daily and good. They restock with mini bar with coke, sprite, sparkling water, and 2 cans of Dos XX, but they do not refill the water bottles. Every bathroom we were in had something broken. Poorly constructed sink, mirror insulation that still had pencil marks from construction, broken towel rack. This is disappointing but fine. I came for the diving and the sunshine not to hangout in the bathroom. Beds were large and comfortable. Pillows and linens were great. AC works well. All fine, nothing 4 star worthy. Food and service at the restaurants were hit or miss. Some dishes really stand out. Good Cochinita Pibil at the Mexican restaurant, good salmon at the Asian place. A lot of dishes were really bad. Breakfast sausage was ridiculously dry. Ramen was disgusting. Mole was terrible. Generally Yucatán, dishes, seafood, and ceviche were very good. Everything else, including Mexican dishes from other regions, is probably not good. Jungle cabin vibe is great. Recommend second floor rooms because otherwise folks are looking directly into your room when walking on the foot path. Overall, nice size resort. Maybe 400 ppl total. Much nicer than the 5k mega resorts like Barcelo. Easy to walk everywhere because the resort isn’t so big. You will get bored of the pool, food, and activities after a few days. After 5 days we were ready to go home and that was with significant diving and pool time. Pool has a swim up bar. There is an extensive 8” pool for very small kiddos. My teens liked that they could get virgin drinks at the swim up bar and food from the snack shack anytime. Blended drinks were very good. Service is nice. All the staff are friendly and helpful. They all speak English, and they will nicely humor you when you practice your Spanish. There is tattoo and pottery but on the beach. We all got temporary tattoos (think, henna) and it was really fun. Reasonable prices ($USD 35-55) on temporary tattoos, and thy take credit cards. There was a night market with ridiculous prices and bad selection. $USD 40 for cheesy Cozumel tshirts made in china. Don’t forget sunscreen. Sunscreen at the hotel gift shop was $USD 43. For real. Fitness center was fine. Not much AC, but nice new equipment , bench press, dumbbells, machines. Animals everywhere. Iguanas, coatis, birds, flamingos, cats, and peacocks. This made walking around the grounds really fun. Diving is fantastic here. If you’re staying here to dive you will not be disappointed. Great dive shop. Ocean dives. Night dives. Every dive was amazing. Great equipment, staff, and guides. Some guides are better than others, but none of our guides were bad. As usual, the guides are from all over the world. We met guides from Argentina, South Africa, and France. Highly recommend the Cenote dive if that’s your thing. It’s on the mainland. They will ship you to their sister dive shop at Barcelò resort for the Cenote dive. This dive is a lifetime high point for me. Worth the trip. It’s a full day excursion. 0800-1700. None of the dive computers work. Don’t rent them. Also don’t recommend booking your dives in advance. Better to book there and settle up at the end. We booked in advance, some folks got sick and couldn’t dive. We got a voucher for future dives but couldn’t get refunds. Pricing for the dives is absurdly complicated. One gets charged separately for tanks, tank split-fee, mandatory barometric chamber donations, park entrance fees. It’s confusing and overly complicated but the prices are fine. Nice stargazing on the beach at night when it’s clear. Very little light pollution on the island.

During my recent stay at the Iberostar Cozumel, one of the highlights of the entire trip was the exceptional service provided by Judith. From the moment we arrived, she stood out for her warm personality, professionalism, and genuine care for guests. Judith consistently went above and beyond to make sure everyone felt welcomed and taken care of. Whether she was helping with restaurant reservations, offering helpful tips about the resort, or simply greeting us with a friendly smile each day, she made our experience feel personal and unforgettable. What impressed me most was her attention to detail and her ability to stay upbeat and patient even during the busiest hours. She clearly takes pride in her work, and it shows in every interaction. If you are visiting Iberostar Cozumel, keep an eye out for Judith—you’ll notice right away why so many guests appreciate her. She is truly an asset to the resort and one of the reasons I would happily return.

Amazing resort! Beautiful nature and wildlife all around you and plenty of fun activities/shows led by Judith who kept things fun all trip! The entire staff was nice and helpful!

We had a great time at Iberostar Waves Cozumel. After a smooth check-in, we were greeted by Rufino who was so nice in explaining everything we needed to know about our stay. He even challenged me in finding the armadillo! :) Upon arrival at our room, we noticed we had two double beds. We were able to change rooms (for a king size bed!) a couple of days later, as the hotel was currently at full capacity. Beds (the double beds and king size bed!) were comfortable, but the pillows in the second room were very firm. Note: The hotel should consider adding more hooks or a drying rack inside the room, as there were none! The pool looked well maintained (we did not swim in it), and there were plenty of seats available. We enjoyed the beach during our whole trip. The sand is smooth and perfect. **bring water shoes if you are to go in the ocean** The water was clear and beautiful! Tons of snorkeling to do at the pier. I recommend bringing your own mask and snorkel, as the hotel charges 20 USD to borrow the equipment, for an hour a day, for the week. The 3 restaurants on site are delicious! Our favorite was the Mexican one. The evening buffet has food theme nights. Everything was delicious - sometimes not well identified, so those with allergies might want to double check on that. There’s a snack bar at the beach, lunch buffet at the pool area and an amazing (!!!) taco stand at the entrance of the lunch buffet. Lots of fun wildlife to see and hear… Beautiful sunsets at the beach… Friendly staff… An overall great experience!

This hotel and the staff are AMAZING. From the cleaning to the bars to the food, everi thing is awesome. A special thank you to Rufino for all the help, and wonderful service. You have to go!