Went to Hotel Barracuda with another couple for a week of SCUBA diving and relaxation. The room was small, but was all that we needed with bed, dresser, storage chest, refrigerator & TV with cable (with some english speaking channels for those of us who don't remember our HS spanish). The bathroom was also tiny, but had a roomy shower with a spigot for rinsing dive gear. Definitely a no-frills place, but again, was all that we needed since we were only in the room to sleep.

Location is very convenient to the Chedrui (grocer) which has EVERYTHING from bottled water to fresh baked goods to beer. We kept our refrigerator stocked with all we needed. There is also a scooter rental shop right next door to hotel...we recommend doing this one day to go to the "wild side" of the island

The little beach is great to lay on after a long day of diving, touring the island on scooter or on foot. We highly recommend a nap in one of the hammocks! The fact that it is public was not an issue for us, as the locals who used the beach were quiet and respectful. We watched a young mother relax in the shade snuggling her new baby and enjoying the company of her family. A beautiful, peaceful sight!

The issue we had with the beach is that the bar is not owned by the hotel, but owned and operated by someone in the cruise ship industry for use by cruise ship staff during their time in port. The cruise staff crowds were there on certain days (not every day) and were gone by mid-afternoon when they had to be back on their ships. Caution - they tended to be on the rowdy side at times. We were gone most of the times they were there, as we were either diving or touring the island, so again, it didn't affect us much at all. It actually became a bit of an amusement, really.

The bar staff was wonderful and like the desk staff, knew our names and couldn't have been more friendly with every encounter we had with them.

Our money, etc was safely kept by the desk staff. No issues for us. There is a nominal charge for accessing your items, which is settled up when you remove your items from their care.

The raves we have are for the on-site dive shop...DIVE PARADISE! We needed to complete our SCUBA certification and they made everything SO easy! The equipment was waiting for us at the shop each day for our open water class dives. We jumped right in off the pier and had did all our "tests" right at the hotel in about 30 feet of water.

When we took our boat dives, all the rental equipment was on the boat ready for us. The dive masters and instructors were incredibly patient and calm with us, which made for an excellent time had be all.

Dive Paradise is a very large dive operation with a great fleet of boats and crews. They know exactly what they are doing and take safety very seriously. We would recommend this shop to anybody wishing to dive in Cozumel!!

OVERALL: A no frills hotel within walking distance of downtown with the only beach in the area. Great dive shop!

I have been diving in Cozumel for 14 yrs now, & have spent many trips at the Barracuda. This was my 1st trip back since Hurricane Wilma hit . The Barracuda was rebuilt and a pool was built in the center of where the beach/yard was. Unfortunately the pool & bar area is a public bar now & that has caused a lot of changes. I cannot say enough GOOD things about the staff at the Barracuda. They have always been friendly whether its questions about local events or asking for a morning "wake up knock" ( who needs phones ? ). By my 2nd night there the night staff greeted us by name & knew our room number. The Barracuda still has great access to the ocean for shore diving, Dive Paradise shop on site, and great location close to town or to the Chedrui. The air conditioners work great as does the ceiling fans. Bath always had plenty of hot water when needed. The new bar was the only problem. It is run by the No Name Bar people . They used to be south of town at the cruise ship pier & catered to the cruise ship crews. Thats still their basic client base, along with anyone else who happens to walk down the street & wants to walk into the pool/bar area. There is public access to the pool from the street which keeps the area packed all day & makes the area right outside your rooms loud & noisy all day long. There is LOUD music & screaming & carrying on from mid-morning until night. Most nights it went until 10 or 11pm, and later. This might be fine if you had come to "party" in Cozumel, but most people who stay at the Barracuda used to be scuba divers with 6am wake up calls for diving in the morning. We had one of the 2 rooms on the lower beachfront which used to be the best locations on the property. Alas, no more. Not only were there tables with people about 5 feet from our door, but we came in one afternoon to find that OUR personal lounge chairs had been taken off of our patio & drug down to the public seating. So we couldnt even sit outside & enjoy the ocean. There was no question at all about leaving anything outside on your porch/balcony to dry anymore. And while I realize that here in the U.S. you cant leave stuff outside without expecting it to be taken - people who have come to the Barracuda for years had really been used to being able to do that ! Now you have to take everything inside & share your shower with your gear all day/night long and of course your gear never dries out between dives. One diver who had an upstairs room told me of having a wetsuit stolen off the balcony. Another diver told me that he & his wife were sitting on the far beach area - away from the pool, enjoying the view between our morning dive & awaiting the afternoon boat pickup, when a waitress came over & demanded that he order $10 worth of drinks/food or leave the table. This man was a seasoned Coz traveler & refused, telling her that he had already spent enough money staying at the hotel & with DP that he quite rightfully believed he had the right to sit at the table for an hour. Another couple STAYING AT the hotel told us that they couldnt even get a lounger on the beach for all the 'public people' there & complained to the hotel about it.
There were several return customers there, like myself, who were shaking their heads & missing "the old Barracuda" .
Would I ever stay there again ? Maybe . Probably. I still like the quaint Barracuda, the staff, & the location. But I would certainly ask for an upper story room on the north end of the building - as far away from the pool I could get.
If you want to come & just soak up sun & sand, and drink & party & meet lots of people, this could be the hotel for you too.
But if you want a quiet, basic, dive hotel, the old Barracuda is no more. Its is something to consider.

My wife and I stayed at the Barracuda Hotel for 5 nights last April
2006.
Pro’s
The Hotel Barracuda was nice and clean and had everything one could want in a dive hotel, not fancy but with a great balcony and mini fridge it worked out great. It also had use of a nice pool with a swim up bar.
Con’s
The problem was that the Pool was really not theirs, it was bought buy some guy with ties to the Cruise industry and was really a beach club for the cruise ship crews I believe the slogan was by Crew for Crew. Basically the pool filled up with locals and cruise ship folks in for the day. Not that this is a bad thing if screaming kids, splashing pool water into your drink, is what you have in mind for your vacation. The guy who ran the place was fairly rude to my wife and me on more than one occasion. We would go to the room and mix our drinks in our travel mugs and come and sit in the pool, and he felt we should be buying his drinks. In fact we would have spent quite a bit of money with them had a Bacardi and coke not cost 5 usd and Maragaritas @ 7 usd were a bit to steep for us.
THE BEST PART
Other than the great diving we found a great out of the way local restaurant. Actually we were lost when we found it, it is basically a patio hooked onto a house with an outdoor grill. We were waved in by the Owner Johnny Bravo, the food and the company was absolutely fantastic. Just FYI the name of the place is Las Arracaheras de Johnny Bravo
Located @ 15 av sur no 216-A Entre Adolofo Rosada Salas y 3 sur

We just returned February 14 from a 2 week stay at the Barracuda. I wanted a room on the water with a balcony like that of Caribe Blu where I stayed last Christmas. I would have stayed at Caribe Blu, but their hotel was full. Still, at the Barracuda, which provided a balcony for every room, I got the very best deal through Travelnotes at $85 per night plus tax. The hotel's rate is $99. I really appreciate the help and information Jidan provided on the front end! Thanks, Jidan!

The Barracuda Pros:
The room was basic but clean. Dive boats can pick you up right at the Barracuda Hotel dock. The swimming pool is attractive and has a swim-up bar. The rooms are a good value. Where else can you get a view room on the water for $85 in Cozumel? It is close to Chedraui, the local supermarket. And being so close to town, is a $2-3 cab ride to most of the best restaurants. Our room's balcony was wonderful, providing a 180 degree perspective of activity on that exquisite azure Cozumel ocean, including the transit of cruise ships daily except Sundays. Wireless internet was available at the No Name bar that sits between the hotel and the ocean next to the pool, allowing us to keep in touch with family and friends and work.


The Barracuda Cons:
The shower had almost no water pressure, but was scalding hot and difficult to control the hot/cold ratio that dribbled out, but hey, we did fine just the same, it just took longer to shower. The Barracuda has those famous rock hard beds we read so much about in Cozumel. It was only slightly better than sleeping on the floor. The noise from the bar floats up to the rooms during the day, but seems to carry worse at night. The bar generally shut down by about 11:00pm or so, so for those who were getting up for a 7:30 dive boat pickup, the bar music and the loud voices could be bothersome. But for me the balcony view was worth the bar chatter. I suggest simply taking ear plugs if you must go to bed before 9pm and noise is a problem. To some degree the air conditioner helped muffle some of the sound.

General Cozumel Comments:
One of the very best things about Cozumel is the wide variety of food choices, both in price and in culinary styles. From roadside taco vendors to elegant fine dining was offered. Unless you want to hole up in some all inclusive and never go anywhere but your resort, an all inclusive is fine, though questionably worth the hefty add-on for the generally mandatory all inclusive fee. With all that Cozumel offers in terms of food, however, it is almost a crime to use an all inclusive on Cozumel, especially if one either is on a budget or enjoys trying new food.

I enjoyed Rock-n-Java, which is 100 yards from the Barracuda, a little cafe that has coffee drinks, sandwiches, HUGE salads, and a great trading library. They also are a "front" for the Cozumel Humane Society, and appreciate folks who bring books or good clothes to donate so they can raise money to fund the Humane Society. But the piece de resistance is the peanut butter milkshakes they make. Mmmmm good!