Iberostar Waves Cozumel

For our 2025 trip to Cozumel/Yucatán Peninsula, we stayed at the Iberostar Waves resort on the southwestern side of Cozumel. We chose this resort for a couple reasons: mainly, the location is great for snorkeling and diving. It’s very close to the Palancar Reef and Columbia Reef. If staying on the northern part of the island, you’d have to either drive to the other side of the island, or take a boat around to the other side. The other reason is we have Platinum Elite Status with IHG, through the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (referral link).

Unfortunately for us, the first week of April was very windy. Unusually so, according to the staff. They said they’d usually get one windy day a week at most this time of year. So, we weren’t able to snorkel this time around. (Diving was still OK, though).

Check-In

After a 30 minute ride from the Cozumel airport, we arrived at Iberostar Waves. We were greeted by a bellhop who took our bags from the van* and showed us to the check-in counter.

*Getting to the Resort: There are several shuttle companies at the airport, waiting to take you in a shared van to your resort. We paid $30 (US) for the two of us. A taxi, which would be quicker since it wouldn’t make as many stops, was $60

The woman at the front desk found our reservation quickly, offered us our IHG perks (late check-out, bonus points, room upgrade, etc.), and gave us our wristbands (which also served as our room keys). We chose an upper room closer to the beach. More on the rooms in a bit. She also informed us we would have a $25 each, per day, available in the Iberostar app. This could be used on-site for things like the spa or special bottles of alcohol. It’s important to note that you can only use a voucher on something that costs $100 (US) or more, and can’t be used to book excursions since those are booked through 3rd party companies. During our stay, we only used two vouchers: one each for our massages. (Note: book individual massages, not a couples massage, since a couples massage is a single item, so only one voucher can be used.)

After checking us in, we were directed to speak with one of her associates. This is the portion of the program where they try to schedule a 90 minute “no obligation” presentation. They offered us two 60-minute massages (a $300 value based on the $150/hr they charge at the spa) if we attend the presentation. We declined, telling them nicely but in no uncertain terms that we were not interested in a time-share. He left us alone after that.

The Rooms

The rooms are actually small clusters of bungalows spread throughout the property. There are both upper and lower bungalows. The rooms were clean, comfortable, and quiet. The only minor complaint we had was the shower never got above luke-warm, which wasn’t a big deal since it was fairly hot and humid most of the time. (Mid 80’s temp with 80+% humidity). Each bungalow has a small balcony with a hammock and two chairs. We used both a few times, but mostly lused the chairs to dry beach/pool towels. (You check out towels at the towel stand near the pool, and check them back in at the end of your trip. You can “refresh” (swap) the towels at any time as well.)

The Grounds

The grounds of the Iberostar Waves resort was like a mini nature preserve. There was so much wildlife, you’re guaranteed to see something everywhere you go. The grounds are home to quite a few peacocks (both male and female), coati (cute creatures that are related to the racoon), flamingos, turtles, several species of birds, house cats, and various large lizards.

Speaking of cats, they mention in the app that you can join in the feeding, twice a day. One of the times listed was 10:00am. We got to the area where the cat structure is located (they call it a “cat cafe”, but it’s not a cat cafe in the traditional sense) a few minutes before 10am. The cat bowls were already overflowing with kibble. We missed the feeding because they did it early. Also, pouring kibble into a bowl isn’t really my idea of “joining in”. Anyway, of the three cats we saw on the property, one was friendly and liked to be pet, one was fine depending on its mood, and the third was scared of people.

The Food

Iberostar Waves Cozumel is all-inclusive, however there are some top-shelf liquors that you can pay extra to enjoy. All the food on the property is included, though. There are two buffets, three restaurants (one of the buffets turns into a restaurant for dinner), and a grill by the pool if you just want a quick snack. We ate at all of them except one: the dinner buffet. We had dinner at the restaurants each night. One thing to keep in mind: check the app to see which days the various restaurants are available. They’re not all available every day! Here’s what we thought:

Breakfast

Breakfast is served in the larger of the two buffets. They had cold cereal, oatmeal, fresh fruit, several fresh squeezed fruit juices (I liked combining them to make interesting combos), brewed coffee as well as a machine that will make latte’s, cappuccino’s, etc., pancakes, waffles, made-to-order omelettes (or eggs cooked to order), and a variety of Mexican/Mayan dishes that changed daily. One thing that was constant throughout the rotating dishes was they all had tons of flavor! It was good to see they weren’t dumbing things down for those with boring taste buds. There was always a selection of meats to choose from as well. Overall, we were very satisfied by the breakfast selection. As buffets go, this one was a solid 4 out of 5. (Would have been higher, but the pancakes were a bit dense.)

Lunch

The main lunch spot was the smaller buffet area, over near the pool. (This is the buffet that turns into a restaurant on certain nights.) The selection varied from day to day, although they always had a selection of lunch meats and cheeses that didn’t change. Various Mexican side dishes to go with one or two different chicken dishes, at leats two (sometimes more) fish dishes, and sometimes pork as well. There was a section that was definitely aimed at kids, as it featured thin-crust pizza, mac & cheese, spaghetti, chicken nuggets, etc. There was also a dessert bar and ice cream. Everything we tried was flavorful, and well prepared. Any time there’s fish at a buffet, there’s a risk of it being dried out. Maybe because we always got the buffet when it opened, we never had that problem. The highlight were the tacos made with freshly made tortillas. 3.5 out of 5.

Lunch/Snacks at La Ventana Grill

The grill is outdoors near the pool. They grill up burgers and hot dogs then put them in a warmer, ready for you to grab and go. There are several picnic tables nearby. You can see the covered grill area on the very left of the picture, with the covered picnic tables just in front. They also had nachos and a few other snacks. The burgers were OK. We had one on our arrival day because we just missed lunch and were too hungry to make it until dinner. The burgers we had had probably been sitting out for a bit. They did the job, but weren’t great. 2 out of 5 for the actual food, but 4 out of 5 for convenience.

Dinner at Pagoda “Oriental” Restaurant

Yes, they called it an “Oriental” restaurant. It was a mix of Chinese and Thai. The flavors were good, but the noodles they used for the Pad Thai were much thicker than normal. The green curry was decent, but nothing to write home about. You order your main dish off a menu, but there was a sushi buffet with variuos items as appetizers. Of the non-buffet restaurants, this was our least favorite, although it was still decent. 3 out of 5.

Dinner at El Cedral Steak House

This is the restaurant that is in the location of the lunch buffet near the pool. Although this was a restaurant, not a buffet, there wasn’t really anything to choose from aside from what to drink. Dinner consists of a shared meat platter full of smoked brisket, chicken, sausage, pulled pork, coleslaw, beans, bread, etc. Everything was tasty, and they had a variety of sauces to accompany the meat. We were stuffed by the end! 4 out of 5.

Dinner at Las 2 Marias Cantina

This was a Mexican restaurant, and it was tasty. We ate here our first night, jet-lagged as you can be after taking a red-eye to get here, so I failed to take notes after dinner. I had chicken mole, and Teresa had enchiladas. We enjoyed both dishes.

Amenities

In addition to 4 bars, the resort features an open-air covered theater with nightly entertainment, a dive center (including lessons), a spa (we got massages as well as pedicures), a gym, tennis courts, beach volleyball, various pool activities and games, yoga, and technically archery (although the archery area was about 15 feet long, so seems aimed at kids).

Conclusion

We enjoyed our stay at Iberostar Waves Cozumel. Although it’s very family friendly, it didn’t feel like it was catered only to families. There were quite a few child-free couples (like us), and there weren’t so many kids that it became annoying or distracting. It was a good balance.