Iberostar Waves Cozumel - All Inclusive

After a lifetime of travel to nearly 60 countries, I booked the Iberostar Waves for a week’s vacation for our family of three. We had a wonderful stay. The snorkel trip, booked through the hotel rather than the dive shop, was a highlight. Operated by Alberto’s Water Sports, it featured a surprise snack of fruit, chips and the best ceviche I’ve ever eaten, all served from a platter floating among us as we waded among the stingrays. The dive shop (thanks, Pamela!) went above and beyond to work with us and our various skill levels. I got in seven dives—including a night dive—and saw sharks, huge lobsters, a large seahorse, puffer fish, grouper, moray eels, lots of colorful tropical fish and some amazing coral formations. The resort’s grounds are beautiful. There are flamingos, peacocks and any number of coati (co-AH-tee)—a little rascally racoon-like creature—roaming the grounds. There was more food available than anyone could possibly eat, and more of a variety than anyone could possibly want. Breakfasts, lunches and dinners were all delicious. The grill house near the pool served amazing chicken, beef and pork. The pools were wonderful, the beach walkable and peaceful. The staff were eager to help and always available when needed. The only downside in my mind was the size of the room, which was just slightly cramped for two adults and our teenager. The room did have a bit of a damp smell when we arrived, but nothing worse than I’ve experienced in other tropical regions. Overall, it was a week without care and free of hassle, which is exactly what we needed. I hope we get to visit again.

We had a wonderful stay at Iberostar Cozumel and would absolutely come back. The resort has a relaxed, authentic island feel while still being extremely comfortable and well run. The grounds are beautiful, the rooms are clean and spacious, and the food consistently exceeded our expectations with plenty of variety. What really stood out, though, was the service. Everyone was friendly and genuinely welcoming, but a special shout-out goes to Rufino, the concierge. He was incredibly helpful, attentive, and knowledgeable, always going out of his way to make sure our stay was smooth and enjoyable. Whether it was helping with logistics, recommendations, or just checking in to make sure everything was perfect, Rufino made a big difference in our experience. If you’re looking for a laid-back, high-quality all-inclusive in Cozumel—especially one that feels personal and well cared for—this is an excellent choice. Highly recommended.

we had a great time at Iberostrar. Apart from the experience, the staff were extraordinary. Everyone went out of their way to make us feel comfortable. Rufino helped us with making reservations for Christmas dinner, getting a car rental and telling us about things to do on the island.

This was our fourth time back at the resort and it did not disappoint! We were welcomed like family and had a wonderful week. My husband and I plus our two adult daughters had adjoining rooms 3203 and 3204 and it was perfect. There was a wide variety of food at the buffet and it was all fresh and delicious. We ate at the Smokehouse (love the empanadas!), thoroughly enjoyed the Pagoda. Our least favorite of the restaurants was the Mexican. We spend the week on the beach so we frequented the beach grill (La Ventana) for burgers and fries and also enjoyed the days where fresh tortillas were prepared outside El Cedral. The beach was wonderful, plenty of palapas for shade, we did put our towels down just before breakfast and were on the beach by 10:30. As other reviews have said, bring water shoes for entering off the beach but we had no problem walking to the dock and entering the water that way. We snorkeled at the resort and didn't do any excursions this time. Thank you to the staff for making our week so wonderful! Shoutout to Rufino for always going above and beyond for us! Thanks to Gabriel at the beach bar, Manolo for his constant encouragement during water aerobics and Jonathon, Carlos and Wilbur for their excellence. Special thanks to the gal that makes the omelets at breakfast, she is terrific and always gracious. My only complaint is we noticed an odor over the bridge by the flamingos, I think the area needs a deep clean. We look forward to seeing you next year!

Great place for divers

Serving in restaurants

There are plenty of good reviews , bad reviews , and everything in between about this resort. If your looking for something to complain about , you will find it . If you are looking to find something fantastic , you will as well. I cannot stress enough about wearing water shoes at the beach. A visit to the clinic and stitches in the foot will change your vacation plans. Being confident , sober , and experienced are not good reasons to not wear them. The staff members are fantastic. Raul , Armando , and Marisol are a few that make this place great .

Decent resort with good food but has it's downsides! This is our 5th or 6th stay at this resort and most likely our last. The common areas are clean, the pool is large and has a swim up bar. Chairs are available even when the resort is booked out. The food in the main restaurant is good, sometimes great... definitely better than other Caribbean resorts we have stayed at. The steak house no longer offers steak and was not that great anymore. The highlights of this resort are individual huts that provide 2 to 8 rooms, hence it's quite if you don't count in the noisy A/C units. The resort feels spacious and wildlife frequents the place. The flamingos are nice to look at but there are no areas to sit down and enjoy them. Rooms are large enough for 2 people but not more. There are very few connecting rooms, they are usually booked out... so a family of 3 or 4 generally has to book separate rooms that are not directly next to each other. Rooms are clean but need maintenance. Water comes into our closet through the ceiling. The 2 heads in our shower can not be individually operated like they were designed to, water pressure is not great. Our second room has a slow shower drain leading to flooding. The toilet drain is also slow or partially obstructed. The fitness center has many non-functional machines and the A/C there can't catch up. Our biggest disappointment is the daytime entertainment. Some activities are offered only one time per day to up to 10 people on first come basis. I have tried to sign up almost daily for our entire 10 day stay and could not once get into archery. Today I was at the sign up place at 8am when they opened... still no more availability. So disappointing! Similarly with Bingo at the pool... the times and location changes daily and does not match the website, and there are no announcements! By the time you find out the location, the bingo has started without you! I tried for 9 days! All of this was done so much better in the past! There was more staff and more positive energy! They used to blast the Iberostar song a few minutes prior to games and the young crew was super inviting, inclusive, and energizing! There is still a kid's club and the resort has a kiddies pool but all of the kid's entertainment is no longer offered. We still enjoy our time here but will probably not be back! Heads up, staff may offer you a club membership and give 4 free snorkel tour tickets as reward. The tour was good but the sales pitch was pretty bad!

We love coming back to Iberostar Cozumel ! The dives are awesome, the staff is very welcoming and best of all is the starcamp. A big thank you to Ismael, Rosa and Sol for being there and making our holidays so exceptional. They are the best ! My daughter simply doesn't want to leave everytime we come.

My family and I really had a great vacation at this resort. Everyone is incredibly friendly and makes you feel at home. Shoutout to Judith from the entertainment team—she's a local, so if you have any questions, go to her. She's completely honest and transparent about everything, and the games she hosts are fun. We went to see The Nutcracker and loved it—a very entertaining show that we all really enjoyed!

Beautiful property and location, nice pools and beach with snorkeling, sailing, and scuba diving opportunities. We thought the food choices were quite good with many options to choose from. Staff were very friendly and accommodating.

Rooms were a little small and felt dated. Hot tub would have been nice. We were asked multiple times to set up an appointment to listen to a sales pitch about the hotel and hotel chain. We kept saying no but some staff were quite pushy about it.