Hey everyone. Looking and planning to eventually do a full IM. Due to scheduling every year, it has to be late fall. If you had to choose between Arizona or Cozumel for a first IM experience, which one would it be? My wife would also be going to get away from work.
Thanks for any advice or experience.
Where are you traveling from? What does the wife look for in a vacation. Both are great options, but have two very different in terms of vacation experience.
I liked both.
If you are uncomfortable with the logistics the simplicity of tribiketransport(or drive it yourself) then AZ is a good choice.
Are you only doing one then do Cozumel, because it is visually stunning.
My wife only went to Cozumel, which was the best, because I treated my first couple of IMs as business trips. I was not ready to entertain the spouse or even think about her welfare as the event stress was more than enough. Only my 4th and 5th did I have family(sisters for CdA and spouse for Cozumel) along.
Would be traveling from Canada
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Honestly, you cant go wrong with either. Cozumel might be a bit tougher logistically in terms of travel, etc, but the warm beaches in the middle of the winter more than make up for it. The CZ swim is fantastic – clear warm water and most likely fast with the swim change (current assisted). If the wife is more of a lay on the beach type person, CZ is the way to go.
AZ is awesome too. Depending on the person, some might find AZ to be more “comfortable” (more familiar hotels, restaurants, you can drink the water, etc).
I’ve done both.
Logistics - Arizona is much easier.
Swim - Cozumel hands down. And since they are permanently shifting to a pt to pt, it is not only vastly more beautiful, but much faster. Hmm…you can swim in the mud at Arizona or in water that you can see the bottom 50 feet down. Arizona if you want a wetsuit, but the salt water is very buoyant in Cozumel.
Bike - Arizona wins here. Cozumel is harder due to the wind on the east side and is a complete draftfest. Arizona was clean by comparison.
Run - Cozumel easy. Too much concrete at Arizona and lots of short turns as you approach and come off the bridges.
Crowd support - Cozumel again.
Vacation venue - Cozumel easy.
Weather - Arizona is better. You are going to feel the humidity at Coz while Arizona is dry. If you aren’t heat tolerant, you might do better Arizona coming from Canada.
Hi, i travelled from Toronto last Dec to do Cozumel. It was a direct flight - about 3 hours. the host hotels are great, each had a bike mechanic and no queues. the island is beautiful. The swim is great, i spent more time than i should in the swim looking at the fish, bike is tough in the wind and the run is flat with great support all the way. i will be back this year to do it again. i stayed on a few days afterwards and just chilled on the beach drinking cocktails and snorkelling.
Really comes down to what weather you like and what kind of vacation you want. Hot and humid or dry? Chilling on the beach or Sedona/ Grand Canyon etc. I’ve done Arizona. Have not done coz but I’ve been there for 2 or 3 of them. If it were me, I’d choose coz. It would be harder due to heat for me, but it would be a more fun overall experience
Good luck getting into Arizona (from what I hear).
I did Cozumel as my first. Yes, the bike transport was a little painful. (had to drop the bike off 3-4 weeks before the race for TBT). My wife really enjoyed the trip. We arrived Thursday and it seemed a long time before the race to do ‘not much’ (i.e. pick up race packet one day, drop off bike another day, etc). We wish we had stayed a little longer. We had come back on Wednesday, so we only had Mon/Tue to play… The race was fine but I’d honestly stay away from three lap bike rides in the future. The wind didn’t phase me much, except the annoying drafting packs. (See my other post on this). The run was hot, until it downpoured which was a blessing. We ran through puddles. Search for the thread from last year. I am sure Arizona is easier.
I can’t speak to Cozumel as I haven’t done that one, but I did IM AZ in 2012 and really enjoyed it. I’ve only done 3 IM’s (Lake Placid, Arizona, Kona), but I would say that I found Arizona to be the most beginner-friendly of the three. The roads are pretty rice, no big hills, not technical, and the bike is 3 laps so you are never very far away from transition so there is pretty good crowd support. The run is similar: 3 laps around the lake with lots of crowd support and only one small hill. If you don’t mind the monotony of multiple laps, then I’d recommend this one. It’s an “easier” course, and a good place to go fast (I got my PR here!). The downside to this one is that Tempe Town Lake is pretty nasty, but at least the water is calm and cool enough to be wetsuit legal. After the race, I spent time hiking in Sedona and the Grand Canyon which was a great thing to do after the race. I’ve heard good things about Cozumel as well, so I’m sure whichever you choose will be great. Good luck!
i have done both, and have to agree with HuffnPuff above. The one thing that stands out is that if you are going to do AZ you most likely will need a really fast internet connection, or plan to go down to Tempe and volunteer at the race. The AZ race sells out in seconds where Coz doesn’t really sell out until the summer time. Coz has way better crowd interaction on the run, I really liked the bands on the run, it was almost like a rock n roll race. Wife says I’m headed back there in 2015, as she really liked having the beach time.
I only did Cozumel. Loved the race. Swimming is fantastic. The bike is hard because of the wind, but is 100% flat. The race is tough: heat and humidity. But it is also flat.
The place is beautiful, and full of entertainment options
Not sure why the bike transport is a deciding factor between the two. Borrow a bike travel case and fly with your bike. I believe that Air Canada only charges $100 each way, so it’s not much more expensive (or even as expensive) as TBT. The only hassle flying with the bike was we flew in and out of Cancun, so we had to put the bike in the shuttle, on the ferry, etc. Not an issue if you fly direct to Cozumel (which we found to be $300 more per ticket…with a family of four, that difference was well worth the inconvenience.)
Do a HITS race or some none branded race. HITS has 2 races in the fall, AZ and CA.