July 2006 Cozumel, Mexico Trip Report In 2006 we are still pretty new to scuba diving. I had maybe somewhat prematurely booked us a diving trip to Galapagos in November. Well, Galapagos is supposed to be very hard diving with lots of current. We had never dove in current before so I did some research and it seemed like Cozumel, Mexico would be the closest place to practice before the big trip to Ecuador in November. I brought along a cheap underwater camera with no strobes so please excuse the amaturish underwater photos included in this story. The flight from Atlanta to Cozumel is direct and quite short (2 hrs). We stayed at Caribe Blu (www.caribeblu.net ) based on Scubaboard reviews. Caribe Blu is nice simple hotel located south of Centro with a pleasant open-air lobby and a very cute resident kitten (he may try to wander in your room at night). There is a dive shop with a free rinse station next to hotel for your dive gear, a pier for pickup, and a nice pool with a view of the ocean. If you can, request a fridge from Caribe Blu in advance as not every room has one. We neglected to do this and it took several days before one became available. There is a reef to dive in front of the hotel but we did not try it. Almost everyone staying here seemed to be a diver. One can either walk into town (about a 20-25 min walk) or quickly grab a cab out front for a $3 to $4 trip. There is also a Chedraui Supermarket nearby for beer, snacks, ATM, or even clothes. Cute resident kitten of Caribe Blu Caribe Blu, Cozumel, Mexico Caribe Blu, Cozumel, Mexico The Diving: We dove with Blue XT Sea based on the excellent feedback Christi’s company has received on internet feedback and had no complaints. One of her two boats would pick us promptly at 8am each day for a morning of diving. The DM Pedro did a fantastic job of guiding and spotting marine life and the captains were helpful and friendly. One captain named Mago entertained us with magic tricks during surface intervals. The procedure for diving was when you got to 700 PSI, signal the DM and he would inflate a marker and shoot it to the surface on a reel. You would then do a hovering safety stop in the current without a line to hang on to. Upon surfacing the boat is usually right there to pick you up. Hand the captain your weight belt, BC, and fins. SITs are done at random beach clubs; you can choose stay on the boat, dock or visit the snack bar if you choose. The DM and Captain serve snacks and drinks (usually muffins and mango juice). The vis was always great and in late July the water temp were around 83F. You may want to cover your arms and legs whilst diving in a shorty as jellyfish stung my wife several times. We dove the following spots on this trip: Santa Rosa Wall 80 feet max. The current was somewhat strong but probably normal by Cozumel standards. This reef does have a lot of sand on it from Hurricane Wilma but there was still plenty to see. We do a swim-through; see lobster, trunkfish, and large grouper, schools of angelfish. Yocab 50 feet max. A blue parrotfish munches away on coral and a trail of sand follows out the end (so that’s how beaches are made!) A sea turtle nonchalantly swims out in the open. See a black and white spotted eel free-swimming. Nice view of a nurse shark while hiding behind a rock from the current. Lobster and barracuda are also spotted. Palancar Gardens Max depth 82 feet. See another eel out in the open, a sleeping turtle that wakes up when hearing our bubbles and swims away, some large grouper, 2 lobster, some neat swim-troughs. When we surface the weather has gone pear-shaped and we spend a miserable SIT huddled under the thatched dock roof as a rainstorm comes out of nowhere and pelts us with cold sideways rain and wind. (You should probably bring a fleece jacket on all dives in here just in case this happens to you; we were all freezing for about an hour until it blew out to sea!) Punta Tunich There are tons of other dive boats here but DM Pedro does a great job of avoiding the rival dive groups. He points out the cool sailfish blenny, a very tiny fish that periodically pokes out a small hole to survey the scene. Also see queen angelfish, blue parrotfish, midnight parrotfish, and rainbow parrotfish. DM also shows us our first glimpse of the splendid toadfish; very cool looking fish endemic to Cozumel (Blue XT Sea sells hats with this fish on the front, I picked one up). Also spot our first green moray eel. School of Grunts at Punta Tunich, Cozumel, Mexico Green Moray at Punta Tunich (yes I know I need to buy a strobe...) Cozumel, Mexico Paradise Reef We did two night dives here and they were both great. Again Pedro does a great job of avoiding the other diver operations that crowd this popular site. There are lots of eels and octopus out hunting in the open, a large king crab perched on a rock calmly ate as we watched, lots of lobster, sharp fin eel, yellow stingrays, spotted scorpion fish, and of course many fish cramped into hiding holes in the reef for the night. Really recommended if you are up for night dive. It almost got the point where you yawned if another eel swam by. Palancar Bricks 84 feet max. This is a canyon-like area with many opportunities for swim-troughs (see 4 lobster in one of them). Spotted on this dive are turtle, large hogfish, barracuda, a giant hermit crab, and a very small yellow line crab. At our SIT, an English chap points out some pipefish swimming near the dock. Paseo De Cedral (named after a nearby town) 56 feet max, Highlights are the spotted drum, a sleeping turtle, nurse shark, splendid toad fish, fun swim-through, large grouper, stingray, lots of barracuda, fireworm. Unfortunately fall victim to the foggy camera case syndrome! Cedral Wall 83 feet max Very strong current, get our first really good view of the Splendid Toad Fish (most of his body is exposed as the hole he lives in is rather large, usually you only get a glimpse of their face), a lobster forages out in the open in the daylight, a nurse shark is seen in the distance, and then another one swims right underneath us! I check to make sure the shark-phobic diver in our group is o.k. and she seems fine. Green moray, yellow stingray, and large rainbow parrotfish are also seen. San Francisco Wall 65 feet max. We dive here twice; both times Pedro is able to point out a little seahorse that is struggling in the current. His tail is attached to a bit of sea grass and our group has to crawl over the sand to see him. A small roughbox crab makes an appearance, and the bizarre-looking peacock flounder crosses the sand. There were a ton of other divers here, but Pedro had us hold tight until they passed and then we had the place to ourselves. The highlight of this dive is when Pedro spots an odd-shaped fish sitting on a rock and then takes the regulator out of his mouth and points to his lips. Huh? Oh yeah, it's the Red Lipped Batfish. This was a nice find as we dove with a woman later who had never seen after 10 yrs of diving in Cozumel. Waiting for the seahorse in the current of San Francisco , Cozumel, Mexico Columbia Shallow Lots of fish here, highlights are decorator crab, tigertail sea cucumber (looks like a long tube slowing moving from the reef), scorpion fish, yellowhead jawfish (tiny fish who pokes his head out of a hole in a similar manner to the blennies), and a school of southern sennet. Palancar Caves Pedro points out two little garden eels pointing their heads out of the sand at the beginning of this dive. A pair of turtles munches on some food and seemed unimpressed that we are watching them. Two goatfish use the pair of long chemosensory barbels ("whiskers") protruding from their chins to sort through the sediments in search of a meal. Schools of beautiful juvenile blue parrotfish proudly swim by. My wife offers her hand to a little yellow line crab to clean (this behavior has been noted in Reef Fish by Paul Humann) but it ignores her. Delilah Reef max 64 feet huge black grouper, eels, scorpion fish, at the end of dive, Pedro bangs on his tanks and shows us a HUGE green moray under a rock. It grins at us, a fitting way to end our dive trip in Cozumel. Large Grouper at Delilah Reef, Cozumel, Mexico at Surface of Deliah Reef, Cozumel, Mexico Part II Cenotes Christi helped us arrange a day of diving on the mainland. On our last day of vacation we took the ferry from Cozumel to Playa De Carmen where Dennis from Diablo Divers was waiting for us. Dennis, a Canadian ex-pat, used to work in Russia for a oil company but gave it up to become a Cenote guide in Mexico. After picking up Sara (a very funny daughter of the owner of Aquanauts, a local dive store), we drove to two Cenotes. It was very hot out and we put our dive gear on by the truck and then walked down the stairs to the Cenote. First Sara did a giant stride in and announced the water was freezing. My wife jumped in and seconded this opinion. I didn’t enjoy jumping in third after hearing this but actually the water wasn’t too bad (around 78F). Diving in clear water underground for the first time was a very interesting experience. Dennis led us around each Cenote and was constantly turning around to make sure we were ok. When we passed through the halocline (fresh and salt water layer), the water started shimmering in front of our eyes like something out of the Matrix movie. The two Cenotes we visited were Chikinha and Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal was my favorite, it featured tiny rays of light coming through the ceiling and some tiny catfish swam by us. Dennis was a great guide and I would recommend using him. Dennis goes over the plan at Taj Mahal Cenote Warning sign at Taj Mahal Cenote (If you dive past the stop sign, you will instantly turn into a skeleton with a flashlight!) Food You will not go hungry on this vacation, as there are lots of good places to eat on the island; we visited a few of them: Prima (http://www.islacozumel.net/food/prima/) you dine on the rooftop dining at of this Italian place located at 109 Avenida A. Rosada Salas. Good seafood & pastas, plus the after dinner “Mexican Coffee” is a nice end to the evening. Rock N Java Avenue Rafael E. Melgar 602You can watch the Mexican navy drill outside the window here and read old copies of Rodale’s Scuba magazine at this café. Good chips n guac, veggie burger, and veggie tacos here. Service can be somewhat slow. Internet access is available. This became our normal place for lunch after a morning of diving. Guidos (http://www.guidoscozumel.com/) Probably our favorite place to eat, great Italian food. Their garlic bread is not on the menu but well worth ordering. Great pastas, pizzas and seafood here plus a lovely atmosphere in the courtyard. Somewhat expensive for Cozumel. Located on Ave. Rafael E. Melgar #23 between Calle 6 & 8 North on the Waterfront Chi Av. Rafael Melgar at Calle 3 So-so Chinese food, I was not crazy about the fact that they serve shark fin soup here. Le Chef corner of Ave. 5 and Calle 5 A very tiny café with great food and a friendly staff. The owner gave us freshly squeezed limejuice to pour in our Coronas and this worked quite well! We had dinner here several times; on a side note my wife enjoyed shopping at the local dress shop across the street (which featured male mannequins wearing dresses in the window???) Male mannequins in Cozumel Coconuts (http://www.islacozumel.net/food/coconuts/) We only had a drink here but the view cannot be beat (perched high on a cliff on the eastern side of the island overlooking the sea). There is a sign noting if you flash a body part to the staff and allow them to take a photo, you will get a free shot of tequila. Around 2pm a group of college kids next to us took them up on it and bar has stacks of photo albums where people did the same. One lady in our diving group noted “I’ll only show my * for diamonds” Mr. Sanchos Somewhat cheesy beach club but they serve killer chips and guacamole here. Nice view of the beach as well. Taco Paco (Playa Del Carmen) Nifty roadside taco stand with great salsa bar. They only serve shrimp or fish tacos. If you are driving down the coast, look for the first Pemex station South of Aventuras. Paco is there. Salsa bar at Taco Paco Car It is well worth your time to rent a car and explore some of the island. We rented an old yellow jeep ($49 a day including required insurance) from Less Pay (http://www.islacozumel.net/services/lesspay/) next to Rock N Java and had a great time driving around the island for a few days. Rental jeep from LessPay Cozumel is a great diving destination, the people are friendly, it is cheap, and most of the divers we met from the States had dove there for several years and keep coming back. Very much recommended. Trip Report Index