A Novice In Coz

I went to Chankanaab park a couple weeks ago (6/15/05) and had the best dive
ever. I've really only had the opportunity to dive in murky Texas lakes so
this was like Heaven. Nowadays at this park they won't let you rent a tank
without a guide to go with it and that was probably for the best in my
situation. Gave me a little encouragement. My 9 year old son went too.

My question here is where is another place in Coz where I can take it slow
(and shallow) and not have to follow 10 or 20 other people for a deep dive?
I enjoyed this last dive at about 25 - 30 feet and I think that's what I
needed to get me past those zero visibility jitters I've been feeling since
my cert dive. I'm ready for 30 - 40 or 50 feet but I need to take it real
slow. Oh yeah...I'm still recouperating from these blisters on the tops of
my toes from my fins. I guess I need some work there too!

"rickb56" wrote

> My question here is where is another place in Coz where I can take it slow
> (and shallow) and not have to follow 10 or 20 other people for a deep
> dive? I enjoyed this last dive at about 25 - 30 feet and I think that's
> what I needed to get me past those zero visibility jitters I've been
> feeling since my cert dive. I'm ready for 30 - 40 or 50 feet but I need to
> take it real slow.

That's a remarkably intelligent approach. On my one trip to Cozumel, I
don't recall a lot of opportunities for shallow dives. Cozumel is, at least
for me, about drift diving on walls. While not the most complex of diving,
it's considered advanced diving for good reason. You have to monitor your
depth closely in an environment where the normal signals of changing depth,
things like reduced light and a bottom that's getting closer, are absent.
The best answer I can come up with is to get your shallow water experience
someplace else.

In the continental US, Florida is almost certainly the best place for the
kind of diving you're talking about. Much of the east coast of the state is
blessed with three reef lines, on quite shallow, one somewhere around 30
feet and one somewhere around 100 feet. There aren't many, if any, very
sharp, deep dropoffs. There is no shortage of operators willing to take you
to these dive sites for a fee. While the diving fees can seem a bit high to
the uninitiated, they're a hell of a lot less than what it would cost me to
do the same thing in my 32 foot cruiser. In the Florida Keys, there are
more nice shallow patch reefs than you can shake a stick at, but to find
them, you sometimes have control of where the boat goes. Rental boats work
well if you can't bring a boat of your own. I have a 15 foot boat I trailer
to the Keys specifically for shallow water diving and, on the rare occasions
that I have the cruiser in the Keys, my dinghy works acceptably. Kayaks
also work pretty well and have the added advantage of letting you access the
no motor zones.

> Oh yeah...I'm still recouperating from these blisters on the tops of my
> toes from my fins. I guess I need some work there too!

Something does not fit right. Sorry, but getting past this is going to
require the purchase of new fins. You may be able to reduce the problem
with some kind of barrier protection. Ordinary white socks are OK if you
have room for them. I don't. Thin socks don't stand up well, but there are
lycra footies (is that a word?) that are made specifically for diving. I
have a couple pair of them I use when I'm diving a lot. They're cheap and
last quite well.

Lee

"rickb56" <rickb56@swbell.net> wrote in message
news:438ve.1833$5w3.965@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com ...
>I went to Chankanaab park a couple weeks ago (6/15/05) and had the best
>dive ever. I've really only had the opportunity to dive in murky Texas
>lakes so this was like Heaven. Nowadays at this park they won't let you
>rent a tank without a guide to go with it and that was probably for the
>best in my situation. Gave me a little encouragement. My 9 year old son
>went too.
>
> My question here is where is another place in Coz where I can take it slow
> (and shallow) and not have to follow 10 or 20 other people for a deep
> dive? I enjoyed this last dive at about 25 - 30 feet and I think that's
> what I needed to get me past those zero visibility jitters I've been
> feeling since my cert dive. I'm ready for 30 - 40 or 50 feet but I need to
> take it real slow. Oh yeah...I'm still recouperating from these blisters
> on the tops of my toes from my fins. I guess I need some work there too!
>

Villablanca Shallows might be your ticket. Papa Hogs is about midway. There
are dive shops in that area.

http://www.papahogs.com/

Why not consider another destination besides Coz.

"Rudy Benner" <newsgroups@rudybenner.com> wrote:

>
>"rickb56" <rickb56@swbell.net> wrote in message
>news:438ve.1833$5w3.965@newssvr11.news.prodigy.co m...
>>I went to Chankanaab park a couple weeks ago (6/15/05) and had the best
>>dive ever. I've really only had the opportunity to dive in murky Texas
>>lakes so this was like Heaven. Nowadays at this park they won't let you
>>rent a tank without a guide to go with it and that was probably for the
>>best in my situation. Gave me a little encouragement. My 9 year old son
>>went too.
>>
>> My question here is where is another place in Coz where I can take it slow
>> (and shallow) and not have to follow 10 or 20 other people for a deep
>> dive? I enjoyed this last dive at about 25 - 30 feet and I think that's
>> what I needed to get me past those zero visibility jitters I've been
>> feeling since my cert dive. I'm ready for 30 - 40 or 50 feet but I need to
>> take it real slow. Oh yeah...I'm still recouperating from these blisters
>> on the tops of my toes from my fins. I guess I need some work there too!
>>
>
>Villablanca Shallows might be your ticket. Papa Hogs is about midway. There
>are dive shops in that area.
>
>http://www.papahogs.com/

Yes and Papa Hog will rent you the gear and you just drift along
parallel to the shore until you are ready to get out and then hail a
cab and go back. Or you take a cab upstream and get out and drift
down to Papa Hog's.

We also went on two dives on a shallow reef that may not be there
anymore - I think near the cruise ship docks. Can't remember the
name.

Papa Hog ran small fast boats, and when the group of 4-6 divers went
through a large pass through, I just went over the top and met them on
the other side in a lot of cases.

>
>Why not consider another destination besides Coz.
>
Maybe the Virgin Islands.


grandma Rosalie

I wear socks to protect my feet from the fins.

Jer wrote:

> rickb56 wrote:
>
>> I went to Chankanaab park a couple weeks ago (6/15/05) and had the
>> best dive ever. I've really only had the opportunity to dive in murky
>> Texas lakes so this was like Heaven. Nowadays at this park they won't
>> let you rent a tank without a guide to go with it and that was
>> probably for the best in my situation. Gave me a little encouragement.
>> My 9 year old son went too.
>>
>> My question here is where is another place in Coz where I can take it
>> slow (and shallow) and not have to follow 10 or 20 other people for a
>> deep dive? I enjoyed this last dive at about 25 - 30 feet and I think
>> that's what I needed to get me past those zero visibility jitters I've
>> been feeling since my cert dive. I'm ready for 30 - 40 or 50 feet but
>> I need to take it real slow. Oh yeah...I'm still recouperating from
>> these blisters on the tops of my toes from my fins. I guess I need
>> some work there too!
>>
>
> One place not yet mentioned is the airplane behind the La Ceiba hotel,
> aka El Cid Resort. This area isn't a public beach, but non-tenants of
> the hotel can still rent a tank/weights from the hotel shop and dive -
> they'll hold your C-card until you return. The upturned airplane
> (what's left of it) is just off the hotel pier in 35fsw with little
> current as it's sheltered from the international cruise pier to the
> south. OTOH, it's been a while since I've been there, so non-tenants
> may not have the fortune of going there now - maybe someone can offer
> more recent info about this.
>


there is a current there, and you have a lot of cruise ships in and out
of the international port

Joe English wrote:
> Jer wrote:
>
>> rickb56 wrote:
>>
>>> I went to Chankanaab park a couple weeks ago (6/15/05) and had the
>>> best dive ever. I've really only had the opportunity to dive in murky
>>> Texas lakes so this was like Heaven. Nowadays at this park they won't
>>> let you rent a tank without a guide to go with it and that was
>>> probably for the best in my situation. Gave me a little
>>> encouragement. My 9 year old son went too.
>>>
>>> My question here is where is another place in Coz where I can take it
>>> slow (and shallow) and not have to follow 10 or 20 other people for a
>>> deep dive? I enjoyed this last dive at about 25 - 30 feet and I think
>>> that's what I needed to get me past those zero visibility jitters
>>> I've been feeling since my cert dive. I'm ready for 30 - 40 or 50
>>> feet but I need to take it real slow. Oh yeah...I'm still
>>> recouperating from these blisters on the tops of my toes from my
>>> fins. I guess I need some work there too!
>>>
>>
>> One place not yet mentioned is the airplane behind the La Ceiba hotel,
>> aka El Cid Resort. This area isn't a public beach, but non-tenants of
>> the hotel can still rent a tank/weights from the hotel shop and dive -
>> they'll hold your C-card until you return. The upturned airplane
>> (what's left of it) is just off the hotel pier in 35fsw with little
>> current as it's sheltered from the international cruise pier to the
>> south. OTOH, it's been a while since I've been there, so non-tenants
>> may not have the fortune of going there now - maybe someone can offer
>> more recent info about this.
>>
>
>
> there is a current there, and you have a lot of cruise ships in and out
> of the international port


Sure, there's some current, but much less than what's on the typical
reef dive. Wha'd they do, move the pier? Last time I dived it, it was
ten minutes of kicking along the bottom to get to the end of it. We
used to night dive on that pier when ships weren't in port, but the
polito boats came after us when some bugger saw our lights and ratted us
out. Grumpy bastards parked on the surface revving their motor and
followed us all the way back to the airplane, which was under a marked
swimming area. Maybe they moved that too.

--
jer
email reply - I am not a 'ten'

Thanks to you all for helping me out here. I had on "footies" but they
didn't work. I'll try socks next time.

As for the shallow diving, I'll keep looking. Maybe the plane. Actually, I
went on a cruise ship so didn't have the advantage of staying at that hotel
that was mentioned. Now that I'm such an experienced diver (haha) I will fly
there and dive the whole time.

Thanks again,
Rick
"rickb56" <rickb56@swbell.net> wrote in message
news:438ve.1833$5w3.965@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com ...
>I went to Chankanaab park a couple weeks ago (6/15/05) and had the best
>dive ever. I've really only had the opportunity to dive in murky Texas
>lakes so this was like Heaven. Nowadays at this park they won't let you
>rent a tank without a guide to go with it and that was probably for the
>best in my situation. Gave me a little encouragement. My 9 year old son
>went too.
>
> My question here is where is another place in Coz where I can take it slow
> (and shallow) and not have to follow 10 or 20 other people for a deep
> dive? I enjoyed this last dive at about 25 - 30 feet and I think that's
> what I needed to get me past those zero visibility jitters I've been
> feeling since my cert dive. I'm ready for 30 - 40 or 50 feet but I need to
> take it real slow. Oh yeah...I'm still recouperating from these blisters
> on the tops of my toes from my fins. I guess I need some work there too!
>
>