Cozumel port closed to scuba boats 12/14/03

As of about 15 minutes ago, the port was closed to scuba dive boats
due to the pending Norte to arrive.

For those who are on the way to Coz, you may consider a change of
travel plans because the port may be closed for multiple days at this
time of the year.

Had two days of great weather and great diving before today.

Now I have to settle for watching on TV the news of Saddam's capture. ;(

-- Bob.

Reef Fish wrote:

> As of about 15 minutes ago, the port was closed to scuba dive boats
> due to the pending Norte to arrive.
>
> For those who are on the way to Coz, you may consider a change of
> travel plans because the port may be closed for multiple days at this
> time of the year.
>
> Had two days of great weather and great diving before today.
>
> Now I have to settle for watching on TV the news of Saddam's capture. ;(
>
> -- Bob.


Still a good time to go find a cenote to dive.


--
jer email reply - I am not a 'ten' ICQ = 35253273
"All that we do is touched with ocean, yet we remain on the shore of
what we know." -- Richard Wilbur

Jer <gdunn@airmail.ten> wrote in message news:<brib6l$4be@library1.airnews.net>...
> Reef Fish wrote:
>
> > As of about 15 minutes ago, the port was closed to scuba dive boats
> > due to the pending Norte to arrive.

The breakers in front of the hotel are big enough for surfers. So, not
having heard the official word from the Port Captain yet, it appears a
sure thing the port will be closed to divers for another day.

>
> Still a good time to go find a cenote to dive.

Nah! Here are the top FIVE reasons:

5. Not DIR for Warm Water Wimps.

4. Not for NO (No Overhead) divers.

3. No coral reef or reef fish in cenotes.

2. No DEEP diving to 200 feet.

1. No Spotted Eagle Ray has ever been spotted in cenotes!


Looks like another day of watching Saddam on TV.

-- Bob.

Reef Fish wrote:

>
> Looks like another day of watching Saddam on TV.


Bummer


--
jer email reply - I am not a 'ten' ICQ = 35253273
"All that we do is touched with ocean, yet we remain on the shore of
what we know." -- Richard Wilbur

On 15 Dec 2003 05:55:41 -0800, Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com (Reef
Fish) wrote:



>The breakers in front of the hotel are big enough for surfers. So, not
>having heard the official word from the Port Captain yet, it appears a
>sure thing the port will be closed to divers for another day.

I take it you are in Coz. Since we will be coming soon, how long does
the typical norte last down there, and does it screw up the viz for a
few days thereafter?

On weather.com it looks like the norte is pushing through you today.

How are the bugs this week?

-HW "Skip" Weldon
Columbia, SC

The weather in Cozumel, that comes from the NNW, usually lasts a day (maybe
two). Mostly wind and some cold rain. It doesn't effect visibility unless
the clouds stay and you have less light in the water. The rain can last a
few days....but it usually clears when the storm pushes through. On rare
occasions, the Northers can back....giving you a few additional days of
rain.

Forest Aten


"HW "Skip" Weldon" <skip5700removethis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7cjrtvod5c3jlr5jt50selrro07bdndkhg@4ax.com...
> On 15 Dec 2003 05:55:41 -0800, Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com (Reef
> Fish) wrote:
>
>
>
> >The breakers in front of the hotel are big enough for surfers. So, not
> >having heard the official word from the Port Captain yet, it appears a
> >sure thing the port will be closed to divers for another day.
>
> I take it you are in Coz. Since we will be coming soon, how long does
> the typical norte last down there, and does it screw up the viz for a
> few days thereafter?
>
> On weather.com it looks like the norte is pushing through you today.
>
> How are the bugs this week?
>
> -HW "Skip" Weldon
> Columbia, SC

"Reef Fish" <Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:8fb7380b.0312150555.38d349b0@posting.google.c om...
> >
(snip)> > Still a good time to go find a cenote to dive.
>
> Nah! Here are the top FIVE reasons:
>
> 5. Not DIR for Warm Water Wimps.
>
> 4. Not for NO (No Overhead) divers.
>
> 3. No coral reef or reef fish in cenotes.
>
> 2. No DEEP diving to 200 feet.
>
> 1. No Spotted Eagle Ray has ever been spotted in cenotes!

Last time I was there when the port was closed, and we enquired about cenote
diving, we were told that it was illegal for the dive ops to rent tanks in
conjunction with the closing.

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 19:17:06 GMT, "chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada>
wrote:


>> Nah! Here are the top FIVE reasons:

>Last time I was there when the port was closed, and we enquired about cenote
>diving, we were told that it was illegal for the dive ops to rent tanks in
>conjunction with the closing.

Norte is why God gave us all-inclusive drinks.

-HW "Skip" Weldon
Columbia, SC

"HW \"Skip\" Weldon" <skip5700removethis@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<7cjrtvod5c3jlr5jt50selrro07bdndkhg@4ax.com>. ..
> On 15 Dec 2003 05:55:41 -0800, Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com (Reef
> Fish) wrote:
>
>
>
> >The breakers in front of the hotel are big enough for surfers. So, not
> >having heard the official word from the Port Captain yet, it appears a
> >sure thing the port will be closed to divers for another day.
>
> I take it you are in Coz. Since we will be coming soon, how long does
> the typical norte last down there, and does it screw up the viz for a
> few days thereafter?

I am not sure what a "typical" Norte is, but I am sure THIS one was an
atypical Norte, because there was NO RAIN at all -- bright sunshine both
days -- only the winds were blowing.

>
> On weather.com it looks like the norte is pushing through you today.

The weather forecast was correct, for a change!

The port was closed this morning only to small crafts, and was open to
crafts 41 feet or longer. So, we were able to make our morning two-
tank dive at the usual time, but instead of starting at 10:00 from
the Aldora pier downtown (the Pro Dive pier has been out of operation
since before February) we started at 10:30 at the Caleta adjacent to
the Presidente hotel, and we were back to our downtown hotel shortly
after 2 pm.

I could see the winds calming down throughout those hours.

>
> How are the bugs this week?

None of the weather stuff ever disturb the bugs.

Because we were diving from a big, heavy boat that would have taken two
hours to go to one of the remote reefs such as Columbia, it was the
first time I dived Las Palmas (not far from the Presidente hotel, the
location of which is marked by a single PALM tree -- which used to
be DOS Palmas, and TRES Palmas more than a decade ago.

As such, it was a perfect opportunity for me to take a quick look at the
wall and I was surprised to find it dropping in ledges just like the
OUTER walls of Palancar! So, the channel between the island and the
land side of Palancar reef must be a VERY DEEP trough -- I'll have to
look at the depth chart when I get home to see how deep that channel
gets.

From a WALL DIVE point of view, it was a steep drop, just like most of
the Palancar sites, actually not much different from the Santa Rosa
Wall below 100 fsw. It drops in steps of small ledges -- every time
you come to another ledge thinking you'll see an abyss below, you see
ANOTHER ledge not far away. I got as far as only 225 fsw and estimate
the next ledge to be at about 250 fsw.

As I said, you can't dive the cenotes to 200 feet. )


The 2nd dive was at the Paradise reef. The first coral head we saw on
descent there were 5 bugs (lobsters of various sizes; only one big
one though) waiting for us.

The wind has completely died down now and the sea is smooth once again.

I am looking forward to another good sunny day of diving tomorrow.

-- Bob.

Large_Nassau_Grouper@Yahoo.com (Reef Fish) wrote in message news:<8fb7380b.0312170541.4db94df6@posting.google. com>...
>
>
> The eagle ray mating season is not here YET! Or if it is, there are
> too busy mating up north to cruise the Eagle Ray Gulch south of the
> San Juan reef where they are consistently seen during the December to
> February season.

Correction! They are here already. Albert (PRIMA) had seen 16 of them
as early as the end of last month. They must've been too busy mating
while we dived the site yesterday. According to Al, the best time to
see them in formation is around the New Year.


> It appears we may have escaped ANOTHER Norte that went swiftly through
> last night.
>
> I'll know soon, which way the wind blows.

Correction 2!

The winds picked up, and the port was closed to ALL scuba boats, large
and small by 8:45 am this morning. Still no rain. The wind didn't
keep any of the SEVEN cruiseships from stopping in Coz today. EIGHT
are expected tomorrow.

-- Bob.