re cozumel/Emily

"Doc" <purvisdoc@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:FMedndLvw7yElkLfRVn-3A@comcast.com...
> Anyone have any info on coz? We are going to the Reef Club in 2 weeks(
> assuming the level of hurricane damage is limited..any one have any
> news??Thanks



Here's snips taken from posts to another board (scroll to the last one for
Reef Club info):

"Just got off the phone with Christi from Cozumel (+)
Posted by: johnoly

(70.118.126.---) She just got electric back at her house, but her ISP does
not have power yet for their servers. Her office is not going to have
electric for a while. She said that a transformer just outside was damaged
and as in any hurricane, spare parts are hard to come by. In Florida, we
still intersections with only one traffic light because of the backorders on
them.

One of the compressor stations is expected to get electric tonite/tommorrow.
But since there are still a bunch of full tanks that haven't been used, they
are ready to dive. She dove today and said Viz was a great 70 feet and
getting better as the current does it's work. She also said that several of
the ATM's are working, and downtown is all cleaned up and looks nice. Couple
of stumps from trees they had to cut but the Cruise ship passengers returned
to the shops today.

Now the bad news about the Dive Masters/Captains. Alot of those hotels that
can't open like Iberostar, etc, also don't have the divemasters/capts
working. In effect, they are layed off and out of work! They have no money
and with damage to their homes, they can't fix it either. Christi is talking
to the DMs & Capts to learn of their damages. One of her DM's, Javier had a
huge window, blown out and water damage, even though it was boarded up.
There are alot of DMs/Capts from Dressel and Sand Dollar who can't work
because their resort is closed.

AND HERE's ANOTHER:

My travel agent just called and said that both Occidental Grand and
Occidental Allegro will remain closed until at least December. I spoke to
Occidental corporate and they are not saying anything yet, but apparently
are telling travel agencies that both resorts sustained heavy damage and to
change any reservations they have to other hotels.

AND ANOTHER:

This press release just out from the Cozumel Hotel Association, as posted on
DiveNewsWire.com:

Cozumel Recovers Quickly from Hurricane Emily

On-site reports from Cozumel Hotel Association indicate resort destination
is recovering quickly from recent storm.

July 19, 2005 (1:30 PM) Cozumel is quickly recovering from the effects of
Hurricane Emily, which moved through the island early Monday morning (July
18).

According to Gaston Cantarell Diaz, president of the Cozumel Hotel
Association, Cozumel sustained minimal damage and everyone on island
weathered the storm safely.

"Cozumel is doing well and operating as normal today. The airport is open
and ferry services are up and running again," he said. "Although there was
some damage to hotels and other local properties, the important thing is
that everyone remained safe throughout the storm."

Current updates from the island:

The Cozumel airport reopened on Monday, July 18, at 1:00 p.m. CST

Ferry services began operating again at 7:00 a.m. this morning (Tuesday,
July 19)

Cozumel hotels and resorts are currently open and operating and are expected
to complete hurricane related repairs by next Monday, July 25.

Currently the only hotel on island that will temporarily close due to damage
from Hurricane Emily is the Iberostar Cozumel Hotel. Individuals with
existing reservations at the Iberostar should contact the hotel for further
information.

The majority of clean-up on island has been finished and the island roads
are completely clear.

Downtown restaurants and shops are open.

To ensure the safety of visitors to the island, approximately 1,200 tourists
were evacuated to the Cozumel Convention Center on Sunday evening (July 17)
where they rode at the storm. Guests at hotels equipped with safety
facilities were moved to on-site shelters.

Tourists began returning to their hotels and resorts early Monday. Guests
whose hotels sustained damage by the hurricane were accommodated at
alternate hotels and resorts.

AND HERE'S ANOTHER:

Eyewitness report from the North end of Cozumel via someone
locally...........


"I live in town and biked from there up to as far as the Melia. Here's a
down and dirty report.
The ferries are running again.
Plaza downtown has lost a lot of big trees and now will have much less
shade.
They put l ittle black plastic bags on all the street light lamp bulbs on
the waterfront.

A cyclone fence topped with barbed wire and held up by cement posts every 6
ft fell over and all the posts cracked at ground level. This guarding the
naval airbase soccer field.

Puerto de Abrigo marina looks fine. Boats are fine. No broken windows in the
offices there.

Coral Princess got all the sand on its man-made beach blown away but they'll
have it back quite soon. Inside hotel looks fine and they are working hard
on the clean up. I talked to some people who had stayed there during the
hurricane -- in a conference room on the first floor -- and spoke with great
affection and gratitude of the staff who they said really put themselves out
to be sure they were safe and comfortable with food and a comfortable place
on the floor to sleep.

About 70 people were caught here. Couldn't get out because didn't k now
about the storm until very late and by then, they reported, there was some
price gouging going on at the airport.

The plateglass front entrance that faces the streetwas covered with plywood
and blew along with the glass. But other than that, no damage. I would judge
this place will be business as usual in about 3-4 days.

Cozumeleno also looks to be in good shape. No blown glass. Lobby looks fine.
They are shoveling up what looks like about a 6 ft deep covering of dried
seaweed on the sand outfront. Don't know what that's about. The guests I
talked to at this hotel were also taken to a conference room to weather the
storm. They were part of a 240-280 charter group with Worry Free Vacations.
The father and son I talked to did not speak as highly of the staff as they
did at Coral Princess. Evidentally they just had to sleep on the floor with
pillows from their rooms. But they were safe and they were fed. They were
partially disgruntled because they'd hoped Worry Free Vacations would do
something about getting them out early and didn't.


Melia also had all their sand blown away exposing the under ironshore.
Guests here who had to weather the storm spoke extremely highly of the
staff. They were given cushiones and pillows to sleep on in the theatre and
plenty of food. I saw no damage to structure, l obby, etc. Just sand blown
away which can be quickly put back.

Playa Azul. The palapa restaraunt at the public beach looked fine so I'm
assuming Sol Cabanas de Caribe next door are probably alright, too. Sorry I
forgot to check them. I was getting hot and tired as I was riding my bike.
They evidentally braced mattresses against the plate glass windows on the
upper stories of the hotel as these were stacked on the balconies, water
stained and drying in the sun.

If you are staying at any of these hotels, you will be good to go by
Saturday for sure.

Will report on the south this PM and post it in the evening"

AND ANOTHER:

From the Aldora website:
Monday July 18th. 9:00 pm

A tour of the island revealed a lot more problems than had been expected. It
seems that the further south of town and the worse was the wind. That
computes since the north edge of the eye wall was at Punta Sur. For those
familiar with the island we offer the following:

60% of the new palm trees planted on the new main street downtown have
fallen. The airport fence has collapsed. A large concrete wall across the
street from the Scuba Club Cozumel has collapsed and partially blocking the
road. Further south the giant palapa above the Puerta Maya cruise ship dock
is gone. The giant palapa at Playa Mia ( formerly Playa Sol) is gone as is
the rest of Playa Mia. That day beach resort will be closed for a long time.
San Francisco beach, Mr Sanchos and Nachi Cocom all suffered some damage but
should be back in operation soon. On the south end, on the other side of the
island, the Paradise Beach Café (AKA Ragas) is completely gone and the
larger buildings across the street are heavily damaged. The road on the
windward side is badly damaged and not passable north of El Mirador so we
could not reach Coconuts or the hotel Ventanas al Mar. We could not get into
most of the southerly hotels so at this time we cannot give reports on their
condition.

At this time electricity is on in the main street and most of the Northern
Hotel Zone where the Villa Aldora is.

In summation, there is some damage to infrastructure on the island but
probably no more than 10% of the land based infrastructure will be affected
long term.

As for the diving, it appears that most of the damage to the dive sites will
be from wind blown debris. However, we did hear a report that some shallow
snorkel sites like Dzul Ha suffered significant damage from waves.

We expected to launch the boats today as there was no practical reason not
too but the civil authorities did not allow any activity not related to
clean up, thus they kept the port closed. We expect that to be changed
tomorrow. This will be updated as we get more and better information.

AND FINALLY ONE THAT MENTIONS MAJOR DAMAGE TO THE REEF CLUB (SORRY ABOUT THE
NEWS):

She wanted me to let you all know that this *was* a serious storm and there
*was* real damage done to the island, despite the fact that there was little
loss of life. It wasn't just about uprooted trees. Concrete walls were blown
down and Houses that weren't built of concrete (and some that were) were
severely damaged. She said the Iberostar is *severely* damaged (which is
pretty much reflected in the fact that they won't be re-opening until
October at the earliest). She also reported that the Reef Club has major
damage. You all know about the destruction of the beach clubs on the East
Side. She said that a friend of hers used to live in some (cement) condos on
the north side that have major structural damage. YES, they will recover.
And YES they need us to come back. But don't think that our help isn't
needed. It is.

Oh...and BTW...she said that there is an unconfirmed rumor that there was
damage to the Puerto Maya (sp?) cruise ship pier...of course I don't know if
that would be considered a bad thing or not....






>
>

chilly wrote:

> "Doc" <purvisdoc@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:FMedndLvw7yElkLfRVn-3A@comcast.com...
>
>>Anyone have any info on coz? We are going to the Reef Club in 2 weeks(
>>assuming the level of hurricane damage is limited..any one have any
>>news??Thanks
>
>
>
>
> Here's snips taken from posts to another board (scroll to the last one for
> Reef Club info):
Thanks for the reposts chilly!

> Now the bad news about the Dive Masters/Captains. Alot of those hotels that
> can't open like Iberostar, etc, also don't have the divemasters/capts
> working. In effect, they are layed off and out of work! They have no money
> and with damage to their homes, they can't fix it either. Christi is talking
> to the DMs & Capts to learn of their damages. One of her DM's, Javier had a
> huge window, blown out and water damage, even though it was boarded up.
> There are alot of DMs/Capts from Dressel and Sand Dollar who can't work
> because their resort is closed.

Sand Dollar still has the cruiselines contract, no?

>She said the Iberostar is *severely* damaged (which is
> pretty much reflected in the fact that they won't be re-opening until
> October at the earliest). She also reported that the Reef Club has major
> damage.

Saw a post that funjet has declared no reservations for Iberostar and
Reef Club thru Nov 1st - Reef had a roof blown on one unit, but don't
know about any other damages on the south end specifically.

> Oh...and BTW...she said that there is an unconfirmed rumor that there was
> damage to the Puerto Maya (sp?) cruise ship pier...of course I don't know if
> that would be considered a bad thing or not....
>

Uhmmm, well I do know of at least one individual who prayed to the
hurricane gods - If we must offer just one sacrifice - Let it be that
air-conditioned monstrosity with escalators that connects downtown to
the pier!

There are Monday morning pics posted here, but imagestation makes you
sign in with some sort of name to see them.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2123467538

greatviz wrote:
>
>
> chilly wrote:
>
>> "Doc" <purvisdoc@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:FMedndLvw7yElkLfRVn-3A@comcast.com...
>>
>>> Anyone have any info on coz? We are going to the Reef Club in 2 weeks(
>>> assuming the level of hurricane damage is limited..any one have any
>>> news??Thanks
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Here's snips taken from posts to another board (scroll to the last one
>> for
>> Reef Club info):
>
> Thanks for the reposts chilly!
>
>> Now the bad news about the Dive Masters/Captains. Alot of those hotels
>> that
>> can't open like Iberostar, etc, also don't have the divemasters/capts
>> working. In effect, they are layed off and out of work! They have no
>> money
>> and with damage to their homes, they can't fix it either. Christi is
>> talking
>> to the DMs & Capts to learn of their damages. One of her DM's, Javier
>> had a
>> huge window, blown out and water damage, even though it was boarded up.
>> There are alot of DMs/Capts from Dressel and Sand Dollar who can't work
>> because their resort is closed.
>
>
> Sand Dollar still has the cruiselines contract, no?
>
>> She said the Iberostar is *severely* damaged (which is
>> pretty much reflected in the fact that they won't be re-opening until
>> October at the earliest). She also reported that the Reef Club has major
>> damage.
>
>
> Saw a post that funjet has declared no reservations for Iberostar and
> Reef Club thru Nov 1st - Reef had a roof blown on one unit, but don't
> know about any other damages on the south end specifically.
>
>> Oh...and BTW...she said that there is an unconfirmed rumor that there was
>> damage to the Puerto Maya (sp?) cruise ship pier...of course I don't
>> know if
>> that would be considered a bad thing or not....
>>
>
> Uhmmm, well I do know of at least one individual who prayed to the
> hurricane gods - If we must offer just one sacrifice - Let it be that
> air-conditioned monstrosity with escalators that connects downtown to
> the pier!
>
> There are Monday morning pics posted here, but imagestation makes you
> sign in with some sort of name to see them.
> http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2123467538
>


In that case, I don't care how wet their crotch is, I'm not interested.


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

Thus spake greatviz <invalid@invalid.invalid> :

>
>
>chilly wrote:
>
>> "Doc" <purvisdoc@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:FMedndLvw7yElkLfRVn-3A@comcast.com...
>>
>>>Anyone have any info on coz? We are going to the Reef Club in 2 weeks(
>>>assuming the level of hurricane damage is limited..any one have any
>>>news??Thanks
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Here's snips taken from posts to another board (scroll to the last one for
>> Reef Club info):
>Thanks for the reposts chilly!

Yes, thanks.

>
>> Now the bad news about the Dive Masters/Captains. Alot of those hotels that
>> can't open like Iberostar, etc, also don't have the divemasters/capts
>> working. In effect, they are layed off and out of work! They have no money
>> and with damage to their homes, they can't fix it either. Christi is talking
>> to the DMs & Capts to learn of their damages. One of her DM's, Javier had a
>> huge window, blown out and water damage, even though it was boarded up.
>> There are alot of DMs/Capts from Dressel and Sand Dollar who can't work
>> because their resort is closed.
>
>Sand Dollar still has the cruiselines contract, no?

Yes, but they also have/had a very dodgey dock. And all the divers
get hauled to their site for rental gear (even those of us with
everything). So, if there is any damage, they may not be able to go
out.

>
>>She said the Iberostar is *severely* damaged (which is
>> pretty much reflected in the fact that they won't be re-opening until
>> October at the earliest). She also reported that the Reef Club has major
>> damage.
>
>Saw a post that funjet has declared no reservations for Iberostar and
>Reef Club thru Nov 1st - Reef had a roof blown on one unit, but don't
>know about any other damages on the south end specifically.

I've asked Funjet. They are not taking reservations for ANY hotels
until today, when they will have assessments. But she informed me
that Iberostar was reportedly "very severely damaged". I haven't been
able to contact the sales manager at Reef Club, no phones.

>
>> Oh...and BTW...she said that there is an unconfirmed rumor that there was
>> damage to the Puerto Maya (sp?) cruise ship pier...of course I don't know if
>> that would be considered a bad thing or not....
>>
>
>Uhmmm, well I do know of at least one individual who prayed to the
>hurricane gods - If we must offer just one sacrifice - Let it be that
>air-conditioned monstrosity with escalators that connects downtown to
>the pier!

That would be Punta Langosta. Puerto Maya is down south, past the
International Pier. It has a large open air mall and massive duty
free shop.

>
>There are Monday morning pics posted here, but imagestation makes you
>sign in with some sort of name to see them.
>http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2123467538

--
dillon
Linux, it's not just an OS, it's a way
of life.

And a damn fine one, at that.

I just got back from Cozumel last night.

Arrived Tuesday after Emily. I walked up with no reservation and stayed at
Casa Mexicana. $60/night! The reduction was because there weren't full
services. The only service I could see they were missing was cable TV.
Spoke with a lot of south of the island refugees. Most of the southern
resorts closed before the storm and moved people to more substantial
quarters. Not a lot of hand wringing. Most said it was windy. All said
there was very little rain. Maybe 2-4 inches.

It was my first trip where I did not go down to dive. Ironically, I went
down there to buy a place at the new condo project called Nah Ha. The
flight was paid for and I wanted to see what the damage was. As far as I
was concerned, this was a great test for my condo BEFORE I bought it! The
building did very well with minimal damage. The pool and patio amenities
will need repair. The seller says it will take a month. It works out
pretty good for us as he hasn't completely sold out the units (6-7 left?)
and he is building another condo right next to it. The pressure is on him
to fix it and make it look right so sales can continue. I can't wait to
start staying there once I get furniture in it. (Plug- It will also be for
rent starting September or October to people who appreciate an incredible
view and really nice architecture.) Miramar, next door lost part of it's
cantilevered concrete pool platform as well. I bet the wave that lifted it
up had to be huge.

Tuesday, the town square was littered with trees limbs and removal was on
going. By Thursday, the square was completely clean and only a few big
stumps remained to be removed. The black plastic bags mentioned in another
post was were the city took the globes off the lights to protect them. The
globes were back and lights back on Tuesday. None of the power poles on the
ocean front near town were down. I saw one broken one about 3 blocks
inland.

Power was lost south of town and about 2 blocks inland. Most shops were
open on Tuesday. Some did not get power until later in the week. Primas
and French Quarter opened Thursday. Especias looked like it was open as
well. All of the town square restaurants were open Tuesday afternoon.

Other than a broken glass here and there, there was VERY little structural
damage to the buildings. Chedrauri lost some high glass, Went in Chedraui
Thursday and it was business as usual. Walked in the lobby in Cozumel
Palace and saw little if any exterior damage. Coldwell Banker did not have
storm shutters and had the glass blown out. By Thursday, new window frames
were being installed. Stopped by and met an architect acquaintance of
mine, Ricardo Garcia, of Cedral Architects. He said the town sustained
little damage. Actually, I thought some of the areas looked cleaner than
normal. Perhaps the rain washed the debris away.

A few free standing CMU walls and fences were knocked down. I recall a joke
about a tornado hitting a trailer park and doing $1000 worth of
improvements.

I did not see it myself, but I was told that Paradise Cafe was "gone".
There wasn't much to it to begin with. The rasta bar across the street was
damaged. The other beach bars on the east side were also damaged. I did
not hear anything about Ventas Del Mar, the newly opened eco hotel on the
east side next to Coconuts. From what I hear, the east and south parts of
the island took the biggest hit. I am also told part of the south/east loop
road got washed out. I would have driven down there, but the policia were
stopping cars from going south.

Met and spoke with the property managers from Cozumel Living and At Home in
Cozumel. Pretty much every building that was boarded or storm shuttered
made it through with no problems. I heard both PM's state that plywooding
was a pain in the you know what and probably would not do it again. Both
said if the clients had storm shutters, they would secure those, but
plywooding was a difficult task Bottom line---the storm shutters worked.
Once the glass was broken out by debris, the wind did the rest to take out
the rest of the windows. Owners take note of this.

Dive boats returned to the water on Wednesday. Cruise ships came in Tuesday
with a large number of ships on Wednesday/Thursday. None of the town piers
I saw sustained any damage.

Alcohol sales were restricted on Monday and Tuesday, but the bars could sell
booze on Wednesday.

Bottom line....some things got destroyed south of the island. The rest of
the town was business as usual by Thursday. I'm sure if you looked on
websites, you'll see some damage, but quite honestly the damage was the
exception and not the rule. Next time you come down there may be a few less
trees.

-Mark Lindsey


"chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada> wrote in message
news:q7IDe.6881$s54.2944@pd7tw2no...
>
> "Doc" <purvisdoc@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:FMedndLvw7yElkLfRVn-3A@comcast.com...
>> Anyone have any info on coz? We are going to the Reef Club in 2 weeks(
>> assuming the level of hurricane damage is limited..any one have any
>> news??Thanks
>
>
>
> Here's snips taken from posts to another board (scroll to the last one for
> Reef Club info):
>
> "Just got off the phone with Christi from Cozumel (+)
> Posted by: johnoly
>
> (70.118.126.---) She just got electric back at her house, but her ISP
> does
> not have power yet for their servers. Her office is not going to have
> electric for a while. She said that a transformer just outside was damaged
> and as in any hurricane, spare parts are hard to come by. In Florida, we
> still intersections with only one traffic light because of the backorders
> on
> them.
>
> One of the compressor stations is expected to get electric
> tonite/tommorrow.
> But since there are still a bunch of full tanks that haven't been used,
> they
> are ready to dive. She dove today and said Viz was a great 70 feet and
> getting better as the current does it's work. She also said that several
> of
> the ATM's are working, and downtown is all cleaned up and looks nice.
> Couple
> of stumps from trees they had to cut but the Cruise ship passengers
> returned
> to the shops today.
>
> Now the bad news about the Dive Masters/Captains. Alot of those hotels
> that
> can't open like Iberostar, etc, also don't have the divemasters/capts
> working. In effect, they are layed off and out of work! They have no money
> and with damage to their homes, they can't fix it either. Christi is
> talking
> to the DMs & Capts to learn of their damages. One of her DM's, Javier had
> a
> huge window, blown out and water damage, even though it was boarded up.
> There are alot of DMs/Capts from Dressel and Sand Dollar who can't work
> because their resort is closed.
>
> AND HERE's ANOTHER:
>
> My travel agent just called and said that both Occidental Grand and
> Occidental Allegro will remain closed until at least December. I spoke to
> Occidental corporate and they are not saying anything yet, but apparently
> are telling travel agencies that both resorts sustained heavy damage and
> to
> change any reservations they have to other hotels.
>
> AND ANOTHER:
>
> This press release just out from the Cozumel Hotel Association, as posted
> on
> DiveNewsWire.com:
>
> Cozumel Recovers Quickly from Hurricane Emily
>
> On-site reports from Cozumel Hotel Association indicate resort destination
> is recovering quickly from recent storm.
>
> July 19, 2005 (1:30 PM) Cozumel is quickly recovering from the effects of
> Hurricane Emily, which moved through the island early Monday morning (July
> 18).
>
> According to Gaston Cantarell Diaz, president of the Cozumel Hotel
> Association, Cozumel sustained minimal damage and everyone on island
> weathered the storm safely.
>
> "Cozumel is doing well and operating as normal today. The airport is open
> and ferry services are up and running again," he said. "Although there was
> some damage to hotels and other local properties, the important thing is
> that everyone remained safe throughout the storm."
>
> Current updates from the island:
>
> The Cozumel airport reopened on Monday, July 18, at 1:00 p.m. CST
>
> Ferry services began operating again at 7:00 a.m. this morning (Tuesday,
> July 19)
>
> Cozumel hotels and resorts are currently open and operating and are
> expected
> to complete hurricane related repairs by next Monday, July 25.
>
> Currently the only hotel on island that will temporarily close due to
> damage
> from Hurricane Emily is the Iberostar Cozumel Hotel. Individuals with
> existing reservations at the Iberostar should contact the hotel for
> further
> information.
>
> The majority of clean-up on island has been finished and the island roads
> are completely clear.
>
> Downtown restaurants and shops are open.
>
> To ensure the safety of visitors to the island, approximately 1,200
> tourists
> were evacuated to the Cozumel Convention Center on Sunday evening (July
> 17)
> where they rode at the storm. Guests at hotels equipped with safety
> facilities were moved to on-site shelters.
>
> Tourists began returning to their hotels and resorts early Monday. Guests
> whose hotels sustained damage by the hurricane were accommodated at
> alternate hotels and resorts.
>
> AND HERE'S ANOTHER:
>
> Eyewitness report from the North end of Cozumel via someone
> locally...........
>
>
> "I live in town and biked from there up to as far as the Melia. Here's a
> down and dirty report.
> The ferries are running again.
> Plaza downtown has lost a lot of big trees and now will have much less
> shade.
> They put l ittle black plastic bags on all the street light lamp bulbs on
> the waterfront.
>
> A cyclone fence topped with barbed wire and held up by cement posts every
> 6
> ft fell over and all the posts cracked at ground level. This guarding the
> naval airbase soccer field.
>
> Puerto de Abrigo marina looks fine. Boats are fine. No broken windows in
> the
> offices there.
>
> Coral Princess got all the sand on its man-made beach blown away but
> they'll
> have it back quite soon. Inside hotel looks fine and they are working hard
> on the clean up. I talked to some people who had stayed there during the
> hurricane -- in a conference room on the first floor -- and spoke with
> great
> affection and gratitude of the staff who they said really put themselves
> out
> to be sure they were safe and comfortable with food and a comfortable
> place
> on the floor to sleep.
>
> About 70 people were caught here. Couldn't get out because didn't k now
> about the storm until very late and by then, they reported, there was some
> price gouging going on at the airport.
>
> The plateglass front entrance that faces the streetwas covered with
> plywood
> and blew along with the glass. But other than that, no damage. I would
> judge
> this place will be business as usual in about 3-4 days.
>
> Cozumeleno also looks to be in good shape. No blown glass. Lobby looks
> fine.
> They are shoveling up what looks like about a 6 ft deep covering of dried
> seaweed on the sand outfront. Don't know what that's about. The guests I
> talked to at this hotel were also taken to a conference room to weather
> the
> storm. They were part of a 240-280 charter group with Worry Free
> Vacations.
> The father and son I talked to did not speak as highly of the staff as
> they
> did at Coral Princess. Evidentally they just had to sleep on the floor
> with
> pillows from their rooms. But they were safe and they were fed. They were
> partially disgruntled because they'd hoped Worry Free Vacations would do
> something about getting them out early and didn't.
>
>
> Melia also had all their sand blown away exposing the under ironshore.
> Guests here who had to weather the storm spoke extremely highly of the
> staff. They were given cushiones and pillows to sleep on in the theatre
> and
> plenty of food. I saw no damage to structure, l obby, etc. Just sand blown
> away which can be quickly put back.
>
> Playa Azul. The palapa restaraunt at the public beach looked fine so I'm
> assuming Sol Cabanas de Caribe next door are probably alright, too. Sorry
> I
> forgot to check them. I was getting hot and tired as I was riding my bike.
> They evidentally braced mattresses against the plate glass windows on the
> upper stories of the hotel as these were stacked on the balconies, water
> stained and drying in the sun.
>
> If you are staying at any of these hotels, you will be good to go by
> Saturday for sure.
>
> Will report on the south this PM and post it in the evening"
>
> AND ANOTHER:
>
> From the Aldora website:
> Monday July 18th. 9:00 pm
>
> A tour of the island revealed a lot more problems than had been expected.
> It
> seems that the further south of town and the worse was the wind. That
> computes since the north edge of the eye wall was at Punta Sur. For those
> familiar with the island we offer the following:
>
> 60% of the new palm trees planted on the new main street downtown have
> fallen. The airport fence has collapsed. A large concrete wall across the
> street from the Scuba Club Cozumel has collapsed and partially blocking
> the
> road. Further south the giant palapa above the Puerta Maya cruise ship
> dock
> is gone. The giant palapa at Playa Mia ( formerly Playa Sol) is gone as is
> the rest of Playa Mia. That day beach resort will be closed for a long
> time.
> San Francisco beach, Mr Sanchos and Nachi Cocom all suffered some damage
> but
> should be back in operation soon. On the south end, on the other side of
> the
> island, the Paradise Beach Café (AKA Ragas) is completely gone and the
> larger buildings across the street are heavily damaged. The road on the
> windward side is badly damaged and not passable north of El Mirador so we
> could not reach Coconuts or the hotel Ventanas al Mar. We could not get
> into
> most of the southerly hotels so at this time we cannot give reports on
> their
> condition.
>
> At this time electricity is on in the main street and most of the Northern
> Hotel Zone where the Villa Aldora is.
>
> In summation, there is some damage to infrastructure on the island but
> probably no more than 10% of the land based infrastructure will be
> affected
> long term.
>
> As for the diving, it appears that most of the damage to the dive sites
> will
> be from wind blown debris. However, we did hear a report that some shallow
> snorkel sites like Dzul Ha suffered significant damage from waves.
>
> We expected to launch the boats today as there was no practical reason not
> too but the civil authorities did not allow any activity not related to
> clean up, thus they kept the port closed. We expect that to be changed
> tomorrow. This will be updated as we get more and better information.
>
> AND FINALLY ONE THAT MENTIONS MAJOR DAMAGE TO THE REEF CLUB (SORRY ABOUT
> THE
> NEWS):
>
> She wanted me to let you all know that this *was* a serious storm and
> there
> *was* real damage done to the island, despite the fact that there was
> little
> loss of life. It wasn't just about uprooted trees. Concrete walls were
> blown
> down and Houses that weren't built of concrete (and some that were) were
> severely damaged. She said the Iberostar is *severely* damaged (which is
> pretty much reflected in the fact that they won't be re-opening until
> October at the earliest). She also reported that the Reef Club has major
> damage. You all know about the destruction of the beach clubs on the East
> Side. She said that a friend of hers used to live in some (cement) condos
> on
> the north side that have major structural damage. YES, they will recover.
> And YES they need us to come back. But don't think that our help isn't
> needed. It is.
>
> Oh...and BTW...she said that there is an unconfirmed rumor that there was
> damage to the Puerto Maya (sp?) cruise ship pier...of course I don't know
> if
> that would be considered a bad thing or not....
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>
>>
>
>

Any indications on what happened to the reefs and fish?

I didn't ask anyone down there who had gone out about conditions. I had
breakfast with some divers for a couple of days and they didn't say anything
about broken reefs. They saw a number of sharks and turtles though. that
was what they were excited about. One of the women said the shark was huge,
but didn't know what kind. She said it was resting inside a reef, so I'm
guessing a nurse shark

When I was at Nah Ha on Thursday, the water was crystal clear near the
shore. Ditto the Aqua Safari pier. I think the minimal rain they got
helped keep the visibility high and reduced the run off. I saw where some
places south of the island actually got more sand. Emily passing to the
south of the island assisted in keeping the damage to a minimum.

"Dr Yak" <Dr.Yak@NoSpam.Com> wrote in message
news:IqzEe.82020$Fv.60038@lakeread01...
> Any indications on what happened to the reefs and fish?

Anyone have any info on coz? We are going to the Reef Club in 2 weeks(
assuming the level of hurricane damage is limited..any one have any
news??Thanks

"Doc" <purvisdoc@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:FMedndLvw7yElkLfRVn-3A@comcast.com...
> Anyone have any info on coz? We are going to the Reef Club in 2 weeks(
> assuming the level of hurricane damage is limited..any one have any
> news??Thanks



Here's snips taken from posts to another board (scroll to the last one for
Reef Club info):

"Just got off the phone with Christi from Cozumel (+)
Posted by: johnoly

(70.118.126.---) She just got electric back at her house, but her ISP does
not have power yet for their servers. Her office is not going to have
electric for a while. She said that a transformer just outside was damaged
and as in any hurricane, spare parts are hard to come by. In Florida, we
still intersections with only one traffic light because of the backorders on
them.

One of the compressor stations is expected to get electric tonite/tommorrow.
But since there are still a bunch of full tanks that haven't been used, they
are ready to dive. She dove today and said Viz was a great 70 feet and
getting better as the current does it's work. She also said that several of
the ATM's are working, and downtown is all cleaned up and looks nice. Couple
of stumps from trees they had to cut but the Cruise ship passengers returned
to the shops today.

Now the bad news about the Dive Masters/Captains. Alot of those hotels that
can't open like Iberostar, etc, also don't have the divemasters/capts
working. In effect, they are layed off and out of work! They have no money
and with damage to their homes, they can't fix it either. Christi is talking
to the DMs & Capts to learn of their damages. One of her DM's, Javier had a
huge window, blown out and water damage, even though it was boarded up.
There are alot of DMs/Capts from Dressel and Sand Dollar who can't work
because their resort is closed.

AND HERE's ANOTHER:

My travel agent just called and said that both Occidental Grand and
Occidental Allegro will remain closed until at least December. I spoke to
Occidental corporate and they are not saying anything yet, but apparently
are telling travel agencies that both resorts sustained heavy damage and to
change any reservations they have to other hotels.

AND ANOTHER:

This press release just out from the Cozumel Hotel Association, as posted on
DiveNewsWire.com:

Cozumel Recovers Quickly from Hurricane Emily

On-site reports from Cozumel Hotel Association indicate resort destination
is recovering quickly from recent storm.

July 19, 2005 (1:30 PM) Cozumel is quickly recovering from the effects of
Hurricane Emily, which moved through the island early Monday morning (July
18).

According to Gaston Cantarell Diaz, president of the Cozumel Hotel
Association, Cozumel sustained minimal damage and everyone on island
weathered the storm safely.

"Cozumel is doing well and operating as normal today. The airport is open
and ferry services are up and running again," he said. "Although there was
some damage to hotels and other local properties, the important thing is
that everyone remained safe throughout the storm."

Current updates from the island:

The Cozumel airport reopened on Monday, July 18, at 1:00 p.m. CST

Ferry services began operating again at 7:00 a.m. this morning (Tuesday,
July 19)

Cozumel hotels and resorts are currently open and operating and are expected
to complete hurricane related repairs by next Monday, July 25.

Currently the only hotel on island that will temporarily close due to damage
from Hurricane Emily is the Iberostar Cozumel Hotel. Individuals with
existing reservations at the Iberostar should contact the hotel for further
information.

The majority of clean-up on island has been finished and the island roads
are completely clear.

Downtown restaurants and shops are open.

To ensure the safety of visitors to the island, approximately 1,200 tourists
were evacuated to the Cozumel Convention Center on Sunday evening (July 17)
where they rode at the storm. Guests at hotels equipped with safety
facilities were moved to on-site shelters.

Tourists began returning to their hotels and resorts early Monday. Guests
whose hotels sustained damage by the hurricane were accommodated at
alternate hotels and resorts.

AND HERE'S ANOTHER:

Eyewitness report from the North end of Cozumel via someone
locally...........


"I live in town and biked from there up to as far as the Melia. Here's a
down and dirty report.
The ferries are running again.
Plaza downtown has lost a lot of big trees and now will have much less
shade.
They put l ittle black plastic bags on all the street light lamp bulbs on
the waterfront.

A cyclone fence topped with barbed wire and held up by cement posts every 6
ft fell over and all the posts cracked at ground level. This guarding the
naval airbase soccer field.

Puerto de Abrigo marina looks fine. Boats are fine. No broken windows in the
offices there.

Coral Princess got all the sand on its man-made beach blown away but they'll
have it back quite soon. Inside hotel looks fine and they are working hard
on the clean up. I talked to some people who had stayed there during the
hurricane -- in a conference room on the first floor -- and spoke with great
affection and gratitude of the staff who they said really put themselves out
to be sure they were safe and comfortable with food and a comfortable place
on the floor to sleep.

About 70 people were caught here. Couldn't get out because didn't k now
about the storm until very late and by then, they reported, there was some
price gouging going on at the airport.

The plateglass front entrance that faces the streetwas covered with plywood
and blew along with the glass. But other than that, no damage. I would judge
this place will be business as usual in about 3-4 days.

Cozumeleno also looks to be in good shape. No blown glass. Lobby looks fine.
They are shoveling up what looks like about a 6 ft deep covering of dried
seaweed on the sand outfront. Don't know what that's about. The guests I
talked to at this hotel were also taken to a conference room to weather the
storm. They were part of a 240-280 charter group with Worry Free Vacations.
The father and son I talked to did not speak as highly of the staff as they
did at Coral Princess. Evidentally they just had to sleep on the floor with
pillows from their rooms. But they were safe and they were fed. They were
partially disgruntled because they'd hoped Worry Free Vacations would do
something about getting them out early and didn't.


Melia also had all their sand blown away exposing the under ironshore.
Guests here who had to weather the storm spoke extremely highly of the
staff. They were given cushiones and pillows to sleep on in the theatre and
plenty of food. I saw no damage to structure, l obby, etc. Just sand blown
away which can be quickly put back.

Playa Azul. The palapa restaraunt at the public beach looked fine so I'm
assuming Sol Cabanas de Caribe next door are probably alright, too. Sorry I
forgot to check them. I was getting hot and tired as I was riding my bike.
They evidentally braced mattresses against the plate glass windows on the
upper stories of the hotel as these were stacked on the balconies, water
stained and drying in the sun.

If you are staying at any of these hotels, you will be good to go by
Saturday for sure.

Will report on the south this PM and post it in the evening"

AND ANOTHER:

From the Aldora website:
Monday July 18th. 9:00 pm

A tour of the island revealed a lot more problems than had been expected. It
seems that the further south of town and the worse was the wind. That
computes since the north edge of the eye wall was at Punta Sur. For those
familiar with the island we offer the following:

60% of the new palm trees planted on the new main street downtown have
fallen. The airport fence has collapsed. A large concrete wall across the
street from the Scuba Club Cozumel has collapsed and partially blocking the
road. Further south the giant palapa above the Puerta Maya cruise ship dock
is gone. The giant palapa at Playa Mia ( formerly Playa Sol) is gone as is
the rest of Playa Mia. That day beach resort will be closed for a long time.
San Francisco beach, Mr Sanchos and Nachi Cocom all suffered some damage but
should be back in operation soon. On the south end, on the other side of the
island, the Paradise Beach Café (AKA Ragas) is completely gone and the
larger buildings across the street are heavily damaged. The road on the
windward side is badly damaged and not passable north of El Mirador so we
could not reach Coconuts or the hotel Ventanas al Mar. We could not get into
most of the southerly hotels so at this time we cannot give reports on their
condition.

At this time electricity is on in the main street and most of the Northern
Hotel Zone where the Villa Aldora is.

In summation, there is some damage to infrastructure on the island but
probably no more than 10% of the land based infrastructure will be affected
long term.

As for the diving, it appears that most of the damage to the dive sites will
be from wind blown debris. However, we did hear a report that some shallow
snorkel sites like Dzul Ha suffered significant damage from waves.

We expected to launch the boats today as there was no practical reason not
too but the civil authorities did not allow any activity not related to
clean up, thus they kept the port closed. We expect that to be changed
tomorrow. This will be updated as we get more and better information.

AND FINALLY ONE THAT MENTIONS MAJOR DAMAGE TO THE REEF CLUB (SORRY ABOUT THE
NEWS):

She wanted me to let you all know that this *was* a serious storm and there
*was* real damage done to the island, despite the fact that there was little
loss of life. It wasn't just about uprooted trees. Concrete walls were blown
down and Houses that weren't built of concrete (and some that were) were
severely damaged. She said the Iberostar is *severely* damaged (which is
pretty much reflected in the fact that they won't be re-opening until
October at the earliest). She also reported that the Reef Club has major
damage. You all know about the destruction of the beach clubs on the East
Side. She said that a friend of hers used to live in some (cement) condos on
the north side that have major structural damage. YES, they will recover.
And YES they need us to come back. But don't think that our help isn't
needed. It is.

Oh...and BTW...she said that there is an unconfirmed rumor that there was
damage to the Puerto Maya (sp?) cruise ship pier...of course I don't know if
that would be considered a bad thing or not....






>
>

chilly wrote:

> "Doc" <purvisdoc@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:FMedndLvw7yElkLfRVn-3A@comcast.com...
>
>>Anyone have any info on coz? We are going to the Reef Club in 2 weeks(
>>assuming the level of hurricane damage is limited..any one have any
>>news??Thanks
>
>
>
>
> Here's snips taken from posts to another board (scroll to the last one for
> Reef Club info):
Thanks for the reposts chilly!

> Now the bad news about the Dive Masters/Captains. Alot of those hotels that
> can't open like Iberostar, etc, also don't have the divemasters/capts
> working. In effect, they are layed off and out of work! They have no money
> and with damage to their homes, they can't fix it either. Christi is talking
> to the DMs & Capts to learn of their damages. One of her DM's, Javier had a
> huge window, blown out and water damage, even though it was boarded up.
> There are alot of DMs/Capts from Dressel and Sand Dollar who can't work
> because their resort is closed.

Sand Dollar still has the cruiselines contract, no?

>She said the Iberostar is *severely* damaged (which is
> pretty much reflected in the fact that they won't be re-opening until
> October at the earliest). She also reported that the Reef Club has major
> damage.

Saw a post that funjet has declared no reservations for Iberostar and
Reef Club thru Nov 1st - Reef had a roof blown on one unit, but don't
know about any other damages on the south end specifically.

> Oh...and BTW...she said that there is an unconfirmed rumor that there was
> damage to the Puerto Maya (sp?) cruise ship pier...of course I don't know if
> that would be considered a bad thing or not....
>

Uhmmm, well I do know of at least one individual who prayed to the
hurricane gods - If we must offer just one sacrifice - Let it be that
air-conditioned monstrosity with escalators that connects downtown to
the pier!

There are Monday morning pics posted here, but imagestation makes you
sign in with some sort of name to see them.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2123467538