Cozumel Trip Report

Spent 3 dive days in Coz the week before last prior to ferrying over to
Playa and heading up to Cancun for a few more days. Here's a report on the
Coz part of my trip:

Above Ground: Trees with full growth are nowhere to be found. Most trees
have either been cut down to stumps or are just beginning to have regrowth.
The flora damage to the island from Wilma is extensive to say the least.
Many buildings, particularly those directly on the beachfront are destroyed
or experienced significant damage. El Presidente, for example, looks like a
war zone. They are a long, long way from reopening for sure. However, there
is a great deal of building (new) and rebuilding active on the island
everywhere. New resort is being built near the south int'l pier and it looks
to be HUGE. The people of Cozumel are happy and are picking up where they
left off before Wilma. I'm not sure how much Mexican gov't help they are
getting but I'd bet it's far less than New Orleans. I give them alot of
credit.

Underwater:
From shallow reefs to the deep (i.e. Punta Sur), sand covers everything. The
landscape is changed. Significant coral damage shallower reefs while the
deeper walls mostly have just the sand cover. Fish life both big and small
is still excellent. Many turtles, cuda, sand sharks, rays (eagle & s. sting)
and all the usual smaller suspects abound. Saw a very nice splendid toadfish
and at night, a fish I wasn't familiar with that sat on the sand in a cobra
like position, about 12-14" long (need to look that one up). Conclusively,
coral not good, fish life very good. Dove Punta Sur, San Francisco
Wall/Reef, Yuncab, Palancar Wall and a few others.

Dive Operator:
Went with Dive With Martin and was very pleased. Very courteous, fairly
priced, good DM's & captains. Definitely recommend them to anyone. I checked
their boats for oxygen and 1st aid and all looked good. They are operating
in temporary digs at the Int'l Pier and it works out ok. I met many
different divers their who have dived with this operator many times over the
years which, to me, is an excellent sign.

Hotel:
Stayed downtown at Vista Del Mar. Initially made the mistake of taking an
street/oceanfront room which was too loud at night (main drag). They
courteously moved me to a room on the backside of the hotel which was much
bigger, completely quiet and I was happy. The morning coffee/buns sucked,
recommend passing on that and going out but surely isn't a reason not to
stay there. Paid $84/night for the room, they were very pleasant, easy
access and nice to not have to drive anywhere. I recommend it if you're
looking for a pure dive experience and don't need beachfront and other hotel
luxury extras.

Taxis anywhere on the island are $1.50 for locals, $3-4 for divers and $6+
for cruise tourons. I generally paid the drivers $3-4 because they need the
money.

In conclusion, I went to Coz this trip because I was meeting my family later
in the week in Cancun so it was a convienent excuse to dive a few days.
Sadly, this island is a few years at least from returning to quality diving.
The sand overcast on everything is evident and removes most of the coral
colors. I cannot recommend a dedicated trip to Cozumel for diving until
things are reported improved and it will likely be sometime before I return.
I had a terrific time, enjoyed the diving very much but it's a shadow of
it's former self and, for better or worse, there are plentiful choices for
excellent Carribean diving elsewhere. If I was in the area for other
reasons, I would certainly dive Coz though.

Scott wrote:
> " Schmoe" <Schmoe@ultra.com> wrote in message
> news:Hs2Mf.14$Tq6.8@fe11.lga...
>
> <el-snippo>
>
> All you Coz junkies need to buck up and come dive the Pacific
> Northwest.

I'll be right over. Keep the bar open.

" Schmoe" <Schmoe@ultra.com> wrote in message
news:zK5Mf.108$ZR5.11@fe10.lga...
> Scott wrote:
> > " Schmoe" <Schmoe@ultra.com> wrote in message
> > news:Hs2Mf.14$Tq6.8@fe11.lga...
> >
> > <el-snippo>
> >
> > All you Coz junkies need to buck up and come dive the Pacific
> > Northwest.
>
> I'll be right over. Keep the bar open.

My lovely SO is a bar tender, but you gotta be careful what you wish for...

e-mail me and I'll send you an awesome picture of the local scenery that Coz
cant touch

"Scott" <pugetsounddiver@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ALednYDEPew0Qp3ZnZ2dnUVZ_sCdnZ2d@wavecable.co m...
>
> " Schmoe" <Schmoe@ultra.com> wrote in message
> news:Hs2Mf.14$Tq6.8@fe11.lga...
>
> <el-snippo>
>
> All you Coz junkies need to buck up and come dive the Pacific Northwest.

Some Coz junkies like awesome visibility (easily 100+ feet). Others like
warm water (80-81 degrees on my weekend dives). Still more like coral and
tropical fish. What's the visibility like in the Pacific Northwest? Is the
water 80-81 degrees in February? How's the coral and tropical fish
situation?

Schmoe claims the diving is better in other Caribbean locales, but I was
still impressed with post-hurricane Cozumel as compared to, say, Roatan.
The reefs further south fared much better, as we found when we finally hit
Palancar after doing San Francisco and Santa Rosa where the sand is
prevalent even down to the 90-100' level. The shallower "second dive" spots
are big sandboxes now, but Tormentos fared OK.

The seahorses are all gone. We were treated to a few diver-oblivious
turtles, lots of spotted morays, and one exciting find of a sapo bacon that
almost took Janna's finger off. That will teach her to poke at ugly fish.

Currents were nice and slow for the most part, seas were flat, and it stayed
sunny with a few clouds and a nice breeze. It's hard for a junkie to kick a
habit when the stuff is so good and only $72 for a 2-tank nitrox (1 32% and
1 36%) fix. I'm suffering major withdrawals already. Cold turkey is a
bitch. God knows how I'll last the three weeks before we leave for Belize.

" Schmoe" <Schmoe@ultra.com> wrote:

>Greg Mossman wrote:
>> Schmoe claims the diving is better in other Caribbean locales, but I
>> was still impressed with post-hurricane Cozumel as compared to, say,
>> Roatan. The reefs further south fared much better, as we found when
>> we finally hit Palancar after doing San Francisco and Santa Rosa
>> where the sand is prevalent even down to the 90-100' level. The
>> shallower "second dive" spots are big sandboxes now, but Tormentos
>> fared OK.
>
>I didn't find what you state above. Southern walls i.e. Punta Sur had plenty
>of sand even at 120-130' level. Like I said, fishlive was good but coral and
>sponge was dismal. No way that Coz today beats Bloody Bay Wall. It will take
>some time before I head back to that particular reef system including
>Belize, Roatan etc... The sustained damage was too signficant.

Sand on the reefs has been prevalent long before Wilma.

Ron Lee

Ron Lee wrote:
> " Schmoe" <Schmoe@ultra.com> wrote:

>> I didn't find what you state above. Southern walls i.e. Punta Sur
>> had plenty of sand even at 120-130' level. Like I said, fishlive was
>> good but coral and sponge was dismal. No way that Coz today beats
>> Bloody Bay Wall. It will take some time before I head back to that
>> particular reef system including Belize, Roatan etc... The sustained
>> damage was too signficant.

> Sand on the reefs has been prevalent long before Wilma.

Not like this. I've been to Coz and that reef system many times. Definitely
not like this.

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 15:36:41 GMT, nospamronlee@pcisys.net (Ron Lee)
wrote:

>Sand on the reefs has been prevalent long before Wilma.

My divemaster friend told me that a lot of the reef destruction
happened in July during Emily. She says Wilma did more damage to the
land. She also said the reef damage was BAD after Gilbert too.

When I was there 4 weeks ago we did Palancar Gardens, and in spots the
bottom is more than 10 feet lower than it used to be (sand removed),
with MANY new swim throughs. So it's not ALL bad. Although it is sad
to see some favourite sites buried.

We did see a snow storm effect in some locations with sand getting
picked up by the current and moved around. Made for lots of back
scatter in photos. We also saw a river of sand pouring over the wall
into the deep in one spot. I expect that will improve a lot over the
next year.

I'm still planning to return next winter.

--
Remove preceding and trailing X from username for replies
(Sorry, but I'm SICK of spam...)

"Scott" <pugetsounddiver@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ALednYDEPew0Qp3ZnZ2dnUVZ_sCdnZ2d@wavecable.co m...
>
> " Schmoe" <Schmoe@ultra.com> wrote in message
> news:Hs2Mf.14$Tq6.8@fe11.lga...
>
> <el-snippo>
>
> All you Coz junkies need to buck up and come dive the Pacific Northwest.
>
>
This is where your ignorance shines ever so bright. Fucking faggit. Skip Coz
for the rain soaked Northwest........what a fucking shithead.

"Lembo" <Lembo27@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1141312825.743797.224310@p10g2000cwp.googlegr oups.com...
>
> Scott wrote:
> > " Schmoe" <Schmoe@ultra.com> wrote in message
> > news:Hs2Mf.14$Tq6.8@fe11.lga...
> >
> > <el-snippo>
> >
> > All you Coz junkies need to buck up and come dive the Pacific Northwest.
>
> Are you nuts ?
> Spend vacation cash on a trip to PNW instead of Cozumel, Belize or
> Roatan ???
>

Sure - why not? I've spent vacation cash on a trip to the Channel islands
(which is noit, of course, the PNW).
Diving with sea lions was pretty cool!

Heck, I'd even dive Antarctica or the Arctic.

Dennis

Alan Street wrote:
> In article <_72dnTsqif662ZrZnZ2dnUVZ_s6dnZ2d@comcast.com>, dazed and
> confuzzed <dedmann@comcast_remove.net> wrote:
>
> € Greg Mossman wrote:
> € > "ben bradlee" <NoWay@Way.Bite.Me> wrote in message
> € > news:hOGdnYSB3sBdvJrZRVn-uA@centurytel.net...
> € >
> € >>"Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote in message
> € >>
> € >>>Interesting diving can be had in my toilet too.
> € >>
> € >>Define interesting.
> € >
> € >
> € > "Bush declared four days after the storm, "I don't think anybody
> € > anticipated
> € > the breach of the levees" that gushed deadly flood waters into New Orleans.
> € > He later clarified, saying officials believed, wrongly, after the storm
> € > passed that the levees had survived. But the transcripts and video show
> € > there was plenty of talk about that possibility even before the storm - and
> € > Bush was worried too."
> € >
> € >
> € >
> € Breached, or overtopped?
> €
> € Big difference.
>
> Not really. When levees stop holding back water, things flood. To the
> person being flooded, it doesn't much matter if the water starts off
> going over the levee, and then it breaks, or if the levee just breaks.
>
> But if you want to play civil engineering semantics, what are the odds
> of a levee being breached after it's been overtopped? Are they so low
> that you would say, with a straight face, that "I don't think anybody
> anticipated the breach of the levees" when you'd been told a few days
> earlier than overtopping the levees was a strong possibility?

WHile the levee may fail due to undermining because of storm surge
overtopping the wall, it may not. Depends on how it was built.

The storm surge overtopping is a limited duration and a limited amount
of water. A breach is more serious, ad the water being held back is a
larger reservoir. As it was, Lake Pochetrain (sp?) equalized into the
"bowl". Storm surge would have been drastic, but not that drastic.

I still think that the entire city should be raised to well above sea
level before any rebuilding takes place. Otherwise it will happen again.



--


__________________________________________________ _____________________________
"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them;
the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences." - Proverbs 22:3