Coz dive report, May11-17

[sasscuba]

Dove with Nacho last month..good guy..

 

[Christi]

I was in coz during the first week of February and my experience was pretty similar to yours professor. Santa Rosa was indeed sanded over badly as were many of the other sites I visited. Hopefully time and currents will once again return Cozumel to what it once was or close to it.

It is MUCH better than it was in February, I will agree with that 100%. Remember, we are about to get into June...four months have passed since you were here.

The most sand is on Yucab, Santa Rosa shallows, and parts of cedral pass...the rest rewally doesn't have much more sand than it always has.

 

[Divedoggie]

I just returned from Coz. This was my 8th trip, but the first after Wilma.

It is not the same, but it is beautiful, dramatic, awesome, and many of my dives this year were the best dives I have ever enjoyed in Coz.

The southern reefs are untouched by Wilma. The Mid reefs have some new swim throughs to offset mild damage, and the shallow northern reefs are changed, yet if you go slow and look closely, have an abudance to offer.

The viz is excellent, the abundance and variety of fish is excellent, and unless you are just negative, you can't help but have an absolutely great time!

The coral heads, like giant towers, mushrooms, and canyons, provide awesome inspiration as you wind through them. It is as always, hard to focus on just one thing at a time.

New and returning visitors to Coz will both have incredibly memorable experiences!

 

[Sherald]

Courtney what do you use to take such wonderful pictures? We dove before and after Emily. We will be back at the end of June. Hurricaines are a part of life in Cozumel and other places. I was very impressed by the work of the native persons after Emily. I can only imagine the work they did after Wilma. Lets look at the possitive aspects of the natural resources of nature to develope our Earth.

Sherald

 

[Christi]

Courtney what do you use to take such wonderful pictures? We dove before and after Emily. We will be back at the end of June. Hurricaines are a part of life in Cozumel and other places. I was very impressed by the work of the native persons after Emily. I can only imagine the work they did after Wilma. Lets look at the possitive aspects of the natural resources of nature to develope our Earth.

Sherald

Nothing special, it's an Olympus 5050 with a single DS-125 Strobe, shooting in manual mode. The last two pictures were taken with no flash at all, only ambient light. Thank you

 

[Jim Baldwin]

It's a matter of perspective. As a new diver, I promise you will not visibly see the damage and you will still be awestruck by the formations, marine life, etc.

The reef is not "lost." It would take much more than Wilma to cause that level of destruction. The reefs here are MASSIVE.

Don't decide that it isn't worth going based on one person's report. There is a plethora of reports, which are neither overly glowing nor overly negative.

Read this one, as I think it is one of the most accurate and objectivereports I've read. There is actually a thread about this report in this forum.

http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=3308

I agree 100 percent with Christi. There are tremendous amounts of fish and reef life on Cozumel. I was there in April and shot about 800 pictures in a week. Seahorses, juvenile pipefish, eagle rays to a shark trapped in a coral head. There are lots of coral and sponges to see. Yes there is some sand and clearly any veteran will find some things missing.

My wife and I have been diving in Cozumel for several years and now own a home there. She will be flying out in the morning and will be there all summer diving. If the reefs were truly sand dunes she would be staying home.

We took a couple with us in April and they had never been in saltwater. They were amazed at the beauty of the reefs. Another couple that had been several times could not get over the numbers and variety of fish that they had never seen before.

This summer I will break 1,000 dives and have made several hundred dives on Cozumel. I am far from an expert but I have found that using an operator that provides personal service will get you seeing more of the beauty that the reefs of Cozumel offer.

Small groups, slow diving, and a good divemaster will make the adventure much more enjoyable.

 

[ygthad]

That was great report, Thanks..

 

[Moodiejeff]

I am far from an expert but I have found that using an operator that provides personal service will get you seeing more of the beauty that the reefs of Cozumel offer.

Small groups, slow diving, and a good divemaster will make the adventure much more enjoyable.

Bingo! I couldn't agee more. I try to stay out of these "damage" threads as they are getting soooo tiresome but here I go...

I just came back from a short trip and only got in 9 dives but half of them were sites I had never been to before. I have almost 150 dives in Coz so that isn't as easy as it sounds. How? I have a "small operator" who goes above and beyond to make sure I get the most bang for the buck.

I don't care if you're on the fast boats or the cattle boats of a big op like Dive Paradise, there is just no way they will give you the kind of attention a small op will. OK, I've never actually been out with Dive Paradise or any of the other big ops... but I don't want to either!

Are they going to find you one (or 2) of these?

It is MUCH better than it was in February, I will agree with that 100%. Remember, we are about to get into June...four months have passed since you were here.

The most sand is on Yucab, Santa Rosa shallows, and parts of cedral pass...the rest really doesn't have much more sand than it always has.

Agreed... as you know I was there in Feb. and just last week , the progress is very encouraging. In fact I was hard pressed to see a lot of damage. It's there, but unless you are actively looking for it, you won't notice it.

Disclaimer: yes, I know half of 9 is 4.5... I'm counting one site as .5 since I dove it during the day when i previously only dove it at night :mooner:

 

[cowboyneal]

So many reefs, so little time...if you go to a reef or two covered in sand, my question would be: why the hell did you bring me to that reef? Of course Wilma had its way with some of the reef system. This is a process that has been going on for TENS OF THOUSANDS of years (maybe hundreds of thousands, but who knows about weather patterns that far back). The reefs are fine, Cozumel is fine, the people are great, the island is there, the sea is brimming with life and new growth and things to see: the best thing we can do to support Cozumel is GO THERE AND DIVE! I beg to differ with the posters that claim "big ops can't do what small ops can." I've been diving with DP for many years, never have more than 6 divers in my very fast boat, am free to pick the dive sites (wherever they may be), and basically direct the boat where I want it to go (of course in conjunction with the rest of the group, all of whom are very experienced divers - which is the best part about DP, being able to know you are going out on a boat with 5 other divers with over 500 (or whatever) dives each - no newbies (no offense intended)) and basically feel like it's my (the group's) boat. You can't compare dive ops in Cozumel if you haven't gone diving with them - and you have to know all the facts: Drake's Cakes still makes the best Ring Dings. Loyalty is nice, though. I'm up June 23-July 2 (Casa Mexicana/DP). Anyone else going to be around? I'd be more than happy to check out and join up with another boat with a special (advanced) trip planned. CN

 

[Christi]

Of course Wilma had its way with some of the reef system. This is a process that has been going on for TENS OF THOUSANDS of years (maybe hundreds of thousands, but who knows about weather patterns that far back). The reefs are fine, Cozumel is fine, the people are great, the island is there, the sea is brimming with life and new growth and things to see: the best thing we can do to support Cozumel is GO THERE AND DIVE!

BINGO again...and what Jeff said...if you are LOOKING for damage, yes, you will find it.