Need a Cozumel update

[monkeywobble]

Just got back June 17th. Was a great trip even though I only got to dive for 2 days. I've got a few pics up on Flickr here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/monkeywobble/sets/72157594176316577/

It seemed to me there weren't as many fish although I usually go around February. Some of the shallower reefs do have lots of sand on top.
San Miguel seems to have changed subtlely. There were a fair amount of empty buildings but aside from the dive shop I used to use, it didn't really seem like anything was missing. All the staples are still there, Otates, Casa Denis, etc.

 

[Meg]

We got back last Tuesday from a 10-day dive trip to Cozumel. I have to echo what Sharky60 said....
The reefs certainly look different - especially the shallow reefs. There's no getting around that. The only one we dove that seemed completely unaffected was Maracaibo.
The sea life was better than I've ever seen! We saw turtles on every dive, schools of Barracuda, many Nurse Sharks (5 in one day alone!), enormous Grouper and Snapper, Spotted Eagle Rays (one on Paradise Reef!!), large schools of fish, and some of the largest Parrot Fish I've ever seen in my life. Folks who have been to Cozumel have seen the large Rainbow Parrots on Villa Blanca, but we say Parrot Fish that size (Rainbow and Midnight) on many reefs. And the Blennies!! I've never seen them before, but I saw many on this trip.
I'm grateful that I saw the beauty of the reef before the hurricanes hit and I was sad to see the damage....but I wasn't one bit disappointed with the diving. The reefs are recovering and there is plenty to see in Cozumel.

Meg

 

[reefugee]

Thanks for all the great info. I am heading out to Coz in September for my honeymoon. We're both in the process of getting certified. Regardless of "worse" Coz might look, I am sure that I will still have a blast scuba diving.

nyprrthd - how did you like the AOW certification out there? Who did you go though?

 

[Martha]

how did you like the AOW certification out there? Who did you go though?

Although your question was directed to someone else, I thought I'd add my two cents... My husband and I got our AOW and Nitrox certifications while we were in Coz at the beginning of this month. We went through Christi at Blue XT~Sea Diving. I would highly recommend her. She is a wonderful instructor and the shallower sites we went to for some of our training were superb (Christi's "Happy Place" and Columbia SHallows). We had a great time!!!

 

[Bbarnes]

We have been twice since the hurricane hit. The locals are amazing at picking THEMSELVES up and getting things up and running. Our diving was amazing. So there is some sand on some of the coral...To me that is only the backdrop. There is no sand covering any fish, sharks, turtles or eels!!

 

[sasscuba]

We have been twice since the hurricane hit. The locals are amazing at picking THEMSELVES up and getting things up and running. Our diving was amazing. So there is some sand on some of the coral...To me that is only the backdrop. There is no sand covering any fish, sharks, turtles or eels!!

Well put...where in Ok. are you?

 

[nyprrthd]

nyprrthd - how did you like the AOW certification out there? Who did you go though?

Let me preface my answer by saying that anywhere would be better than doing it in a quarry! However, Cozumel was a great place to advance our skills. The water is warm, and the vis is great. We dove with Blue XT~Sea, a boutique dive op that has many fans here on SB. Christi's crew is great, and the boats are small, hence small groups of divers (a max of 6). Christi was tied up with a Mexican adminstrative nightmare (those of you who know the story know what I'm talking about), so we did the AOW with Sandra, a freelance instructor/DM who works with several dive shops, including BXTS. She was patient, thorough, and made the diving fun. She has great eyes, and showed us how to spot critters based on their habitats. The AOW involves 5 dives, so we essentially had a private DM for almost half of our diving.

As Christi had told us, the AOW course involves no invasive skills, and no written test. She mailed us the books well in advance, so we could read the appropriate text and do the knowledge reviews for each chapter; saving precious vacation time. When we got to Mexico, all we had to do were the required dives, after a discussion of the finer points of each chapter. Sandra helped me to finally get my buoyancy dialed in to the point where I didn't have to touch my inflator once I found the neutral "sweet spot." It was an incredible feeling to control my position in the water at will. The price charged for the course was very reasonable, especially since all of the dives were boat dives, and it was just the two of us and an instructor. The course doesn't make you an "advanced diver" (that will take many more dives and experiences), but it certainly took our skills up a few notches! The specialty dives we did were navigation (a lot easier than I thought it would be), deep, peak performance buoyancy, night, and drift diving. We had a blast!

 

[Christi]

Christi was tied up with a Mexican adminstrative nightmare (those of you who know the story know what I'm talking about),

Got my authorization on Wed, took it to immigration on Thursday, and supposedly will pick up my renewed VISA today

VERY short version...Foreigners working in the Diving industry are now required to take a comprehensive proficiency exam in Spanish and score a minimum of 90%....along with a list of 13 other things. This is a NEW requirement. Bottom line is that I fullfilled the requirements and get to stay at least another year

 

[ggunn]

Got my authorization on Wed, took it to immigration on Thursday, and supposedly will pick up my renewed VISA today

VERY short version...Foreigners working in the Diving industry are now required to take a comprehensive proficiency exam in Spanish and score a minimum of 90%....along with a list of 13 other things. This is a NEW requirement. Bottom line is that I fullfilled the requirements and get to stay at least another year

To work in Mexico, one must be fluent in Spanish, but here in the US... never mind. Here isn't the place to vent my frustrations with immigration policy. ;^)

Congratulations, Christi!

 

[parrotheaddiver]

To work in Mexico, one must be fluent in Spanish, but here in the US... never mind. Here isn't the place to vent my frustrations with immigration policy. ;^)

Congratulations, Christi!

Oh Gordon....my thoughts exactly.


Christi glad you got your visa renewed....