We stayed at Hotel Cozumel the week of Apr. 22 and found the accommodations very nice. Most people loved the food, but as a very picky eater I survived. Dive Paradise was just across the street, which you took an under-road path to. Our week stay included 19 dives. One night dive off Hotel Cozumel was fantastic....3 octopuses, juvenile drum, barracuda attack, brittle stars, fire worms, a ray, high hats, scorpion fish, and a halocline.
Having little to compare the "new" Cozumel to, you could see glimpses of what the reefs were like under the overhangs. Yep, sand everywhere. But, the fish life was very decent. Trunk fish everywhere, parrot fish (some HUGE), angels, rays, turtles, sharks, bugs, crabs, sailfin gobies, eels, splendid toadfish, flounders, basslets, chromis, butterflies, top hats, drums, etc etc. The most fish I've ever seen on a reef? No, but very competitive.
We also when to Turtle Pak Reef, off Playa Del Carmen. Fewer fish, but turtles everywhere, and turtles that didn't get spooked by divers. They just chomped away. Head scratching and neck rubs where not unwanted.
We also went to the cenotes. Some of the group were happy to have done it but wouldn't do it again. I can't wait to go back. Just a surreal experience.
It'll be awhile before I go back to Cozumel. But when you consider the hugely varied geology underwater (reefs, swim throughs and walls), it is still a cool place to dive.
Having little to compare the "new" Cozumel to, you could see glimpses of what the reefs were like under the overhangs. Yep, sand everywhere. But, the fish life was very decent. Trunk fish everywhere, parrot fish (some HUGE), angels, rays, turtles, sharks, bugs, crabs, sailfin gobies, eels, splendid toadfish, flounders, basslets, chromis, butterflies, top hats, drums, etc etc. The most fish I've ever seen on a reef? No, but very competitive.
We also when to Turtle Pak Reef, off Playa Del Carmen. Fewer fish, but turtles everywhere, and turtles that didn't get spooked by divers. They just chomped away. Head scratching and neck rubs where not unwanted.
We also went to the cenotes. Some of the group were happy to have done it but wouldn't do it again. I can't wait to go back. Just a surreal experience.
It'll be awhile before I go back to Cozumel. But when you consider the hugely varied geology underwater (reefs, swim throughs and walls), it is still a cool place to dive.