Trip Report November 2023

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Awesome report, sounds like a fun trip.

I have seen more action on Cedral Pass then any other dive site in Coz (about 60 dives)- one time, with a new diver in our group, we had 2 turtles, a huge free swimming moray, stingray and nurse shark all within about 2 mins, and all very close up. It was so cool.
 
Monday's diving was serene and mostly uneventful. For the first dive we hit Palancar Caves which was spectacular as usual. The formations are awe inspiring there and the swimthroughs are always fun. I saw my first green turtle of the trip, but he was 50 feet away and shy. He started swimming away from us as we tried to get a bit closer so I don't have any good pictures. Privacy concerns seem to be on the mind of aquatic life as well these days!

I had lots of opportunities to try to snap some hermit crabs but this Sealife 3.0 mini camera just can't get good shots up close. I'll have to look into getting a macro lens for it. I won't waste your time with the smeary results.

However, one thing it does do quite well is take video. I captured a whiptail stingray looking for lunch with a fishy friend.


The next dive was on a combo dive my op calls Erik's Reef. I've been told locals call it Casa Blanca after the house nearby on the shore. It's a mix of Delilah and Cedral Mountains. This one never disappoints; my dive log is filled with a whole bunch of "Erik's Reef was awesome!" and this time was no different.

Immediately after dropping in we were greeted by a Hawksbill. I captured him swimming towards us for some lunch, and then he got photobombed by a big old bar jack (I'm guessing, fish ID experts, or people that can just properly read a fish ID chart, please correct me).


After I stopped that video, I turned to see my group milling about nearby so I figured I had time for a closeup of the same turtle munching away on the reef. The video is real short since my group started moving the instant I started filming, so I won't post it, but I pulled a still from it that I think is one of the best turtle 'photos' I've ever taken.

hawksbill_eriksreef_11-13-23.png


A short while later we got a flyby from yet another hawksbill, who decided to stop and have lunch with some Angelfish. Can't blame him, lunch is always better with friends!


And then we came up on this guy - out in the wide open in the daytime, furiously digging away into the sand. What he was looking for we will never know. Buried treasure? Secret government microfilm? His car keys? It is a mystery.

MICR1147.JPG


And at the end of the diving report (but not the post), I leave you with my moment of zen on this dive. I found this lonely grouper hiding out in some soft corals. He was a bit shy and didn't want to pose, but it was nice to watch him for a bit. At the end of my video he remembers a hot date he was late for and takes off. Sorry for bugging you, dude!


The report's not quite over though! I hit up a new spot for dinner last night with friends - Taqueria Chilangos on Avenida 30 Sur. This place is another "locals" place with extremely fresh food and, as I came to find out, fantastic lemonade! They do not serve alcohol in this restaurant so if you're looking to party it up it won't be your style, but the food was fantastic. I had a Huaraches which is basically a gigantic oblong taco filled with whatever tickles your fancy from their storefront window of delicious fillings. I chose Carne Al Pastor and was not disappointed. They have lots of vegan / vegetarian options if that's your style; my buddy had the mushroom mix and it looked delicious. Cactus was another option! I tasted some and it was very mild!

Sadly your incompetent narrator was so engrossed in talking with old and new friends that he forgot to take the requisite Instagram-esque snap of his food before eating it all. I'm not sure if that decreases the nutritional content or not, oh well. But I can tell you one of these bad boys (which cost a staggering 75 pesos if my absolutely terrible memory is doing a half decent job today) was enough to fill me up, but I would absolutely have pulled another into my guts if I wasn't diving this morning. I can't wait to go back and try a different style - the Tinga caught my eye!

So this one is definitely going in my regular rotation. And honestly, their sign inside says it all:

Chilangos.png


Stay tuned for the next post about this morning's diving - it's gonna get a little more exciting! We headed south... way south. And deep. :)
 
6,017 days after my first dive in Cozumel, the stars aligned and I finally got a chance to do something I'd been looking forward to for a long time. A boat full of skilled divers and a perfect day with calm currents meant we were going to get a little hellish.

I have read stories about Devil's Throat for years. Opinions seem to vary between "Awesome!" and "meh, I'd rather look at fish". I knew the gist of the dive - you enter a long-ish swimthrough around 50 feet and traverse for several minutes until el Diablo spits you out around 130 feet below the surface. It was never something I felt I just HAD TO DO, and I figured when the time was right it would come around.

Today the time was right.

We headed south and got a super-serious-business dive briefing. No bullshitting around on this dive. Overhead environment for most of the swimthrough. Anyone can call the dive for any reason at any time and we will all go up together. If anyone hits 1,000 PSI we are done (rule of thirds) and we exit immediately. There have been incidents here (we know what that means) so take it seriously and don't screw around. Etc. "You know the drill!" We got the message. This was going to be a fun, spectacular, but slightly challenging dive. Let's do it right.

The briefing put us all in the right frame of mind and we geared up as we arrived at the site - no other boats around yet. This was gonna be great!

We dropped in and started to swim - but after a couple minutes we knew something was up. After 6 minutes and a max depth of 41 feet, we ascended to the surface; we had missed the entrance somehow. No big deal, we yanked our fins and climbed back on the boat still wearing the rest of our gear. We all laughed and decided this dive would forever be known as "The Devil's Forehead". This broke the tension a little bit as we chuckled at our supreme humor. 3 minutes later we were back in the water in the right place and we headed for The Throat. I was calm and excited at the same time; I had looked forward to this dive for such a long time. I wanted to make sure I did everything correctly, that I soaked up as much of this experience as I could, and the most important thing of all - don't be the guy who runs out of air first! :wink:

The swimthrough of the Throat was quite entertaining. It's dark in there! Having done some cenote diving in the past this didn't bother me, or the others on the dive seemingly. Within a minute or two of entering, everyone had decided the dive would be better without lights, and they clicked off one by one. The gloom was fantastic and as my eyes adjusted I just concentrated on pulling in this atmosphere and enjoying every second of it. After a few minutes of swimming we came to the downward chute - you swim almost straight down for a bit and then into a very dark cavern area. I could tell we were getting close to the exit as the light level started to pick up. I was still completely comfortable so I risked yanking out my camera and filmed the last minute or so of the exit. This isn't going to win any filmmaking awards, but if you want to see the contrast of the darkness and then the pale blue glow as you approach the exit, take a look:



I was the last to exit and I killed the video just as I rolled over to bask in the 130 ft view to the surface above me. We gathered up, checked air and NDLs, I took a quick peek over the ledge to peer into the abyss, saw it peering back at me, and then we proceeded to ascend back up to around 60 feet. We spent another 20 minutes or so puttering around the reef there, spotting several southern rays below us while a few people worked off some deco. 39 minutes after dropping in we were back on the surface talking about what a cool experience we just had. I'm sure Devil's Throat and Devil's Forehead will be my two shortest dives of this trip, but they were worth it!

We motored over to the shallows near El Cielo to enjoy our SI before all the snorkelers showed up. It was calm and peaceful. After a little while a bunch of rays started investigating our boat (looking for a handout no doubt) so a few of us jumped in the 2 ft deep water to get some footage. These guys are not shy, and some of us got close enough for a kiss! It was very cool to watch them swim around and under us. We even got a visit from a momma and her baby, but I wasn't close enough to capture them unfortunately. I did get this big guy swimming right by me:


The SI complete we headed over to Delilah to finish off our diving day. This was a super relaxing, peaceful, chill dive after the excitement of Devil's Throat. We all just cruised along the reef doing our own thing. Our DM was able to find a baby peacock ray in the sand, but you aren't gonna get any pics of that guy from me - they are TINY! Shortly after I spotted a splendid toadfish and quickly moved out of the way so the Cozumel first timers could check him out, but all the commotion drove him deeper into his hole so they didn't get a good look. Bummer!

Next up, Muddy Mudskipper's cousin the Sand Diver put in an appearance:

MICR1231.JPG


Halfway through the dive we got a flyby from a green moray. I don't think I've ever seen so many out swimming around in the daytime before, this was the third one in 8 days!

MICR1240.JPG


And my moment of zen for the dive - I just sat and watched this squad of grunts for a couple minutes and let my mind wander in the peacefulness of it all.

MICR1234.JPG


Another great day in Cozumel! That's all for today. We have some weather coming in tomorrow with a pretty weak Norte, so it's uncertain if we're going to get closures over the next couple days. Fingers crossed that we can still pull off some more diving. Until then, adios amigos!
 
I saw my first green turtle of the trip, but he was 50 feet away and shy. He started swimming away from us as we tried to get a bit closer so I don't have any good pictures. Privacy concerns seem to be on the mind of aquatic life as well these days!
On one of our first dives after my wife got an UW camera, there were just the two of us and the DM diving Punta Tuniche one afternoon. We came upon a young green turtle on the bottom munching on something so my wife swam over to get a photo. When it saw her coming it got up and swam off for about 15 feet, then it stopped on the bottom and turned around looking at her. She swam toward it but as soon as she got close it got up, swam about 15 feet and stopped again, looking at her. This happened over and over again, and the DM and I nearly choked to death laughing at the scene; the turtle was acting like a little dog playing keepaway with a toy.
 
Not sure if you mentioned it already and I missed it, but where are you staying and who are you diving with?
I am staying at the Residencias Reef condo complex which is between Secrets resort and Carlos & Charlie's beach club. They are individually owned condos so you can find them on VRBO, EnjoyCozumel.com, and I'm sure many other places. I stayed here for the first time 2 years ago and absolutely love it. The property is gorgeous, the three condos I've stayed in were all great while each was unique, and the rinse tanks and showers they have out by the pool make cleanup after diving each day a breeze. There's a small beach and swim area right in front of the property, too. I highly recommend it if you're not the "constantly going into town" type of vacationer. It's pretty far south so it's not great for daily restaurant exploring, but I tend to just use a taxi and go every other day or so for dinner and/or groceries.

I'm diving with ScubaTony as I've done exclusively, except for the odd day here and there when they are booked up because I reserved too late, since 2008. They are fantastic. Their divemasters come and go over the years as happens in the industry, but I know one of their senior DMs, Miguel, who has been with them for many years. I dove with him quite a bit 2 years ago and I count him among the best I've seen. But whoever I end up with on the boat, I never worry about it - they always hire great people. And I also count Tony and his long-time captains Carlos and Hector among my friends. They have a third boat and while I don't know captain Alex quite as well, he is also great! I also hear great things about their instructor Israel from everybody that talks about him, but I've never met him myself yet. Someday! Tony is semi-retired now and no longer lives on the island, but he comes back for a month every year to give his business partner / new owner some time for a vacation, and he's still involved in the business. I try to time my trips for those months so we can catch up and do some diving together. :)
 
Here it is Friday, and I've got some catching up to do! I had a friend come to Cozumel for her first trip ever the day after I last posted, so I've been busy busy busy between diving and showing her my favorite island. Unfortunately we had a mild norte roll in yesterday, and while diving was possible yesterday, the wind shifted to directly west last night and we had a full port closure all day today (boooo), so I've been catching up.

The diving has continued to be great all week, with water temps very slowly cooling off. Some dives are hitting 83 or 82F at the bottom, while the shallower areas are still 84F. The island continues to deliver the goods with lots of turtles, eels, sharks, and stingrays, and even another huge eagle ray sighting! I won't bore you with a dive by dive recap, mostly because it's all blurring together after a few days of not writing, and I can't remember where I saw what. :wink: But I'll throw the video and pictorial highlights below.

Assuming the port is open tomorrow that will be my last day of diving for this trip. On Sunday I'm going to do my first ever snorkel boat tour in 16 years of visiting the island, since my friend is not a diver. The tour I picked goes to Casa Blanca, El Cielo, and the turtle sanctuary, and it's a small boat tour. If that turns out to be really cool, I'll post some impressions and pictures here to wrap things up. Then I'm heading back home Monday.

On with the highlight reel!

I just love watching these guys look for food in the sand like little swimming water pistols.

This was one of the coolest moments of my trip. This fearless little reef shark swam right through our dive group and practically gave one diver a kiss. Super cool!


This southern ray had no problems with me getting up close and personal while he looked for lunch.
MICR1287.JPG



There were barracuda everywhere on this particular dive.
MICR1349.JPG



A yellow stingray and a lobster having a staring contest.
MICR1331.JPG



A curious cowfish checking me out.
MICR1311.JPG



Sleepy girl I found hiding in a little canyon off to the side of the main reef. She was about 4 feet long.
MICR1345.JPG


Hope you enjoyed!
 
Well, this trip ended with a whimper and not a bang. The port was closed for the last 2 days and then didn't open this morning until 10am, so I lost my last 3 chances at diving. It also screwed up my friend's snorkeling tour since they had to cancel on us twice. In desperation I took her over to Money Bar this afternoon and we snorkeled there for an hour. The ocean was once again very kind to us and I couldn't believe our luck. She got to see a huge variety of reef fish, a yellow stingray, a huge puffer fish, a 2 foot nurse shark (!!!!!!) that swam under us out by the buoy line, and a monstrously large barracuda (biggest I saw this trip) just hanging out by the shallows when we swam back in. So she was very excited and it made me happy that she got to see some cool stuff after all. I would have bet money against seeing a shark in the shallows like that, but we got real lucky!

That's it for this trip. I hope to come back in April, but for now I have to say Adios, Cozumel! I hope those of you arriving over the next few weeks encounter better weather!
 
Well, this trip ended with a whimper and not a bang. The port was closed for the last 2 days and then didn't open this morning until 10am, so I lost my last 3 chances at diving. It also screwed up my friend's snorkeling tour since they had to cancel on us twice. In desperation I took her over to Money Bar this afternoon and we snorkeled there for an hour. The ocean was once again very kind to us and I couldn't believe our luck. She got to see a huge variety of reef fish, a yellow stingray, a huge puffer fish, a 2 foot nurse shark (!!!!!!) that swam under us out by the buoy line, and a monstrously large barracuda (biggest I saw this trip) just hanging out by the shallows when we swam back in. So she was very excited and it made me happy that she got to see some cool stuff after all. I would have bet money against seeing a shark in the shallows like that, but we got real lucky!

That's it for this trip. I hope to come back in April, but for now I have to say Adios, Cozumel! I hope those of you arriving over the next few weeks encounter better weather!
Thank you for your trip report! I'm headed down on Friday; hopefully the weather will be kinder to us for our trip.... Do you happen to recall your water temps?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom