Saxonjd
Contributor
Had originally planned to go in early April with a group of friends who we come down with 1-2x per year, but that obviously got cancelled. Plan B was to come this summer as usual, but with all the uncertainties leading up to coming in July both Covid related back home and in Mexico, and issues with flight cancellations, I was a bit hesitant to book. Had booked in May with points r/t on AA out of SEA with layovers both ways in DFW as I could cancel without penalty if I decided not to go last minute. Long story short, flight changes on return flight made that option a no-go, so about a week prior to departure I pulled the trigger and changed my reservation. Ended up coming down on AA, and back home on Sun Country and Alaska as I didn't want to overnight in DFW on the way home or do the bag drag.
Travel down and back was fine. SEA was a bit busier than I expected and AA flights down were about 60% full including full in first class. As an aside, I would probably avoid first for the time being as there were no real amenities to differentiate from coach and with upgrades it was packed on all my flights. Travel right now is about getting from Point A to Point B without much frill in between. DFW was a ghost town on way down, though a bit busier coming back. At one point I counted probably 40 people when I looked about 100m down the terminal. Coming back my Sun Country flight had about 20 people on it and my Alaska flight was about 50% full.
MY STAY
Stayed with friends up north in their condo and it was great. Really quiet and relaxing. They had a manned checkpoint heading up north right by the airfield that early on was checking in on cars, but as the week progressed that just changed to a wave (or nothing). Sometimes they had the rope out (speed bump), others not out. Kind of perplexing. Always had someone at the shack though!
DINING AND THE TOWN
Was very quiet around town when we'd drive through to the marina or go into town for dinner. Not a lot of shops open, though as the week progressed more people were wandering and a few more shops were open. Was sad to see and sad to think about the financial impact for the people. For breakfast and lunch we ate at the condo, so just dinners out.
We ate at Soy Gardel, Azul Madera (formerly Sal Del Mar), New Especias, Rolandi's, La Cocay, K'ooben Laab, La Perlita, and El Pique. Overall, great food like usual, though my lion fish kebob at La Perlita wasn't as good as it had been in the past. A bit overcooked and dry. Also, got the vodka sauce with shrimp at Rolandi's and not good at all. My favorites wee K'ooben Laab (always delightful and so cheap), New Especias and El Pique (under $8 including generous tip for 4 tacos, 1/2 order of beans and 2 beers!). Disappointed that Cielito Lindo and Le Chef were closed and no drinks at Wet Wendy's (though they are open now). Besides the diving, love the food options and quality in Cozumel!
COVID PRECAUTIONS
At all the restaurants they had hand sanitizer and most of the places did temperature checks. Only a few had the mats to step into with the disinfectant. Staff always wore masks and lots of social distancing with tables. At Mega and Chedraui same with the precautions. My friends went to Chedraui and they only let one in to shop. Didn't happen the day we went though. Driving around town you could see generally good compliance with wearing masks, and lots of municipal police, a fair amount of national guard, and even some motorcycle cops. Heavier than normal police presence for sure.
DIVING
We dove with ScubaTony, who we've been diving with for a few years. As everyone says with their favorite dive shop, they are awesome. As we've gotten to know the staff more, it's always good to come back and see them and catch up. This trip was no exception. Since we had a big enough group, the days we dove we had the boat to ourselves, which was great on a lot of levels. Crew always wore masks and used hand sanitizer frequently, especially before touching any equipment. As usual they kept our gear except regulators (new), wetsuits and masks (our choice).
Generally dive conditions were good. I dove six days and the first three were better than the last three. Those first three days had good (not great) visibility and mellow current, which allowed for some lingering when we found something we wanted to look at more. The middle two days the current was really ripping, and one dive on Santa Rosa/Cedral was the most extreme. Fast current that was really pushing you and messed up visibility. Probably 30-40 ft max visibility. DM had flashlight out so we could see him better. It was almost like an old Western movie with all the tumbleweeds blowing on the range as you watched all the sargassum and other items flying by you. Current was mostly south to north though a couple dives it was north to south so we had to reposition the boat before entry. Talking to the DM, he said around this time for the next month or two is when currents get going and are more unpredictable.
Dive sites we went to were Palancar Bricks and Gardens, La Francesa, Delilah, Cedral, San Clemente, San Francisco, Columbia Deep and Shallows, and Yucab (or as the DM Israel joked, Bacuy the day my friends when there and drifted the opposite direction, lol). Some dives we hit more than one reef because of the current. One dive was on part of Santa Rosa and Cedral and another was San Clemente and San Francisco.
Plenty to see though which was great. The usual nurse sharks (though not as many as normal), stingrays a few turtles each day including a couple really big Hawkbill and a loggerhead, lots of spotted eels and a handful of morays including a couple swimming in the open. A few really big parrot fish and grouper too. Like really big! Yucab we saw a lot of splendid toadfish as well. Highlight for me was we saw an Eagle Ray on Palancar, which I love to see! Also we saw on La Francesa what we thought was a baby/juvenile reef shark, but when my friend compared the pictures he took to the ID books, looks like it was a small bull shark, especially when you looked at the notch in the tail. Didn't see as much of the white brain coral which was good. Overall, the wildlife numbers seem down from past years and the DM, when I mentioned it to him, said he sees that now compared to the past as well. Not that it's the primary reason, but he mentioned there's been continued problems with people fishing in the park and lots of illegal lobster harvesting out of season. Lots of pressure on the marine life, even without the cruise ships and throngs of divers.
Overall, had a fantastic trip and thanks for reading through my long trip report. Looking forward to going back down again in December (doubtful but would be fun) or more likely next spring (hopefully!).
Travel down and back was fine. SEA was a bit busier than I expected and AA flights down were about 60% full including full in first class. As an aside, I would probably avoid first for the time being as there were no real amenities to differentiate from coach and with upgrades it was packed on all my flights. Travel right now is about getting from Point A to Point B without much frill in between. DFW was a ghost town on way down, though a bit busier coming back. At one point I counted probably 40 people when I looked about 100m down the terminal. Coming back my Sun Country flight had about 20 people on it and my Alaska flight was about 50% full.
MY STAY
Stayed with friends up north in their condo and it was great. Really quiet and relaxing. They had a manned checkpoint heading up north right by the airfield that early on was checking in on cars, but as the week progressed that just changed to a wave (or nothing). Sometimes they had the rope out (speed bump), others not out. Kind of perplexing. Always had someone at the shack though!
DINING AND THE TOWN
Was very quiet around town when we'd drive through to the marina or go into town for dinner. Not a lot of shops open, though as the week progressed more people were wandering and a few more shops were open. Was sad to see and sad to think about the financial impact for the people. For breakfast and lunch we ate at the condo, so just dinners out.
We ate at Soy Gardel, Azul Madera (formerly Sal Del Mar), New Especias, Rolandi's, La Cocay, K'ooben Laab, La Perlita, and El Pique. Overall, great food like usual, though my lion fish kebob at La Perlita wasn't as good as it had been in the past. A bit overcooked and dry. Also, got the vodka sauce with shrimp at Rolandi's and not good at all. My favorites wee K'ooben Laab (always delightful and so cheap), New Especias and El Pique (under $8 including generous tip for 4 tacos, 1/2 order of beans and 2 beers!). Disappointed that Cielito Lindo and Le Chef were closed and no drinks at Wet Wendy's (though they are open now). Besides the diving, love the food options and quality in Cozumel!
COVID PRECAUTIONS
At all the restaurants they had hand sanitizer and most of the places did temperature checks. Only a few had the mats to step into with the disinfectant. Staff always wore masks and lots of social distancing with tables. At Mega and Chedraui same with the precautions. My friends went to Chedraui and they only let one in to shop. Didn't happen the day we went though. Driving around town you could see generally good compliance with wearing masks, and lots of municipal police, a fair amount of national guard, and even some motorcycle cops. Heavier than normal police presence for sure.
DIVING
We dove with ScubaTony, who we've been diving with for a few years. As everyone says with their favorite dive shop, they are awesome. As we've gotten to know the staff more, it's always good to come back and see them and catch up. This trip was no exception. Since we had a big enough group, the days we dove we had the boat to ourselves, which was great on a lot of levels. Crew always wore masks and used hand sanitizer frequently, especially before touching any equipment. As usual they kept our gear except regulators (new), wetsuits and masks (our choice).
Generally dive conditions were good. I dove six days and the first three were better than the last three. Those first three days had good (not great) visibility and mellow current, which allowed for some lingering when we found something we wanted to look at more. The middle two days the current was really ripping, and one dive on Santa Rosa/Cedral was the most extreme. Fast current that was really pushing you and messed up visibility. Probably 30-40 ft max visibility. DM had flashlight out so we could see him better. It was almost like an old Western movie with all the tumbleweeds blowing on the range as you watched all the sargassum and other items flying by you. Current was mostly south to north though a couple dives it was north to south so we had to reposition the boat before entry. Talking to the DM, he said around this time for the next month or two is when currents get going and are more unpredictable.
Dive sites we went to were Palancar Bricks and Gardens, La Francesa, Delilah, Cedral, San Clemente, San Francisco, Columbia Deep and Shallows, and Yucab (or as the DM Israel joked, Bacuy the day my friends when there and drifted the opposite direction, lol). Some dives we hit more than one reef because of the current. One dive was on part of Santa Rosa and Cedral and another was San Clemente and San Francisco.
Plenty to see though which was great. The usual nurse sharks (though not as many as normal), stingrays a few turtles each day including a couple really big Hawkbill and a loggerhead, lots of spotted eels and a handful of morays including a couple swimming in the open. A few really big parrot fish and grouper too. Like really big! Yucab we saw a lot of splendid toadfish as well. Highlight for me was we saw an Eagle Ray on Palancar, which I love to see! Also we saw on La Francesa what we thought was a baby/juvenile reef shark, but when my friend compared the pictures he took to the ID books, looks like it was a small bull shark, especially when you looked at the notch in the tail. Didn't see as much of the white brain coral which was good. Overall, the wildlife numbers seem down from past years and the DM, when I mentioned it to him, said he sees that now compared to the past as well. Not that it's the primary reason, but he mentioned there's been continued problems with people fishing in the park and lots of illegal lobster harvesting out of season. Lots of pressure on the marine life, even without the cruise ships and throngs of divers.
Overall, had a fantastic trip and thanks for reading through my long trip report. Looking forward to going back down again in December (doubtful but would be fun) or more likely next spring (hopefully!).