WOODMAN
Contributor
Well, folks, we made it back, which is nice because I wasn't altogether sure we would make it down there. We happened to be on the first scheduled flight that American Airlines sent into Cozumel post Wilma. (There was supposed to be one the day before, but they cancelled it:11: ) And I have to say, I have never seen an emptier jet. I think it would be pushing it to say we had 20% of the seats filled, and first class was a ghost town. But we got there, in a torrential downpour that had streets flooded everywhere. Still lots of evidence of Wilma's fury, but it was increasingly obvious that Cozumel was stubbornly putting itself back together. The ride to the hotel was sobering ( Jeannie's waffle house is nothing but a smallish pile of debris, for example), but also hopefull. So much reconstruction going on virtually everywhere. And as for Caribe Blu, it's wide open and looking for divers. All new beds, TV's, fridges, AC's (with remote controls!), etc. The rooms have been overhauled and look great! The pool was not ready yet :frown: but looked like it was nearing completion when we left. At least they got all the sun loungers out and lined up around the edge of the pool, so you could sort of make believe. Concrete and exterior work on the hotel and grounds was just about done, and the place looks great. One sour note- the water service to the room was schizophrenic, at best. Very little hot water to the shower, but lotsa hot water from the sink, not 3 feet away! And then the water quit completely a couple of times also. We just wrote it off to "reconstruction" ( which was the usual excuse we got ) , and were happy that this was our biggest problem.
Blue Angel is wide open, with all services available. We started the week loading divers into boats at the small boatyard piers next door to the north, but somehow the shipyard had a change of heart halfway through, and denied us use of the piers:28:. So, it was back to cabbing to and from the Caleta( the small harbor south of town where most of the boats are kept, for those of you who don't know) for the rest of the week. Ah well, Blue Angel paid for it, so who am I to complain? The Caleta is kind of an interesting place anyway, which divers normally don't get to see.
And how was the diving? It ranged from good to excellent. We got in about 16 dives, counting a couple of shore dives, and saw most of the usual reefs. Chankanaab Bolones was closed ( we were told) as were most of the shallower sites, such as Paradise shallows, Chankanaab shallows, Columbia shallows, etc. ( again, as we were told), but all the others were open. Lots of coral debris everywhere, but actually the reefs looked pretty good. Not as much marine life and fish as I usually see, but that's the luck of the draw anyway. We did something different on our second dive day, and ran across the channel in our boat and dove off the mainland south of Playa Del Carmen. Not much coral, but ye gods- the marine life!:59: I have never seen so many turtles down there. They were mostly lying about on the bottom in about 50ft. of water, and you couldn't swim 50 yards without encountering another one. And eels! They were all over the place! I must have seen 15 or 20 of them, sticking their heads waaay out of their holes. And big! A couple of them must have been as big around as my arm, and I am not a little guy! I saw a few smaller ones on the Cozumel reefs, but nothing like these fellows. All in all, a great couple of dives, and a shame that more people don't get over there to experience it. We did get in a night dive on Paradise reef, and it was as good as usual, with more crabs and lobsters than I normally see. I was a little concerned about the boat, however. This was the first time that I was on a night dive (anywhere!) on a boat with no lights. Not even running lights. It worked out okay, but it was sure fun trying to break down and service our gear in the boat afterwards by divelight.
The restaurant situation is running great, and the little restaurant above the dive shop is open as usual. A few of the oceanside favorites are no more, such as the above mentioned Jeannies Waffle House ( although I saw workers unloading sacks of cement and tools there on my last day, so maybe there is hope!), but virtually all the places across the main road from the water are open. Especias is closed, I am told, but almost everywhere else I tried was ready to accomodate me. We finally discovered Las Seras, back on 30th, and can't figure out how this escaped me before. I dragged a bunch of people in there, and they were all singing its praises before we left. We also got back in there for some of their Pastor pizza on our last night, which was a real treat. This time we focused more on the less expensive joints that Cozumel abounds with, and I can't say we had a bad meal anywhere. Camillo's, Sabores, Cochina Mediterranea, Kelly's( for the corrida commedia lunch menu),La Chosa, the list goes on and on. We especially liked the noon specials at Johnny's Gallo Blanco on Rosado Salas and 15th ave. We had the best cream of cilantro soup we have ever had as part of their extremely satisfying $3.50 lunch, and my wife is busily trying to copy it. She also wants to try and produce pastors, but that may prove a little more difficult.
So, all in all a great trip. If you can manage to survive your airline encounters ( see my other post today on the thread about problems with United Airlines cancelling flights) you will have a great time. I will try to post pictures when I can get to it. Sorry about the length of this report, but as they say, inquiring minds want to know! Now to get ready for my liveaboard trip to the Bahamas in late April!
Woody
Blue Angel is wide open, with all services available. We started the week loading divers into boats at the small boatyard piers next door to the north, but somehow the shipyard had a change of heart halfway through, and denied us use of the piers:28:. So, it was back to cabbing to and from the Caleta( the small harbor south of town where most of the boats are kept, for those of you who don't know) for the rest of the week. Ah well, Blue Angel paid for it, so who am I to complain? The Caleta is kind of an interesting place anyway, which divers normally don't get to see.
And how was the diving? It ranged from good to excellent. We got in about 16 dives, counting a couple of shore dives, and saw most of the usual reefs. Chankanaab Bolones was closed ( we were told) as were most of the shallower sites, such as Paradise shallows, Chankanaab shallows, Columbia shallows, etc. ( again, as we were told), but all the others were open. Lots of coral debris everywhere, but actually the reefs looked pretty good. Not as much marine life and fish as I usually see, but that's the luck of the draw anyway. We did something different on our second dive day, and ran across the channel in our boat and dove off the mainland south of Playa Del Carmen. Not much coral, but ye gods- the marine life!:59: I have never seen so many turtles down there. They were mostly lying about on the bottom in about 50ft. of water, and you couldn't swim 50 yards without encountering another one. And eels! They were all over the place! I must have seen 15 or 20 of them, sticking their heads waaay out of their holes. And big! A couple of them must have been as big around as my arm, and I am not a little guy! I saw a few smaller ones on the Cozumel reefs, but nothing like these fellows. All in all, a great couple of dives, and a shame that more people don't get over there to experience it. We did get in a night dive on Paradise reef, and it was as good as usual, with more crabs and lobsters than I normally see. I was a little concerned about the boat, however. This was the first time that I was on a night dive (anywhere!) on a boat with no lights. Not even running lights. It worked out okay, but it was sure fun trying to break down and service our gear in the boat afterwards by divelight.
The restaurant situation is running great, and the little restaurant above the dive shop is open as usual. A few of the oceanside favorites are no more, such as the above mentioned Jeannies Waffle House ( although I saw workers unloading sacks of cement and tools there on my last day, so maybe there is hope!), but virtually all the places across the main road from the water are open. Especias is closed, I am told, but almost everywhere else I tried was ready to accomodate me. We finally discovered Las Seras, back on 30th, and can't figure out how this escaped me before. I dragged a bunch of people in there, and they were all singing its praises before we left. We also got back in there for some of their Pastor pizza on our last night, which was a real treat. This time we focused more on the less expensive joints that Cozumel abounds with, and I can't say we had a bad meal anywhere. Camillo's, Sabores, Cochina Mediterranea, Kelly's( for the corrida commedia lunch menu),La Chosa, the list goes on and on. We especially liked the noon specials at Johnny's Gallo Blanco on Rosado Salas and 15th ave. We had the best cream of cilantro soup we have ever had as part of their extremely satisfying $3.50 lunch, and my wife is busily trying to copy it. She also wants to try and produce pastors, but that may prove a little more difficult.
So, all in all a great trip. If you can manage to survive your airline encounters ( see my other post today on the thread about problems with United Airlines cancelling flights) you will have a great time. I will try to post pictures when I can get to it. Sorry about the length of this report, but as they say, inquiring minds want to know! Now to get ready for my liveaboard trip to the Bahamas in late April!
Woody
