Someone (FairyBasslet) linked this on another board, so I wanted to share it here. Thanks Ellen! The article is below, but if you want to read it from it's original source, here is the link: http://northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3JmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2OTk0NTMx
Cozumel is back
Sunday, September 24, 2006
By ALAN SOLOMON
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Cozumel is back.
Not back to being the semi-exclusive sanctuary of the rich and yachted it was before the cruise-ship hoi polloi frightened them away.
And not the reefs. The reefs are a work in progress -- but of course, coral reefs are always a work in progress.
And, OK, two of the three international cruise piers are still out of order, and, yes, the greenery on the mangroves is a little spotty, which is what happens when hurricanes happen.
But everything else -- most hotels, the palm trees, the shops, the restaurants, the golf course, the beach clubs and bars, the roads -- are good as new, and, in many cases, better than they were before Hurricane Wilma ripped things up last October.
On a December visit six weeks after the storm, Cozumel was not the best of places. The few quality hotels that were open were under repair. The airport's control tower wasn't functional, roads were gone, buildings were gone. Palm trees were gone.
Tourists, except for cruise passengers -- some ships had returned as early as November, a true blessing to the local economy -- and a few hard-core divers, were gone.
"You still saw a bunch of destruction," recalled Raul Marrufo, director of the Cozumel Promotion Board. "It was so messed up that ..."
It was so messed up that Marrufo told people to stay away for a couple of months.
"I got slammed for that," he said. "But I held my ground."
He also held his job, and today he's proud of what's been accomplished here so quickly.
So is Manuel Ortiz.
"Cozumel," he said, "is always nice, you know?"
Ortiz owns and operates the Studio Blue Dive Center, one of several that serve what for generations has been a prime destination for snorkelers and divers. In December, courtesy of Wilma, his shop's roof was still missing and walls were uncertain.
With help from friends/customers who flew down from Minnesota (in diving, especially in Cozumel, the difference between a customer and a friend is largely semantics, formalized only by the necessity to pay for the compressed air), Ortiz is back in business.
"Well, [I am back] after those guys came and helped me," he said. "Otherwise, I'd still be hammering and cutting. Now, it's nicer than before -- bigger, better, nicer."
In December, the trees in San Miguel's Parque Benito Juarez, the main square of this island's only town, were either toppled or stripped of their leaves. Midway through June, the palms were back, and the leafy crowns of most of the other trees -- the big, thick ones -- were in full green splendor, joined by new landscaping and other bits of freshening.
"These trees were not replanted," said Marrufo. "They were there -- and they're coming back."
Of the island's 4,000 rooms, 3,600 are open for business. The missing 400 are in two properties -- the Intercontinental and the Park Royal -- that are upgrading; the Intercontinental expects to reopen in October as a five-star property, and the Park Royal is completing a reconfiguration that had begun before the storm.
It's the Park Royal construction that, Marrufo said, is contributing to a false sense that Cozumel is still in ruins. Reason: It's near the one functioning cruise-ship pier. Additional non-hurricane-related construction nearby adds to an unfortunate first impression for arriving passengers.
"They jump on a tour [at the pier], whether it's diving or snorkeling, and they don't necessarily come into town," Marrufo said. "So they see this, and they think, 'It's still messed up.' It's sad, and it's affecting us."
Here's what is messed up: the shallow reefs. The deep ones, as always, handled the angry seas better, but the ones most accessible to snorkelers took a hit.
On the other hand, this presents an opportunity to watch nature do her thing.
"Cozumel," said Ortiz, a certified instructor, "has something very special, no? The current. We have the good water temperature, we have the good visibility, and we have the current bringing all the nutrients -- and that's going to make the reefs recover sooner than we think."
How soon? Ortiz remembers when Hurricane Gilbert hit in 1988 and wiped out all the shallow growth much as Wilma did; the marvelous reef that had been amazing this generation of coral lovers is all post-1988. That soon.
For now, we have a process to watch. It has already begun.
"The basic structures are there," said Ortiz. "The skeletons [of dead coral] are there. They just need cells to come and attach to all the skeletons.
"And something very important: The reef flourishes a lot nicer after a hurricane."
The fish are returning as well. "They're working hard every night," he said, "to have more babies."
So for those who love this place for what's under the water, that's the glitch -- but it's a glitch with benefits.
For the rest, who love Cozumel without underwater breathing apparatus?
Well, the side of the island opposite the ship docks and silver shops and the golf course remains a glorious half-secret. Here, essentially unaffected by Wilma, is the wild shoreline, miles of photogenic rocks and stretches of white-sand beach that, except on Sundays (when locals bring their families here), is largely deserted.
Here, too, widely spaced, are the super-laid-back beach bars -- Coconuts (ask to see the albums with customer photos to remember), Mezcalitos (ahhh, the hammocks), others -- perfect for enjoying snacks and refreshments accompanied by the sounds of surf and the inevitability of new friends.
Back in town, there's the usual cruise-port shopping (silver, T-shirts, gems, good and bad Talavera ceramics) and the inevitable Se��Frog's-type bars, all bustling when the ships are in (12 to 15 a week in summer, triple that during the winter season) and quiet when they steam away.
Marrufo, of the promotion board, insists Wilma spurred a rethink of what Cozumel is, and could be.
"It gave us an opportunity to really evaluate where we are going, what we want and how important tourism is to the economy of the island," he said. That, he said, means developing reasons for more visitors to stay for longer than the length of a cruise-ship shore excursion.
"We are not a golf destination," he said. "We could use two more golf courses."
Perhaps boutique hotels. And more hotels for sophisticated travelers too adventurous for all-inclusives -- or who, at the very least, understand the pleasures of a dinner (plenty of good options already exist) and an evening stroll around a Mexican town, as opposed to an evening isolated in a compound with other tourists.
Those will be changes beyond replanted palms and the new roof on Manuel Ortiz's dive shop, even beyond the naval vessels just sunk offshore as artificial reefs, in part to relieve visitor pressure on the natural ones.
But the cleanup was the beginning.
"We have revamped our destination," said Marrufo, "so it's no longer an old tourist destination. That's the gift Wilma left us."
The mess she left?
That's history.
* * *
IF YOU GO:
GETTING THERE: Frequent ferry service connects Cozumel with the mainland at Playa del Carmen. The 30-minute passage costs about $9 each way.
GETTING AROUND: Taxis are plentiful and reasonable; set rates to most destinations are posted at the docks and at hotels. Mopeds are popular but not recommended for the uneven roads on the far side of the island. Renting a car for at least one day to explore the island is highly recommended; major companies have outposts at the cruise-ship piers and around town.
LODGING: Best hotel downtown (though its pool is tiny and there's no beach) is probably the immaculate Casa Mexicana (from $110/double; 877-228-6747; casamexicanacozumel.com), on the waterfront a couple of blocks from the ferry dock and town square. All-inclusives are here, including the Cozumel Palace (from $288/double; 800-635-1836; palaceresorts.com/resorts/cozumelpalace). The Presidente InterContinental (from $228/double; 888-424-6835; cozumel.intercontinental.com), when it reopens in October, is expected to be the most luxurious on the island. For a dive resort with amenities, there's the Fiesta Americana (from $99/double; 800-FIESTA-1; fiestaamericana.com).
MORE INFORMATION: For Mexico in general and material on Cozumel, contact the Mexico Tourism Board, 800-446-3942; www.visitmexico.com. For specific information on Cozumel, check the Cozumel Promotion Board's Web site, www.islacozumel.com.mx; and for credible insights, browse selectively through cozumelinsid er.com.
-- Alan Solomon
Cozumel is back
Sunday, September 24, 2006
By ALAN SOLOMON
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Cozumel is back.
Not back to being the semi-exclusive sanctuary of the rich and yachted it was before the cruise-ship hoi polloi frightened them away.
And not the reefs. The reefs are a work in progress -- but of course, coral reefs are always a work in progress.
And, OK, two of the three international cruise piers are still out of order, and, yes, the greenery on the mangroves is a little spotty, which is what happens when hurricanes happen.
But everything else -- most hotels, the palm trees, the shops, the restaurants, the golf course, the beach clubs and bars, the roads -- are good as new, and, in many cases, better than they were before Hurricane Wilma ripped things up last October.
On a December visit six weeks after the storm, Cozumel was not the best of places. The few quality hotels that were open were under repair. The airport's control tower wasn't functional, roads were gone, buildings were gone. Palm trees were gone.
Tourists, except for cruise passengers -- some ships had returned as early as November, a true blessing to the local economy -- and a few hard-core divers, were gone.
"You still saw a bunch of destruction," recalled Raul Marrufo, director of the Cozumel Promotion Board. "It was so messed up that ..."
It was so messed up that Marrufo told people to stay away for a couple of months.
"I got slammed for that," he said. "But I held my ground."
He also held his job, and today he's proud of what's been accomplished here so quickly.
So is Manuel Ortiz.
"Cozumel," he said, "is always nice, you know?"
Ortiz owns and operates the Studio Blue Dive Center, one of several that serve what for generations has been a prime destination for snorkelers and divers. In December, courtesy of Wilma, his shop's roof was still missing and walls were uncertain.
With help from friends/customers who flew down from Minnesota (in diving, especially in Cozumel, the difference between a customer and a friend is largely semantics, formalized only by the necessity to pay for the compressed air), Ortiz is back in business.
"Well, [I am back] after those guys came and helped me," he said. "Otherwise, I'd still be hammering and cutting. Now, it's nicer than before -- bigger, better, nicer."
In December, the trees in San Miguel's Parque Benito Juarez, the main square of this island's only town, were either toppled or stripped of their leaves. Midway through June, the palms were back, and the leafy crowns of most of the other trees -- the big, thick ones -- were in full green splendor, joined by new landscaping and other bits of freshening.
"These trees were not replanted," said Marrufo. "They were there -- and they're coming back."
Of the island's 4,000 rooms, 3,600 are open for business. The missing 400 are in two properties -- the Intercontinental and the Park Royal -- that are upgrading; the Intercontinental expects to reopen in October as a five-star property, and the Park Royal is completing a reconfiguration that had begun before the storm.
It's the Park Royal construction that, Marrufo said, is contributing to a false sense that Cozumel is still in ruins. Reason: It's near the one functioning cruise-ship pier. Additional non-hurricane-related construction nearby adds to an unfortunate first impression for arriving passengers.
"They jump on a tour [at the pier], whether it's diving or snorkeling, and they don't necessarily come into town," Marrufo said. "So they see this, and they think, 'It's still messed up.' It's sad, and it's affecting us."
Here's what is messed up: the shallow reefs. The deep ones, as always, handled the angry seas better, but the ones most accessible to snorkelers took a hit.
On the other hand, this presents an opportunity to watch nature do her thing.
"Cozumel," said Ortiz, a certified instructor, "has something very special, no? The current. We have the good water temperature, we have the good visibility, and we have the current bringing all the nutrients -- and that's going to make the reefs recover sooner than we think."
How soon? Ortiz remembers when Hurricane Gilbert hit in 1988 and wiped out all the shallow growth much as Wilma did; the marvelous reef that had been amazing this generation of coral lovers is all post-1988. That soon.
For now, we have a process to watch. It has already begun.
"The basic structures are there," said Ortiz. "The skeletons [of dead coral] are there. They just need cells to come and attach to all the skeletons.
"And something very important: The reef flourishes a lot nicer after a hurricane."
The fish are returning as well. "They're working hard every night," he said, "to have more babies."
So for those who love this place for what's under the water, that's the glitch -- but it's a glitch with benefits.
For the rest, who love Cozumel without underwater breathing apparatus?
Well, the side of the island opposite the ship docks and silver shops and the golf course remains a glorious half-secret. Here, essentially unaffected by Wilma, is the wild shoreline, miles of photogenic rocks and stretches of white-sand beach that, except on Sundays (when locals bring their families here), is largely deserted.
Here, too, widely spaced, are the super-laid-back beach bars -- Coconuts (ask to see the albums with customer photos to remember), Mezcalitos (ahhh, the hammocks), others -- perfect for enjoying snacks and refreshments accompanied by the sounds of surf and the inevitability of new friends.
Back in town, there's the usual cruise-port shopping (silver, T-shirts, gems, good and bad Talavera ceramics) and the inevitable Se��Frog's-type bars, all bustling when the ships are in (12 to 15 a week in summer, triple that during the winter season) and quiet when they steam away.
Marrufo, of the promotion board, insists Wilma spurred a rethink of what Cozumel is, and could be.
"It gave us an opportunity to really evaluate where we are going, what we want and how important tourism is to the economy of the island," he said. That, he said, means developing reasons for more visitors to stay for longer than the length of a cruise-ship shore excursion.
"We are not a golf destination," he said. "We could use two more golf courses."
Perhaps boutique hotels. And more hotels for sophisticated travelers too adventurous for all-inclusives -- or who, at the very least, understand the pleasures of a dinner (plenty of good options already exist) and an evening stroll around a Mexican town, as opposed to an evening isolated in a compound with other tourists.
Those will be changes beyond replanted palms and the new roof on Manuel Ortiz's dive shop, even beyond the naval vessels just sunk offshore as artificial reefs, in part to relieve visitor pressure on the natural ones.
But the cleanup was the beginning.
"We have revamped our destination," said Marrufo, "so it's no longer an old tourist destination. That's the gift Wilma left us."
The mess she left?
That's history.
* * *
IF YOU GO:
GETTING THERE: Frequent ferry service connects Cozumel with the mainland at Playa del Carmen. The 30-minute passage costs about $9 each way.
GETTING AROUND: Taxis are plentiful and reasonable; set rates to most destinations are posted at the docks and at hotels. Mopeds are popular but not recommended for the uneven roads on the far side of the island. Renting a car for at least one day to explore the island is highly recommended; major companies have outposts at the cruise-ship piers and around town.
LODGING: Best hotel downtown (though its pool is tiny and there's no beach) is probably the immaculate Casa Mexicana (from $110/double; 877-228-6747; casamexicanacozumel.com), on the waterfront a couple of blocks from the ferry dock and town square. All-inclusives are here, including the Cozumel Palace (from $288/double; 800-635-1836; palaceresorts.com/resorts/cozumelpalace). The Presidente InterContinental (from $228/double; 888-424-6835; cozumel.intercontinental.com), when it reopens in October, is expected to be the most luxurious on the island. For a dive resort with amenities, there's the Fiesta Americana (from $99/double; 800-FIESTA-1; fiestaamericana.com).
MORE INFORMATION: For Mexico in general and material on Cozumel, contact the Mexico Tourism Board, 800-446-3942; www.visitmexico.com. For specific information on Cozumel, check the Cozumel Promotion Board's Web site, www.islacozumel.com.mx; and for credible insights, browse selectively through cozumelinsid er.com.
-- Alan Solomon
