hank harris
Guest
File this report under "better late than never" if you wish, but I partially completed it and forgot about it until a PM from Alcina (thanks, K!), whom I got to visit with in Coz in July. Anyway, I'll put a link to a couple dozen pics, mostly diving, and you can view them before or after or in between the rambling trip report that follows 
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=2103
The Dive Ops...
Different folks have different likes and dislikes when it comes to dive ops.
I like operations that put small groups of divers of similar experience levels together and put them together on fast boats that cater to the divers' preferences re location, profile, etc. I like large steel tanks that allow long bottom times and DM's that allow divers a lot of freedom once they are comfortable with the skill level of the diver.
My dislikes include poor predive briefings, ops that fill large boats with divers of mixed skill levels and cater to the lowest common denominator, are more focused on getting back to dock quickly than on providing a quality experience, DM's that demand everyone stays close together and then proceed to do a speedy fin drill around the dive site.
I've found that in the world of boat diving, the latter far exceed the former. Fortunately, almost every popular dive destination has one or a few ops that have similar preferences to mine. One such op in Cozumel is Living Underwater, owned and operated by Jeremy Anschel. I could not have asked for a better couple of weeks diving. With the exception of one night dive with Liquid Blue (another excellent dive op), and some cenote diving with Yucatech, all our diving was with Living Underwater
The Dives...
I've been to Coz 5 or 6 times, first in the early 70's (spent many months in the area), but it had been over 12 years since my last visit. Too many other places to visit, I guess. Not sure what to expect, especially in light of the recent hurricane damage.
Underwater, there is definitely lots of evidence of trauma in many areas, but there is still much beauty and a tremendous amount of sea life. It appears that the reefs are going through an explosive growth period; it reminded me of a forest post-fire... some cool old stuff and lots of nice new growth. The waters were full of the Caribbean's usual suspects (Angelfish, Rock Beauty, Butterflyfish, Sargeant Major, Grunts, Damselfish, Filefish, Parrotfish, crabs, lobster, barracuda, etc.), and regular sightings of sharks, turtles, rays, scorpion fish, splendid toad fish, spotted and green moray eels, octopus, and lots of critters in the macro world (nudibranchs, shrimp, arrow crabs, etc.).
All the dives we logged were well over an hour, a few pushing 2 hours. A few dives went into deco, especially for the 2 guys in our group diving Suuntos.
Vis for the first few days was 100+ feet, but when the showers came the vis dropped into the 50-80 foot range. Water temps were in the low/mid 80's. A few of the more memorable dives:
Location Paradise Reef Length 1 hour, 33 minutes. (morning), 1 hour, 25 minutes (night). Max depth 45 feet. Current mild. A great dive for a photographer, both day and night. The morning dive saw lots of fish and critters (splendid toadfish, eels, turtles, arrow crabs, etc.).
At night, some spectacular sightings of eels out and on the hunt, octopus, big lobsters, slippertails, sand divers, squid, shrimp, rays, and a burrfish that inflated made for some surreal pictures. I could easily spend months exploring this one reef , and especially love it at night.
Location Devil's Throat. Length 1 hour, 5 minutes. Max depth 120 feet. Current moderate. Got there early, so we had the place to ourselves (a good thing at this location). We got down and in quickly. Found a large turtle munching on the wall in the cathedral. Someone had put up a wooden cross to replace the one destroyed by the hurricane. Got a picture of it in the photos I am hoping to attach to the trip report. Probably removed soon after; what's gone is gone, and putting stuff like this up is called "litter." Also saw a nice scorpion fish and a decent size black grouper on the dive.
Location Maracaibo. Length 1 hour, 10 minutes. Max depth 160 feet. Current moderate/strong. Our deepest dive of the trip, notable for the big coral that showed no signs of damage, a couple of nurse sharks, some bigger fish. Rain had come up that morning, and vis was reduced a bit for the next several days (on/off showers).
Location Columbia Shallow. Length 1 hour, 14 minutes. Max depth 39 feet. Current moderate. I like this spot as much as any on the island, and, as a photographer, I much prefer it to it's more famous neighbor, Devil's Throat. It teems with life and affords some fantastic photo ops of turtles, morays, black tip reef sharks, etc.
Location Tortugas Alley. Length 1 hour, 9 minutes. Max depth 73 feet. Current strong. This dive was so much fun we did it twice. It is not on Cozumel, but off the mainland, slightly south of Playa Del Carmen. The current is fierce here, so it is more of a freeway than alley, but well worth the trip if conditions permit and you can persuade your dive op to take you there. The two days we went over, the water was like glass, truly lake-like. Enormous turtles (one looked to be about 6' long, with a shell radius of over 4 feet), and the barnacles growing on the backs of these beautiful creatures add to the interest. I have pictures of over 60, and saw several times that many, most eating and surrounded by angels, damsels and other fish grabbing the leftovers floating in the water. Also saw spotted and green morays, a big burrfish, and the end of the dive (both days) held a big surprise. We soared into a school (well over a hundred) of large tarpon 5'-7' (I took some pictures in the midst of them, but without a diver in the frame one can't appreciate the size of these fish).
Location Dos Ojos Cenote. Length 1 hour, 1 minute. Max depth 31 feet. Current none. A beautiful cavern surrounded by a lush tropical jungle. Two dives here, upstream (barbie) and downstream (bat cave). Incredible stalactites, stalagmites, elephant ears, etc., set in a dead still, surreal environment. A very dark cavern, occasionally pierced by turquoise blue light. A nice change of pace from the wide open waters of Cozumel.
Complete list of dive locations: Cozumel (from south to north): Maracaibo, Punta Sur (Cathedral), Punta Sur (Devil's Throat/Little Cathedral), Columbia Shallow, Palancar Caves, Palancar Gardens, Santa Rosa, San Francisco, Yucab, Tormentos, Chanakanaab Balones, Paradise. Mainland: Tortugas Alley, Dos Ojos (cenote).
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=2103
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=2103
The Dive Ops...
Different folks have different likes and dislikes when it comes to dive ops.
I like operations that put small groups of divers of similar experience levels together and put them together on fast boats that cater to the divers' preferences re location, profile, etc. I like large steel tanks that allow long bottom times and DM's that allow divers a lot of freedom once they are comfortable with the skill level of the diver.
My dislikes include poor predive briefings, ops that fill large boats with divers of mixed skill levels and cater to the lowest common denominator, are more focused on getting back to dock quickly than on providing a quality experience, DM's that demand everyone stays close together and then proceed to do a speedy fin drill around the dive site.
I've found that in the world of boat diving, the latter far exceed the former. Fortunately, almost every popular dive destination has one or a few ops that have similar preferences to mine. One such op in Cozumel is Living Underwater, owned and operated by Jeremy Anschel. I could not have asked for a better couple of weeks diving. With the exception of one night dive with Liquid Blue (another excellent dive op), and some cenote diving with Yucatech, all our diving was with Living Underwater
The Dives...
I've been to Coz 5 or 6 times, first in the early 70's (spent many months in the area), but it had been over 12 years since my last visit. Too many other places to visit, I guess. Not sure what to expect, especially in light of the recent hurricane damage.
Underwater, there is definitely lots of evidence of trauma in many areas, but there is still much beauty and a tremendous amount of sea life. It appears that the reefs are going through an explosive growth period; it reminded me of a forest post-fire... some cool old stuff and lots of nice new growth. The waters were full of the Caribbean's usual suspects (Angelfish, Rock Beauty, Butterflyfish, Sargeant Major, Grunts, Damselfish, Filefish, Parrotfish, crabs, lobster, barracuda, etc.), and regular sightings of sharks, turtles, rays, scorpion fish, splendid toad fish, spotted and green moray eels, octopus, and lots of critters in the macro world (nudibranchs, shrimp, arrow crabs, etc.).
All the dives we logged were well over an hour, a few pushing 2 hours. A few dives went into deco, especially for the 2 guys in our group diving Suuntos.
Vis for the first few days was 100+ feet, but when the showers came the vis dropped into the 50-80 foot range. Water temps were in the low/mid 80's. A few of the more memorable dives:
Location Paradise Reef Length 1 hour, 33 minutes. (morning), 1 hour, 25 minutes (night). Max depth 45 feet. Current mild. A great dive for a photographer, both day and night. The morning dive saw lots of fish and critters (splendid toadfish, eels, turtles, arrow crabs, etc.).
At night, some spectacular sightings of eels out and on the hunt, octopus, big lobsters, slippertails, sand divers, squid, shrimp, rays, and a burrfish that inflated made for some surreal pictures. I could easily spend months exploring this one reef , and especially love it at night.
Location Devil's Throat. Length 1 hour, 5 minutes. Max depth 120 feet. Current moderate. Got there early, so we had the place to ourselves (a good thing at this location). We got down and in quickly. Found a large turtle munching on the wall in the cathedral. Someone had put up a wooden cross to replace the one destroyed by the hurricane. Got a picture of it in the photos I am hoping to attach to the trip report. Probably removed soon after; what's gone is gone, and putting stuff like this up is called "litter."
Also saw a nice scorpion fish and a decent size black grouper on the dive.Location Maracaibo. Length 1 hour, 10 minutes. Max depth 160 feet. Current moderate/strong. Our deepest dive of the trip, notable for the big coral that showed no signs of damage, a couple of nurse sharks, some bigger fish. Rain had come up that morning, and vis was reduced a bit for the next several days (on/off showers).
Location Columbia Shallow. Length 1 hour, 14 minutes. Max depth 39 feet. Current moderate. I like this spot as much as any on the island, and, as a photographer, I much prefer it to it's more famous neighbor, Devil's Throat. It teems with life and affords some fantastic photo ops of turtles, morays, black tip reef sharks, etc.
Location Tortugas Alley. Length 1 hour, 9 minutes. Max depth 73 feet. Current strong. This dive was so much fun we did it twice. It is not on Cozumel, but off the mainland, slightly south of Playa Del Carmen. The current is fierce here, so it is more of a freeway than alley, but well worth the trip if conditions permit and you can persuade your dive op to take you there. The two days we went over, the water was like glass, truly lake-like. Enormous turtles (one looked to be about 6' long, with a shell radius of over 4 feet), and the barnacles growing on the backs of these beautiful creatures add to the interest. I have pictures of over 60, and saw several times that many, most eating and surrounded by angels, damsels and other fish grabbing the leftovers floating in the water. Also saw spotted and green morays, a big burrfish, and the end of the dive (both days) held a big surprise. We soared into a school (well over a hundred) of large tarpon 5'-7' (I took some pictures in the midst of them, but without a diver in the frame one can't appreciate the size of these fish).
Location Dos Ojos Cenote. Length 1 hour, 1 minute. Max depth 31 feet. Current none. A beautiful cavern surrounded by a lush tropical jungle. Two dives here, upstream (barbie) and downstream (bat cave). Incredible stalactites, stalagmites, elephant ears, etc., set in a dead still, surreal environment. A very dark cavern, occasionally pierced by turquoise blue light. A nice change of pace from the wide open waters of Cozumel.
Complete list of dive locations: Cozumel (from south to north): Maracaibo, Punta Sur (Cathedral), Punta Sur (Devil's Throat/Little Cathedral), Columbia Shallow, Palancar Caves, Palancar Gardens, Santa Rosa, San Francisco, Yucab, Tormentos, Chanakanaab Balones, Paradise. Mainland: Tortugas Alley, Dos Ojos (cenote).
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=2103
