December Roll call?

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!

flyboy08

ScubaBoard Supporter
ScubaBoard Supporter
Messages
4,187
Reaction score
3,016
Location
NYC
# of dives
500 - 999
Flyboy, wife, daughter, future son in law,, Dec 12-20 Grand Occidental Aldora
 
My buddy (husband) and I will be at Fiesta Americana (12/10-18), diving with ScubaWithAlison December 11-17. :)
 
Malone family of 4 from Texas, will be trying Sunscape for the first time and diving with WeB Divin. (Also wondering if the pier will be replaced by then!) Dec 27 thru Jan 2.
 
I, my wife, daughter and boyfriend diving with Living Underwater and staying at Villa Escondida/El Cantil Dec 16 thru 27th.
 
I, my wife, daughter and son diving with Pelagic Ventures staying over by the Mega December 22 through January 5. We'll be doing Pakistani barbecue at least one of those nights if anyone is interested.

Who am I kidding? Probably every night.
 
I have never been to CZM during December and am thinking about it this year.....any infomration on weather/water temps compared to other times of year?
 
I have never been to CZM during December and am thinking about it this year.....any infomration on weather/water temps compared to other times of year?
Temps will be around 81...There is always a possibility of a Norte which can close down the port, but some operators will go to the other side of the island when a Norte hits...We have gone the past 4 Decembers and last year was the first time we lost a few diving days due to Norte.
 
I have never been to CZM during December and am thinking about it this year.....any infomration on weather/water temps compared to other times of year?

We've been going in December for 7 years or so now for 2 to 2-1/2 week stays. I think every December trip we've lost dive days due to port closures caused by Nortes (some can close the port for 3-4 days at a time). I also can assure you that the dive industry as a whole does not like to admit the frequency or the duration of Nortes... They say they are "rare" and can "occasionally" close the port for "a day or 2" when they hit but they are not rare and they can close the port for more than a day or 2. I've seen people fly in for a Sun - Sat trip and get blown out 4 days in a row due to a long Norte. That's not the norm but it does happen and it's just the way it is November through February or something which is why we tend to go for 2+ weeks and generally fly home right around Xmas. Historically we've booked every day for diving so we would be confident we would get plenty of diving in given the Nortes that have always given us breaks from diving due to port closures.

The water is usually around 81 but the big difference is the air temps as December is the coldest month with an average daily high of 82 and the humidity is much lower so I can get chilled easily between the water and colder SI's when diving in the AM. I fixed that with a full 5MM suit and tropic beanie. However, there are always a few who have antifreeze for blood and will dive in just their swim suit in December (Canadians and Alaskans for example). I'll also note that the high daily air temp of 82 is only an average, you can have a windy week in the upper 70's with low humidity and be freezing during SI's or a week in the upper 80's and higher humidity depending on what the weather systems are doing. Overall, we personally like December because it is starting to get cold in Virginia in mid December and 2 weeks in Coz is kind of like a last 2 weeks of Indian summer for us.
 
We've been going in December for 7 years or so now for 2 to 2-1/2 week stays. I think every December trip we've lost dive days due to port closures caused by Nortes (some can close the port for 3-4 days at a time). I also can assure you that the dive industry as a whole does not like to admit the frequency or the duration of Nortes... They say they are "rare" and can "occasionally" close the port for "a day or 2" when they hit but they are not rare and they can close the port for more than a day or 2. I've seen people fly in for a Sun - Sat trip and get blown out 4 days in a row due to a long Norte. That's not the norm but it does happen and it's just the way it is November through February or something which is why we tend to go for 2+ weeks and generally fly home right around Xmas. Historically we've booked every day for diving so we would be confident we would get plenty of diving in given the Nortes that have always given us breaks from diving due to port closures.

The water is usually around 81 but the big difference is the air temps as December is the coldest month with an average daily high of 82 and the humidity is much lower so I can get chilled easily between the water and colder SI's when diving in the AM. I fixed that with a full 5MM suit and tropic beanie. However, there are always a few who have antifreeze for blood and will dive in just their swim suit in December (Canadians and Alaskans for example). I'll also note that the high daily air temp of 82 is only an average, you can have a windy week in the upper 70's with low humidity and be freezing during SI's or a week in the upper 80's and higher humidity depending on what the weather systems are doing. Overall, we personally like December because it is starting to get cold in Virginia in mid December and 2 weeks in Coz is kind of like a last 2 weeks of Indian summer for us.

There's a good source for this information.

Historical Port Closures by month/year for Cozumel
 
It's a probabilities game. If you go for a short stay you have less chance of encountering a norte, but if you do it could wipe out your diving plans completely. If you go for a longer stay you have more chance of losing dive days to a norte but less of a chance that you'll lose them all.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom