wreck & cenote cozumel advice please

[BrewingDiver]

No question the cenotes require more experience.

For the wreck, I would caution against it too, at this point. Here are my reasons, although I haven't dived it in 3 years.

1) Overhead environment, sometimes even a little tight in spots, and can get crowded with divers--you will need to be comfortable with this

2) The need to control bouyancy well, which only comes from experience. You will probably have to work up, and maybe even down, some ladders, too, preferably without contact

3) Potential sharp corners or decks or other metal - contact can cut you or gear so again bouyancy control is important

4) Pushing depth limits for beginners

5) Currents were strong when we dived it. One of the divers (who had lots of experience) on our boat missed the mooring line and was swept down current. Since there were other divers in the water and boarding, the boat could not leave to pick him up. He had to wait while we hurriedly climbed aboard and kept an eye on him. Not a problem on drift dives obviously. This is managable but you may have to time your ascent/approach to the line.
6) There are so many great reef and/or wall dives in Coz that at this point you are not likely to become bored or need to try something different

Having said all that, I can recommend both cenotes and C-53 as your log fills up! Welcome to the sport, and you will love Cozumel!

 

[purcitron]

well. the elders have clearly spoken.
no cenotes for me
-sounds like i should do drift and night dives before the wreck
any advice on either of those?
thanks for all the input so far

 

[agilulfo]

sounds like i should do drift and night dives before the wreck any advice on either of those?

Most dives in Cozumel are drift dives so you'll get plenty of these. Paradise Reef is a very shallow reef with little to no current and it makes for a nice and easy night dive. Here is a shot from last October.

 

[TSandM]

I second the recommendation for Paradise as a night dive -- we did two of them there, and I think they were the best dives of the whole Cozumel part of our trip!

 

[novalyne]

I dove in Cozumel shortly after certification last summer. There has been lots of good advice in this thread, but I'll just offer one more thought: let your dive op know that you are new. For the most part any dive you go on is going to be similar to another - drift dive, lots of fishies to see...but some spots have stronger currents, some go a little deep, etc.

If you just let your dive op know that you are new they should help by starting with sites that are maybe a little gentler for a beginner. This is what I did last year and it was amazing how quickly my skills improved during that week. By the end of the week I had "graduated" to slightly stronger currents/slightly deeper dives. I even did a night dive that week - I just did it toward the end when I had a few dives under my belt and my comfort level was higher.

I think that you will love Cozumel, no matter which of the beautiful sites you end up diving!

 

[hammerhead man]

I've done the wreck dive twice and it is definitely worthwhile. However, I haven't been there since the the massive hurricane hit Coz several years ago. You can penetrate it and it is very interesting. I've also done the cenotes both dos ojos and bat cave and they also were great dives. This is not considered cave diving because you are within 25 feet of air pockets throughout the dive. I would schedule the cenotes dives through the dive operator on Coz. We used Luis Cabannas as our dive op in Coz and when we went to the cenots his assistant went with us to Hidden Worlds. If you are on Coz, you need to take the ferry to Playa and then either a bus or taxi to the Cenotes.

Regards,

Bill

Bill

 

[sevenmeadowsdiver]

I just got back today and did 12 dives with Scuba Tony and the mine sweeper was in my top 5.Actually did it twice and thought it was nice very unusual to be able to go into a wreck at only 65-75 ft.I would go eraly the second time wde went probably had 5 boats around it.