I wrote this and remembered to post it on another forum, but not here. I like to post here as well, as folks are always very kind about sharing their experiences.
Headed down to Cozumel for a 6 night family vacation March 7-13, 2015.
Stayed: Hotel Cozumel and Resort
Dive Op: Opals Dream dive shop Scuba Diving in Cozumel mexico Diving tours Buceo
Weather highs in the mid 80s, lows about 70, rained hard one evening for an hour or so, otherwise anywhere from partly cloudy to mostly sunny. Winds were 10-20mph out of the East/NE, East, or East/SE depending on the day. However since it was all version of easterly wind as far as diving is converned it is the friendly direction.
Water temp 77f-79f, water was mostly flat with the Cozumel version of choppy in the afternoon when the wind would get above 15mph. Im sure folks on the larger boats didnt even notice much.
Current very mild this week.
Made 10 tanks through the week, 5 days of AM 2 tank diving. Opals has their regular boat (Flaying Fish) being painted (looks really good too) so we were on a rental boat all week no biggy but I miss their regular captain Orlando/Kung Fu Panda. Dove with Ishi, or Sergio all week. I think the most we had on the boat was 4 or 5 divers, as usual very personalized experience.
Everyone was diving their air/computer limits. They even brought in 100s for one of the big guys (I mean it he was 65 if he was a foot, so that he could enjoy better bottom times. Most of our first dives were between 50-60 minutes, and our second dives were about an hour, as always if folks hit their air/computer limits they were sent to safety stop and boat in buddy pairs so that divers who were still ok to dive could enjoy all the bottom time they could safely soak up.
We had not been to Cozumel since October of 2013. For a while we were going twice a year, I forgot how good the diving is there. What we saw on the dives:
Eagle rays, I dont think we went a day without seeing an eagle ray. The most exciting thing we saw was an eagle ray breech/jump out of the water from underneath. I have no video of it, it simply happened too fast, and was far enough away it wouldnt have really come out well anyway. However, its a sight. I never imagined they could flap their wings that fast. They get vertical from the bottom and go on a flapping rampage shooting straight up. It was something. We went back (by request of the divers) to Cedral wall 3 times over the week, and every time it would yield sharks, and eagle rays. On one dive: 7 sharks, 2 eagle rays (including the breech/jump), puffer/porcupine, eels, lobster just amazing. There was one other standout, but the wife and daughter got to see it, a Moray Eel hunting then eating a crab. I hear the final scene was it swimming away with half a claw sticking out of its mouth. As usual if Im filming I hang back kind of far, so I only got to see him swim off in the distance, too bad. Tormentos was just covered in trigger fish, we went twice (again, our request) just gorgeous. The lobster seem to know the season just ended, they were out in plain site a handful of times, crawling around.
It beat the pants off any week we have had in Roatan, Curacao, or Belize. We are headed back to Roatan in June for 5 nights, to stay and dive on the North west end area. Im curious to see how that stacks up since weve only done the South before. It will be hard to beat what we just did.
The daughter wants to do her AOW, so well likely come back to Cozumel for that during fall break. Dollar for dollar, Cozumel has to be one of the best dive experiences in the Caribbean, particularly if you are coming out of the southern US, wheres its cheap and fast to fly from. I can typically book flight/hotel packages for about half of other locations.
The hotel: Ive stayed there many times before. Ive done trip reports on it. I wont rehash everything. Check out tripadvisor. Hotel Cozumel and resort can be summed up into this. The rooms/grounds are nice, 3 star resort. The food can be kind of blah (though I continue to love deserts there). However, all inclusive typically costs me about $30 per person per day, and at that price I dont mind paying it, having breakfast/lunch, snacks, drinks covered and going out and buying a nice dinner every other night. Their setup for diving is 2nd to none gear lockers, showers, rinse tanks, hangers, all by the pier. You can use those no matter which operator you dive with and there is no charge to use the pier for other dive ops. Having the lunch setup right next to the dive locker/rinse area is brilliant rinse gear, hang gear, get food/drink put gear in locker.
Dive op: We continue to use Opals Dream. They are a great small shop. The boats typically take no more than 6-7 divers. Theres a single DM, and the captain. They are small/fast boats. Surface intervals are typically at the beach near your dive site. Bottled water and fruit/melon/sweets are typically offered during SI. Almost all dive ops in Cozumel are good. Though not all will allow you to dive your air/computer limits and Opals does. What draws me back to Opals every time, I never feel like a customer. I feel like a friend diving with his friends. The cost of diving has risen slightly over the last couple years. Shops that use to charge 60, now charge 75. Shops that use to charge 75 are now charging 90. Opals quotes you 75 for a single day diving. I paid 70, for 2 tanks, for 3 divers, for 5 days. That included tax and the park fee (so really it was 68, $2 park fee). They are a bargain. Im sure I could go for a bit cheaper with an op like dive paradise, but I dont care for those big slow boats full of divers, and the fast boats which are similar to Opals are more expensive. The service is great. On the first day my daughters octo was leaking a little air. Ishi took it in at the end of the day, took it apart, cleaned it up, tuned it up worked great all week no charge, I tipped him for it, since he wouldnt charge me. If you like at the end of every dive day they will keep your gear on the boat rinse/hang it, and have it back on a tank the next day for you. We didnt touch our bc/reg from day1, till day 5.
Ok, Im gushing. They are good people, and run a great outfit.
Finally to the video...some footage I shot across the entire week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CM-V4nbYSk
Using an intova SP2, galaxy 2500, and at various times a red filter.
Headed down to Cozumel for a 6 night family vacation March 7-13, 2015.
Stayed: Hotel Cozumel and Resort
Dive Op: Opals Dream dive shop Scuba Diving in Cozumel mexico Diving tours Buceo
Weather highs in the mid 80s, lows about 70, rained hard one evening for an hour or so, otherwise anywhere from partly cloudy to mostly sunny. Winds were 10-20mph out of the East/NE, East, or East/SE depending on the day. However since it was all version of easterly wind as far as diving is converned it is the friendly direction.
Water temp 77f-79f, water was mostly flat with the Cozumel version of choppy in the afternoon when the wind would get above 15mph. Im sure folks on the larger boats didnt even notice much.
Current very mild this week.
Made 10 tanks through the week, 5 days of AM 2 tank diving. Opals has their regular boat (Flaying Fish) being painted (looks really good too) so we were on a rental boat all week no biggy but I miss their regular captain Orlando/Kung Fu Panda. Dove with Ishi, or Sergio all week. I think the most we had on the boat was 4 or 5 divers, as usual very personalized experience.
Everyone was diving their air/computer limits. They even brought in 100s for one of the big guys (I mean it he was 65 if he was a foot, so that he could enjoy better bottom times. Most of our first dives were between 50-60 minutes, and our second dives were about an hour, as always if folks hit their air/computer limits they were sent to safety stop and boat in buddy pairs so that divers who were still ok to dive could enjoy all the bottom time they could safely soak up.
We had not been to Cozumel since October of 2013. For a while we were going twice a year, I forgot how good the diving is there. What we saw on the dives:
Eagle rays, I dont think we went a day without seeing an eagle ray. The most exciting thing we saw was an eagle ray breech/jump out of the water from underneath. I have no video of it, it simply happened too fast, and was far enough away it wouldnt have really come out well anyway. However, its a sight. I never imagined they could flap their wings that fast. They get vertical from the bottom and go on a flapping rampage shooting straight up. It was something. We went back (by request of the divers) to Cedral wall 3 times over the week, and every time it would yield sharks, and eagle rays. On one dive: 7 sharks, 2 eagle rays (including the breech/jump), puffer/porcupine, eels, lobster just amazing. There was one other standout, but the wife and daughter got to see it, a Moray Eel hunting then eating a crab. I hear the final scene was it swimming away with half a claw sticking out of its mouth. As usual if Im filming I hang back kind of far, so I only got to see him swim off in the distance, too bad. Tormentos was just covered in trigger fish, we went twice (again, our request) just gorgeous. The lobster seem to know the season just ended, they were out in plain site a handful of times, crawling around.
It beat the pants off any week we have had in Roatan, Curacao, or Belize. We are headed back to Roatan in June for 5 nights, to stay and dive on the North west end area. Im curious to see how that stacks up since weve only done the South before. It will be hard to beat what we just did.
The daughter wants to do her AOW, so well likely come back to Cozumel for that during fall break. Dollar for dollar, Cozumel has to be one of the best dive experiences in the Caribbean, particularly if you are coming out of the southern US, wheres its cheap and fast to fly from. I can typically book flight/hotel packages for about half of other locations.
The hotel: Ive stayed there many times before. Ive done trip reports on it. I wont rehash everything. Check out tripadvisor. Hotel Cozumel and resort can be summed up into this. The rooms/grounds are nice, 3 star resort. The food can be kind of blah (though I continue to love deserts there). However, all inclusive typically costs me about $30 per person per day, and at that price I dont mind paying it, having breakfast/lunch, snacks, drinks covered and going out and buying a nice dinner every other night. Their setup for diving is 2nd to none gear lockers, showers, rinse tanks, hangers, all by the pier. You can use those no matter which operator you dive with and there is no charge to use the pier for other dive ops. Having the lunch setup right next to the dive locker/rinse area is brilliant rinse gear, hang gear, get food/drink put gear in locker.
Dive op: We continue to use Opals Dream. They are a great small shop. The boats typically take no more than 6-7 divers. Theres a single DM, and the captain. They are small/fast boats. Surface intervals are typically at the beach near your dive site. Bottled water and fruit/melon/sweets are typically offered during SI. Almost all dive ops in Cozumel are good. Though not all will allow you to dive your air/computer limits and Opals does. What draws me back to Opals every time, I never feel like a customer. I feel like a friend diving with his friends. The cost of diving has risen slightly over the last couple years. Shops that use to charge 60, now charge 75. Shops that use to charge 75 are now charging 90. Opals quotes you 75 for a single day diving. I paid 70, for 2 tanks, for 3 divers, for 5 days. That included tax and the park fee (so really it was 68, $2 park fee). They are a bargain. Im sure I could go for a bit cheaper with an op like dive paradise, but I dont care for those big slow boats full of divers, and the fast boats which are similar to Opals are more expensive. The service is great. On the first day my daughters octo was leaking a little air. Ishi took it in at the end of the day, took it apart, cleaned it up, tuned it up worked great all week no charge, I tipped him for it, since he wouldnt charge me. If you like at the end of every dive day they will keep your gear on the boat rinse/hang it, and have it back on a tank the next day for you. We didnt touch our bc/reg from day1, till day 5.
Ok, Im gushing. They are good people, and run a great outfit.
Finally to the video...some footage I shot across the entire week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CM-V4nbYSk
Using an intova SP2, galaxy 2500, and at various times a red filter.
