Now and Then
- Thread starter Darol
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stevenq99
Contributor
My first trip was after Wilma about 9 years ago and the diving has improved every year. Looking forward to seeing the changes in the last 2 years.
Cozumel was an annual vacation spot for me from 2000-2005. It was my favorite land based Caribbean dive destination. The currents help maintain healthy reefs, corals and the fish life seemed be bigger than other places in the Caribbean.
Hurricane Wilma hit in 2005. This was a major storm that left a lot of damage topside and underwater.
I stayed away from Coz until 2013 when a trusted dive friend convinced me the diving had returned to it's pre-hurricane condition. I went for a week and agreed with her. I just got back from another week long trip and the diving is fantastic. We saw turtles and lobsters every dive. Lots of stingrays, anenome, angel fish, nurse sharks, grouper, etc..
I did see more boats and more divers underwater, but it's easy to avoid crowds if you dive with a 6 pack boat. The currents were a little unpredictable at the southern sites but they say this is common in early spring.
Another nice change is the variety of restaurants in town. I always enjoyed the food in Coz and it's gotten even better with the addition of some newer restaurants like Le Chef, Del Sur, Sorrisi.
IMHO, if you enjoyed Cozumel diving in the past, it's worth a return trip.
Hurricane Wilma hit in 2005. This was a major storm that left a lot of damage topside and underwater.
I stayed away from Coz until 2013 when a trusted dive friend convinced me the diving had returned to it's pre-hurricane condition. I went for a week and agreed with her. I just got back from another week long trip and the diving is fantastic. We saw turtles and lobsters every dive. Lots of stingrays, anenome, angel fish, nurse sharks, grouper, etc..
I did see more boats and more divers underwater, but it's easy to avoid crowds if you dive with a 6 pack boat. The currents were a little unpredictable at the southern sites but they say this is common in early spring.
Another nice change is the variety of restaurants in town. I always enjoyed the food in Coz and it's gotten even better with the addition of some newer restaurants like Le Chef, Del Sur, Sorrisi.
IMHO, if you enjoyed Cozumel diving in the past, it's worth a return trip.
Well, yes and no. The soft corals and sponges came back pretty fast, but the hard corals, not so much. The shallow reefs won't be like they were pre-Wilma for many, many years. That said, the diving there is still great; I will be back there in a month or so.
Again, there is good news and bad news on that front. There have been additions but there have also been losses. Capi Navegante, Sonora Grill, La Morena, Santiago's (many years gone), Los Gavilanes (I murdered the spelling of that one), and Acuario are all gone.
With that, I wholeheartedly agree.
Brules
Contributor
As good as ever is how I would rate it.....
You may see lots of boats, but I rarely if EVER encounter groups on dives.....99% of the time if a group drops in before us - DM will just wait a few minutes. Currents move everyone at the same rate.
Also, the reefs down south fared much better than up closer to town. So still tons of great drift diving!
You may see lots of boats, but I rarely if EVER encounter groups on dives.....99% of the time if a group drops in before us - DM will just wait a few minutes. Currents move everyone at the same rate.
Also, the reefs down south fared much better than up closer to town. So still tons of great drift diving!
I might add that for some, the diving is, and was, better AFTER Wilma. That is for those that love the majestic swim throughs found way down south. Right after Wilma there was a 15 ft high stripe of white coral at the base of those big coral heads, down at 90 -100 ft. That was where the sand had been blown away by deep wave action. That same wave action blew out many ancient swim throughs, and in particular at Punta Sur Sur where the swim throughs doubled and enlarged. Indeed, it was like a whole new reef to me and I loved exploring the new openings which remain open.
Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers
Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers
LiquidDivingAdventure
Contributor
An experience I had on my last trip to Coz was refreshing to say the least. I will leave it to folks like Dave from Aldora to correct my experience if I got it wrong. After getting in the water for our second dive of the day, I noticed a dive boat not too far away. As I started my descent into the Coz blue, I looked up to the surface and noticed some divers close to the surface with clipboards following our small group. We completed our dive and I mentioned this to the DM and was told that the government does regular diver surveys counting people and counting the number of times divers touch or hit the reefs. At some point when they believe a dive site may be adversely impacted by diver contact, the government will close a site or sites for a period of time to allow for some recovery.
I quite agree and especially if you can do it as a first dive and go deep-ish, like about 100 feet. I don't get to dive it as often as I would like to since it is pretty much ruled out as a possibility if there are any divers on the boat requiring pick up from a resort in the southern part of the island. And more often than not, that seems to be the case. But now and again, the stars align....
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