Wreck C-53

[Slym]

Hey guys I am going to Cozumel this Saturday, I was hoping to dive the scuttled wreck c53 but am having trouble finding a place that will do it, does anybody know who I should contact? Or are there any dive shops on this forum that do it?

I will be a brand new diver so I would want to feel safe, I know it is a bit below the 18m I'll be certified at, but I just have to see a wreck! Most of my group is going to the cenotes but that isn't too interesting to me, wrecks are where it is at.

I will have all my gear all I will need is a tank.

Cheers!

 

[cvchief]

That is probably because it is a 't shirt dive' that most people are not excited about. As a new diver, I really wanted to go. We went and the current was kinda strong and we took the required face in the porthole picture. Later I thought I wanted to go back once I was a more comfortable diver. Finally there were people on the boat like 6-7 years later that wanted to go. Got there on a great day with now current. Looked around the ship again for like 10 minutes and got board. Wander over and spent the rest of the dive looking at the tiny bit of reef and the garden eels.

So by all mean do it. The first time is really fun.

 

[Slym]

I would want to make it one of the last dives of the week, as I'll be getting my open water sessions in at the beginning of the week, as long as I feel comfortable doing it and the dive op will let me i would love to see it.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

The day dove the wreck there was a wicked current and a lot of boat traffic, so there is no way I would take a fresh out of open water diver on that dive.It is also a 80 ft. dive. I wouldn't want to dive with an op that would take a newly minted diver on that dive.

 

[cvchief]

eh, there is a rope and all. If the current is strong, it just kinda sucks fighting it. The second time I was there with no current, it was a way easy dive. Heck, most Coz first dives are 65-70 at least. Another 10 down a rope without current isn't a big deal I think. Unless you think all week the Ops has not been taking him on 70 foot dives every day?

 

[MMM]

I wouldn't think the depth is particularly problematic but I would worry that a new diver has the buoyancy control to enter the holes cut into the thing if you want to look around inside. That said, while this is nominally called a wreck, it's really just a gigantic tin can with the guts removed and holes cut into it in places. It's one of my "I don't care if I never dive this again" sites in Cozumel. The other is Devil's Throat.

 

[nodakdive]

I agree that it's a ho hum kinda dive, but neat the first time. My first was when we did the AOW and chose wreck as one of the optional dives. I suspect another reason that not many do it is because of the location. If you do it as a 1st dive, Chankanaab is your closest choice for a second tank, which takes you further south, I think, and the shallow options north of the wreck are Las Palmas and Paradise.

People have their opinions regarding the AOW right after certification. Mine is that it's nice way to introduce some task loading under supervision. We did the referral dives for OW, a 2 tank, cut the apron strings, fun trip, and then the AOW. It was an amazing week of diving and dive training. "It's just a camera.", you think, and then you notice the difference in air consumption.

 

[sefuchs]

I agree with the others - don't waste a dive on the c53 wreck. As a newbie let the DM's show you around to all the fantastic dive sites. Pay attention to developing your dive skills and as you improve the DM's will take you to cooler sections of the reefs.

 

[K3]

When I dove it, it was a single tank afternoon dive with Cozumel Marine World. I've only done the dive once, it was fun to do - but I won't be going out of my way to dive it again.

 

[cvchief]

Another funny bit. As I said we did it early in our diving the first time. The missus was at the back of the boat, laid her prescription mask on the edge of the boat. And then knocked it in. She is really blind without it. Alison grabbed her tank and dove in. Like 30 minutes later she shows back up with the mask. We were still new, so she put on her sweet look and said, "maybe you should order a spare prescription mask?" She grabbed a new tank and we did the dive. Another reason we love Scuba with Alison.