Cozumel or Freeport?

[jalundan]

Ok. Everyone seems to appreciate Cozumel more. How about the big things? Are there any?

Is it "only" the usual fish, eels, etc. Or is there a chance for the bigger stuff?

Cicopo: True! Got the wrong link. Here's the working one... Dropbox - Thailand2016

 

[Damselfish]

Cozumel is pretty much about drift diving and critters. The Bahamas are known for sharks, but not necessarily for great reefs. Not all would agree that Bahamas has "lots of stuff to see underwater" and "Grand Bahama has more stuff in there." Many people dive because they appreciate the variety of interesting fish and small creatures. That said, if you are mostly interested in bigger stuff and prefer not to drift dive, I imagine you'd be generally happier with the diving in the Bahamas than Cozumel. Cozumel, like many places in the Caribbean, you'll probably spot the occasional shark or ray or other big things, but it's not the main draw. You might want to look into some of the other islands of the Bahamas though for at least part of your trip, for potentially better diving and less crowds. If you are on a budget, you could also look into the Blackbeard's liveaboards which leave from Florida and dive in the Bahamas. They are roughing it a bit (described by many people as "camping at sea") but are a good value and lots of people seem to love them.

Cancun isn't really known for diving and is pretty touristy.

Most visitors in Freeport aren't there to dive - they are shopping, gambling, eating, drinking, on the beach, and maybe doing other water activities like snorkeling, kayaking, etc.

I wouldn't necessarily equate more heavily tourist-ed places with not being conscious of nature. Or a particular place with being more concerned just because the market that aspect heavily. Many of the better dive destinations in the Caribbean are quite concerned with protecting the environment, especially in the area of marine parks. You can't really generalize and must look at this on a case by case basis if it is very important to you. Also, the places that have a lot of tourists often have ways to avoid that scene, either by location or timing.

 

[BDSC]

You can see some sharks in Cozumel (mostly nurse sharks), eagle rays, and turtles. Nothing really bigger than that.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

You can see some sharks in Cozumel (mostly nurse sharks), eagle rays, and turtles. Nothing really bigger than that.

Or take the 30 minute ferry to Playa Del Carmen and dive with REAL sharks on the Bull Shark Feed with Phantom Divers, or dive the Cenotes, or do an Adventure Dive to the North with the caves of Sleeping Sharks (big ones).

Lots of things to do in and around Cozumel.


Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

www.aldora.com

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

As far as drift diving and currents being photo friendly, I guess it depends on the day. Lots of Photographers dive Cozumel so I am sure there is a reason. Some days the currents are faster and some days they are barely noticeable. We dove the same site (Columbia Pinacles) and we're almost in white out, sand storm, conditions and the next day there was almost no current at all.

I would suggest contacting dive ops and let them know you want to be taking pictures. There is usually only 1 DM on the boat with 6 divers. If you are taking pictures and holding up the group, or constantly being told to catch up, I could see that being a problem with the other divers.

Dave knows the reefs better than most and deals with photographers on a weekly, if not daily basis. I dive to see the stuff, although I confess I have a go pro which is capable of missing more once in a lifetime photo opportunities than any other camera out there, I'm still not into the photography thing. Shoot him an email and see what he thinks. There are sites with less current and lots of life, the hard part will be being on the boat that the rest of the divers agree to go to that site.


Good luck, safe travels,
Jay

 

[ggunn]

Thanks to everyone!

Jay: You mentioned rift dives. We life to take photos underwater and I was wondering if there are sites that supports this? I mean, rift dives are great sometimes, but mostly I like to move myself and focus on the animals / reefs and try to find stuff to photo.

One site that will likely fill that bill is Colombia Shallows. I have been there many, many times and in all those times there has never been anything other than a very gentle current, and often none at all to speak of. It's a shallow dive, less than 35', and there are coral heads that reach to within 6' or 8 ' of the surface. On a sunny day the photo ops abound.

 

[MMM]

Cozumel has some bigger critters but some shark varieties are less frequently seen.... I see spotted eagle rays on nearly every dive. And green morays. And load of turtles. Sometimes one can see dolphins (usually at the safety stop) but whale sharks are not in Cozumel nor are mantas. (Go to the west coast of Mexico if you want the latter and Isla Mujeres or Holbox in June/July for the former). I actually like poking around for small stuff. If you want to photograph, I highly recommend that you find a dive master who goes slowly. Cozumel doesn't have a ton of night life or soft sandy beaches if that is what you are looking for. Go across to the mainland for that.

 

[diversteve]

Or take the 30 minute ferry to Playa Del Carmen and dive with REAL sharks on the Bull Shark Feed

Or ride out to Tiger Beach off Grand Bahama and dive with REAL sharks...lol...It is a feed also though.

You're probably not going to get a lot of non-Coz suggestions in the Cozumel forum.

 

[islanddream]

We love Cozumel and dive there once or twice a year. In fact, we're head there on Friday for an 11 day dive trip. The reef system is beautiful with a variety of terrain that never gets tiresome. We do see nurse sharks and some reef sharks. We nearly always see turtles, big green moray eels, stingrays, beautiful fish, and depending on the time of year...eagle rays. Cozumel has a huge variety of dive shops from which to choose. Many people on ScubaBoard have their favorites. Do you like big boats with lots of people? Do you like small fast boats that carry 6-8 divers? Because you'll be diving in a marine park, a dive master is always in the water with divers from the boat. The current can be very passive or it can be ripping....just depends on the day.

I see you're going to spend time in Miami. You'll be very close to the Florida Keys which has great diving. It's about an hour and a half drive to Key Largo. You can dive shallow reefs, deep reefs, and a variety of wrecks.

Another area you might want to visit is Jupiter, Florida, which is about 85 miles north of Miami. We dive in Jupiter every week since we live close, and we see lots of beautiful fish, different species of eels, huge turtles (our sea turtle nesting season is in full swing in June....Loggerheads, Greens, Leatherbacks all nest in the Jupiter area) Goliath Groupers, and a wide variety of sharks....Tigers, Bulls, Lemons, Blacktip, etc. Our reef system isn't as beautiful as Cozumel's, but we see much bigger marine life in Jupiter than we do in Cozumel. Jupiter is drift diving, and just like in Coz, the current can be calm or ripping. We love diving in Cozumel but are always excited to get home to see the "big stuff!"

 

[geokr]

I dove the Barrier Reef, California, Bahamas and all around Florida and the Keys before I found Cozumel. Haven't been back to anything but Cozumel since. I second all the positives above, don't really think there are any negatives about Cozumel. The diving is fantastic, the dive ops treat you like royalty, there are plenty enough restaurants to explore with all kinds of cuisine and if the night life at Kondessa is too sedate and you need some 110 decibel entertainment just pop over to Playa for the evening. We like to break up the diving and take a cooking class with Coty at Co.Cos in Playa to learn how to make authentic Mexican cuisine - great fun! There's really enough to do besides diving and if it's just the diving you want there's plenty of great diving in Cozumel - drift, wall, coral formations, caves, etc. - you'll be quite happy with. Try it and let us know about your experience. I'm 100% sure you'll come back to Cozumel again and again.