Coming Norte

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No problem with the tequila supply. And look up…I'm pretty sure Wednesday will see the port open.

Dave
 
As expected the winds are dying down and the ferry crossing will be much better, now and tomorrow. Yesterday, Friday it was the Vomit Comet. I have never been seasick and it did not bother me at all, but they passed out a lot of green bags and most of them were filled up. This can be the downside to the Cancun "Bag Drag" if you hit the ferry on a rough day and are sensitive to "Mal de Mar".

On the other hand, the ferry ride will not be a joy for many on Monday and Tuesday (I'll be on it Tuesday again). The weather sources remain constant in the expectations of a norte for Sunday night, with port closures Monday and Tuesday—but you never really know for sure.

Dave
 
Well, it is Sunday 8:30 am and the predicted wind and weather is turning out to be exactly as expected. It seems like Monday can be a perfect day to dive the North East side at Hanan beach and the sunken galleon, then Tuesday to the far south as the wind slips slightly to the east. We will be making a trip over to assess conditions for sending the boats over to anchor tonight and confirm Monday's dive plan.

Dave
 
Today , port still closed and I am wishing I would have checked with Aldora for the East side dives Next trip will dive with them.

Hoping we can dive Weds and Thursday.

The bad news is, looks like ANOTHER Norte starting Friday and lasting a few days.
 
Today , port still closed and I am wishing I would have checked with Aldora for the East side dives Next trip will dive with them.

Hoping we can dive Weds and Thursday.

The bad news is, looks like ANOTHER Norte starting Friday and lasting a few days.

Tomorrow looks like business as usual. The norte that looks to be coming through this weekend has weakened significantly over the last 12 hours and I'm optimistic for Saturday and Sunday now with very mild north winds predicted. We will know more about the weekend as the week progresses - but Wed, Thurs and Fri will be good dive days. Monday of next week however does not look promising
 
I agree with Christi, mostly. Wednesday is sure to be open as is Thursday. Windguru.com has two models which differ significantly for Friday—one good, one bad (that one screams "don't plan on a night dive Friday") . I then checked Galveston on wonderground.com/weather.com and see no north wind expected for Wednesday, Thursday or on. While none of these predictions can be perfect however, when all three were completely in agreement as they were for this week it is a good bet, Indeed, this Norte started within the 2 hour window predicted a full week in advance

So, two of my three forecast tools cause me and Christi to bet against a coming norte this weekend.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

PS If you have not looked at it, my thread "predicting nortes and more" can provide you with the same tools that we use.

Dave Dillehay
 
Not to be contrary to some other very experienced observations of statistics, but I have a "qualitative" opinion about Nortes that may be at odds with some published "stats". The absolute worst months for Port Closures are December, January and March. My memory fades a bit but it must have been 2001 or 2002 that in January the port was CLOSED for 21 out of 31 days, and for good reason.

Again, in my opinion, the worst months for crazy swirling currents are March and April. Including my lack of worry about Hurricanes, I will repeat my suggestion for times to dive Cozumel. They are: May-June and Sept-October.

If you wish to argue that with me in private, my phone is US 830 460-0667 and it rings here in Cozumel.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

PS See Update later in this thread, models have changed.
 
Dave, please tell me more about the "crazy swirling currents" in March and April. My 15 year old daughter are I are diving Coz for the first time in April 2019, and we certainly don't want to get caught up in unpredictable currents. Thanks,

DougieG
 
Dave, please tell me more about the "crazy swirling currents" in March and April. My 15 year old daughter are I are diving Coz for the first time in April 2019, and we certainly don't want to get caught up in unpredictable currents. Thanks,

DougieG
There is a prevailing SW to NE current flowing through the channel between the island and the mainland, but where it sweeps past the island it interacts with the island and creates eddy currents. These eddies can and often do make localized flows that run counter to the prevailing flow. I don't know why they would be more prevalent in certain times of the year, but Dave's op deals with them every day.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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