First day of diving in Cozumel for me. I dove with a friend who came down yesterday with AA from Charlotte with 13 people on the plane. Their flight came in early and she was out of immigration and customs and waiting for me when I got to the door at the airport.
We dive with Raul (owner/DM) of Bottom Time Divers and have dived with him for over 20 years back to the Blue Bubble days. We were the only two on the boat which right now is the 30% business rule. We left a bit after 8 am for two tanks. We had the impression that afternoon dives were not permitted but when we left the marina we came across divers coming in for afternoon dives and there did not seem to be an issue.
According to protocols, we need to wear masks on the boat and practice distancing. Raul had to go through some training/regulation to operate though I don’t know all the details. He had a large pump container of disinfectant onboard which I believe he has to use after we are done diving. We must take our mask and regulator with us but he can wash other gear using recommended cleaning products.
We arrived at the marina (Fonatur) and they had a brand new chain link fence with barbed wire around the parking area blocking it off so everyone parks on the pavers near it. Not a lot of spaces. The drop off area near the ramp is blocked but the tank shop did get past it. There are what look like security personnel but could be gov’t health or park people (didn’t check closely) walking around with masks and keeping an eye on things.
We have had a lot of rain here the last few weeks and from before TS Cristobal which brushed by. The mosquitoes are thick. Before we mostly had the little black ones but now the big ones are out in force and like the afternoons.
It was overcast today but not much rain. So less ambient light meant some darker photos and different bracketing. We dove Palancar Gardens first and the visibility was down a bit. The reef was dusted with what had come off the island from the rains (not sand so much). From a distance it made it look like coral bleaching but it’s not. The water was warm and the current slow and consistent to the north. Max depth 82 ft for 65 min. The second dive was Cedral Pass with same water temps and slow current. The visibility was very good. 73 min dive time. As I haven't dived since the end of March I had to consciously remind myself how to dive and how to use my camera.
We attempted to use the stone/concrete pier at Palancar beach and found the wood poles in the holes on the pier were not there so the guy working there said he could go look for wood but came back and said he couldn’t find any (there’s a jungle). The beaches are still closed and I suspect all piers but he wouldn’t or couldn’t say. So our surface interval was on the boat. Other boats reported that some other piers at closed beach clubs were not available for use. The visibility of the water in shallower areas was crystal clear.
I expected when diving opened up that I might see dolphins, different kinds of sharks, or anything else that showed up like giant squid or kraken but today I saw the usual suspects for this time of year. I will keep my fingers crossed for the coming week. We did see more and bigger lionfish than in the past and 4 were speared on Palancar with a couple of wily ones getting away. I expected many more lionfish and I would think their numbers deeper have increased as well.
A few photos from today
Banded Coral Shrimp
Cedral Pass
Goldentail eel
Green Moray eel and Nurse shark buddies on Cedral Pass. The Moray, for some reason after the photo was taken, decided to come out and chase after my friend. It is possible that she still had the scent of a lionfish on her from the first dive. We think we recognize this moray from it's usual spot on Cedral Wall.
Only one small hawksbill today.
Lionfish and good size
Red Hind
We dive with Raul (owner/DM) of Bottom Time Divers and have dived with him for over 20 years back to the Blue Bubble days. We were the only two on the boat which right now is the 30% business rule. We left a bit after 8 am for two tanks. We had the impression that afternoon dives were not permitted but when we left the marina we came across divers coming in for afternoon dives and there did not seem to be an issue.
According to protocols, we need to wear masks on the boat and practice distancing. Raul had to go through some training/regulation to operate though I don’t know all the details. He had a large pump container of disinfectant onboard which I believe he has to use after we are done diving. We must take our mask and regulator with us but he can wash other gear using recommended cleaning products.
We arrived at the marina (Fonatur) and they had a brand new chain link fence with barbed wire around the parking area blocking it off so everyone parks on the pavers near it. Not a lot of spaces. The drop off area near the ramp is blocked but the tank shop did get past it. There are what look like security personnel but could be gov’t health or park people (didn’t check closely) walking around with masks and keeping an eye on things.
We have had a lot of rain here the last few weeks and from before TS Cristobal which brushed by. The mosquitoes are thick. Before we mostly had the little black ones but now the big ones are out in force and like the afternoons.
It was overcast today but not much rain. So less ambient light meant some darker photos and different bracketing. We dove Palancar Gardens first and the visibility was down a bit. The reef was dusted with what had come off the island from the rains (not sand so much). From a distance it made it look like coral bleaching but it’s not. The water was warm and the current slow and consistent to the north. Max depth 82 ft for 65 min. The second dive was Cedral Pass with same water temps and slow current. The visibility was very good. 73 min dive time. As I haven't dived since the end of March I had to consciously remind myself how to dive and how to use my camera.
We attempted to use the stone/concrete pier at Palancar beach and found the wood poles in the holes on the pier were not there so the guy working there said he could go look for wood but came back and said he couldn’t find any (there’s a jungle). The beaches are still closed and I suspect all piers but he wouldn’t or couldn’t say. So our surface interval was on the boat. Other boats reported that some other piers at closed beach clubs were not available for use. The visibility of the water in shallower areas was crystal clear.
I expected when diving opened up that I might see dolphins, different kinds of sharks, or anything else that showed up like giant squid or kraken but today I saw the usual suspects for this time of year. I will keep my fingers crossed for the coming week. We did see more and bigger lionfish than in the past and 4 were speared on Palancar with a couple of wily ones getting away. I expected many more lionfish and I would think their numbers deeper have increased as well.
A few photos from today
Banded Coral Shrimp
Cedral Pass
Goldentail eel
Green Moray eel and Nurse shark buddies on Cedral Pass. The Moray, for some reason after the photo was taken, decided to come out and chase after my friend. It is possible that she still had the scent of a lionfish on her from the first dive. We think we recognize this moray from it's usual spot on Cedral Wall.
Only one small hawksbill today.
Lionfish and good size
Red Hind
