Pillpusher
Contributor
I haven't done a trip report on here in several years, but since a lot of people are wondering what things are like, I thought I'd take the time to do a brief one from my perspective. As for pictures, since reducing the image size to post them on here is such a pain in the butt, here's a link to all of them. Taken with a compact Canon G7x ii.
Cozumel - July 2020 - Don Bouchard
Transit and lodging:
I was originally booked direct from IAH-CZM on United for less than $300, but United cancelled those, forcing me to fly American, IAH-DFW-CZM, and CZM-CLT-IAH on the return. No hassles, no questions asked. Masks are required, as they should be. I booked an AirBnB on the northern edge of town and rented a car (Avis), which turned out to be perfect since I could drive 5 minutes north to Puerto De Abrigo to meet the dive boat, and most bars/restaurants in town were within 5 minutes to the south, with PLENTY of parking available along the streets.
Diving:
Though this was my 10th time to Cozumel, it had been nearly a decade since my last visit. When I started to get into photography, I started going to more macro-friendly destinations (Bonaire and Asia, mostly). However, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of macro I was able to see diving with Salty Endeavors. I did 18 dives in 5 days with them, and had a great time. Max divers on the boat were 3-4, including myself. Most of my afternoon trips were just me and the guide, which was great as we just got to slowly tool around looking for small stuff. They always asked where we/I wanted to go for each dive, but since it was all relatively new to me, I was down for whatever. We rarely even saw other dive groups while in the water, and had most sites completely to ourselves.
Around town:
Right now, I'd say that around 75% of the bars/restaurants are open. The stores and shops are WAY less than that, however. I'd say around 80% were closed. There was a fair amount of talk around town about the area being moved back to "red" in the future, and everything being shut down again. So, if you can get down here soon to take advantage of the lessened crowds and no cruise ships, as well as to support the local economy, I highly encourage it. Just do so making sure everything you book is fully refundable.
Cozumel - July 2020 - Don Bouchard
Transit and lodging:
I was originally booked direct from IAH-CZM on United for less than $300, but United cancelled those, forcing me to fly American, IAH-DFW-CZM, and CZM-CLT-IAH on the return. No hassles, no questions asked. Masks are required, as they should be. I booked an AirBnB on the northern edge of town and rented a car (Avis), which turned out to be perfect since I could drive 5 minutes north to Puerto De Abrigo to meet the dive boat, and most bars/restaurants in town were within 5 minutes to the south, with PLENTY of parking available along the streets.
Diving:
Though this was my 10th time to Cozumel, it had been nearly a decade since my last visit. When I started to get into photography, I started going to more macro-friendly destinations (Bonaire and Asia, mostly). However, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of macro I was able to see diving with Salty Endeavors. I did 18 dives in 5 days with them, and had a great time. Max divers on the boat were 3-4, including myself. Most of my afternoon trips were just me and the guide, which was great as we just got to slowly tool around looking for small stuff. They always asked where we/I wanted to go for each dive, but since it was all relatively new to me, I was down for whatever. We rarely even saw other dive groups while in the water, and had most sites completely to ourselves.
Around town:
Right now, I'd say that around 75% of the bars/restaurants are open. The stores and shops are WAY less than that, however. I'd say around 80% were closed. There was a fair amount of talk around town about the area being moved back to "red" in the future, and everything being shut down again. So, if you can get down here soon to take advantage of the lessened crowds and no cruise ships, as well as to support the local economy, I highly encourage it. Just do so making sure everything you book is fully refundable.
