March 2024 Cozumel
I had six days diving mid to late march 2024. Mid week the south winds picked up and the Palancars were closed and the port closed at noon one day and remained closed until 9 am the next day. After that the weather was good. On the windy days the seas made getting up the ladders after diving a bit challenging.
I dove with Bottom Time Divers, who due to a large group of our friends that came down at the same time, ran two boats. I did not take my camera the first 3 days since I hadn't been diving much - A trip to the states and my wife tore her MCL among other things.
The parking at the marina (now Asipona and formerly Fonatur) is worse now that no one can park on the first roundabout and they are trying to force all cars to one side and motos to the other on the side street. They have a security person there. This causes parking to back up around the second roundabout to the north. I would hope the parking will be sorted out at some point but I won't hold my breath. Construction on the seaside condos (I presume) at the marina is progressing. Cars are also parking in the cutouts on the highway and divers walking in.
Given that, I decided to use the Money Bar pier to the south since I was diving with people who own at Landmark but I have to pay $100 MXN per day. This also seems to apply to a credit if you stay when coming back. I did not use it. The last two days I used the marina parking but had a hike.
This trip saw quite a few Green Moray eels, half a dozen single Spotted Eagle Rays, a small blacktip shark on Palancar caves, and a Loggerhead turtle on the same dive though this one is not the large one I have seen in past years. A few nurse sharks but less than other times. A green and some Hawksbill turtles later in the week. I did not start seeing more spotted and goldentail eels until the last three days. A few seahorses on northern park sites. Since there were the usual reef closures, the winds closures of Palancars, and tons of boats out, there were some crowded reefs. Our usual divers choice request was go where there are no boats. We did dive the wall at Villa Blanca one of the wind days. The water around the cruise ships was choppy.
The weather has been hotter with south winds, the visibility good and slow currents in general (some kicking required), and the water was a bit colder the last few days of diving (odd). It has not rained heavily lately.
The water and sewer line construction is still happening on Melgar so I went through town on Av 15 and 20.
There are tons of tourists here now, both national and international. The roads are packed.
Looks like I am limited to 5 photos per post now. So I guess at some point I will have to resurrect my ID on another posting site and post the link.
Brown Spotted Moray Eel
Cushion Seastar
This is part of another photo I took and it's out of focus however I think there is a golden coral shrimp, which I have not seen many, and a small crab or shrimp next to it and almost below it. It looks like a tiny spider (sticking out it's tongue) and could be a peppermint shrimp but I cannot tell. I am not looking for an ID since the photo is not good but it's interesting.
Goldentail Moray eel
Green Moray eel
I had six days diving mid to late march 2024. Mid week the south winds picked up and the Palancars were closed and the port closed at noon one day and remained closed until 9 am the next day. After that the weather was good. On the windy days the seas made getting up the ladders after diving a bit challenging.
I dove with Bottom Time Divers, who due to a large group of our friends that came down at the same time, ran two boats. I did not take my camera the first 3 days since I hadn't been diving much - A trip to the states and my wife tore her MCL among other things.
The parking at the marina (now Asipona and formerly Fonatur) is worse now that no one can park on the first roundabout and they are trying to force all cars to one side and motos to the other on the side street. They have a security person there. This causes parking to back up around the second roundabout to the north. I would hope the parking will be sorted out at some point but I won't hold my breath. Construction on the seaside condos (I presume) at the marina is progressing. Cars are also parking in the cutouts on the highway and divers walking in.
Given that, I decided to use the Money Bar pier to the south since I was diving with people who own at Landmark but I have to pay $100 MXN per day. This also seems to apply to a credit if you stay when coming back. I did not use it. The last two days I used the marina parking but had a hike.
This trip saw quite a few Green Moray eels, half a dozen single Spotted Eagle Rays, a small blacktip shark on Palancar caves, and a Loggerhead turtle on the same dive though this one is not the large one I have seen in past years. A few nurse sharks but less than other times. A green and some Hawksbill turtles later in the week. I did not start seeing more spotted and goldentail eels until the last three days. A few seahorses on northern park sites. Since there were the usual reef closures, the winds closures of Palancars, and tons of boats out, there were some crowded reefs. Our usual divers choice request was go where there are no boats. We did dive the wall at Villa Blanca one of the wind days. The water around the cruise ships was choppy.
The weather has been hotter with south winds, the visibility good and slow currents in general (some kicking required), and the water was a bit colder the last few days of diving (odd). It has not rained heavily lately.
The water and sewer line construction is still happening on Melgar so I went through town on Av 15 and 20.
There are tons of tourists here now, both national and international. The roads are packed.
Looks like I am limited to 5 photos per post now. So I guess at some point I will have to resurrect my ID on another posting site and post the link.
Brown Spotted Moray Eel
Cushion Seastar
This is part of another photo I took and it's out of focus however I think there is a golden coral shrimp, which I have not seen many, and a small crab or shrimp next to it and almost below it. It looks like a tiny spider (sticking out it's tongue) and could be a peppermint shrimp but I cannot tell. I am not looking for an ID since the photo is not good but it's interesting.
Goldentail Moray eel
Green Moray eel
