deeper water near shore

[rick00001967]

sorry for yet another thread on shore diving.

we are returning to coz in oct / nov this year. we stayed at hotel cozumel last time and really enjoyed it there. we did some shore diving there as well. the night dives were particularly good.

we are considering staying there again and would like to do more shore diving as we did before. however it would also be nice to know if someone could tell us where the best shore diving spot is, that is the closest to deeper water. the dive in front of hotel coz, although quite good at night, was only about 20 feet.

is there any place we can easily / safely access depths beyond 30feet ?
thx
rick

 

[northernone]

Deepest I've "close" to shore is the bottom of the mini wall at Tikila restaurant. It's ~26ft deep and 300ft from shore.

For real depth the wall is fairly consistently 800-1400 feet from shore with boat traffic overhead. Not the sort of dive you're looking for I think. Think Robert Gaskin wreck done from shore in Canada.

There's a basic bathometric chart for navigation online somewhere (link not handy) that shows depths soundings and basic bottom contours, for the curious.

Cameron

 

[ggunn]

sorry for yet another thread on shore diving.

we are returning to coz in oct / nov this year. we stayed at hotel cozumel last time and really enjoyed it there. we did some shore diving there as well. the night dives were particularly good.

we are considering staying there again and would like to do more shore diving as we did before. however it would also be nice to know if someone could tell us where the best shore diving spot is, that is the closest to deeper water. the dive in front of hotel coz, although quite good at night, was only about 20 feet.

is there any place we can easily / safely access depths beyond 30feet ?
thx
rick

As northernone says, the wall is about 100 yards out no matter where you go along the NW coast of Cozumel. A wall dive can be done from shore (I have done it) but it's not easy or something a newer diver should even consider. Between the air you use getting out to the wall and what you must hold in reserve in order to get back without surfacing under boat traffic, it's a much shorter dive than a boat dive on the wall. For another thing, it's hard to predict how far downcurrent you will drift; will you be able to get out where you end up?

That said, the shore dive at Blue Angel is pretty good. The stingray pen next door is a sort of manmade reef and there's a lot of life around it. There is also an area to the southwest of the pen where there are a number of small coral heads and rock piles where stuff hangs out. It's a pretty shallow dive, though, 20-25 ft max.

FWIW, don't do a shore dive, especially at night, without a compass; you cannot depend on the current to show you which way the shore is. Also, be sure to have an SMB with you in case you have to surface without coming all the way in.

 

[jlyle]

IMHO, shore diving out to deep water isn't a good idea - as others have written, it can be pretty dicey. Having said that, I've done it multiple times from in front of Scuba Club Cozumel.

If you are going to attempt this dive, I have some suggestions about how to do it.

1. You must have a compass. Before you get in the water, take a heading (~ due West). Once in the water, look for something in that direction at the edge of visibility. Swim to that object, look for another reference point and then swim to that object, repeat. You cannot do this using just your compass - the current will sweep you in a direction you do not want to go.

2. Do NOT swim hard; take it easy. You do not want to use up your air quickly and you'll only get a CO2 headache if you push. You do not want to have to surface as you are in the boat zone.

3. Monitor your air pressure. Use the rule of thirds - no more than one third to get there, one third to get back, and one third in reserve. Go slowly.

4. As you swim out, the depth will slowly increase and you will see small patches of sponges and turtle grass (lots of little critters to see). About 100 yards out, the sandy bottom will begin to curve downwards and large sponges (like Villa Blanca reef) will populate the edge of the drop off. Resist the urge to go very deep.

5. Work your way INTO the current for a short excursion.

6. Reverse your navigation back to shallow water. Once again, taking a compass reading to an object on the horizon, swimming to that object, and repeating. Go slowly.

7. If you have done this properly, you should be back to where you started or a little up current from there.



An alternative is to take a cab south, swim out to depth, return to shore and get a cab back. The problem is knowing where you are going to hit shore. I've only done this with a local dive master.

 

[ggunn]

I'll just add this about compass navigation. I recommend using a fluid filled hiker's compass on unescorted shore dives, the type that is mounted on a plastic plate with a direction arrow on it. You can get them at Academy for a few bucks and they work fine under water. Before you get into the water, orient it (turn the compass on the plate) so that when the north needle matches the one printed on the compass face, the direction arrow on the plate points directly toward the shore, i.e. on Cozumel, pretty much due southwest. When it's time to head back, swim around until the needle matches up and follow the arrow back to shore.