Rain Rain Go Away!
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originaljonathan
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I'm headed there for May 23-June 1 on my 38th trip to Coz (can't make up my mind whether I like it 
) and am pretty interested in the weather as well. Usually, rain in Cozumel only lasts part of the day, and this time of the year it often dries up mid-morning turning to sunshine before noon. However, even when the rain persists, dive boats will continue to go out as long as the winds don't make surface conditions too rough. I lost three days of diving before Thanksgiving last year due to repeated "nortes", very windy storms coming in from the north, but still was able to get in 26 dives in less than two weeks. I'm diving with Christi at Blue XT Sea Diving. Who are you diving with?
<')///><
) and am pretty interested in the weather as well. Usually, rain in Cozumel only lasts part of the day, and this time of the year it often dries up mid-morning turning to sunshine before noon. However, even when the rain persists, dive boats will continue to go out as long as the winds don't make surface conditions too rough. I lost three days of diving before Thanksgiving last year due to repeated "nortes", very windy storms coming in from the north, but still was able to get in 26 dives in less than two weeks. I'm diving with Christi at Blue XT Sea Diving. Who are you diving with?<')///><
Your 38th trip and my first trip. Any advice for a novice diver and first timer in Cozumel? I am diving with Scuba Du. I thought it would make things a bit easier since I'm staying at the Presidente. I'm only there a couple of days, so I'll dive in the rain, I just want to dive! I'm coming over from Cancun with a few other divers. What's your take on the diving in Cancun?
originaljonathan
Guest
They tend to run boats with fairly large numbers of divers of mixed skill levels, but, if you're only going to be there a couple of days and it's your first trip, strict-profile diving (which is typical of the "in-house" dive operations) probably won't offend you. If you're an experienced diver and prefer individualized, computer-based diving with longer bottom times, next trip plan to use one of the premium dive ops which run small, fast boats and will group divers by skill level (such as Blue XT~Sea, Liquid Blue, Deep Blue, Papa Hogs and Aldora). An advantage to using Scuba-Du for such a short stay is that they have some larger boats that can still go out in case of inclement weather if the Port Captain closes the port (prohibits boats leaving shore with passengers) only to boats under 40'.
Cancun diving is pretty ho-hum by comparison to Cozumel, and most of the operations tend to favor the same shallow reef off Isla Mujeres, which was so tame I did one day of diving on it during a week-long Isla Mujeres vacation with my daughters and blew off the rest of the diving.
Typically, Scuba-Du doesn't permit divers to select reef sites, but, if they do, any part of Palancar, or Santa Rosa or Columbia for your first, deeper dive of the day will probably hook you for life as a Cozuholic. Hell, it's hard to have a bad dive on Cozumel!
<')///><
Cancun diving is pretty ho-hum by comparison to Cozumel, and most of the operations tend to favor the same shallow reef off Isla Mujeres, which was so tame I did one day of diving on it during a week-long Isla Mujeres vacation with my daughters and blew off the rest of the diving.
Typically, Scuba-Du doesn't permit divers to select reef sites, but, if they do, any part of Palancar, or Santa Rosa or Columbia for your first, deeper dive of the day will probably hook you for life as a Cozuholic. Hell, it's hard to have a bad dive on Cozumel!
<')///><
Thanks for all the info! I'll be in Cozumel the 19th and 20th. Scuba Du dives Coulumbia Wall and La Francesa on Wednesday and Palancar Bricks and Yucab on Thursday. What do you think of these dive spots? I posted this question earlier and alot of people said Columbia Wall was too advanced for a bunch of new divers. What do you think? How about the rest of the dives? Are they good dives?
originaljonathan
Guest
You can do Colombia at 70-80 feet, in the first place, and, as with any more or less abyssal wall dive, you just need to exercise decent buoyancy control. If you are relatively new, make a point of discussing that with the divemaster BEFORE you get to the dive site (when he will be preoccupied with dive briefings and getting the herd geared up). If you dive with a buddy who is a friend, pick one who has more experience than you do just to give you more confidence, and be sure to tell him/her of your experience level and any concerns you have. Your certification dives should have taken you to 60 feet anyway, so it's not that much deeper.
Colombia is deliciously hypnotic and spooky, with its towering pinnacles, so the greatest danger is that you get distracted with sightseeing and fail to keep aware of your depth. Check your guages often, and, until you have a much more broader experience base, stay shallower than the DM by a tad (and don't get ahead of him). Remember that you do not have to navigate through swim-throughs if you become nervous, but can swim over and rejoin the group on the other side. Talk to your DM and buddy beforehand, and make sure they are aware you may do that. It is better practice if buddy pairs both make the same choice, of course, so discuss that issue in advance and decide on appropriate hand signals with buddy and DM to indicate if you are going over or through the swim-through.
All four of those dives are very nice ones. You'll have fun if you just relax and practice the same basic skills you learned and demonstrated in your class dives.
There ARE dives I would strongly recommend new divers not attempt, such as Barracuda, San Juan, Punta Sur, Maracaibo, and El Islote, all of which are either very deep (in excess of 100 fsw) or characterized by potentially severe currents.
<')///><
Colombia is deliciously hypnotic and spooky, with its towering pinnacles, so the greatest danger is that you get distracted with sightseeing and fail to keep aware of your depth. Check your guages often, and, until you have a much more broader experience base, stay shallower than the DM by a tad (and don't get ahead of him). Remember that you do not have to navigate through swim-throughs if you become nervous, but can swim over and rejoin the group on the other side. Talk to your DM and buddy beforehand, and make sure they are aware you may do that. It is better practice if buddy pairs both make the same choice, of course, so discuss that issue in advance and decide on appropriate hand signals with buddy and DM to indicate if you are going over or through the swim-through.
All four of those dives are very nice ones. You'll have fun if you just relax and practice the same basic skills you learned and demonstrated in your class dives.
There ARE dives I would strongly recommend new divers not attempt, such as Barracuda, San Juan, Punta Sur, Maracaibo, and El Islote, all of which are either very deep (in excess of 100 fsw) or characterized by potentially severe currents.
<')///><
That's some fantastic advise, thanks! I'll just make sure I let the divemasters know our experience level and follow your tips. I love your description of Columbia, "deliciously hypnotic and spooky". Sounds pretty sweet to me! I'll be sure to let you know how everything went. Thanks again! You really boosted my confidence
SCUBAHEFF:
The past 3 times we've been down it called for 50-75% chance of rain each time. It did not rain once while we were there. We were also there last summer during the hurricane and the forcast was thunderstorms all week, it rain one night when the eye hit land and was sunny and clear the rest of the trip.
The boats will go out unless the seas are way too rough, (over 4' waves), the day after the hurricane hit we were diving.
Chris
Yahoo weather consistently shows Cozumel as rainy when indeed people are reporting great weather down there. In fact, a guy was saying it is beautiful down there today when Yahoo shows the following....
http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/MXQR0074_c.html
I think it is because it showers late at night or early morning, but it clears by midday.
http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/MXQR0074_c.html
I think it is because it showers late at night or early morning, but it clears by midday.
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