dfepeman
Registered
I took Doc Vikingo's advice and used Deep Blue Divers when I was in Cozumel last week, and I must say that I was very satisfied with them. I was staying north of town, at Sol Cabanas del Caribe, and wisely decided not to go with Sand Dollar, which was supposed to nominally be the on-site place. I don't think I saw anyone at the desk the week I was there.
Deep Blue claimed to avoid dive repeats and didn't do cattle boats, and they were true to their word. They do more exotic, less popular dives in the morning, then hit the standard spots in the afternoons after the crowds have left. My first two dive excursions were afternoon dives.
As far as planning dives, the Deep Blue folks meet 8:00 - 9:00 the previous night to discuss things. I never made it to these, so I generally learned where we were going at the boat. There was some miscommunication one day, where they had me down for a morning when I was told earlier that day I'd be on an afternoon dive, but other than that things went well.
First dives: The divemaster was Pingo. Six people; other than me, there was a family (parents, two teenage boys) and another gentleman who hailed from Canada. Everyone except the wife were experienced. I was under the understanding that we'd be doing the Palancar Horse Shoe, so I was a little worried when the family voted for two shallow dives to break in Mom. I told Pingo I thought we were doing the horeshoe, however, and he went with my choice.
An aside: Since I had studied up on dive sites and had ones in mind, I found that each trip I got what I wanted, since the other folks weren't familiar with Cozumel. The homework paid off!
The horseshoe was wonderful- I've never seen such massive coral pillars. The swim-throughs were scenic (took lots of digital photos with my Olympus C2020/P-005 housing set up), and the clarity was great. Didn't see much in the way of fish, but the coral was center stage. I was nervous, having never done drift diving, but it was easy and not as fast a current as I thought there might be.
The second dive was at the Paradise Shallows: lots of coral heads and fish. I saw my first Splendid Toadfish, and two seahorses. My camera batteries died as I was stalking a huge queen angel.
Next Dives: Palancar Gardens, then Las Palmas. Divemaster: Pepe. Great swim-throughs in the gardens (in one small tunnel, though, I got my regulator hose caught on something, and the guy behind me bumped me and almost ripped it out. Not nice. I used my hand to free it and got some mild stings from something. I sincerely apologize to the coral gods for touching, but I am fond of air). Saw some big jacks, and while I was getting a shot I finally noticed the massive (4 foot+) barracuda resting under a ledge. At the end of the dive I saw two of the biggest parrot fish I have ever seen (deep blue "supermales", I think). Also saw a monster queen triggerfish, but she avoided my camera. Las Palmas had quite a bit of current: saw numerous queen angels, some more Toadfish, and some very large lobster.
Last dives (morning): Columbia Reef, then Paso Cedral. Divemaster: Raoul. I finally saw what Deep BLue warned me about: there were many boats at this site in the morning, and things got a bit trafficy on the first dive. Columbia reef reminded me of Palancar Horseshoe except there were more swim-throughs, and the visibility wasn't as good this day. A couple of times, while focused on photography, I inadvertantly hooked up with the wrong dive crew- oops! The current was noticeably stronger, and was especially noticeable at the end of the dive. Can't remember if I saw any interesting fish (I really wanted to see an eagle ray, and my earlier divemaster Pingo told me that he'd seen some the previous week at Columbia. Most of the rays have left the area, though). Oh, right before the boat pick up we almost surfaced intoa nice hawksbill turtle. Got some great photos.
I think Paso Cedral was my favorite dive of the whole trip: The fish density was terrific, and there were some interesting pass-throughs to play in. I had seen a picture in the Dive Cozumel book I had (can't recall its name) that showed some nice schools of goatfish(?) loitering in front of a pass-through, and sure enough, they were there. They were very friendly and let me take lots of shots.
I would recommend Deep Blue as a dive shop. The divemasters were all very mature and competent and eager to please, and really knew where all the critters were hiding. They made sure that nobody repeated a dive site. Back at the shop they let me wash up and store my stuff there. Everyone was friendly and hassle-free.
Diving at Cozumel spoiled me. I'm already thinking of when I'll go back. After staying up north, I think I'd stay closer to town next time. The Plaza las Glorias looked very appealing from the boat as we whizzed past: I'd be tempted to stay there.
Some final comments: My wife likes to snorkel, so I tried to find good spots for that. I was very disappointed with Chaunkanaab Park. People keep saying that it is a good site, but I don't see why: The shallows are all roped off the prevent the cruise ship hordes from doing any more damage, and there wasn't much coral to speak of. We checked out Dzul Ha: that was much better. Most of the coral patches were deeper than ideal for snorkelers (15 -20 feet), but at least there was a good amount of coral and fish population. Saw lots of Sargent Major spawning beds. Oh, there were tons of snorkel trip boats dumping off passengers there, which tells you something. On shore was a relaxed beach bar and snack bar. I'd hang out there rather than Chaunkanaab anyday. The most fish we saw snorkeling? Right at our hotel, the Sol Cabanas: their restaurant is right on the water so people feed the fish a lot. There is a nice rocky shoreline (but a good beach to enter from) with lots of habitat.
I wouldn't recommend Cozumel just for snorkeling. Hawaii, the BVI, and the Bahamas were much better for that. The diving, though, that was simply superb!
Deep Blue claimed to avoid dive repeats and didn't do cattle boats, and they were true to their word. They do more exotic, less popular dives in the morning, then hit the standard spots in the afternoons after the crowds have left. My first two dive excursions were afternoon dives.
As far as planning dives, the Deep Blue folks meet 8:00 - 9:00 the previous night to discuss things. I never made it to these, so I generally learned where we were going at the boat. There was some miscommunication one day, where they had me down for a morning when I was told earlier that day I'd be on an afternoon dive, but other than that things went well.
First dives: The divemaster was Pingo. Six people; other than me, there was a family (parents, two teenage boys) and another gentleman who hailed from Canada. Everyone except the wife were experienced. I was under the understanding that we'd be doing the Palancar Horse Shoe, so I was a little worried when the family voted for two shallow dives to break in Mom. I told Pingo I thought we were doing the horeshoe, however, and he went with my choice.
An aside: Since I had studied up on dive sites and had ones in mind, I found that each trip I got what I wanted, since the other folks weren't familiar with Cozumel. The homework paid off!
The horseshoe was wonderful- I've never seen such massive coral pillars. The swim-throughs were scenic (took lots of digital photos with my Olympus C2020/P-005 housing set up), and the clarity was great. Didn't see much in the way of fish, but the coral was center stage. I was nervous, having never done drift diving, but it was easy and not as fast a current as I thought there might be.
The second dive was at the Paradise Shallows: lots of coral heads and fish. I saw my first Splendid Toadfish, and two seahorses. My camera batteries died as I was stalking a huge queen angel.
Next Dives: Palancar Gardens, then Las Palmas. Divemaster: Pepe. Great swim-throughs in the gardens (in one small tunnel, though, I got my regulator hose caught on something, and the guy behind me bumped me and almost ripped it out. Not nice. I used my hand to free it and got some mild stings from something. I sincerely apologize to the coral gods for touching, but I am fond of air). Saw some big jacks, and while I was getting a shot I finally noticed the massive (4 foot+) barracuda resting under a ledge. At the end of the dive I saw two of the biggest parrot fish I have ever seen (deep blue "supermales", I think). Also saw a monster queen triggerfish, but she avoided my camera. Las Palmas had quite a bit of current: saw numerous queen angels, some more Toadfish, and some very large lobster.
Last dives (morning): Columbia Reef, then Paso Cedral. Divemaster: Raoul. I finally saw what Deep BLue warned me about: there were many boats at this site in the morning, and things got a bit trafficy on the first dive. Columbia reef reminded me of Palancar Horseshoe except there were more swim-throughs, and the visibility wasn't as good this day. A couple of times, while focused on photography, I inadvertantly hooked up with the wrong dive crew- oops! The current was noticeably stronger, and was especially noticeable at the end of the dive. Can't remember if I saw any interesting fish (I really wanted to see an eagle ray, and my earlier divemaster Pingo told me that he'd seen some the previous week at Columbia. Most of the rays have left the area, though). Oh, right before the boat pick up we almost surfaced intoa nice hawksbill turtle. Got some great photos.
I think Paso Cedral was my favorite dive of the whole trip: The fish density was terrific, and there were some interesting pass-throughs to play in. I had seen a picture in the Dive Cozumel book I had (can't recall its name) that showed some nice schools of goatfish(?) loitering in front of a pass-through, and sure enough, they were there. They were very friendly and let me take lots of shots.
I would recommend Deep Blue as a dive shop. The divemasters were all very mature and competent and eager to please, and really knew where all the critters were hiding. They made sure that nobody repeated a dive site. Back at the shop they let me wash up and store my stuff there. Everyone was friendly and hassle-free.
Diving at Cozumel spoiled me. I'm already thinking of when I'll go back. After staying up north, I think I'd stay closer to town next time. The Plaza las Glorias looked very appealing from the boat as we whizzed past: I'd be tempted to stay there.
Some final comments: My wife likes to snorkel, so I tried to find good spots for that. I was very disappointed with Chaunkanaab Park. People keep saying that it is a good site, but I don't see why: The shallows are all roped off the prevent the cruise ship hordes from doing any more damage, and there wasn't much coral to speak of. We checked out Dzul Ha: that was much better. Most of the coral patches were deeper than ideal for snorkelers (15 -20 feet), but at least there was a good amount of coral and fish population. Saw lots of Sargent Major spawning beds. Oh, there were tons of snorkel trip boats dumping off passengers there, which tells you something. On shore was a relaxed beach bar and snack bar. I'd hang out there rather than Chaunkanaab anyday. The most fish we saw snorkeling? Right at our hotel, the Sol Cabanas: their restaurant is right on the water so people feed the fish a lot. There is a nice rocky shoreline (but a good beach to enter from) with lots of habitat.
I wouldn't recommend Cozumel just for snorkeling. Hawaii, the BVI, and the Bahamas were much better for that. The diving, though, that was simply superb!
