trip report Jan 13-18 aldora & casa mexicana

[soonerwatch]

This was my second time on the island and first time to dive with Aldora. Moved trip up a day to avoid a predicted ice storm that never happened. Arrival through passport control and customs was incredibly easy and quick.

Did 8 morning 2 tank dives with aldora. I had originally planned to add afternoon dives or night dives but the morning dives were all nice long dives so I cancelled the extra dives. Sites visited were planacar caves / bricks, tunich, maracabio,dailia, columbia deep, white house / caedral, punta sur, and santa rosa wall. Most dives were 60-80 minutes. I had a 3mil suit on and was chilly by the end of each dive. The dive coats on the boat were very welcome.

On the trip home I put together some gopro clips using imovie
Shot with gopro 3 white, backscatter flip 3.1 and a D11V archon light. The first part of the movie is the entry at Punta Sur where immediately we saw 6 spotted eagle rays. Video is OK, I was trying to descend and equalize while the rays were coming right at / above us! Other divers reported a similar experience at Punta Sur.

Would definitely dive with aldora again and would stay at casa mexicana again. Favorite restaurants were: Los Oates, fishermans mercado by the graveyard, La Choza, Maple Bakery and Zermat bakery, Kondesa, and Camillas.

 

[captnpat1982]

Video unavailable as of this posting.

 

[soonerwatch]

Changed video settings - should work now
https://youtu.be/t6QmpcUghMM

 

[Tool Belt]

We were at Casa Mexicana and Aldora the 14th-21st. Our first time with each. CM was great......would have been better if they started that breakfast at 6:45 though! Aldora is a fabulous operation. We dove with Dario and averaged 78 minute dives with the longest being 92. And yo....the parkas were much appreciated..

We also liked Los Otates (lunch most days) and La Choza. El Foco was also good. And the tortilla soup and ceviche at La Mission rocked.

Hope to be back next year.

Did not realize you are Lee until I saw the video. Tom and Rhonda here.

 

[soonerwatch]

Hi Tom and Rhonda! Enjoyed meeting you and others! I went to COZ solo and met lots of like minded divers through Aldora. Definitely recommend aldora if you are traveling solo.

 

[Cozdreamer]

enjoyed video. thanks for sharing.

 

[Trailboss123]

Thanks for sharing Boomer Sooner! I always appreciate people taking the time to give a trip report.

 

[deepsea21]

Hey Sooner! Thanks so much for the video and review. I'm a HUGE fan of the Casa Mexicana (14 years now) and while we dive with 3P's these days Aldora is another that resides among the top 10. I especially liked your video around the 1:00 mark with that stingray hanging out resting on the side of that coral... Never seen one do that before as they are usually buried in the sand or on the move. That is one cool shot and he's like "I don't have to be buried or on the move... just hangin' out here for all to see". I've seen a lot of rays but I've never seen one do that and just sit there exposed as you approached and passed! FANTASTIC!