Undercurrent Review of Coz!!

[Damselfish]

OTOH, someone who goes a variety of places and only gets to a place every few years, may be more objective than someone who tends not to visit other places and is so fond of a place that they go there several times per year.

(disclaimer: I've never been to Coz and have no opinion about it.)

 

[Christi]

OTOH, someone who goes a variety of places and only gets to a place every few years, may be more objective than someone who tends not to visit other places and is so fond of a place that they go there several times per year.

Point taken. I did say that the report Doc wrote on Scubadiving.com was objective...I was not slamming him or his report...just pointing out that there are other objective and balanced reports out there as well, some with more actual first hand experience...and Domino's was not one of them.

 

[humanphibian]

I just got back yesterday, and althought it's just another opinion....Here is what I have to add:

Hiroshima......It is NOT.

To add yet another analogy, Cozumel looks like she got her @$$ kicked in a bar fight. She has picked herself up, dusted off, and is well on the road to recovery. She got hit...HARD... and things will be rebuilt with the knowlege learned form what happened this time.

Sure there is some visible damage, and things will be different from now on, but not necessarily in a bad way. The people are working day and night (literally!) to get everything back to a better than Pre-Wilma state. There are pieces of heavy equipment on the island that to my knowlege have never been there before. There are modern construction practices being used now that were not used in the original construction of buildings and infrastructure. Cozumel will get a chance to put in place things that it never had before. When the cruise ships started arriving en mass a few years ago, the island was behind the curve on facilities and services to handle all of the additional people. They are now getting an opportunity to catch up.

The reef has damage in places, and other spots appear untouched. The damaged spots are showing signs of regrowth. The signs are small but they are there. It will not heal overnight, but hey,...it's progress.

Christi has a picture of a toadfish hanging in her office that she took after Wilma. It is in a little hidey-hole and has some sand on his forehead. We were takling about possible captions for it and I thought that it would sum things up great if it were to read:

"We might be a little dusty, but we're still here....come down and see us!"

 

[ggunn]

OTOH, someone who goes a variety of places and only gets to a place every few years, may be more objective than someone who tends not to visit other places and is so fond of a place that they go there several times per year.

(disclaimer: I've never been to Coz and have no opinion about it.)

OK, but on the other other hand, the question that won't go away is that of how post Wilma Cozumel diving compares with pre Wilma Cozumel diving, not so much how it compares to GBR or Red Sea diving (both of which are places I would dearly love to dive someday despite my affinity for Cozumel). That is a different, though non-trivial, question. Someone who has been diving the Cozumel reefs for many years and saw them both shortly before and shortly after Wilma's passage might be (IMO) more acutely aware of the changes thus wrought than someone to whom Cozumel is just one of many dive destinations and who hasn't been there in a while.

In the end, it's all to some degree subjective; I'll grant you that. But even that is useful information; to someone else who shares an affinity to Cozumel (which is true of many of us who post here) the opinions of a kindred soul who has been there and seen it for themselves are worth something.

 

[pilot fish]

OTOH, someone who goes a variety of places and only gets to a place every few years, may be more objective than someone who tends not to visit other places and is so fond of a place that they go there several times per year.

(disclaimer: I've never been to Coz and have no opinion about it.)

That's true and a reason to listen to what the Doc V says, ALONG WITH a bunch of other opinions, and Christi. His should not be the last word, nor should anyone else's be the last word, pro or con. You should listen to a consensus of divers that have been there and form your own opinion. Let me add mine, as inconsequential as it is.

Maybe I'm losing it but if I had not known about the storm I could not have been able to tell there was a very damaging storm there easily. You really had to look for damage. Aside from a gazebo missing, a hotel been refurbished, you would think it was just the normal building going on. The only real damage I noticed was the destroyed palm trees as we headed south on the dive boat. That is noticeable. I did not travel around the island but walked into town a few times. If I did not already know about the storm I could not have been able to tell from the shops I visited, or the twon square, that it was all under water during the storm. Again, I was not looking for stuff but just getting a feel for things.

The diving. As I said in a thread a few months ago, shallow reefs would get damage and deeper ones very, very little to NO damage. Palancar Gardens and Villa Blanca sites were boring before the storm, the storm did not make them less boring, just a bit different. The deeper sites are still thrilling and the best the Caribe has to offer.

If you have plans to go to Coz, keep them. If you have not been to Coz, you should go.

 

[Giggi]

I'm not a seasoned diver and I am completely biased. I love Cozumel...so there. nyah nyah!

 

[H20Bubbles]

I'm not a seasoned diver and I am completely biased. I love Cozumel...so there. nyah nyah!

We agree!!!

 

[Doc]

Is it a discussion of Cozumel, Doc V, or is it a thread started by somebody who wants you to subscribe to pay for a newsletter? Is it all three?

Cozumel is still a wonderful place for a dive vacation. It is the place in the Caribbean/Gulf Basin to have a taste of both worlds, topside and below, at an affordable price. In neither category is it elegant or top of the ladder, but combine the two and you have a real champion. Huricane? Get over it- the reef is!

Doc loves Cozumel. Cozumel loves Doc. You might say, the know him. By name. Kind of ruins his secret objectivity, but... Some believe him to be a God, some face other prophets, some find the truth all on their own.

Undercurrent has long been promoted at various SCUBA related sites as a panacea for what you need to know before you go. Provable fact that they have solicited and accepted advertising money. That's not the point. This forum and others is designed for the sharing of information. If it's all that good, why not cut and paste it? The adding of a link that takes you to a pay-for-sign-in page is telling.

If you can aimlessly yack about it (not spamming, I am certain) why not share a little of the manna with us?

Cozumel is recovering well. Go and see what happens to a reef after a big storm. then go back in a few years. It should amaze you if you are good observer.

 

[domino22]

Well, can you post it? I don't know what undercurrent is or how to get it.

Well I do not have a scanner on my computer. But anyone who would be ok with a photo copy of the article, PM me with a address to send it too and I would be happy to send it to you. I do not know about copyright right laws but I am willing to photocopy the article and send it to people who want to read it and hopefully you to will join "Undercurrent". They will not accept AD'S from anyone so they are non bias. PM me if you want a copy. Undercurrent started long before the internet was like it is today. I subscribed to "Undercurrent" in the late 1970"s or so. Because of bad trips and bad operators, this was a long time before the internet was around for the general public. Well PC's as a matter of fact. I was diving with a horse collar BC! Most on this site may or may not even know what that is!! You want to read it PM me!!

 

[DandyDon]

To add yet another analogy, Cozumel looks like she got her @$$ kicked in a bar fight. She has picked herself up, dusted off, and is well on the road to recovery. She got hit...HARD... and things will be rebuilt with the knowlege learned form what happened this time.

Something about anything said by a feller in a broad brim hat.

Headed that way Friday.