what's Coz water temp right now?

[tomcat114]

Possibly a silly question but is there a thermocline?? I am guessing not because nobody ever mentions it.

Cant wait for my trip less then 4 months now 8).

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Dear Marc,

I dove three times last week...had to because we were busy and in doing so I noticed a very odd thing for Cozumel.

Normal August water temp is 84-86 F and I had NEVER seen a thermocline in Cozumel. Of course there are always fresh water springs which at certain locations pour out into the ocean and I have seen them even well below 100 ft. Of course that is cooler water which can immdiately be felt, and the associated halocline (salt/fresh water mixing) makes the water look greasy. That is pretty normal.

But this last week I ran into many places around 80-100 feet, I felt cold water that was not associated with fresh water springs. My dive watch is slow to respond to temp changes but my guess is that the temp in these areas was about 78-80. That may not sound like much but since I dive with no wet suit in summer it was easlily noticed.

The temp changes were not a solidly level thermocline like I have seen in other locales but nevertheless they were real. In my 15 years in Cozumel I had not seen such cold water, or a layer/thermocline. Back in my crazier younger days I even carefully measured the water temp all the way down to 250 and saw absolutely no temperature change.

My uneducated guess is that when Hurricane Dean passed us by it has caused some upwelling from extreme depths. Maybe someone else may have a better guess.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[PlayaCountryBoy]

Maybe it's just from the change of seasons. I believe when seasons change, it brings about these "flashes" of cold water that comes up from the abyss affected by time of year and other other factors. Here the coldest time of the year is 78 F and the warmest at around 85 F. These thermoclines is just a way to lower the water's summer temp to the wintertime temp.

 

[halocline]

79-80 seems unseasonably cool for water temps this time of year. I'd be kind of surprised that actual temps are not higher, but maybe, as Dave says, the hurricane brought in some cooler water.

 

[Cozdreamer]

Thank you for all these replies! Great info.

 

[Christi]

I was surprised to see such variances in the water temps this past week or two, so I double checked my computer from Saturday's dives. My computer read 82 on Palancar Gardens and 84 at Paradise. I do remember a couple of cold patches, but in this case, they were as Dave describes, the fresh water springs...they weren't solid and consistent enough to change the reading on my computer. Yesterday's and Wednesdays reports from my DM's were 83 to 84 respectively, with max depths of 100ft.

 

[tomcat114]

Ahh cool guys thanks for the replys I guess I really have nothing to worry about, up here in MN and WI at the surface we are around 74 to 78 and down 25 feet or so drops down into the 40's hehe It actually will be a strange feeling not hitting any noticeable thermocline

 

[berick]

Just got back today from a week in Coz. Computers consistently said 85 and 86, but, my computer is consistently a degree or two warm.