Rain?

[cvchief]

Well, I DID say 7 ISH. Depending on other divers that can be as late as 7:40 for me. And remember, I am in town, so by the time Jeremy picks me up, then picks up divers all along the way south, it is usually around 8 or 8:30 that we hit the water, depending on how many hotels we hit along the way and how prompt the other divers are. He does like to get an early start to adjust for longer bottom times and longer SI. I am generally the last one home, sometime between 1 and 2. If we didn't start until cruisers were ready, it would be getting dark by the time I got home!

Let me just tell you, there are FAR too many cruisers that can be at Caleta by 0800. FAR too many.

We need MORE 9 am cruisers.

Many days we have NO cruisers and the whole operation hinges on when I get to caleta.

 

[DjDiverDan]

And it is raining again. Sure is wet in Cozumel.
Did my first big girl dive- Santa Rosa wall. I was really nervous about the whole drop off thing but stayed at 70 ft and it was absolutely beautiful. Second dive was Paradise reef- really nice but came up in pouring rain. I liked seeing the snorkelers above us.

We must have been on Santa Rosa about the same time - our group dove Santa Rosa for the first dive on the 15th, but I spent most of my time between 85 and 95 feet - it was a good dive, but no Eagle Rays. Second dive was Punta Tunich, and the current was RIPPING. I saw three 3 Splendid Toadfish, and 1 of those I even found myself -- I'm mighty proud of that, since those little bearded freaks are hard to spot, I usually need a DM to point them out. Raining like hell when we came up - looking up from the safety stop, the surface looked like it was boiling. A cold, wet boat ride back to the pier, but any day of diving is a good day.

 

[Fireworkswi]

Has it been a normal December for rain fall? It sure seems like it rains a lot. Coming down from Sub zero temperatures it would be nice to see the sun a couple days next week.

 

[cvchief]

My rain experience for the last 12 was different, I guess. It did rain some, but didn't interfere much. Much of the rain during the morning seemed to all hit while we were under. Now September, I nearly drown walking from the car to Steve's Bday Blowout.

Saturday we went fishing and as we trolled around, I saw it raining in different spots around the island. Little pockets of rain.

 

[Fireworkswi]

Yeah, I try not to look at the weather. It can drive you crazy. We are diving every morning except Friday when we arrive. Don't mind if it rains while we dive. Any concerns about the 20-25 mph winds?

 

[cvchief]

Windguru is the favorite of a lot of ops: Wind Guru Cozumel

I am not an expert, but it looks like Saturday and Sunday might be a little rough in the far south? After that is looks not too windy at all.

 

[Fireworkswi]

Thanks!

 

[Christi]

Yeah, I try not to look at the weather. It can drive you crazy. We are diving every morning except Friday when we arrive. Don't mind if it rains while we dive. Any concerns about the 20-25 mph winds?

Nothing in the 7 day forecast concerns me as far as port closures go and I don't even see any 20 - 25mph reports you refer to

As Dave and I have both reinforced over and over again here, wind direction is more of a concern than the fact that there is wind. There will ALWAYS be wind coming from some direction - we are an island in the Caribbean after all . For example, a 20 - 25 mph wind from the east is non-significant for diving - it's actually great for us and for the surfers on the wild side

Here are my tips to everyone for worrying/not worrying yourselves over Cozumel weather - bottom line, don't give too much thought to the weather reports.

1. You can't do anything about it - ESPECIALLY a week out - as you said, it will drive you crazy - let your dive ops worry about this - trust me we do - and despite someone claiming that "nortes" are days "off" for us, they're NOT - it's actually more work and headache for us - not to mention to lost revenue.
2. most of the time they (rain forecasts) are not really accurate, except when they are Wind Guru and Buoyweather are my go to's for wind which ARE excellent sources
3. things can literally change overnight so the honest truth is that we REALLY don't know until each morning during a norte what the status is - even if it was blowing hard straight out of the North 2 hours ago - it could totally shift and be perfect conditions for boat navigation an hour later or vice versa - winds can pick up overnight. I for one will never cancel dives the night before regardless of the forecast - this past Monday was a perfect example! I will give an estimated liklihood, but we always have to wait for the official Harbor Master reports which are given each morning between 7:00 and 7:30am
4. Again, wind direction is primarily what we keep an eye out for when we are planning for/making accommodations for port closures - winds from the W, WNW, NW, N, NNE are usually game changers and will close the port until the wind shifts. NE ENE = still a chance that port will be open, this does depend on how strong the wind is and that little tiny degree shift will make a difference. E, ESE, SE - we're Golden - southerly winds can make southern dive sites rougher, but usually don't cause port closures
5. Rain? So what? Rain doesn't cancel diving and it doesn't rain underwater - I don't even pay attention to the "rain" forecast - it is what it is and I can't do a thing about it - so why waste energy worrying about it

So the moral to the story is don't worry about the weather or things that you can't change or control (and the wisdom to know the difference ;P) - enjoy your trip regardless of the weather - you're STILL on vacation and not sitting in the freezing cold, fighting the snow, sleet, bitter cold and trudging along in an office

BTW - here is the Wind Guru 7 day wind forecast:

 

[Christi]

PS - looking forward to seeing you two Fireworkswi

---------- Post added December 18th, 2013 at 03:17 PM ----------

Has it been a normal December for rain fall? It sure seems like it rains a lot. Coming down from Sub zero temperatures it would be nice to see the sun a couple days next week.

Maybe a little more than normal - but not much

October and November were crazy though and a ot more than normal

 

[Fireworkswi]

Thanks Christi

Good info. The reason I do ask whether or not this is an average December is to help me make a decision on changing the months we come visit Cozumel. I work the months of May, June & July so my schedule is pretty flexible the rest of the year on when we can visit. We would like to make it 4 times a year and spread the trips out. As far as worrying about this trip, no way. We are just glad to be diving and enjoying a stress free Christmas with friends. See you somewhere next week.