Shore Diving The Wall/drop Off?

[northernone]

-
Disclaimer:
Not recommened as a the dive unless trained/equipped/experienced for the potential hazards.

-

Questions and a dive report:

Currently doing wall shore diving Cozumel. The drop off is a 12-20 minute swim from shore, plenty of boat traffic, however makes a lovely drift on a pair of al80s . The current changes rapidly so a reef hook on the limestone is a reassuring back up to some diagonal finning unil the current settles again.

Getting there 2/3 of the swim out is in 20-35ft water and the last third drops to 55-70ft where the drop off begin.

I've stuck to the 80-110ft level along the active reef, but there is deep blue below me with plenty of wall to appreciate.

Drift along the wall, return to shore, taxi back to the dive shop wet with the tanks in the trunk. No issues with the 5 taxis so far.

A few dive shops have been surprised and assure me the wall is a boat dive only site. A forum search didn't show me any other divers doing it either.

Anyone have some tips of some nice entry points or particularly lovely segments to drift along? So far only been to the regular spots north of the cruise ship dock.

I'm also concerned how vigorous the downwellings can be on the reef? My mask band is under my hood as a precautionary measure. Is this overkill?

Regards,
Cameron

 

[dberry]

I didn't quite follow - did you swim out on the surface, or on SCUBA? 20 minutes on the surface with all the dive boat traffic sounds scary. Also, are you talking about the Santa Rosa Wall, or is there another site just called "The Wall"? (There are a couple other "walls" listed on my map of the sites.)

 

[northernone]

Sorry. In clarification.

The swim out is on SCUBA along the bottom. Yes certainly wouldn't like the game of frogger dodging pangas if it was on the surface. Only takes 500-800 psi of an al80 following the bottom out depending on current.

I'm using the term the wall as the generic term for the abrupt drop off into the channel between Cozumel and the mainland. I've dive the shore sites from Villablanca north to the Mega grocery.

Hope that clarifies.


Cheers,
Cameron

 

[nodakdive]

I've never done it as a shore dive, but we've dropped in south of Villa Blanca, almost directly in front of Casa del Mar. You enter at the Tikila Bar. Any time I've done this dive we've called it Villa Blanca Wall, though technically I suppose you'd call it Casa del Mar Wall. We've rolled in north of there too, but still south of Villa Blanca. Maybe you could taxi dry to Tikila and get out wet at wherever you're staying?

 

[MMM]

-
Disclaimer:
Not recommened as a the dive unless trained/equipped/experienced for the potential hazards.

A few dive shops have been surprised and assure me the wall is a boat dive only site. A forum search didn't show me any other divers doing it either.

Anyone have some tips of some nice entry points or particularly lovely segments to drift along? So far only been to the regular spots north of the cruise ship dock.

I'm also concerned how vigorous the downwellings can be on the reef? My mask band is under my hood as a precautionary measure. Is this overkill?

Regards,
Cameron

I haven't gone as far as the Villa Blanca Wall (just the area in front of Blue Angel) as a shore dive but I know others that have. Some have even done it as a surface swim but I think about 20 feet down would be safer. You can do it from either the Villa Blanca pier or Blue Angel. I don't wear my mask under my hood, but whatever floats your boat....have only ever encountered downwellings on two or three occasions and in all cases, my mask stayed on my fact just fine.

 

[ReefHound]

Sorry. In clarification.

The swim out is on SCUBA along the bottom. Yes certainly wouldn't like the game of frogger dodging pangas if it was on the surface. Only takes 500-800 psi of an al80 following the bottom out depending on current.

I'm using the term the wall as the generic term for the abrupt drop off into the channel between Cozumel and the mainland. I've dive the shore sites from Villablanca north to the Mega grocery.

Hope that clarifies.


Cheers,
Cameron

Do you enter from shore at a specific location or just wherever you feel like any given day?

Sounds pretty simple, as long as everything goes well. What's the plan if it doesn't?

What's the motivation? The challenge, saving money, or something else?

 

[Bison Ravi]

-
Disclaimer:
Not recommened as a the dive unless trained/equipped/experienced for the potential hazards.

-

Questions and a dive report:

Currently doing wall shore diving Cozumel. The drop off is a 12-20 minute swim from shore, plenty of boat traffic, however makes a lovely drift on a pair of al80s . The current changes rapidly so a reef hook on the limestone is a reassuring back up to some diagonal finning unil the current settles again.

Getting there 2/3 of the swim out is in 20-35ft water and the last third drops to 55-70ft where the drop off begin.

I've stuck to the 80-110ft level along the active reef, but there is deep blue below me with plenty of wall to appreciate.

Drift along the wall, return to shore, taxi back to the dive shop wet with the tanks in the trunk. No issues with the 5 taxis so far.

A few dive shops have been surprised and assure me the wall is a boat dive only site. A forum search didn't show me any other divers doing it either.

Anyone have some tips of some nice entry points or particularly lovely segments to drift along? So far only been to the regular spots north of the cruise ship dock.

I'm also concerned how vigorous the downwellings can be on the reef? My mask band is under my hood as a precautionary measure. Is this overkill?

Regards,
Cameron

Never done it, but I like the idea. The only thing I'd worry about is if for some reason (maybe current?) I couldn't make it back to shore. I think I'd bring a phone in a dry box and have someone wait for my call.

Are you from Waskaganish, Quebec? I must have spent 6 months there over the years, good times!

 

[ggunn]

I have done it a few times. El Cid to Villblanca and Villablanca to Blue Angel. At El Cid you can surface swim most of the way out because of the sailboat mooring area there. I recommend starting back from the wall with no less than 1000psi in an AL80.

 

[northernone]

Great entry points! Thanks for sharing, and another experience of how the downwellings hit. We'll give ElCid a try, I am fond of sailboats!

Waskaganish yes, my home port. Do you still come north?

My love for shore diving is largely due to the flexibility, the 2+ hour dives and the opportunity to avoid the hassles of boat diving. Same contingencies as any volatile current / soft overhead environment, just glad there are fewer cargo boats willing to chum me compared to the Saint Laurence waterway. The water is a tad warmer this time of year as well.

 

[ReefHound]

I have done it a few times. El Cid to Villblanca and Villablanca to Blue Angel. At El Cid you can surface swim most of the way out because of the sailboat mooring area there. I recommend starting back from the wall with no less than 1000psi in an AL80.

Where did you get tanks? From satellite, looks like Casa del Mar would be easier. Seems like it would still be easier to take a bearing and swim out at 10-15'.