Favorite Memories from the SB Invasion 2022 Cozumel

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ROXANNE

Artist
ScubaBoard Supporter
Messages
4,305
Reaction score
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Location
Florida, USA
# of dives
1000 - 2499

Favorite Memories from the SB Invasion 2022 Cozumel

This is our thread for the Crew to share your comments,
favorite dives, top side memories, videos, photos

and trip reports from this year's
ScubaBoard Invasion 2022 to Cozumel.


Group Crew Pic


Group Pic.jpg


Farewell Video



Let's see all your fun memories!

:grouphug2::clearmask::clearmask::grouphug2::clearmask::clearmask::grouphug2:
 
Thank you Roxanne and Dennis for a great trip.
Thanks to all of the sponsors who helped by adding such great prizes.
And thanks to group 7 for tolerating the gimp for 11 dives.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the Scubaboard.com Invasion 2022 Cozumel, it was a great introduction for me to Cozumel diving.

A big thanks to Shearwater Research for donating the Perdix 2 dive computers, being able to use one saved me a great deal of worry when my Cobra dive computer's NDL calculations went haywire. The Perdix 2 is a most impressive dive computer.

Thanks to scuba.com for donating so many gift certificates, I was fortunate enough to win one and will certainly soon utilize it as part of a purchase.

Thanks to super divemaster Jose of Dive Paradise for taking such good care of dive group 5, and thanks to the other members of dive group 5 for making the dives, surface internals, and dive site transits enjoyable.

Thanks to Chairman Pete for his frog kick pointers and for explaining the allure of Florida cave diving.

And most of all a huge thanks to Roxanne and Dennis for all of the effort they expended arranging and managing this Invasion.
 
I am posting this here, too, as well as the original thread post, so folks do not miss this:

I need to post a heads up to my fellow Invaders.
I just tested Positive for Covid on a home test kit.
What started out on Thurs as a stomach bug, and was improving quickly, morphed into a wicked head cold while we were traveling home yesterday.
Because of massive flight delays we did not get to my brother's until 4AM.
I was too exhausted to test then but I just took the test.

Obviously there was an exposure at some point during our Invasion, and I want everyone to be aware, and alert for symptoms.
 
Wow. Hard to believe it's over. 😭

But all good things come to an end, including this increadible vacation. I've put together a trip report here highlighting my perspective of the time for anyone interested.

Can't thank @ROXANNE and @cardzard enough for all the hard work putting together a fantastic week. I'm quite certain you've created repeat customers in us. :cuddles:

Thanks to all the sponsors that made the trip exciting beyond just the diving! My youngest is already eyeing the new fins I scored, even before I get my hands on them. I think not! :letsparty:

And a final thanks to EVERYONE who attended (with special thanks to the Great Eight!) and made the vacation one I won't soon forget.

Looking forward to hopefully seeing ya'll again in [redacted]! :yeahbaby:

-- Matt
 
(Reposting here, since I accidentally posted it in the wrong thread initially - blame it on COVID!!)

Favorite memories - Grupo 8 - Best dive group, ever!!!! I loved how compatible our group was. And @Queen Triggerfish is the best insta-buddy ever!

I haven't done dive travel with a group of people I didn't know ahead of time before, but I've been to Cozumel 3 times as a lone diver who got dumped into a group and assigned a buddy. So I'm used to being dumped quickly off the boat and chasing my assigned dive buddy who is off on an agenda all their own - so I typically see more of their fins than of the surrounding seascape

This was nothing like that! Long leisurely dives with plenty of time to explore - and a buddy who was not only aware she had a buddy - but knew where I was! And a dive leader who very quickly assessed our group and used that assessment to maximize our time and enjoy in the water.

I was also impressed with the care Dive Paradise took with any diver whose needs weren't the norm - especially those who needed a little more time and attention getting into or out of the water.

The "baby" nurse shark (around 3') hiding in a spongue (I think) was really cute! And a hawksbill turtle who swam in and settled between @Queen Triggerfish and me for a nice long chat!

We also saw two coatimundis playing as we were leaving. Unfortunately, our arms were full of bags so we didn't get a photo.

Great trip! I'm looking forward to doing it again!
 
Thanks to Dennis and Roxanne for putting this trip together and a big thanks to Jose "the last Mayan king" for diving with us all week.

Thanks to dive paradise for the night dives they gave out at the opening party I put it to good use during the week.
 
For sure appreciate Dennis and Roxane for all their hard work. They are true rockstars. Overall an enjoyable trip because of their tireless efforts! I’m glad to have attended and met lots of nice people. Thanks to everyone for making it a great event in spite of the venue.

The frontline staff at the resort were mostly friendly and bent over backwards to make the stay as nice as possible. The wait staff in the pool area were tireless and hero’s of the whole resort. In general, the staff were the shining star of an otherwise old hotel. That being said, I will never go back to Hotel Cozumel or use Dive Paradise again. Disappointing hotel and dive op.

Here are a few reasons for this decision:
Hotel-
*AC was great. Super cold all week!
*Swimming pool looked nice although I did not use.
*Food was mediocre with limited choices and mostly repeating the same bland items over and over.
*Fish choice was usually shrimp cooked so long it was mushy in the shell. A couple nights did have a better white fish.
*Limited staffing at the made to order stations, particularly breakfast caused long waits.
*Hotel was clean but overall old with tiny bathrooms - sitting on the toilet my knees hit the wall in front of it and I’m not tall.
*Bikes were an appreciated hidden gem, but limited hours of use and difficult to check out.
*Resort was unable to support our wrap up party timing, basic AV needs, clean tablecloths or staff to support.
*Not the fault of the resort, but would have been nice if they were more proactive in notifying guests about the cost of taxi to the airport. I talked to two fellow attendees who got ripped off by the taxis and my driver was visibly mad when I simply said, "no that’s not the correct charge" after he tried the rip-off.

Diving-
*Boat crew very helpful with divers who needed assistance donning gear or less stable on the boat.
*Boats extremely slow - we had four days on Aries or Atlantis which took about 75 minutes+ to get to Palancar and consistently back to the hotel at 2pm+ except on days when we compromised on dive sites.
*A couple days the boat was packed so tight we had to take turns setting up our gear.
*Disappointed to see that the boat tips were pooled. I believe tipping is a personal decision and the combined tip jar nullifies everyone’s ability to directly reward individual performance unless they tipped before hand.
*We were refused 7:30am Friday morning shore dive tank rentals due to "boats at the dock" however none were observed and I heard later there were only one or two all morning (unconfirmed).
*Hidden gem - this refusal forced us to walk down to Blue Angel and discover their shore dive is much better than Dive Paradise.
*Inconsistent implementation with "off limits" dive sites compared to what was shared earlier.
*One person on our team had problems getting the 100cf tanks he paid for.
*Expensive for what you get - $100 per two tank boat dive with Nitrox is only slightly less then with the "boutique" dive ops who clean and store everything and use small fast boats.

I’ll say again, this is not intended as a reflection on Roxanne, Dennis, or Pete. I very much appreciated all their efforts.

edit to respond to @drrich2 follow up questions below:
Why is BA dive site better? It has quite a lot of rocks, coral, etc. just to the north which attracts a larger variety of fish. We saw multiple eels, not just the sharp tails, two lionfish and etc. The fence to the south and the various pieces of cement is less attractive but provided much more cover for fish than at DP. We got more depth quickly and not just grass like at DP if you leave the iron shore area.

Taxi rip-off - Perhaps alleged is an accurate word to use, but I wouldn’t select it. I was told directly by the taxi driver that the bill was $300 pesos. When I told him in a not unfriendly tone that it was actually $200, he took the money and after being quite chatty on the entire ride, left abruptly without another word. I had to chase after him and signal to roll the window down so I could give him the tip.
 
*Disappointed to see that the boat tips were pooled. I believe tipping is a personal decision and the combined tip jar nullifies everyone’s ability to directly reward individual performance unless they tipped before hand.
This may be a matter of perspective; pooled tipping makes tipping easier - just stick it in the jar and let the staff sort it out.

I talked to two fellow attendees who got ripped off by the taxis and my driver was visibly mad when I simply said, "no that’s not the correct charge" after he tried the rip-off.
How much extra was the alleged rip-off? Glad you didn't get taken.

*Hidden gem - this refusal forced us to walk down to Blue Angel and discover their shore dive is much better than Dive Paradise.
Can you explain what was better? I ask because on-site shore diving is a selling point for some places; Hotel Cozumel and Scuba Club Cozumel on one hand, Blue Angel Resort on the other. It may help others to know the difference.

Richard.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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