It was time for a change in scenery after staying and working from home for the past few months. Coupled with a new policy by my employer requiring a reduction in accrued vacation before the end of the year, I needed to get away. Fortunately, Cozumel has opened. Downtown still lacks life and many places are still shuttered. It does look like things are returning, even during the week that I was there it seemed noticeable. I observed mainly divers, retirees, and a few families here; generally a responsible crowd and I felt less at risk of anything virusy here than anywhere in public at home. (Cancun is likely a very different story right now, and I probably would not have made the trip if it required the bag drag and ferry.) On the island, there were lots of temperature checks, mandatory hand sanitizing, and frequent cleaning protocols. Restaurant choices were limited and according to others, those open have been available for mainly take out (due to seating limits). My normal hotel choices, Casa Mexicana and Bahia Suites were still closed. I booked at Bahia Suites, about a week in advance but they contacted me a few days prior to inform me that they had not reopened yet. They did offer a room at the Colonial Suites for around $40/night but Colonial has no balconies or places to dry wet items outside so I declined, narrowed down some alternates, but waited until I was here before confirming a place to stay.
I flew into Cozumel via DFW. Arrival procedures were not much different than pre Covid except for an extra health questionnaire form and walk past a thermal camera just before the sniffer dog. It seemed that more people than usual were getting red light at customs for a bag search, but I suspect this might be a quota and the seemingly higher rate was due to there being only 10-15 flights per week at the moment, some with very few passengers. I went right to the dive shop to drop gear.
Seeing how limited life and food options downtown appeared, I decided to stay at the Fiesta Americana with a last minute rate of around $88/night. I’m not the biggest fan of all inclusive places, but this did make food easy and and with such a low rate, I likely came out ahead. The hotel itself was nice with a clean, modern, ocean view room with balcony on the 6th floor. The hotel staff was welcoming and friendly; the food was descent although a little slow. There is 1 restaraunt open for breakfast, 2 for lunch, 2 for dinner (rotating italian, mexican, asian themed restaraunts) or room service. No buffets; everything is on order which must be a substantial change for the kitchens at all inclusive places. At dinner, reservations were required to control the number of guests inside the restaurants and tables were spaced safely apart. There were no physical menus passed around, just a QR code to scan that links to the menu on a phone. The lobby/pool bar was open but never crowded. The hotel seemed pretty quiet and everyone had plenty of space. I think that if it was filled to capacity it could feel cramped, but I was pleased with the stay and value for this trip.
Aldora Divers is open and diving; I logged 17 dives with them during the week. The experience on this trip only solidified previous experiences with Aldora and I’d find it difficult to consider diving with anyone else. The dive boats conveniently picked up and dropped off right at the hotel’s pier except for a trip north. Aldora staff will still care for all gear except for regs and masks. All of the trips had less than 4 other divers and 1 guide on the boat. The guides at Aldora are excellent and I had the pleasure of diving with Didier, Mateo, Sherrif, and Steve. Aldora does an excellent job of pairing compatible groups of divers and bend over backwards to accommodate requests. I managed to only pack one ball clamp for my strobe arm that needs two and I asked Memo if he knew where to buy one. One was promptly found and sent on my boat the next day. Although Aldora’s dive prices are not the cheapest on Cozumel, the experience and knowledge of the staff is worth the premium. The steel tanks and generous fills mean more time to enjoy the dives; a 125 min dive on Columbia Shallows was the longest.
The currents seemed different for this trip. Sites where you might be prepared for a good drift, there was little to none. Other sites that are normally a bit calmer were ripping. The normally north flowing currently was feeling fickle and we experienced south current on two days. For the most part, visibility was excellent. There was some sagarassum on several days but only a minor nuissance at most. Water temp was 83 and weather on the surface was great besides an isolated rain shower one or two days.
A 3 tank trip to the north was well worth the the day. The first stop was the most remote to a deep wall around 30 meters and was the shortest dive of the day at 49 mins limited by to no deco time and there is little to see and no place to stop on your ascent. The group did bag some lionfish which would become delicious fresh ceviche between the 2nd and final dives. We spent the surface interval on the boat as we made our way to the next site. The second dive was at a location with several beautiful plateaus and arches. The site was pristine and unfortunately the supposedly normally calm current gave us a workout. Lots of thermoclines here may have been an indication of an irregular current. I’d particularly enjoy returning to this site and the final site, Gatos Reef. During the surface interval we went to shore, walked to a mayan ruin site, and enjoyed that deilcious civiche back on the boat before making our way to the final site, Gato’s reef which was named for our captain that day. Gato’s was superb, filled with gently swaying sea fans, sea whips, and soft corals. Tons of tiny fish life and rarely visited by divers. Although certainly not as dramatic as the southern sites on Cozumel, the topography of shallow valleys, small pits, and overhands in the reef gave it plenty of variation and places for life. I can easily entertain myself here for many more dives.
My trip ended with dives at Maracaibo and Columbia shallows, both of which were excellent sites and had been mentioned by other divers during this trip. Weather on the last day was fairly calm with less current and smaller swells than expected. Spectacular corals here but not a site that is frequented due to the distance. Columbia shallows was my final dive of this trip and a perfect 2 hour “deco stop” with abundant coral, small fish life, and small lazy nurse shark. My favorite scene from this dive was a healthy formation of elkhorn coral atop a pinnacle just before we ended the dive. It was a great week of diving with a fantastic group of other divers topped off by the wonderful dive, boat, and shop staff at Aldora. I hope to be back this winter if not sooner.
I know some may think its too soon to travel, but based on my experience, Cozumel is operating responsibly. Reasonable precautions appear to be in place at most places and exceed what I have seen implemented at home. All of the residents that I interacted with were grateful to see some tourism activity allowed to return. Their resilient spirits and welcoming attitudes made this trip feel appreciated. I in turn appreciated the diving, uncrowded atmosphere and obvious absense of cruise ships.
I flew into Cozumel via DFW. Arrival procedures were not much different than pre Covid except for an extra health questionnaire form and walk past a thermal camera just before the sniffer dog. It seemed that more people than usual were getting red light at customs for a bag search, but I suspect this might be a quota and the seemingly higher rate was due to there being only 10-15 flights per week at the moment, some with very few passengers. I went right to the dive shop to drop gear.
Seeing how limited life and food options downtown appeared, I decided to stay at the Fiesta Americana with a last minute rate of around $88/night. I’m not the biggest fan of all inclusive places, but this did make food easy and and with such a low rate, I likely came out ahead. The hotel itself was nice with a clean, modern, ocean view room with balcony on the 6th floor. The hotel staff was welcoming and friendly; the food was descent although a little slow. There is 1 restaraunt open for breakfast, 2 for lunch, 2 for dinner (rotating italian, mexican, asian themed restaraunts) or room service. No buffets; everything is on order which must be a substantial change for the kitchens at all inclusive places. At dinner, reservations were required to control the number of guests inside the restaurants and tables were spaced safely apart. There were no physical menus passed around, just a QR code to scan that links to the menu on a phone. The lobby/pool bar was open but never crowded. The hotel seemed pretty quiet and everyone had plenty of space. I think that if it was filled to capacity it could feel cramped, but I was pleased with the stay and value for this trip.
Aldora Divers is open and diving; I logged 17 dives with them during the week. The experience on this trip only solidified previous experiences with Aldora and I’d find it difficult to consider diving with anyone else. The dive boats conveniently picked up and dropped off right at the hotel’s pier except for a trip north. Aldora staff will still care for all gear except for regs and masks. All of the trips had less than 4 other divers and 1 guide on the boat. The guides at Aldora are excellent and I had the pleasure of diving with Didier, Mateo, Sherrif, and Steve. Aldora does an excellent job of pairing compatible groups of divers and bend over backwards to accommodate requests. I managed to only pack one ball clamp for my strobe arm that needs two and I asked Memo if he knew where to buy one. One was promptly found and sent on my boat the next day. Although Aldora’s dive prices are not the cheapest on Cozumel, the experience and knowledge of the staff is worth the premium. The steel tanks and generous fills mean more time to enjoy the dives; a 125 min dive on Columbia Shallows was the longest.
The currents seemed different for this trip. Sites where you might be prepared for a good drift, there was little to none. Other sites that are normally a bit calmer were ripping. The normally north flowing currently was feeling fickle and we experienced south current on two days. For the most part, visibility was excellent. There was some sagarassum on several days but only a minor nuissance at most. Water temp was 83 and weather on the surface was great besides an isolated rain shower one or two days.
A 3 tank trip to the north was well worth the the day. The first stop was the most remote to a deep wall around 30 meters and was the shortest dive of the day at 49 mins limited by to no deco time and there is little to see and no place to stop on your ascent. The group did bag some lionfish which would become delicious fresh ceviche between the 2nd and final dives. We spent the surface interval on the boat as we made our way to the next site. The second dive was at a location with several beautiful plateaus and arches. The site was pristine and unfortunately the supposedly normally calm current gave us a workout. Lots of thermoclines here may have been an indication of an irregular current. I’d particularly enjoy returning to this site and the final site, Gatos Reef. During the surface interval we went to shore, walked to a mayan ruin site, and enjoyed that deilcious civiche back on the boat before making our way to the final site, Gato’s reef which was named for our captain that day. Gato’s was superb, filled with gently swaying sea fans, sea whips, and soft corals. Tons of tiny fish life and rarely visited by divers. Although certainly not as dramatic as the southern sites on Cozumel, the topography of shallow valleys, small pits, and overhands in the reef gave it plenty of variation and places for life. I can easily entertain myself here for many more dives.
My trip ended with dives at Maracaibo and Columbia shallows, both of which were excellent sites and had been mentioned by other divers during this trip. Weather on the last day was fairly calm with less current and smaller swells than expected. Spectacular corals here but not a site that is frequented due to the distance. Columbia shallows was my final dive of this trip and a perfect 2 hour “deco stop” with abundant coral, small fish life, and small lazy nurse shark. My favorite scene from this dive was a healthy formation of elkhorn coral atop a pinnacle just before we ended the dive. It was a great week of diving with a fantastic group of other divers topped off by the wonderful dive, boat, and shop staff at Aldora. I hope to be back this winter if not sooner.
I know some may think its too soon to travel, but based on my experience, Cozumel is operating responsibly. Reasonable precautions appear to be in place at most places and exceed what I have seen implemented at home. All of the residents that I interacted with were grateful to see some tourism activity allowed to return. Their resilient spirits and welcoming attitudes made this trip feel appreciated. I in turn appreciated the diving, uncrowded atmosphere and obvious absense of cruise ships.
