My daughter and I just returned from our first dive trip to Cozumel. We went with Dive with Martin and stayed in a villa in town. It was neat leaving on the fast boats for the divesites and seeing the Rhapsody of the Seas moored at the pier. I recalled my first visit to Cozumel a few years ago
.as a cruisero! While snorkeling there, I watched some divers under us heading out to the reef. I remember thinking, Now that looks like an awesome way to go. OW certification wasnt far behind and now I are one! Weve done the liveaboard several times since and so it was three years later before we got back to Coz to dive. We did our homework
.lots of forum reading, private emails to folks in the know, and heavy internet surfing/checking maps. (A very special thanks is in order here to ggunn
.his drift diving checklist was thorough and proved invaluable
no surprises when we got into the diving.) Thank you sir!
The Diving: The good reports I read on the board about this DWM were right on, and were so glad we chose them. The entire staff works hard and shows lots of hustle, whether its hauling 80 lbs of lead weight to the boat, changing out tanks in record time, or checking out every crevice for something cool to show us divers. They took good care of us and our gear and were polite and professional with everyone
.even a boorish and irritable guy who demanded to be taken to Devils Throat (with an anxious wife who dove the entire time clinging to his shoulder D-ring, totally unfamiliar with her rig.) No, we didnt go and he pouted the rest of the trip. The DM had taken a lot of video so our free video with the dive package was well done.
The drift diving was a little different than I expected
.the current wasnt bad at all, wed been in faster stuff on the liveaboards so it was nice to go for the ride and then have the boat there at surface time. Again, with the tips from the board, we stayed low on the coral and saw so much sealife, large and small. I think the folks who were drifting 8 foot above and hanging vertical for most of the dive missed a lot. My idea of the perfect setup would be a live aboard offering 4 dives a day in Cozumel, with one dive per day spent on just 2 or 3 coral heads.
The Shopping & Hawkers: Being ex-pod persons, we knew better than to hang out on the main drag anytime other than Sunday. We did our shopping in our neighborhood and bought several items at 1/3 the cost of those on the main street. As women traveling alone we never felt threatened or hassled. I hadnt expected that, having lived close to border towns in Texas.
The Local Scene: Since our villa was back off the oceanstrip about 6 blocks into town, we didnt encounter the hawkers or the cruiseros much. Without exception, the locals we met were friendly and oftentimes very helpful. We both speak pretty good Spanish and that seemed to help break the ice. Some of the things that impressed me most were the very clean streets, the laid back happy dogs, and the total lack of bugs, I counted 3 flies the whole time we were there. The only thing that un-nerved me were the scooters darting about loaded with entire families, including very small children. But the single accident we observed was between two touristas one of which apparently didnt know what alto meant. We went to the west side of the island one day and it was pretty isolated, had it to ourselves and enjoyed it a lot more than Bimini!
The Food: Again, we counted heavily on the restaurant poll and reviews on Scubaboard for restaurants. We usually had our biggest meal at lunch and then went to the villa for a nap/reading before dinner out or an evening dive. We often shared an entrée and split dessert so we got by really cheap, since the prices werent as low as wed hoped this proved to be a good plan. Many times we were the only patrons at some of the restaurants. Ive never had lobster as good as that at the Lobster House, and Especial was a favorite. Cozs real chips and guacamole were a mainstay. The tip about shopping at the supermarket was a winner, several nights we were pretty tired and ate in. Chocoholics that we are we had taken some Dove chocolates, and M & Ms, along with homemade trailmix and jerky.
The Villa: What started as a group of 8 dwindled to 4, and then down to only the two of us. So we were rattling around in a big villa (but at least everyone who cancelled had paid their share.) Towards the end of the week I was thinking Im not so sure Id want to be in such close quarters with 6 other folks anyway. That combined with the fact our maid spent more time on making towel critters than washing the silverware and mopping the kitchen floor has convinced us that next time well go with Caribe Blu or some other smaller, beachfront hotel.
Our high point was a dolphin we saw off the wall over deeper water
..we hadnt expected to be so fortunate, it was my daughters first and I bought her a little while onyx one as a remembrance in one of the shops. It sits on her computer stand now, reminding her to work on her Spanish and stay in shape for our next trip to Coz. Its hard to beat the diving there with a direct flight out of Houston for us cost-conscious, warm water Texans!
Apenas cuenta de los días hasta la vez próxima!
