A question for Christie or Dave .

[SeaFlea]

Greetings,We are old friends with Cozumel and will be returning next week for some diving, 9/20 - 27. I looked at the weather forecast and see some strong rain chances but not much winds to speak of. My question, will this type of weather keep dive operators from diving? I understand that the wind and the accompanying swells are the biggest factor in closing the port. What do you think we can expect?

Thanks to both of you. You always deliver good info about one of my favorite places on the planet.

Good dives, SeaFlea.

Christi, sorry I spelled your name wrong.

 

[Christi]

From

Greetings,We are old friends with Cozumel and will be returning next week for some diving, 9/20 - 27. I looked at the weather forecast and see some strong rain chances but not much winds to speak of. My question, will this type of weather keep dive operators from diving? I understand that the wind and the accompanying swells are the biggest factor in closing the port. What do you think we can expect?

Thanks to both of you. You always deliver good info about one of my favorite places on the planet.

Good dives, SeaFlea.

Christi, sorry I spelled your name wrong.

Welcome back to the island. From my FAQ sticky post at the top of the Cozumel forum, here is my answer Anything more would require myself or Dave (or anyone else) to have a crystal ball or to be God

The forecast says it's going to rain everyday, will I get to dive?

Rain does not close the port or cancel diving - wind does - you're going to get wet anyway.
* "Showers" is a very broad and SAFE prediction for the forecasters...they HAVE to make this prediction in the tropics. Like I said, it's a safe prediction.
* The forecast of rain simply means it might rain at some point somewhere on the island. ie: It may be raining in town, but bright and sunny at the reefs or vice versa OR it could be a light rain for 5 minutes OR it could be a heavy downpour for 30 minutes...get my point?
* If dives were cancelled every time there is rain somewhere on the island, we would rarely dive

Please don't be overly concerned with the weather forecasts unless God forbid it says we have a direct hit hurricane headed straight for us within the next 48 hours, then plan accordingly. For starters, it's out of everyone's control. The rest of those forecasts are generic, unreliable, unpredictable and simply mean there is a CHANCE it might rain SOMEWHERE on the island at SOME point during the day for some undetermined period of time and it could be light or heavy.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Rain happens almost daily in the tropics and seldom bothers diving. The biggest factor in closing or restricting the port is not just wind speed—but direction. The same wind speed from the North or North-West will close the port while from the east is just normal. And just a few degrees can make the difference. My best reference is windguru.com.

Christi is right on about hurricanes, we don't even think about it until we have a solid projection 48 hours in advance. And even then it is important to remember that the destructive part of a hurricane is actually pretty well limited to close proximity to the eye—big ocean, really small eyes. The same year Wilma hurt us bad, an eye of cat 4 hurricane Dean actually touched the south tip of the island with ZERO damage in town. And if an eye hits 100 miles away, no big deal.

Dave Dillehay

Aldora Divers

 

[Christi]

Don't forget Cat 4 Emily in July the same year of Wilma That one did hit us, then Wilma, then Dean skirted us

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

Just want to partially hijack this thread for a very public thank you to Christi and Dave. Your up to the minute information on Cozumel is a tremendous asset to this forum. I'm still a few years away from spending several months a year in my new home....but until then, at least I have Y'all. Thanks again.

Jay

 

[DandyDon]

Since Christi & Dave have already given you excellent answers, let me chime in too. Water repellent hooded jackets can be very helpful on a boat ride in the rain. If your Op doesn't provide those and you don't want to bother, then a couple of Survival Blankets might be a good idea. Small enough to fit in a pocket, weighs a few ounces, so easy to carry - but if you get chilled or just tired of getting hit by rain, very handy. Some only cost a couple of bucks.

Don't forget Cat 4 Emily in July the same year of Wilma That one did hit us, then Wilma, then Dean skirted us

That was a record year for North Atlantic storms, also including Rita barley missing Houston and Katrina laying waste to New Orleans, along with many others. The entire alphabetical list of names was exhausted and they had to start the secondary list.

The same year Wilma hurt us bad, an eye of cat 4 hurricane Dean actually touched the south tip of the island with ZERO damage in town.

I agree that you are one of our valuable authorities and always appreciate your input, but Wilma was in 2005 while Dean was in 2007 - and "The storm made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula on August 21 as a powerful Category 5 storm." That one was a classic Cape Verge storm that tracked all the way across the Atlantic in a line for Coz, Cat-4 until it got close. I foolishly flew to Coz while it was still approaching, thinking it would surely veer off - as if I know more than NHC's experts, got in 2 days of diving before escaping. It did veer off, but not until I had left, the boats were out of the water, and the town pretty well boarded up. My trips insurance paid ok, but I should have cancelled before leaving.

 

[scubadivingtom]

I will be there on November 8 for 10 days myself Ready to try out my new Dive Rite gear.

 

[SeaFlea]

Thanks very much for the replies. Looking forward to a great week.

Good Dives, SeaFlea

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Since Christi & Dave have already given you excellent answers, let me chime in too. Water repellent hooded jackets can be very helpful on a boat ride in the rain. If your Op doesn't provide those and you don't want to bother, then a couple of Survival Blankets might be a good idea. Small enough to fit in a pocket, weighs a few ounces, so easy to carry - but if you get chilled or just tired of getting hit by rain, very handy. Some only cost a couple of bucks.


That was a record year for North Atlantic storms, also including Rita barley missing Houston and Katrina laying waste to New Orleans, along with many others. The entire alphabetical list of names was exhausted and they had to start the secondary list.


I agree that you are one of our valuable authorities and always appreciate your input, but Wilma was in 2005 while Dean was in 2007 - and "The storm made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula on August 21 as a powerful Category 5 storm." That one was a classic Cape Verge storm that tracked all the way across the Atlantic in a line for Coz, Cat-4 until it got close. I foolishly flew to Coz while it was still approaching, thinking it would surely veer off - as if I know more than NHC's experts, got in 2 days of diving before escaping. It did veer off, but not until I had left, the boats were out of the water, and the town pretty well boarded up. My trips insurance paid ok, but I should have cancelled before leaving.

Sorry but I was thinking Dean when Christi got it right—Emily. Hard to keep track of all those names that year!

Dave

 

[DandyDon]

Sorry but I was thinking Dean when Christi got it right—Emily. Hard to keep track of all those names that year!

Dave

Impossible. They went thru the whole alphabetical name list, then started over with the Greek alphabet, ending with Zeta, but that's the sixth letter - not the last.