Best dives

[cvchief]

Well, there's Maracaibo which I like but one I really like that's closer in is VillaBlanca Wall (where I hit 159 feet). I just brought up my dive log on my laptop and once I hit 156 feet at Palancar Horseshoe so it's likely a wall.

.

Hmmm.... Maybe you are overweighted..... :angel:

 

[Doc Harry]

Paradise at night is, by far, the best dive I have ever done. If you're lucky enough to catch it when the current is mild, when you can really slow down and look, it's truly a spectacular dive.

I'm also a big fan of Yucab for the coral, sponges and fish

 

[Texas Torpedo]

Well, sometimes it's nice to see pristine reefs that haven't had the sh*t kicked out of them. And the vis IS good. It's not something I do every day and I don't think categorically that deeper is better. But now and again you get all divers on the boat with the capabilities and so you do so. If that kind of thing appeals to you.

Right on the money, M3..

No matter the "no gloves" policy in the marine park, and the sometimes excellent dive briefings about being careful on the reef (stay off it!), I regularly see divers beating the heck out of the more actively visited sites.. And it shows, if one knows the difference.

I'm not inviting anyone out for the tour, but those who have been beyond the recreational depths (hopefully trained) on many of the walls will recognize the difference.. Mostly in the reef but also in some of the marine life.. Yup, they know where the pressure isn't..

As for my vote for the best of Cozumel in both areas the OP inquired about.. Maracaibo all the way.. It is pristine in the shallows, and excellent in the deep.. All you need is skills / experience, a strong stomach if the ocean isn't asleep, and an operator that is willing to take you there.. It's the southern most dive site - right in sight of the lighthouse....

David

 

[jrl5549]

I do nto want to dive deeper I like the way the wall looks when it looks like it goes down for ever the feeling and look of being deep but only at the top of a very deep hole.
Also I am trying to figure out which dive I was on that I liked so much.

 

[stadevene]

Thought I'd bump this thread to ask my question. Similar to the last poster we aren't big into going deep. Often my wife takes a while to regulate so we tend to be closer to the top of the reef than the bottom. As such we'd be looking for sites where you don't need to be 80+ to see anything and also where the current isn't going to be ripping.

For example we dove Mnemba Atoll in Zanzibar and really didn't like it because you couldn't see anything as the current moved you along. We've done a lot of diving on the Roatan walls which we really like as we are able to take our time and see the macro sights.

The dive op we expect to go with in Coz has a set schedule. With the above criteria in mind what would be the best combination for us? We're looking at 3 trips out over the week. EDIT: Trip is the 1st week of Jan.

Palancar Horseshoe
Paso del Cedral

Santa Rosa Wall
Tormentos Reef

Colombia Wall
San Fransisco Reef

Palancar Bricks
Yucab Reef

Palancar Caves
Paso del Cedral

Palancar Gardens
Punta Tunich

 

[scubadada]

Well, there's Maracaibo which I like but one I really like that's closer in is VillaBlanca Wall (where I hit 159 feet). Santa Rosa is a deeper wall dive and Tunich is also. Punta Sur is pretty deep but I'm not sure if I'd call it a wall - more like an enormous coral head but I may be wrong on that one. Deepest I've hit there is about 130 feet.

I just brought up my dive log on my laptop and once I hit 156 feet at Palancar Horseshoe so it's likely a wall.

There are probably many more that I've dived on top of the wall as second dives but I haven't dived them on first dives.

Those are all that I can deduce from laptop as all my old paper log books are in Cozumel. Hope that helps.

You dive deeper for a reason. I agree with MMM. The deeper, less visited areas of Cozumel are the most pristine, lush, and unspoiled. I'll exchange a slightly shorter dive for this advantage though I can often make up for it in multilevel.

Good diving, Craig