Blue angel questions

[ggunn]

I have been staying at Blue Angel ever since it was La Perla, which was several owners ago. I can't imagine staying anywhere else.

No shore diving on Cozumel can compare with the boat dives when it comes to walls, pinnacles and sheer density of life, but I always have fun shore diving at Blue Angel.

I'm sure tanks are no problem if you are staying there; they may not charge you for them even if you are diving with someone else. I dive with them, though, and I love the op.

The stingray pen does offer a little shelter from the current.

I wish I were there now...

 

[Tunaman68]

Great info from all the regulars! I love the dive, even though it's nothing like the big reefs - however, it's warm, the viz is good, and there is lots of stuff to look at if you go slow.

The current is there, but not unmanageable (at least in the 8-10 times I've done the dive). We are going to finally take a tank up to Villa Blanca and cruise home this trip, we never seem to be able to fit that in somehow. Usually it's just kick around the end of the stingray pen and beyond for 1/2 a tank, then ride the current back.

Here's the shore entry - when a boat goes by it will generate some ankle slappers, but other than that - not too much to worry about.

 

[Tunaman68]

Also, as far as the room selection goes - I'm one of the strange ones that prefer the ground floor. It's quieter because the back of the rooms are actually buffered from the street noise by a hallway, and I like being able to roll out of bed and onto the boat without too many stairs in the way! The view from the upper floors is hard to beat however!

 

[Dan G]

I enjoy the shore dive off of BA. When you get to the corner of the sting ray park and turn left, there are often some interesting things to see. Even saw a nice juvenile drum fish there one time. When you make that turn, you'll know how the current is. If comfortable, just a bit NE from that corner are some cinders. Lobsters love it there.

If you plan a night dive there get a good feel for the trench that leads in and out of the entrance. Sea urchins come out and line the trench, so it is nice to know your way back. We entered in the twilight and found it no problem.

 

[DreaminOfSand&Salt]

last year was our first time to visit BA (June... headed back last week of May ... love it) and we loved the shore dives - as has been said slow down and check all the different nooks and crannies ... we saw a frogfish, sharptail eel, and numerous juveniles of all species (awesome) and on the night dives there were numerous octopus. Agree that the coral structure is nothing like the deeper reefs but there is plenty to see and ... you are underwater!

 

[BRT]

Just did our first shore dive at BA. Got in late and it was dusk when we finished. Really nice! Saw gobs of spotted morays including the biggest I've ever seen. A drumfish, bunches of small porcupine fish, some kind of an eel with yellow and white spots, bunches of small lobsters plus big fish that I can't identify swimming inside the stingray enclosure. Oh, and one seahhorse swimming along the bottom. We were in an hour and had enough air for a lot longer but got a little chilled. We will be back.

 

[Scoober]

Back when I did my DM at BA, we would swim shallow out to the wall (Villa Blanca Wall). Stunning shore dive! Gotta keep your head down due to heaps of boat traffic, and it's definitely a swim. Need permission, I reckon, and probably won't get it? Not for all, but it is a stunner if you can manage it!

 

[ggunn]

...some kind of an eel with yellow and white spots...

That sounds link a sharptail eel; I see them pretty often shore diving from Blue Angel.

---------- Post added January 18th, 2014 at 09:02 AM ----------

Back when I did my DM at BA, we would swim shallow out to the wall (Villa Blanca Wall). Stunning shore dive! Gotta keep your head down due to heaps of boat traffic, and it's definitely a swim. Need permission, I reckon, and probably won't get it? Not for all, but it is a stunner if you can manage it!

I've done that a few times, going in at La Ceiba and taking out at Villablanca or Blue Angel. Boat traffic is indeed a concern, as are knowing where to break from the wall and head back to shore, and saving enough air to do that (you don't want to have to come up before you get pretty close to shore). I don't know who you would need to ask for permission to do it, though. It's not in the marine park.

Once my wife and I tipped a boat captain who was leaving BA to go back to the Caleta to drop us on the wall at La Ceiba. That was pretty cool.

 

[blue steal]

Once my wife and I tipped a boat captain who was leaving BA to go back to the Caleta to drop us on the wall at La Ceiba. That was pretty cool.

What a great idea. That swim out to the wall is a long one. I've never quite made it, gave up after 20 or so minutes. Started at villablanca and back to the BA.

 

[ggunn]

What a great idea. That swim out to the wall is a long one. I've never quite made it, gave up after 20 or so minutes. Started at villablanca and back to the BA.

I have also done it putting in from shore at La Ceiba. If you do that you can surface swim most of the way out to the wall through the sailboat moorings. Either way, if you do this dive, BE SURE to take a compass with you. Once you have left the wall and are heading back toward shore it is very easy to become disoriented and end up swimming parallel to the shore. Not good.

TIP: The cheap fluid filled compasses you can buy for a few bucks at Academy or other camping dept/store work just fine at depth.