Blue Angel Resort Trip Report, 2/2-9/2013

[lrmartin]

My wife and I had stayed at the Blue Angel (then the Caribe Blue) in July 2006, or about nine months after Hurricane Wilma trashed the island and reefs. We were interested to see for ourselves what kind of recovery the reefs had made, as well as how lionfish were affecting the reefs. We had planned to return to the island last year, but couldn’t get the dates we wanted with a reasonable flight. This trip coincided with her 100^th and my 150^th dive, which was also a nice excuse to schedule the trip this year.

Arrival
We arrived late afternoon Saturday 2/2 via Frontier, nonstop from Denver. The red light! / green light! game in Customs was fun as described accurately elsewhere. We got the red light, but the search took less than 30 seconds. The Land of Many Timeshare and Rental Car Salespeople was unforgettable. Several flights had landed in a short period, so the room was packed with confused-looking American tourists wandering aimlessly. I made the mistake of making eye contact with a rental car agent (Special for you! $70 for a week!), and was pursued to the men’s room as a result. The shuttle ride to the Blue Angel took about 25 minutes. The van was stuffed with eleven passengers, nearly all divers. The drive was as exciting as any NYC cab ride.

Diving
We made 21 dives in 5.5 days of diving.
[TABLE="class: MsoTableGrid"]
[TR]
[TD] Palancar Gardens[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 88’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 51 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Cedral[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 56’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 63 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Palancar Gardens[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 86’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 63 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Chakanaab[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 50’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 64 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Palancar Caves[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 86’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 50 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] San Clemente[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 41’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 68 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Santa Rosa Wall[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 92’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 56 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Tormentos[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 60’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 56 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Columbia Deep
[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 112’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 54 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] La Francesca
[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 63’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 63 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Paradise (Night)[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 43’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 64 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Palancar Bricks[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 96’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 60 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] San Francisco Wall[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 60’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 66 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Cedral Wall[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 107’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 50 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Paradise Wall[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 88’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 43 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Dahlia (sp?)[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 77’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 58 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Chakanaab[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 51’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 66 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] San Francisco Wall[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 90’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 53 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Villa Blanc Wall[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 67’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 58 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Punta Sur Cathedral[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 104’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 45 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 190"] Paso de Cedral[/TD]
[TD="width: 62"] 78’[/TD]
[TD="width: 84"] 60 min[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

The diving overall was outstanding. We lucked out on weather, as only our first day was a bit cool due to northerly winds and swell. The remainder of the trip was idyllic. Visibility ranged from 100’ near the surface to more than 300’ at depth. Currents were always present, but never problematic. Water temperatures were 80º all week.

We saw multiple schools of black tip reef sharks and eagle rays (or the same school more than once?), along with the usual assortment of nurse sharks, eels, seahorses, toadfish, stingrays, turtles, etc. Our night dive on Paradise Reef was notable for the five octopi we saw, along with a toadfish swimming above the reef. I had never seen one out and about.

While I don’t believe that the soft corals in the shallows have recovered when compared to pre-Wilma photos, the reefs appear to be in much better condition to my untrained eye when compared to our last visit. The sea fans are not freakishly huge, but a few orders of magnitude larger than 6.5 years ago.

We expected the worst regarding lionfish, but were pleasantly surprised. When we dove with the Juliet in the Bahamas last year, we were part of a group (Dolphin Dive Center in Athens, GA) that culled 312 lionfish over just 14 dives (with substantial help from the crew). On that trip I became accustomed to seeing scores of lionfish everywhere. Of the handful we saw last week – mainly on Paradise Wall and Cedral Wall – only a few were not impaled on a spear. We encountered no lionfish on the vast majority of our dives... and we were looking for them. The lionfish we saw were not actively hunting in the open (as was the case in the Bahamas), but were in hiding. I would be curious to know what management practice the marine park is using, or if (for example) nurse sharks have developed a taste for lionfish in Cozumel.

Dive Operation
Neither of us are accustomed to diving with a dive master. We had not done so since our last visit to Cozumel. At various times we dove with Jose, Norman, Jorge, and Andres. Jorge’s popularity packs his boats. We saw guests wearing T-shirts proclaiming “I dive with Jorge.” We made most of our dives with Jose and Norman, and were happy with both. We found it very relaxing to simply drift while knowing (hoping) that our boat would be waiting for us when we surfaced… which is a very different approach than most of our diving, particularly off Southern California.

Jose has an incredible eye for finding tiny seahorses that look like algae, tiny nudibranches, pipefish, and other small critters that I would have missed without his eyes. Also, he took us to Punta Sur for our last morning of diving, which was awesome. Norman treated us to Villa Blanca, which was a fun drift from the southern cruise terminal along the top of the wall to just off the Blue Angel dock. I hadn’t even known that dive existed, and intend to request it the next time we come down.

We rode on the Chiquimax and Blue Angel II boats all week. Both are small and fast. Entries were via back roll: no funky fin shuffle, just fall backwards from your seat. Dive briefings were good. DMs achieved a nice balance between being available and pointing stuff out while not dominating the dive. I never felt my bottom time was limited, despite exceeding 60 minutes. All of our surface intervals were about an hour. We never had a short tank fill. We dove air all week.

Most of the divers on our boats were considerably more experienced than us, although there were a few new divers at the resort. Most people staying there were not weird enough to make four dives daily; we had purchased an 18-dive package (each) that was not advertised on the BA website to avoid the skull-popping dive bill when checking out of the hotel.

Food
I gained 5 pounds. Our dive package included breakfast at the Blue Angel every day, which was nice. I am not much of a breakfast person, but the breakfast fare was good. We also ate lunch there every day; the shrimp quesadillas, shrimp rellenos, and chicken chimichanga were outstanding. We like to walk, so the mile or so hike north into town was not a problem… although we took a cab back each night (typical fare was $6 from Punta Langosta, plus tip. Hint: ask the driver if he can provide change in USD at the same time you agree on the fare before you get in the cab. Everything is negotiable.). Kondesa (about 5^th and 6^th Sur) was awesome; we ate there twice for the grouper enchiladas and chocolate flan.

Bottom Line
We had high expectations for both the island and the resort. We were not disappointed. We will stay at and dive with the Blue Angel when we return.

 

[warmwaterturner]

Thank you for the review. We are headed back down in April and can't wait to see the folks at BA again.

 

[Mike]

Diving
We made 21 dives in 5.5 days of diving.

Did you guys ever get a chance to dry off? You might have set a new record!

 

[lrmartin]

Why would you want to be dry while on a dive trip? We did take off the afternoons before the night dive and before our return flight (about 28 hrs before the flight; an 8 hr cushion on the no-fly time on our computers), however.... so definitely not a record.

 

[ggunn]

Nice report. We always stay there and we go every year at least once. Usually only once, but we can dream, can't we?

One thing you said made me smile. You said the sea fans were only "a few orders of magnitude larger" than they were the last time you were there. Four orders of magnitude is 10,000X.

 

[blue steal]

Thanks for the detailed trip report. Nice set of dives for 5.5 days.
Any comments on the hotel?

 

[lrmartin]

@ggunn, definitely not four orders of magnitude, but three is technically still "a few." In 2006 most of the sea fans on shallow dives were around 1 - 2 square inches, if that, which was a little depressing. This time we saw several closer to 3' diameter, or just north of 1,000 square inches, assuming that a sea fan is a perfect circle (it's not, but the math is easier), or about three orders of magnitude greater. Admittedly, most were not that big. I would pay good money, however, to see a 10,000 square inch sea fan; that would be closer to a 9.5' diameter.

---------- Post added February 12th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ----------

@blue steal, several reports on this site have provided details about the hotel over the years. Most divers like it; some don't. Executive summary: it's pretty much the same as described in other trip reports: maybe 24 or so rooms on four stories (I haven't counted); a friendly, patient, and attentive staff that learns and uses your name after about a day (and doesn't laugh at your American accent attempting to speak Spanish); the world's smallest beach; a pool; a few palapas and lounge chairs next to the world's smallest beach and pool; a super-comfortable lobby couch that makes people pass out if they sit on it for more than a few seconds; non-luxurious construction materials throughout (mainly concrete, stucco, and other stuff that can get wet without being damaged); and, no chocolate mints on pillows. Bring ear plugs if you are a light sleeper, as the main road between San Miguel and the southern cruise terminal is right there. The beds are comfortable, the rooms are clean, the plumbing works, the mini-fridge is cold, and there is a smallish TV in each room (perfect for Spanish language immersion). The balconies are awesome for hanging wet gear to dry, watching sunsets, and heckling other divers. I tend to sleep well after diving for obvious reasons and tend to spend very little time in hotel rooms anyway when I am vacationing, so this style of hotel is perfect for me. I would not change anything about the hotel.