Trip Report Blue Angel Resort trip report Feb. 2021

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OMG, the DIR/Halcyon folks will hate that set-up. No long hose and an integrated 2nd/inflator!! I too use just my regular Poseidon Cyklon 5000 and an integrated 2nd/inflator (great for travel! :happywave:

I see it's a SS so do you have challenges with buoyancy in tropical waters? I use my kydex BP (DeepSeeSupply, which is no longer around) for tropical climes and use almost no weight with my 5/4/3 wetsuit and keep my SS BP for cold water drysuit diving. My SS BP is -6lbs. . .

I like the Yum Yum yellow wing!

Bob

Ya, I really wanted yellow...

That plate is only 3 lbs. I kind of wish it was heavier so I can drop extra lead but it’s smaller so it fits my frame better.
I have only used it with a brand new 5mm. Started with 10 lbs and dropped to 6 after 20 dives. I may be able to get to 3-4 lbs after the suit compresses more.
 
Can you talk a bit more about the shore dive? What critters do you see? Thanks!
Sure! The shore dive has too many critters to list. It's as diverse as many of the popular dive sites around. There are small reefs, natural and artificial with coral and sponges all over the place. When I was there, the fence to a large pen of Stingray Beach (next door) was down, and you could swim over into the pen to check out their artificial reefs. Here's a link to a timelapse I took in that area. I saw five species of eel on the shore dive, including a Key Worm Eel, which is apparently pretty rare. I saw loads of yellow stingrays and one Caribbean Whiptail Stingray buried in the sand. I found a Harlequin Pipefish. I saw an Eagle Ray cruise by in the distance. I could go on and on. It's a great night dive, too. I never got below 24 feet deep doing it, so there's zero worry about decompression. You can just dive it over and over again, which I did and highly recommend.
 
I got back from my stay at Blue Angel Resort just two days ago, spending eight full days there with half days on either end for travel. I had the Liveaboard Package, which included my stay, all my meals, eight two-tank dive boat trips, one night dive (I upgraded this to a two-tank evening dive boat trip), and unlimited shore diving. I got in 31 dives over eight days (would’ve been 32, but I had to fly). 18 of those were guided by Blue Angel’s top-notch, experienced divemasters, and 13 were shore dives (12 solo, 1 w/ buddy). I use a DIN setup, which was no problem for them.

Now that the basics are out of the way, let me get down to the point: my stay at Blue Angel was nothing short of amazing.

DIVING

Over the course of my trip, we hit most every site on the guided boat dives. I managed to only get booked on the Jibara, their small boat, which is apparently quite a bit faster than the No Problem, allowing you to get to further away dive sites in a reasonable amount of time. Captain Chango knows his stuff and was always right there to pick us up, following our bubbles.

Andy, Julio, and Mateo were my DMs over the course of the week. Each one is a character, consummate professional, and highly experienced and knowledgeable guide. Our groups were small. Dive briefings were thorough and useful. I was constantly impressed, but highlights included perfectly tailoring dives for groups with a big difference in experience levels and the dive when we picked up a lost buddy pair our DM was able to calm down, assist in surfacing, and get back to their boat without disrupting our own schedule in any way. Watching the DMs work with their instructor interns only confirmed their levels of knowledge and experience. It’s a pleasure to dive with these folks.

There’s a full valet service available at no charge, though I like to be a bit more hands-on with my own gear, so I didn’t really take advantage of this service. The divers who used it were very pleased, so if it’s your thing, they’ve got you covered. There are permanent fresh water dunk tanks and a shower right next to the dive shop area for easy rinsing of gear. Rows of full cylinders (air and nitrox) are lined up next to the dive shop, which makes shore diving to your heart’s content incredibly easy.

I won’t go into the dive sites around Cozumel, which are great but something better researched elsewhere. We hit nearly all of them in the eight days I was there. I will, however, go into the shore dive at Blue Angel. It’s awesome. You can giant stride off the dock or walk in through a beach-ish area. Either way, you drop into an abundance of life, mostly small to medium stuff, but I did see an Eagle Ray and a Caribbean Whiptail Stingray, each with about a four foot wingspan. It’s a great area for eels, of which I spotted five species. Directly south of Blue Angel is Stingray Beach, which includes large fenced-in pens. This was closed when I was there, and you could easily swim over a lowered section of fence to go into the main pen, which has artificial reef structures attracting a bunch of life (including adorable juvenile Yellow Stingrays and Caribbean Spiny Lobsters). In addition to attracting life, the pens make a perfect landmark to guide you back to Blue Angel, day and night. Speaking of which, the shore dive makes for a great night dive, too. It stays around 20 feet deep and can get a whipping current, which the pens reduce considerably (when you’re on the down-current side, of course).

The staff are always watching out for you and your gear, too. When I almost walked away from the dunk tanks with my computer and compass sitting on the side, a staff member almost immediately got my attention and pointed them out. Made for great peace of mind.

STAYING

Every room has a giant sliding glass door that looks out at the ocean. Hard to beat. The floors are concrete, which is nice because you don’t have to worry about setting down wet gear. My room had a cool octopus design cut into the floor. I was in a single bed room, which had an AC unit, small table with chairs, sizable dresser, mini fridge, a futon couch, and I’m guessing a king size bed. The balconies even have drying racks for hanging your gear outside!

Because I had the liveaboard package, I ate every meal at the restaurant. This worked perfectly for me because I was on a solo dive vacation and not looking to do anything besides eat, sleep, and dive. The restaurant is fantastic. I’m a vegetarian, and the menu had numerous options for me. I was also told by the staff that they were building out a full vegan menu for some folks arriving in the near future, which should tell you how committed they are to getting things right for their guests. I also love spicy food, and they made special habanero sauces for me above and beyond their usual fare. Happy hour is two for one on drinks and apps.

One of the nights I stayed (two actually, but I was out on an evening dive boat trip), we were treated to the musical talents of the girlfriend of one of the DMs. She has an amazing voice and was backed up by a killer local guitarist. With a post-dive beer in my hand, this was downright spectacular.

There’s an Oxxo convenience store right across the street. Downtown is a 30 minute walk. There’s a grocery store closer than that, and taxis are going by all the time.

COVID

I pushed this trip twice due to COVID concerns before deciding to just do it. On the island, every local is wearing a mask, even on bicycles and scooters. The easiest way to spot tourists, usually fellow Americans, from a distance is that they’re the only ones not wearing masks in public.

At Blue Angel, the staff is all masked up. Guests who aren’t eating or drinking usually are, too. Your temperature is taken before you can enter the restaurant. Hand sanitizer bottles are all over the place. At the front desk, you can schedule someone to come to the hotel to administer your test for any day of the week during business hours, which means you don’t have to miss out on any diving or spend any time in a clinic. I scheduled mine for 3 p.m. on a Sunday, when I had to stop diving so I could fly anyway. I had the results and documentation I needed the same day.

OVERALL

I met several guests who have been coming back to Blue Angel for years, even decades for some, and it’s clear why. Blue Angel is a special place. The location alone is incredible, but the friendliness, helpfulness, professionalism, knowledge, and experience of all the staff members put Blue Angel over the top. I know I’ll be back, hopefully sooner rather than later.
@Thrutch Thanks for your Blue Angel report postings last year. I have motivation to duplicate your BA dive-eat-sleep vacation soon and expect I‘ll be going solo like you did, but I don’t have my Solo certification yet. Based on your experience, how would not having your Solo affected your dive-dive-dive plan? More specifically, do many do Solo shore dives? If not many, how difficult would you expect it to be to find a buddy and/or compatible buddy for shore dives?
 
@Thrutch Thanks for your Blue Angel report postings last year. I have motivation to duplicate your BA dive-eat-sleep vacation soon and expect I‘ll be going solo like you did, but I don’t have my Solo certification yet. Based on your experience, how would not having your Solo affected your dive-dive-dive plan? More specifically, do many do Solo shore dives? If not many, how difficult would you expect it to be to find a buddy and/or compatible buddy for shore dives?
Hello! I don't have any sort of solo certification, just experience doing it. They didn't ask for the former; I told them about the latter. I did as many as three shore dives a day after catching the morning two-dive boat. They have full tanks lined up right outside the shop, and you can just grab and go whenever you'd like. There's a lot to see on the shore dive, and you'd be hard pressed to get below 24 feet.

Most of the time I was there, only a couple other folks went out from shore solo. Lots of groups and buddy teams did, and I buddied up for a few dives with another person going solo on the trip who didn't want to go solo in the water. If you're doing any boat diving with them at all, I imagine it would be super easy to find an interested buddy.

Have fun! I'm jealous.
 
Thanks for your Blue Angel report postings last year. I have motivation to duplicate your BA dive-eat-sleep vacation soon and expect I‘ll be going solo like you did, but I don’t have my Solo certification yet. Based on your experience, how would not having your Solo affected your dive-dive-dive plan? More specifically, do many do Solo shore dives?
Oops, I misread the post. Comment removed.
 
Hello! I don't have any sort of solo certification, just experience doing it. They didn't ask for the former; I told them about the latter. I did as many as three shore dives a day after catching the morning two-dive boat. They have full tanks lined up right outside the shop, and you can just grab and go whenever you'd like. There's a lot to see on the shore dive, and you'd be hard pressed to get below 24 feet.

Most of the time I was there, only a couple other folks went out from shore solo. Lots of groups and buddy teams did, and I buddied up for a few dives with another person going solo on the trip who didn't want to go solo in the water. If you're doing any boat diving with them at all, I imagine it would be super easy to find an interested buddy.

Have fun! I'm jealous.
I love that dive. When my wife and I are staying at Blue Angel we go out there several times as an adjunct to boat diving. She loves to shoot video of octopus and we always find them out there at night. Being by ourselves allows her to hang around a high performing 'pus for as long as she wants without any pressure to move on.
 
Headed to BA in June, I had booked the Liveaboard package in late 2020 and had to bump twice. Did a Coz trip in November, but BA was full so I did 3P's/Casa Mexicana. Excited to try BA!

Thanks for the great information.
 
I love that dive. When my wife and I are staying at Blue Angel we go out there several times as an adjunct to boat diving. She loves to shoot video of octopus and we always find them out there at night. Being by ourselves allows her to hang around a high performing 'pus for as long as she wants without any pressure to move on.
Since the last round of hurricanes, the shore dive is very different from before. Not necessarily bad, but quite different.
 

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