Caribe Blu / Blue Angel -short review

[ggunn]

how is the house reef at Caribe Blu these days ? (i.e. did it recover since that last big hurricane ?)

i sayed it CB back in 2005 and thought it was simple but good. i didn't dive with BA but did do their house reef 3 or 4 times (and it was a nice little dive)

There's a lot less of it than there was pre-Wilma, unfortunately. Most of the fans are gone and those that are left are pretty battered. The soft corals are coming back but they are nowhere near what they were. Most of the small heads are still there, though.

I still dive it when I am there, and I've seen steady (though slow) recovery since the storm.

 

[Diver Kat]

At the Dive Shop, Victor has recently left for greener pastures.

Victor left??? :11: Bummer!!! He always took very good care of us!

You're review was right on the button with my experiences there. Good clean basic hotel, with very friendly staff and the convenience of Blue Angel next door. I had been surprised by those few recent negative reviews, but I guess even in the best of places sometimes things go wrong.

As for the street noise - never had too many problems. If it seemed a bit loud, we would put a towel along the bottom of the door. Never heard a peep from any of our neighbors - the walls are just too thick.

 

[sharky60]

Hey there! I've been pretty busy so I missed the big "negative report" debate...didn't need the headache anyway

We LOVE Caribe Blu! After nearly a decade of staying at La Ceiba we moved up the road a couple of years ago because of rising prices with the time share project at La Ceiba. Only to find out that C.B. is a mini-La Ceiba! they were built by the same guy and the buildings are remakably similar, or used to be before the renovations at L.C. (I'm an architectural designer, can't help but notice these things)

It's definatly not for everyone, but it is perfect for us. The location, just about a mile out of town, so it is just about right for a walk. The staff is friendly and helpful. The rooms are good sized, clean, have a safe and maybe a fridge (minor incovienience if not, that's why they make coolers). It's right on the water, the dive op is right there, and we also like Blue Angel very much, I think on this last trip we had a different DM on every outing, each one did a very good job, Matt (Mateo), my home boy from Chicago, has become one of my favorite DM's on Coz. very few people show as much ease in the water. He keeps a very good track of his crew and is very competent in his abilities.

The restaurant has good food and is very reasonable for breakfast, lunch & late afternoon poolside happy hour snacks. It ain't fancy, but it IS Casa Sharky in Cozumel.


Sad to hear of Victor's departure also, he did a great job of taking care of my wife and I, with our speratic dive schedule. Hey! I'm on vacation...I have the right to change my mind! :d I wish him the best.

We met Opal when we were there in April, the girl was working her tail off when ever I saw her. Hauling tanks & equipment, cleaning equip. She seems to have a very good work ethic and will probably do a great job filling Victor's shoes.

 

[minamin13]

I would not hesitate at all going back to Blue Angel again. Fast boats, good Dive Masters, and a service oriented shop manager. I am sure I will be visiting them again in the future. Hopefully, the near future.

Hi Turk9!

It was so nice diving with you this past week. Mark and I finally got home late last night. I must agree with everything you said above. But I want to add my take with a few additions of my own:

(1) Great DM's! Pumba, Jose and Jorge were all great. Jorge, in particular, really outdid himself when he planned us the perfect dive day: Tormentos, and Bolones in the morning, Devil's Throat and Columbia Shallows in the afternoon. (I'll summarize the dives later.)
(2) Comfy, homey hotel: I never had any problems sleeping in the comfortable bed. I thought the environmentally inspired decor was artistic and natural. I felt like I was "home" within a couple of days.
(3) It was too hot to walk every single day to town, but we managed to do so on at least 3 occasions.
(4) Opal is a great dive store manager. I noticed she stayed up late on more than one occasion to help haul tanks and make sure everyone was okay after our night dives. And she was very good at breaking down the prices with me after the dive trip was over (sorry, Opal).
(5) We spent our last day of vacation in Cancun and Isla Mujeres. I wish we had never left Cozumel, however, because everywhere else seemed pretentious, dirty or expensive in comparison.

This was our first real dive trip to Cozumel since we got certified. But I'm positive I'll be back, and Caribe Blu/Blue Angel will be on the top of our list for dive ops.

next... Dives and pics...

 

[minamin13]

Here's a quick synopsis of the dives we did this past week with Blue Angel:

Day 1:
Dive 1: Santa Rosa Wall
Max depth: 88'
Time: 0:56
-The most nitrogen loading I had yet experienced.

Dive 2: Paradise Reef
Max depth: 42'
Time: 1:15
-Pumba, the DM, finds us two seahorses, and fingernail sized, colorful worm eating some algae (don't know the name).
-2 moray eels
-Longest dive I'd ever had!

Surface Interval:
-Slept through the afternoon recovering from traveling the entire previous day.
-Dinner at Sonora Grill: I highly recommend this restaurant. The garlic shrimp were excellent. However, I wish they hadn't spiked my lemonade with alcohol without my consent.
_________________________________

Day 2:
Dive #3: Palancar Gardens
Max depth: 94'
Time: 0:56
-Lots of baby stoplight parrotfishes and baby trunk fishes. This was pretty common throughout all of the dive sites.
-Great coral formations and swimthroughs.
-I can understand why this is the signature, not-to-be-missed Cozumel dive site.

Dive #4: La Francesca
Max depth: 64'
Time: 1:04
-Big sea turtle munching on coral with a pair of gray angelfishes picking up the scraps.

Surface Interval:
-Lunch at Rock n' Java. This is a great spot to hang out. There's free wireless internet, endless cups of coffee, and plenty of magazines and books to browse through.
-Afternoon coffee at the Coffee Bean. This seems to be a spot where a lot of locals hang out to sip iced mochas.

Dive #4: Night dive at Paradise Reef
Max depth: 45'
Time: 1:04
-I manage to stumble upon 2 great finds: I swim directly over a huge deformed lobster without a tail, or claws - a huge Slipper Lobster. I wanted to observe it's underside, but I was prevented from picking it up by Jose the DM, who signed it would sting me.
-Splendid toad fish in the open! Something that old time Cozumel divers had not seen before.

Surface Interval:
-Dinner at Casa Denis off the main square. There are lots of Spanish speaking people eating here.
____________________________

Day 3:

Dive #6: The Cathedral, Punta Sur
Max Depth: 109 feet
Time: 0:47
-First time I've entered deco. Didn't know how to interpret my dive computer's instructions, but managed to get out of deco by following the other divers. I was chastised by Jorge, the DM, that this was to be expected on Devil's Throat, another dive I requested to go on.
-Majestic walls and buttresses, swimthroughs and channels
-Black tip reef sharks at 120 feet and deeper.

Dive #7: Cedral Wall
Max Depth: 74 feet
Time: 1:09 minutes
-tiny spotted drum fish flaunting its stuff in a hole.
-Got stung by stinging hydroid while trying to maintain position in the current looking at a green moray eel.
-Turtle that brushes Mark in the head in its eagerness to munch more coral.

Surface Interval:
-Lunch at Ernesto's Fajita Factory. Great fajitas.
-Scootered around to the exposed side of the island. Got to drive a scooter for the first time all the way from Coconuts to the speed blocks. That was a first for me.
-Hung out by the pool and chased crabs near the pier.
-Dinner at La Chozas. Highly recommended.
__________________________

To be continued...

 

[minamin13]

Day 4:
Dive #8: Palancar Bricks
Preceding Surface Interval: 12+ hours
Max depth: 97 feet.
Time: 0:59 minutes
-Saw a blue butterfly fish that was probably a juvenile black durgon(?)

Dive #9: Cedral Shallows
Preceding Surface Interval: 0:54 minutes
Max depth: 56 feet
Time: 1:05 minutes
-Huge green moray (pic to follow)
-Pumba took us through a labyrinthine swim through.

Surface Interval:
-Lunch at Camilio. Cheap and tasty seafood tacos.
-Espresso at Sorissi -- the best Americano in Cozumel... We vowed to be back for dinner.

Dive #10: Twilight dive at Punta Tunich
Preceding Surface Interval: 5:34 minutes
Max depth: 82 feet
Time: 0:54 feet
-forgot my weight belt, so had to compensate by exhaling a lot. Later on in my dive, I had to pick up a heavy conch shell to compensate for the depleted air in my tank. I was frowned upon deeply by DM Jorge for picking up the shell, but I signaled to him that I had forgotten my weight belt. Later, I nearly drop the shell on Mark's head during my ascent in my eagerness to return the precious shell to the reef.
-Ripping, ripping current. Moderate kicking kept a diver in the same place.
-Scorpion fish.

Dive #11: Night Dive at Paradise Reef
Preceding Surface Interval: 0:43 minutes
Max Depth: 43 feet
Time: 1:02 minutes
-Mark sees huge 2.5 foot long puffer
-crazy night dive with 10 people (some of whom hadn't dove in 7 years) surprisingly not colliding into each other every moment. Once again, DM Jorge does an excellent job of shepherding everyone in the right direction.

Surface Interval:
-Dinner at Sorrissi: we highly recommend this serious Italian restaurant, with serious Italian cafe style decor, and fresh hand made pasta. One of the best tiramisu's we've ever had, including ones we had in Italy.
_____________________________

Day 5:
Dive #12: Tormentos
Surface Interval: 12+ hours
Max depth: 66 feet
Time: 1:03 minutes
-Started to notice creatures in the sand flats, such as the yellow head jawfish.

Dive #13: Chankanaab Bolones
Preceding Surface Interval: 0:54 minutes
Max depth: 65 feet
Time: 0:58 minutes
-trumpet fish
-saw a pair of longsnout butterfly fishes for the first time

Surface Interval:
-Lunch at Rendez Blu.

Dive #14: Devil's Throat, Punta Sur
Preceding Surface Interval: 2:17 minutes
Max Depth: 129 feet
Time: 0:47 minutes (including 0:12 minute decompression stop)
-We were finally granted our request to dive Devil's Throat after days of requesting and lobbying. This is undoubtedly one of the best dive sites in Cozumel. A lot of people say that there is nothing to see, but I disagree. There were three circuitous swim throughs opening out into immense blue vistas. Colorful coral growth line all the tunnels, and we even saw a huge crab, and a school of glassy sweepers inhabiting one cave. Unlike what some people say, the swim throughs have plenty of light. I was told that diving with a light is unnecessary.
-One of the divers lost their fin in one of the tunnels at 100'. This could potentially have been a disaster. But we calmly swam out of the tunnel. DM Jorge descended upon the scene like a hawk and assembled his fin strap back together.
-Decided to explore the shallower portions of the coral reef after the swim throughs were done, and once everyone else had started their decompression stops. I was rewarded for my adventurousness with a 12 minute decompression obligation.

Dive #15: Columbia Shallows
Preceding Surface Interval: 0:05 minutes
Max depth: 40 feet
Time: 1:00
-Big secret: This could be the best dive site in Cozumel. It is far enough from all the major hotels and dive operations to make it less frequented by people and this is perhaps the reason why it has so much fish life. This was by far and away the most life I've ever seen in one dive spot.
-2 flamingo tongues
-4-5 large groupers that would burn trails through schools upon schools of grunts and schoolmasters.
-Sergeant major and its nest of purple eggs. It successfully wooed a female sergeant major into laying more eggs in its nest while we watched!
-arrowhead crabs
-All of the above could have easily made this one of the best dives ever. But what topped it off was the pod of DOLPHINS that swam upon the scene. Mark had used his noisemaker to alert us to an eagle ray in the distance. The noisemaker must have conjured up the dolphins because they burst upon the scene, chasing the eagle ray away. They lingered for 5 precious seconds before disappearing into the distance. Everyone put their hands to their heads and started screaming with disbelief. I grabbed one of the other women's arms, and we screamed and laughed together. Later, we were told that seeing wild dolphins underwater was rare.
_________________________

That was my wonderful diving experience in Cozumel. In short, Punta Sur, Columbia Shallows, and a night dive at Paradise Reef are not to be missed!

 

[Turk9]

Day 4:

Dive #14: Devil's Throat, Punta Sur
Max Depth: 129 feet
Time: 0:47 minutes (including 0:12 minute decompression stop)
-We were finally granted our request to dive Devil's Throat after days of requesting and lobbying. This is undoubtedly one of the best dive sites in Cozumel. A lot of people say that there is nothing to see, but I disagree. There were three circuitous swim throughs opening out into immense blue vistas. Colorful coral growth line all the tunnels, and we even saw a huge crab, and a school of glassy sweepers inhabiting one cave. Unlike what some people say, the swim throughs have plenty of light. I was told that diving with a light is unnecessary.
-One of the divers lost their fin in one of the tunnels at 100'. This could potentially have been a disaster. But we calmly swam out of the tunnel. DM Jorge descended upon the scene like a hawk and assembled his fin strap back together.
-Decided to explore the shallower portions of the coral reef after the swim throughs were done, and once everyone else had started their decompression stops. I was rewarded for my adventurousness with a 12 minute decompression obligation.

Dive #15: Columbia Shallows
Max depth: 40 feet?
Time: 1:00 ?
-Big secret: This could be the best dive site in Cozumel. It is far enough from all the major hotels and dive operations to make it less frequented by people and this is perhaps the reason why it has so much fish life. This was by far and away the most life I've ever seen in one dive spot.
-2 flamingo tongues
-4-5 large groupers that would burn trails through schools upon schools of grunts and schoolmasters.
-Sergeant major and its nest of purple eggs. It successfully wooed a female sergeant major into laying more eggs in its nest while we watched!
-arrowhead crabs
-All of the above could have easily made this one of the best dives ever. But what topped it off was the pod of DOLPHINS that swam upon the scene. Mark had used his noisemaker to alert us to an eagle ray in the distance. The noisemaker must have conjured up the dolphins because they burst upon the scene, chasing the eagle ray away. They lingered for 5 precious seconds before disappearing into the distance. Everyone put their hands to their heads and started screaming with disbelief. I grabbed one of the other women's arms, and we screamed and laughed together. Later, we were told that seeing wild dolphins underwater was rare.
_________________________

That was my wonderful diving experience in Cozumel. In short, Punta Sur, Columbia Shallows, and a night dive at Paradise Reef are not to be missed!

Hi minimin13
After reading your description of Devil's Throat, I am really sorry to have missed it. When I go back in November I am just going to have to try and get to it and the Columbia Shallows site. Glad to hear you had such a good experience at the Throat.
turk9

 

[Mawg]

it;s not a mint-on-the-pillow establishment,


No mint on the pillow! You're kidding right? Next you'll tell me there is no cinammon in the coffee! ....... Oh the horrors!

 

[driftin' by]

mimamin13: Nice detailed report. I'm curious as to way you don't have depth and time information on dives 12, 13 and 15? Also, did you do the throat as the third dive of the day? Talk about nitrogen loading!

 

[RonFrank]

I had a great time at Caribe Blu last January. Sure, it's a no frills hotel. If you want to be pampered there are much better options, but be prepared to pay for them.

Things I liked about Caribe Blu!
* Oceanside
* Shore diving on site (some of the better in Coz which is to say, nothing compared to the diving).
* Nice Balcony with railings where one could hang the wetsuit from after a days diving.
* Nice view of the Ocean from anywhere.
* Comfortable Beds.
* Spacious rooms
* Remote control A/C
* Frig ~ On request sometimes. I don't think they have enough for all rooms.
* Good Food at reasonable prices on site.
* Price!

My only complaint was that the shower temps seemed to run hot, or cold, but not a lot in between. I never complained, so I'm not sure if that was something they could have fixed easily or not.