Check Cozumel Port Status anytime

[Christi]

I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for you.. having your livelihood dictated by arbtrary shut downs on the whim of someone who apparently has no guidelines that are followed.

Well - there are guidelines and we typically can predict when the port will close a day or two out based on wind forecasts. Today was a freak thing - makes no sense at all.

My THEORY - and this is just ME wanting to find a reason - he made a bad call, didn't want to admit his error, played his power card - EGO - total speculation on my part - but telling myself that story somehow makes it feel better - hahahahaa

 

[Chris Lynch]

Well - there are guidelines and we typically can predict when the port will close a day or two out based on wind forecasts. Today was a freak thing - makes no sense at all.

My THEORY - and this is just ME wanting to find a reason - he made a bad call, didn't want to admit his error, played his power card - EGO - total speculation on my part - but telling myself that story somehow makes it feel better - hahahahaa

Got any nonbinding prognostications for tomorrow and sat?

 

[Christi]

Got any nonbinding prognostications for tomorrow and sat?

Looks good through Sunday

Monday and Tuesday not so great, but still too far out to really know - could still fizzle out or shift:

The more easterly those arrows are the better!

 

[gopbroek]

Sand Dollar sinking had nothing to do with sea conditions or wind. And the ocean has been flat all morning

I agree but it sure got a lot of press where the weather got mentioned

 

[Chris Lynch]

Looks good through Sunday
View attachment 443552

Monday and Tuesday not so great, but still too far out to really know - could still fizzle out or shift:
View attachment 443553

The more easterly those arrows are the better!

That was my non expert thought. Sunday night about 6/7 pm it shifts to norte. But at least low winds.

 

[nwflyboy]

I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for you.. having your livelihood dictated by arbtrary shut downs on the whim of someone who apparently has no guidelines that are followed.

I think most of us recognize the logistical nightmare involved. Are the boats trailerable? If port is closed, can you pull the boat out and take it over on land? Maybe there is no boat launch on east side but that's why I mentioned a few days ago if the shops could pitch in and build a ramp or get the island to build one.

Forget the boats. When port is closed and I'm on vacay, I'd be happy if my shop took us over there and offered a few guided shore dives. It may not be on par with boat diving but... it's diving.

This.

I assume there is some sort of Cozumel dive business association (if not, the group that Christi has mentioned currently wrestling with the Sunscape/Secrets/Residencias "pier fee" fiasco would appear to be the nucleus of such a group slowly forming). Those whose livelihood depends on the ability to actually get divers in the water (you're not making money on days everyone's sitting it out) might want to brainstorm on a ways the island's dive ops could join forces to come up with a way to enable some operations on the east side during a norte. A pier would be great, but as suggested above a ramp would work for boats that could be trailered over (small ones, or maybe even Zodiacs). Maybe start with just a plan for guided shore diving, as everyone becomes more familiar and comfortable over there, everyone figures out how to work through the logistics, then slowly and carefully take next steps to incrementally improve and upgrade what's in place and their procedures.

Some January day when the port has been closed for a couple days, dive ops get out your pencils and figure how much a port closure really costs, and balance that against what it would cost to take modest and reasonable steps to start enabling east side operations. Yeah, I know, it's not gonna be cheap, easy or fun. The question is, if dive shops worked together, could something be done to make it reasonable enough to eventually work for the parties involved.

With global climate change a reality (well for most rational people - take that argument elsewhere please) are Nortes occurring with more (or less) frequency and/or intensity? I have no idea, but if I owned a dive shop on Cozumel, I'd ponder what that would mean for my business' future. Even assuming no difference from the historic norms, I'd take a look at the east side and ask, "what would it really take to be able to do some kind of diving there, and does that make economic sense?" If it's just plain impossible, OK, but...when people are getting on the ferry to Playa del Carmen and doing dives over there when the port is closed, it would make me wonder if there wasn't a way to enable diving elsewhere on the island.

Just a thought. Cheers.

 

[Christi]

This.

I assume there is some sort of Cozumel dive business association (if not, the group that Christi has mentioned currently wrestling with the Sunscape/Secrets/Residencias "pier fee" fiasco would appear to be the nucleus of such a group slowly forming). Those whose livelihood depends on the ability to actually get divers in the water (you're not making money on days everyone's sitting it out) might want to brainstorm on a ways the island's dive ops could join forces to come up with a way to enable some operations on the east side during a norte. A pier would be great, but as suggested above a ramp would work for boats that could be trailered over (small ones, or maybe even Zodiacs). Maybe start with just a plan for guided shore diving, as everyone becomes more familiar and comfortable over there, everyone figures out how to work through the logistics, then slowly and carefully take next steps to incrementally improve and upgrade what's in place and their procedures.

Some January day when the port has been closed for a couple days, dive ops get out your pencils and figure how much a port closure really costs, and balance that against what it would cost to take modest and reasonable steps to start enabling east side operations. Yeah, I know, it's not gonna be cheap, easy or fun. The question is, if dive shops worked together, could something be done to make it reasonable enough to eventually work for the parties involved.

With global climate change a reality (well for most rational people - take that argument elsewhere please) are Nortes occurring with more (or less) frequency and/or intensity? I have no idea, but if I owned a dive shop on Cozumel, I'd ponder what that would mean for my business' future. Even assuming no difference from the historic norms, I'd take a look at the east side and ask, "what would it really take to be able to do some kind of diving there, and does that make economic sense?" If it's just plain impossible, OK, but...when people are getting on the ferry to Playa del Carmen and doing dives over there when the port is closed, it would make me wonder if there wasn't a way to enable diving elsewhere on the island.

Just a thought. Cheers.

Yes, we are finally getting organized as a group.

Options have been looked into more than once in the past, and there are a large variety of factors, including ecological concerns and safety concerns, that make diving the East side not really feasible considering the small percentage of actual port closures over the course of a year.

Are these nortes coming with more or less frequency? Who knows? I've provided a chart of historical data that covers the past 8 years which is a "sticky" at the top of this forum. This is hot topic right now because this has been an exceptionally bad winter for everyone - Canada, US and us - like many things, it has a trickle down effect. I'm not convinced that this is an indication of the future - we've had bad winters before. In the grand scheme of things, the port closures over all are not that significant. Of course it feels that way for those who are unfortunate enough to be here during one of these long norte's, I feel for those people, I really do. I do my best to help organize other activities for my divers when we can't get them in the water. I maintain that if any dive shop here can't survive a couple of port closures a month on average, then honestly - they shouldn't be in business.

 

[mstevens]

I'm pretty sure I've never actually met Christi, and I've never dived with Blue XT~Sea. However, she's helped me out many times, starting some years ago when I wanted to book with her and her boats were full. She gave me contact information for some other shops that in turn led to one of my greatest friendships and contributed to my finding my home. Maintaining a port status widget that requires manual daily updates is a lot of work, but it doesn't surprise me that she's done it.

Dave (fine, "East-side Dave" to the haters...) might have his own style, but he's also been a consistent contributor to this board beyond mere perceived promotion of his business. He and I have civilly disagreed about a number of things, and agreed on others, and I've learned a lot about Cozumel from his posts.

Coz is great location for diving, but not worth the trip to just drink beer and watch football while the breeze is blowing.

I totally understand why some might say this, but I disagree very strongly. I've traveled to Cozumel many times without any plan to dive. Why would anyone go there and just sit around and drink beer and watch football when there are so many other things to do? I've never managed to do everything I wanted to while there, even on a non-dive trip.

Maybe there is no boat launch on east side but that's why I mentioned a few days ago if the shops could pitch in and build a ramp or get the island to build one.

I would hate to see a boat ramp. There are so few places like Cozumel left. The east side of the island is ecologically important as a major nesting site for sea turtles. It's one of the few places one can go and be on a beautiful beach and not encounter people by the hundreds. There are far more pressing ways to use financial resources.

"The island" is not likely to build a boat ramp, and getting "the island" to do much of anything takes immense resources of time, patience, and political savvy. San Miguel de Cozumel can't seem to pay its bills or provide some basic services to residents, and the east side is not necessarily part of the town. City police do some patrolling there and the city provides lifeguards at a couple of beaches, but it's also under state and federal jurisdiction. When a drunk tourist crashed into one of the beach staircases, it took forever to reach any sort of agreement about who was supposed to fix it. Some might wonder if it's part of the city when traffic fine revenue is involved and not part of the city when costs are involved, but I personally am legally prohibited to wonder about such things in public and have no such questions myself.

When port is closed and I'm on vacay, I'd be happy if my shop took us over there and offered a few guided shore dives. It may not be on par with boat diving but... it's diving.

It might be drowning. There are few safe places to swim on that side due to strong rip currents and fatalities are fairly common. I was a lifeguard for a long time, and I'm fairly familiar with the east side beaches. There are only a few places I will even go in the water there, and I can't think of any where I'd snorkel.

 

[JamesBon92007]

For those of you who wish to have an online resource to check the port status - you can now check the status every day. Status will remain OPEN until it's not - haha! On days that we are expecting a norte or have had a norte - I will update the status each morning after the official Harbor Master report.

Nothing fancy, but it can be found on the right sidebar here right above the Weather widget
Blue XT~Sea Diving - Cozumel Scuba Diving - Blue XT~Sea Diving

Red = CLOSED
Yellow = Open with caution or Standby status
Green = OPEN

View attachment 443468

Is this available here on SB somehow (besides on this thread) or only on your web site? I've read references to something called a "Sticky" but in eight years on SB I've never seen one.

 

[tridacna]

@Christi

Your widget is fantastic!

If you added daily water temperature, it would be even better!!

THAT would be a killer widget. Pleeeeeaaaase!