Trip Report Coz Palace/AquaSafari & Fiesta Americana & Scuba With Alison

[ColoDale]

If I had to guess about the red feathery thing above the toadfish is that is it is a segmented worm. Maybe a feather duster or a fanworm but I am not up on this sort of thing. A view from directly underneath into it would help but that is not possible in this case.
The lobster is a spotted spiny lobster. There are alot of caribbean spiny lobsters here.

 

[newgentry]

I don't see Scuba with Allison mentioned often, but seems like every time I do it's with glowing praise.

Me too, and I'm glad to hear from this report that she's still on the island and doing well. About 15 years ago, my daughter and I went to Cozumel with two fresh C-cards that the ink wasn't even dry on yet. I didn't want to start off on a big cattle boat for our first trip, so I hired Allison to take us out, just the two of us, for a couple of dives. If there was any way she could have done better with two brand new divers, I can't imagine how. It was a great day and she did an awesome job with two complete newbies. So again, glad to hear that she's still around and you had a good experience.

 

[FLturtle]

Thanks for sharing. I especially liked your eel pic & the shrimp on the anemone (those things are so tiny I usually can’t even see them!)

 

[Kimela]

1.) Any thoughts on whether the kids' club at Fiesta Americana might be less appealing to English-only kids? I ask because I might consider an A.I. resort on Cozumel someday if bringing family along, and a good kids' club can be a trip-enricher.

I'm really not sure. If the demographic we saw when we were there is representative of the norm, maybe not - I don't know if the resort typically caters to Spanish speaking families or a more diverse group? There may be more local guests right now due to reduced rates to get the resort closer to covid 'capacity'. I will say that the one person I spoke with at the towel hut - which was where the kids club met - spoke great English. So I guess my answer is a solid "sorry, I really don't know".

2.) On a related note...did they have sandy beach that slopes into the water so kids could wade in and play there?

Nope, no sloping, sandy beaches. They did have sandy beaches - on top of a built out area on top of an iron shore bottom. There were multiple stairways that led down to the water. You would need water shoes to walk around in that water - it was beautiful, but rocky. There were cool beds built out over the water, so you could literally roll off your bed into the water and then come back up the stairs. The pool was nice though, and had really shallow areas for little kids (but it was up by the hotel, not at the beach). Also, there was a dedicated lap pool at the beach - that turned into a splash pool when nobody was actually using it for laps. It was 4.5 ft deep.

3.) Glad to hear you got long dive times; were you diving 100-cf tanks? It's my understanding that's the biggest size most op.s offer, though some on the island (e.g.: Aldora, Living Underwater, at least one other) have steel 120-cf tanks.

The tanks were AL80's, and the longest dive we did was on air - though it wiped us out so we switched to nitrox after that day. (Yes, I know the research says nitrox doesn't really make you feel any better, but the placebo effect sure does!).

I tried to attach some pics of the beach area for perspective but am having trouble. I'll post them when I get it sorted out.

 

[Kimela]

I hope these pics help to make sense of what I’m describing. There’s a built up boardwalk with tables and umbrellas on the beach side of the walkway, and on the opposite side of the walkway are built in beds and stairways to the water. The Sandy beach area is separated from the boardwalk by that low, white wall. Wish I’d taken a pic of the walkway.

 

[drrich2]

Nope, no sloping, sandy beaches. They did have sandy beaches - on top of a built out area on top of an iron shore bottom. There were multiple stairways that led down to the water. You would need water shoes to walk around in that water - it was beautiful, but rocky.

Thanks. Good info., and useful. The old saying 'One man's ceiling is another man's floor' applies. A rocky bottom and iron shore shoreline may make for better snorkeling, but a little kid (like our 2nd grader) may be better served with a 'wade friendly' sloping sandy beach.

(Yes, I know the research says nitrox doesn't really make you feel any better, but the placebo effect sure does!).

This has been brought up in past threads, and the one research study I saw on the subject was criticized for simulating what would be a very 'unchallenging' dive experience.

In other words, if it's the study I suspect it is, it did not re-create the kind of experience an instructor teaching a bunch of students in a day, or a shore diver diving 5 times/day in Bonaire or boat diver doing 4 dives/day in Cozumel would get.

Some people cry 'placebo' or 'anecdotal,' but when enough independent people with real world experience share the same anecdote, at some point that becomes evidence. A lot of what's true in the world hasn't yet been demonstrated to meet the rigorous standards of a scientific research study in a peer-reviewed journal.

 

[Kimela]

Thanks. Good info., and useful. The old saying 'One man's ceiling is another man's floor' applies. A rocky bottom and iron shore shoreline may make for better snorkeling, but a little kid (like our 2nd grader) may be better served with a 'wade friendly' sloping sandy beach.

This has been brought up in past threads, and the one research study I saw on the subject was criticized for simulating what would be a very 'unchallenging' dive experience.

In other words, if it's the study I suspect it is, it did not re-create the kind of experience an instructor teaching a bunch of students in a day, or a shore diver diving 5 times/day in Bonaire or boat diver doing 4 dives/day in Cozumel would get.

Some people cry 'placebo' or 'anecdotal,' but when enough independent people with real world experience share the same anecdote, at some point that becomes evidence. A lot of what's true in the world hasn't yet been demonstrated to meet the rigorous standards of a scientific research study in a peer-reviewed journal.

I agree about the 2nd grader - you would want a real beach. Maybe Sunscape Sabor?

Those are good points about the research - it might not be adequate to study what we really want to know. Also, if we're diving air I bump up against my no deco time - and I hate to ascend up to 40 ft to get some time back when the dive guide is trying to show me something at 55 feet that's really cool! One of my air days that happened - I showed Carlos my computer that showed I had 1 minute left and I could see disappointment on HIS face FOR me!!! Ugh.

 

[flyboy08]

Nice report and pix! Thanks for sharing.

we just completed a similar jaunt...resort week one way south, BNB the next in town...staying in town ingratiated in the community is a deeper way to appreciate what exactly the island is all about....hint, it ain’t diving.

thanks again!

 

[flyboy08]

You on Nitrox?

 

[drrich2]

and I hate to ascend up to 40 ft to get some time back when the dive guide is trying to show me something at 55 feet that's really cool!

Another issue with that is when drift diving, people at different depths often drift at different rates. Which someone explained to me...after I got back from my Cozumel trip. Better late than never...