espantoon
Contributor
Hello all, here is my trip report for Cozumel. This was our first trip to Coz, and it was well worth it!
We went last week, Jan 9-14, and stayed at Carib Blue where we ran into ggun and divediva (with spouses). The hotel and the room were good for divers. Nothing fancy, just a king size bed, small cable TV, and simple bathroom. The room had a phone, and every floor had a water cooler. The only real complaint that I can think of was the sporatic plumbing. We went from having only cold water, then low pressure water, than none at all. In their defense the hotel was working on the entire plumbing system, and upon calling the desk staff responded immediately and fixed the problem. The best part about Caribe Blue though was the view. Every room had a perfect ocean view, with balconies. The balconies were equipped with drying racks for your gear.
Okay, to the best part-the diving! We used Blue Angel, which is located right next to the hotel which was really convienient. Blue Angel has several boats and DM's, and it appeared that the boats were arranged according to experience (however they will move you around once they feel you out). We were able to vote on our dive sites every day, and DM's Matt and Jorge were great. Bottom times were limited to 60 minutes, however I dont think a little over would not have been a problem. The only snags that I experienced were that on a few second dives, air tanks were not turned on prior to splashing in. Jorge always reminded everyone to check their equipment before going in, (every one should anyway) and the problems were detected. My rental reg on one day had an annoying positive flow that shortned my bottom time a little, but other than that the rental regs and BCD's are brand new and good quality.
The shallower reefs showed some obvious hurricane damage, with most of the fans gone and sand covering much of the coral heads. The reefs still looked good, I can't imagine how good they looked before the storm. The deeper dives, like Chun Chacaab and Columbia Deep, were in great shape.
Critters-big lobsters, morays, parrotfish, butterflyfish, blue tangs, and two nurse sharks. We saw a HUGE pod of dolphins (ask ggun about them, he was in the water when they showed up). I got some decent pics with a rental digital camera courtesy of PhotoCoz, give 'em a call and the camera will be delivered to your hotel. The best pics were of a giant anenome, a BIG lobster we saw out in the open, and a cool pic I got of two cowfish up close. I will try to post those pics a little later.
Gordon and Carol gave us a taxi tour of the island at the end of the week, and showed us places we would have never seen on the east side of the island.
We will definetly go back to Coz, I see why the place is so addictive. I encourage anyone to go, you could not have asked for nicer people. The damage to the island from Wilma is still apparent but rebuilding is making progress. Many shops and restraunts are open and the food is wonderful.
Thats all for now, I will try to add some pics later.
We went last week, Jan 9-14, and stayed at Carib Blue where we ran into ggun and divediva (with spouses). The hotel and the room were good for divers. Nothing fancy, just a king size bed, small cable TV, and simple bathroom. The room had a phone, and every floor had a water cooler. The only real complaint that I can think of was the sporatic plumbing. We went from having only cold water, then low pressure water, than none at all. In their defense the hotel was working on the entire plumbing system, and upon calling the desk staff responded immediately and fixed the problem. The best part about Caribe Blue though was the view. Every room had a perfect ocean view, with balconies. The balconies were equipped with drying racks for your gear.
Okay, to the best part-the diving! We used Blue Angel, which is located right next to the hotel which was really convienient. Blue Angel has several boats and DM's, and it appeared that the boats were arranged according to experience (however they will move you around once they feel you out). We were able to vote on our dive sites every day, and DM's Matt and Jorge were great. Bottom times were limited to 60 minutes, however I dont think a little over would not have been a problem. The only snags that I experienced were that on a few second dives, air tanks were not turned on prior to splashing in. Jorge always reminded everyone to check their equipment before going in, (every one should anyway) and the problems were detected. My rental reg on one day had an annoying positive flow that shortned my bottom time a little, but other than that the rental regs and BCD's are brand new and good quality.
The shallower reefs showed some obvious hurricane damage, with most of the fans gone and sand covering much of the coral heads. The reefs still looked good, I can't imagine how good they looked before the storm. The deeper dives, like Chun Chacaab and Columbia Deep, were in great shape.
Critters-big lobsters, morays, parrotfish, butterflyfish, blue tangs, and two nurse sharks. We saw a HUGE pod of dolphins (ask ggun about them, he was in the water when they showed up). I got some decent pics with a rental digital camera courtesy of PhotoCoz, give 'em a call and the camera will be delivered to your hotel. The best pics were of a giant anenome, a BIG lobster we saw out in the open, and a cool pic I got of two cowfish up close. I will try to post those pics a little later.
Gordon and Carol gave us a taxi tour of the island at the end of the week, and showed us places we would have never seen on the east side of the island.
We will definetly go back to Coz, I see why the place is so addictive. I encourage anyone to go, you could not have asked for nicer people. The damage to the island from Wilma is still apparent but rebuilding is making progress. Many shops and restraunts are open and the food is wonderful.
Thats all for now, I will try to add some pics later.
