Trip Report Cozumel Blue Angel - October 2024

[DandyDon]

Sorry to see that the floor animals have been covered.

 

[Nemrod]

I have been going down to Cozumel since the late 70s and never do I recall seeing much in the way of sharks ever. Once in a while, yes. Most commonly nurse sharks and once in a while a reef shark. That is about it.

Reef conditions, in 1978 I would say much less marine life, reefs were in better shape. Now I see more marine life but reefs in worse shape. It is what it is. The cruise ships are wrecking everything everywhere, they are an environmental nightmare.

Each dive BA asked me where I wanted to go, I think I could have chosen anywhere within range. The two pangas are small, the larger boat is a typical diesel dive boat and spacious. Every place I go, not just Cozumel, I just have to learn to go with the flow. No pangas in Cozumel have camera tanks that I have ever seen. The larger boats often do. Camera tanks are just for a rinse as far as I am concerned, I would never leave my camera in a tank sloshing and bashing around with a dozen Go-Pros on sticks and cell phones smashing into it.

BA has two large 55 gallon drums and a freshwater hose and I set up my own camera tank ashore and the shop would refill it for me each day. I take my gear to my room just about everywhere I stay and if doing a night or afternoon dive beyond closing I set my tanks in a place for me to get later. No problem.

We like the music. And the generous happy hour with drinks and appetizers and the friendly staff at BA. And LaLo is cute.

Years ago we stayed often at the El Presidente, left out of the marina on dive trips, it was a PITA. I did like the hotel and beach and have no idea what the current place is like. SCC was always sort of industrial, BA is more casual about everything with a little atmosphere and less organization. Go with the flow. At least here is no tank Nitrox Nazi line like at SCC. You did not do your tape right, to the end of the line for you, no Nitrox for you!

Edit to aid, Cozumel is not a destination for shore diving and it pretty much universally sucks to the point I do not bother with the effort and prefer happy hour.

 

[Brodydog]

At least here is no tank Nitrox Nazi line like at SCC. You did not do your tape right, to the end of the line for you, no Nitrox for you!

Too funny.

 

[1fish]

First the actual diving:
We did 8 boat dives and 3 shore dives during our 4 dive days. The reef life was mediocre. Some of the topography was pretty cool (like Dalila and San Clemente), but I frankly expected more coral and reef life. I guess my expectations from 9-years ago were too high and Cozumel like every other location in the Caribbean has experienced significant reef degradation over the past decade. I was expecting to see sharks on every dive. We saw 2 nurse sharks on the second dive (Tormentos). The only other ones we saw were in the pen at "Stingray Beach". We also dove Palancar Gardens (twice), Villa Blanca, La Francesa, La Parasio/Paradise and the house "reef" in front of BA. My wife and I life to go slowly - I usually shoot a lot of macro and take my time finding the small stuff - blennys, worms, nudis, etc. The first two days I put on my dome to shoot wide-angle expecting sharks and too much current to be able to shoot macro. Except for one nice Hawksbill Turtle, shooting WA was generally a bust, and the current... it was no where near what I had prepared myself for. Day 3 and 4 I shot macro and found a few good subjects, but unfortunately couldn't find a second toadfish (I had found one the first dive - first time I had seen one). We dive once a year in Roatan and while different, I'd say the quality of the diving (reef, sea life and general condition) was similar, maybe a hair better than Roatan. The reef and sea life on Bonaire, where we went this past June, were in much better condition than Cozumel.

Wow,

What a different experience we had!

I was going to write up a trip report but feel I should respond here to create a little balance. I was there with my wife and a good friend, and it looks like our trip overlapped a few days with the OP.

This was our first time at Blue Angel and our third time in Cozumel. We were there from 10/13 thru 10/22 and dove 2 to 4 dives every day other then one day that the harbor was closed as Tropical storm Nadine passed below. Yes, the viz got worse day by day but the critters, coral and Sponges were beautiful. Our friend is a retired marine biologist and she and my wife took slow poking around to new levels, using magnifying glasses and finding all sorts of beautiful creatures. Marco was our guide for most of our dives. He is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He seemed to love pointing out even smaller critters then they were finding. We dove Columbia deep with 2 long, deep swim throughs, Several places on Palancar, Cedral several times, a twilight dive at Delilah, a night dive at San Clemente and More. The current for the most part was minimal and we were told that it has been less this year overall.
We saw Nurse sharks, Lots of Lobster and Crabs, Shrimp, Octopus, Moray eel's, fish of all types in abundance, and Turtles.

We arrived around 4pm on Sunday and jumped in for a snorkel out front. It was nice to get wet but we did not feel the need to dive there.

The BA dive operation:
in summary, I was not impressed. Upon arrival at BA (around 2PM), our room wasn't ready yet so we were asked to go sit on the "patio" area and they would bring out a complimentary drink (which was never served). While waiting we decided to go check into the dive shop as we were interested in getting in a shore dive to get wet and sort out any equipment and ear issues. There was no orientation of any sort given. We were given the customary forms and waivers to complete, presented our C-cards, and confirmed we would be diving on Nitrox.

Upon our arrival we relaxed on the patio area and were served our complimentary drinks. It was nice to relax and regroup after traveling.
The dive shop is very friendly and laid back but they always had things organized and ready. We rented our equipment there. Rental gear is always questionable but there gear is in good and serviceable shape. If there was an issue it was quickly remedied.
They have 3 boats that we saw. 2 small fast ones that would take out 1 group of 4 to 6 divers or once we had 2 groups . one with 4 and one with 2 divers. The fast boats are great to get out to the further sites. The 3rd boat is a bit more roomy and alot slower. will take 2 groups of 4 to 6 divers. We prefer the small boats but did have the slow boat a few times and it was not so bad.

Finally, the Resort:
I was not impressed. While the cost was reasonable, and I like the location outside of downtown San Miguel, I don't think I would stay here again. These are economy rooms. We were in room 204. The rooms are large but basic. Painted/stained concrete floors, painted cement plaster walls. Only two of the 3-drawers on our dresser would open, but there was enough storage space with the hanging bar and 2 open shelves. The bed was firm but comfortable, which makes it tolerable, since after all the bed is the most important thing in the room. There were only 2 electrical receptacles in the entire room. The mini-fridge kept our drinks cold. We didn't use the TV. The bathroom had dirt stained tiles and grout and a shower drain that didn't...drain. The toilet was the same height as the ones installed in the childcare centers that I've built, the seat being only 12-inches off the floor is rather uncomfortable. The mini-split AC unit rattled loudly any time it ran. The street noise is bad, especially Friday-Sunday. We were frequently awakened by loud scooters/bikes/cars/trucks throughout the night. Monday and Tuesday nights the noise died down by 11 and I slept much better. The lock on the door isn't keeping anyone out (without the the security chain being used from the inside), so definitely use the in room safe to store any valuables that fit. As these rooms are very drafty, it is either opressively muggy with the AC at 23C or higher or too cold but not muggy with it set to 22C or lower. If they had a camera room, the mugginess wouldn't have bothered me, but I needed it reasonably dry to limit moisture in my housing during camera setups, so we dealt with it being a bit chilly. These rooms need a serious updating.

OK, to call this a resort is a stretch. We were very happy with the accommodations which, while a little rough and worn, we never felt bad about bringing our wet gear up to the room and spreading it out on the balcony railing to dry. The bed was comfortable and the frig cold. Plenty of warm water for showers and our room (305) was clean. We were never bothered by road noise at night. The floor in the room was a little funky. the colored veneer cement would pop off in places creating little piles of rubble, but the maid would clean it up every day and we could only think that after we checked out someone from maintenance would be up there creating more random colored spot patches.

There was (loud) live music 3 of the 5 nights from 6-8 on the BA lawn. The musicians were decent, but it was too loud to try to have dinner conversation on the lawn while they were playing. We did not hear music from anywhere else in our room.

The kitchen was still undergoing renovations during our stay. Our last day (Wednesday 10/16) they reopened the restaurant dining area and were in the process of moving all the kitchen equipment back up so we got to eat breakfast in the restaurant which was definitely nicer than on the lawn.

The Kitchen / Dining room did open up after a few days and that was nice as it had started to rain in anticipation of tropical storm Nadine. To be under cover was welcome. The food got better as the kitchen got more organized. We ate breakfasts there every day and liked it very much. We mostly ate dinner in town, there some very good vegan restaurants there but we thought the restaurant at BA had a very creative and tasty vegan menu as well!
As far as the music goes, it was quite good . We enjoyed hanging out with a beer and listening. and to there credit it did shut down by 8:30.

I am sorry the OP had such a different experience and I can't think that is the norm there. We will make BA a regular home when we visit Cozumel.

 

[1fish]

I am heading to BA in a couple months. Our package includes nitrox. Do you happen to know if the OP provides an O2 analyzer?

They do have one. it is up in the dive shop and I found I needed to ask for it every day to be brought to the boat.

 

[1fish]

Sorry to see that the floor animals have been covered.

There was still a big turtle in pebbles in the center of the floor, Just lots of spotted patches every else...

 

[Nemrod]

The shark pebbles are sharp and bite. The turtle pebbles are round and smooth and do not. Makes complete sense to me .

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

We did 8 boat dives and 3 shore dives during our 4 dive days.

Can somebody speak on the quality of the shore diving at Blue Angel?

 

[scubadada]

One's experience is significantly influenced by one's expectations.

 

[ggunn]

Can somebody speak on the quality of the shore diving at Blue Angel?

Shore diving anywhere around Cozumel fades significantly in comparison to any of the dives one can do from a boat there, especially since Hurricane Wilma's passage in 2005. The very heavy wave action brought by the storm destroyed some of the shallow water reefs that took centuries to build and it affected nearly all the western side of the island in the hotel zones. Some spots are worse/better than others but it is all pretty sparse compared to the sites in deeper water..

As for the shore diving from Blue Angel, it is somewhere in the middle of that range. I enjoy doing a few dives there as an adjunct to boat diving but certainly not as a replacement for it. There is not a whole lot to see straight out from the hotel and virtually nothing of interest to the north/right, plus there is a ferry dock near the lighthouse that you will want to stay well away from. Also, there is a marina right next to the hotel on the right and there are sometimes boats going in and out that you will need to watch out for as well as any boats coming and going from BA.

To the left/south there are the pens where captive stingrays and nurse sharks are kept, and there is a lot of life around the base of the pens. Past the pens there are a bunch of small coral heads and rubble piles where morays, octopus, damselfish, anemones, brittle stars, urchins, lobsters, and the like hang out, and they are especially findable at night.

The prevailing current is left to right and there is a bit of funneling effect by the pens that makes the current a little stronger right up against them. There is a buoy chain running straight out from the shore to an anchor point out a hundred feet or so; you can use it to gauge the current from shore by how much it is bellied out between the two attachment points.

There are two entry/exit points at the hotel. One is the walk in point at the dive op and the other is a ladder out on the dock. If there is any wave action I recommend doing a giant stride off the dock to enter and climbing the ladder to exit because the surge at the walk in can knock you around and the bottom is pretty uneven, There is a bench out on the dock where you can rig your gear.

In a nutshell, the shore diving at BA is pretty good as far as Cozumel shore diving is concerned and it is very convenient for guests at the hotel.

Oh, and one more thing: I recommend taking a compass with you when you go shore diving, especially when the current is light and especially at night. When you are finning around looking at stuff it is easy to lose track of which direction you came from and where the shore is.