Cozumel damage after the hurricane

[jepuskar]

As Cozumel recovered after the hurricane? I have put off visiting the last few years because of the damage. Christi is constantly PM'ing me to visit, but I just don't think the coral is the same.

Anyone?

 

[smwhi573]

I was just down there and in some places the coral was great. Some places, it is still a little lacking. The dive masters we chartered with knew where to take us for good experiences. I say it's worth a trip myself. I'm already trying to plan another trip down next year.

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[PeterNBiddle]

As Cozumel recovered after the hurricane?

Yes


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[ggunn]

As Cozumel recovered after the hurricane? I have put off visiting the last few years because of the damage. Christi is constantly PM'ing me to visit, but I just don't think the coral is the same.

Anyone?

The shallow hard corals in many places won't be back to their pre-Wilma condition in our or our children's lifetimes. That stuff takes centuries to build.

That said, there is still much great diving to be had there. There are many sites which escaped the worst of the storm, and the soft coral and sponges are coming back quickly. Ashore you'd never know there was ever a storm.

It's been nearly ten years; it's time you went back.

 

[cicopo]

I just use a P & S underwater but I think there's enough photos of the corals & sponges in my albums to answer your question but I do have to agree with Gordon re the shallows. I had made several dive trips pre Wilma so I know what it used to be like.

Picasa Web Albums - Larry

 

[jlyle]

Ten years! Where have you been? I pale at the thought of how much wonderful diving you've missed. Like cicopo said, look at the pictures - click on the link below

 

[smwhi573]

My wife and I only had a gopro each, but even in areas without any coral, we saw some amazing stuff. The one video I have had a chance to put up was very cool with an amazing ending that most people in our group didn't catch because they started moving on. I uploaded it to YouTube and the link is below.

Cozumel Reef Dive - The Circle of Life: https://youtu.be/p2-ShPF1peY

This just shows an example of why you don't always need a massive amount of coral for a great diving experience. I have tons of footage of wildlife in and around the coral we did see as well as places there was little coral. I need to just sit down, edit and upload those videos.

We did 4 dives in 4 locations and each one gave us something different, making each one equally special.

We were even fortunate to see a 8 - 10 ft nurse shark about 30 ft away. I would have tried getting closer but was low on air and would have had to swim against the current, so I don't have great footage of the shark.

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[redacted]

Coral is all gone but the sand is beautiful.

 

[macado]

but I just don't think the coral is the same.

Of course it's not the "same." It's never going to the same but it's different. It's was and is still a wonderful place to dive.

Soft corals and sponges have definitely rebounded. Like ggun said hard corals will not recover in our lifetimes. A lot of the deeper sites were spared a lot of destruction.

Paradise (Paraiso) Reef was certainly not the same but a lot of that can be claimed because of cruise ship traffic and pier construction.

What is often not stated is that Wilma actually created tons of new swim-thrus and removed sand from large parts of the reef that have been hidden for years. Think of it like a remodel. Some coral heads got covered in sand while others were completely uncovered creating new formations, new passages and swim-thrus.

While all of this is my opinion (along with many others), I've been coming to Cozumel before and after Wilma regularly 4-6 times a year. To put it bluntly, some things will never be the same while some things may even be better.

 

[DandyDon]

I think I have seen this prank here before. :silly: