Bellen14
New
Just returned from Cozumel. The good news is the reef is in better condition than Roatan, that’s for sure. The bad news is, yes, coral bleaching is present, it varies based on dive site. We did see spotted eagle rays and the endemic splendid toadfish, always a pleasure. Some flounders, and 2 flying gunnards. As Scuba Club refugees, we dove with Aldora Divers this time. Very different diving with them. They only use steel tanks and big ones at that. After 6 dives, I was still not comfortable with them, they are just too darn heavy and I just couldn’t get my buoyancy right, with no weight, with 4lbs or 6lbs, tried all. It also hurt my back. Other divers swear by Aldora, but I am used to the 60 minute dive and having the tank tipping all over the place was not comfortable for me. Rich, the DM, was great, as were all boat staff. 2 tank dives in the morning cost $160, which seems pricey, but costs have gone up everywhere. We stayed at Villablanca Garden Hotel. It was nice, clean, and convenient for pick up by Aldora across the road at the pier. However, Villablanca is not a dive resort, and they don’t have any place to shower outside or to rinse gear. Also restaurant is run separately and opening times were not reliable, so we got food from grocery store so we could meet Aldora at 7:45am on the pier. I really wish all hotels would supply drinking water for refilling water bottles, we used so many plastic bottles I still feel guilty!
