Cozumel dive trip report: Sea Urchin, Villas Ixchel, Diablo Divers

[ae3753]

Cozumel Dives
Santa Rosa Wall. Max depth 81', avg depth 52'. 82 degrees, 60' vis. 51 minutes.
Las Palmas. Max depth 59', avg depth 39'. 80 degrees, 60' vis. 59 minutes.
San Francisco Wall. Max depth 65', avg depth 45'. 81 degrees, 60' vis. 47 minutes.
Paradise Cove. Max depth 39', avg depth 31'. 80 degrees, 40' vis. 50 minutes.

Palancar Horseshoe. Max depth 85', avg depth 51'. 81 degrees, 60' vis. 46 minutes.
Santa Rosa Reef. Max depth 50', avg depth 40'. 81 degrees, 60' vis. 53 minutes.
Yucab/Tormentos. Max depth 55', avg depth 42'. 80 degrees, 60' vis. 50 minutes.
Chancanaab. Max depth 46', avg depth 37'. 81 degrees, 60' vis. 54 minutes.

Palancar Caves. Max depth 83', avg depth 53'. 80 degrees, 60' vis. 46 minutes.
San Clemente. Max depth 39', avg depth 27'. 80 degrees, 60' vis. 56 minutes.
Yucab. Max depth 51', avg depth 37'. 81 degrees, 60' vis. 53 minutes.
Las Palmas Wall. Max depth 51', avg depth 40'. 81 degrees, 40' vis. 55 minutes.

Palancar Francesca. Max depth 60', avg depth 43'. 82 degrees, 60' vis. 57 minutes.
Cedral Pass. Max depth 52', avg depth 38'. 81 degrees, 60' vis. 61 minutes.

Columbia. Max depth 84', avg depth 53'. 82 degrees, 60' vis. 51 minutes.
Columbia Shallow. Max depth 31', avg depth 21'. 83 degrees, 60' vis. 61 minutes.

On marine life: Cozumel marine life is diverse and abundant. It was interesting to see that at some sites, it would almost specialize in a certain fish species. On the trip, we saw more fish than we knew how to identify, but here are some of the popular marine life we saw - dolphin, nurseshark, splendid toadfish, eagle rays, turtles, sting rays, barracuda, huge groupers and parrot fish.

Favorite wall dive: While all the Palacar dives are great, we would have to say that Columbia was our favorite. To me, it had the most dramatic formations and great swim throughs and canyons. Also, there was lots of life on the reef. The downside was that this was the most crowded site when we went. All other sites, we were the only group within eye sight. However, at Columbia, it was crowded. At times, 2-3 dive groups going through the same swim throughs right after each other.

Favorite reef dive: My wife/dive buddy goes with Yucab. Lush coral and endless fields of it. My favorite was Las Palmas because of the diversity. Not as abundant with the number of fish, but a lot variety.

Dive op: Sea Urchin Dive. We had a great time with Sea Urchin and will be back. Before selecting Sea Urchin, we attempted to contact some of the dive ops popular with scubaboard, but they didn't back to us for various reasons. Sea Urchin was incredibly responsive and was willing to answer my many many emails (8 mails from me, with equal number of responses) filled with the typical scubaboard questions (ie. are your fast boats the small 6-pack boats, or the larger type?). That alone would be enough for me to give them a chance, but I also checked out other review sites, and everyone was positive in the feedback. To top it off, their dive package/lodging package was perfect for us. The whole trip was $50 per 2-tank dive per person, and lodging was $20 per person per night. Exceptional value in my book.

So logistics were good, but how was the diving? Solid. Poncho, the dive master, was very good, and dives were leisurely and not rushed at all. On the shallow reefs, this allowed many in the dive group to wander on their own, exploring the reef at a decent pace. And yielding some good finds (eg. nurse shark). Equally important to us, Sea Urchin could schedule morning and afternoon dives, so we could do 4 dive days. This allowed us to see Cozumel and be in the water as much as we can. Heading out every morning, Poncho would ask if there was a site that we were particularly interested in seeing. If there were no idea, Poncho would make a recommendation that fit the dive group.

Sea Urchin Dive uses the small 6-8 pack dive boats powered by twin Yamaha 60s. Quite fast, and significantly faster than any of the larger boats. We passed the larger (fishing boats and such) enroute, and that put a smile on my face. While some small boat ops leave earlier, Sea Urchin leaves the harbor around 9am. This works great for those of us who like to sleep in. However, at some dive sites, this may mean that you arrive and it's more crowded. Only happened to us once, all other dives we were alone on the reefs. Sea Urchin takes a max of 8 divers, though majority of times we were in groups of 4. And on one afternoon dive set, it was just the two of us. Which was more than fine by us. We had heard from another party that they used to dive with an operation that would cancel with them the day of or the night before, if they were the only 2 people booked. That would infuriate me (and I imagine most people) to no end. We were happy that Sea Urchin took only two of us out. And there were a couple of times on our trip that Sea Urchin booked some divers with other operators when Sea Urchin couldn't accomodate (one time when the divers arrived an hour after departure).

A huge bonus for us was that Jorge (the owner) would pick us up from our lodging and drive us to the harbor every day we dove with them. In the afternoons, Poncho would drop us off on his way home. This was extremely helpful since we stayed in a residential neighborhood. And hauling dive gear, even a few blocks is no fun. Plus, they also gave us very good recommendations for places to eat. Lastly, both Jorge and Poncho were open to feedback and were willing to accomodate us.

Since the max depth was usually 80 feet on our dives, the one thing I'm curious about is if there is anything at 90' - 130'. If there is nothing unique at those depths, then cruising at max 80' is good with me.

 

[ae3753]

Cenotes, Playa del Carmen
Taj Maha. Max depth 44', avg depth 22'. 77 degrees, 100' vis. 67 minutes.
Dos Ojos - Main line. Max depth 26', avg depth 16'. 77 degrees, 100' vis. 63 minutes.
Dos Ojos - Bat Cave. Max depth 43', avg depth 19'. 77 degrees, 100' vis. 61 minutes.

On the cenotes: The cenotes are absolutely breathtaking. Initially, we were hesitant to dive the cenotes because of the overhead environment. However, we are extremely happy that we did. By far the best part of our trip to Cozumel. The cenotes ruined reef diving for us, and it was affirmation on why we dive a lot and practice our buoyancy and skills throughout the year.

Favorite Cenote: My favorite cenote dive was Dos Ojos main line for the incredible formations, caverns, and huge openings. My wife's favorite was Taj Maha for the mesmerizing light and refractions, although it was hard for her to pick between Taj Maha and Dos Ojos Mainline.

Dive op: Diablo Divers. We couldn't be happier with or more ecstatic about Dennis. If you're interested in cenotes, then you have to sign up diving with him. He is professional, safe, enthusiastic, helpful, and great natured. The dive plans were in extreme detail - covering everything from turning point, expected depth changes and times at various depths, cenote features, the works. The enjoyment of the dives we can directly attribute to him. As opposed to reef diving, where you rely on the dive master for general guidance but can explore within reason, in the cenotes you are strictly dependant on your guide, obviously. We felt that Dennis showed us every section of the cenotes that was reasonable and safe to do so, and didn't feel like we missed out on any detail. We're curious by nature, so with other trips, we have wondered, what if. With Dennis, this was never the case. He really allowed us to absorb everything, and we never felt rushed or that we were going too slow. Of course, we were really fortunate that it was only the two of us with Dennis, and this helped out too. Next time we're in Cozumel, we plan on spending more time diving with him, and booking a kayak dive as well.

 

[ae3753]

Lodging
We stayed at Villas Ixchel with the Sea Urchin Dive package. Clean, spacious kitchennettes in a residential neighborhood. We stayed in the Garden room, and it was very big. We could put our dive bags and luggage on the floor and still have ample room to move around if we wanted to. The owner, Roswitha, is a dive instructor and all the guests that we met were divers.

There is a outside shower area with buckets for washing/rinsing gear and wetsuit hangers were provided as well. Very nice.

Villa Ixchel is located in the residential area of Cozumel, about a 30 minute walk from downtown and 15 minutes walk from the nearest food (if you exclude a really loud bar a block away). While it was good to be away from the crowds, the only downside was that we found was that post dive, it wasn't super convenient to grab a bite to eat. People do rent bikes while staying at Villas Ixchel, and it's not a bad idea.

Being a kitchennette, you could prepare food if you wanted to. We really didn't care to since there are a lot of great places to eat in Cozumel. However, the local supermarket, Super Francisco, did not have peanut butter. So our typical dive vacation breakfast of pb&j could not be had.

 

[ae3753]

Eats
La Choza - Tasty Yucatan/Fajitas at U.S. prices.
Viva Mexico - Nice drink specials, though food is average.
Especias - Delicious food. Empanadas were snacky and well balanced.
Tacos Paco (Playa del Carmen area) - The best fish tacos we've ever had and at great prices.
Los Serras - Tacos pastor are simply amazing. And at 5 pesos a piece, the ultimate bargain. My favorite restaurant.
Johnny Bravos - Arrancheras tacos are worth eating. Thinly sliced, tender, and good flavor. Not the bargain as Los Serras, but worth a visit.
Iguana Rocks - Inexpensive eatery that's near Villas Ixchel. Excellent flautas and good tortas.
Conchita del Caribe - Would not recommend, calamari was rubbery and tasted like Kemps frozen food. Grouper was tough and overcooked.

 

[Moodiejeff]

Wow... Thank You! Excellent and informative report.

 

[nikyyo]

I dove with Isidro and Sea Urchin on my first trip to Coz. It's nice to here the tradition of great service and great prices are being maintained by the present owners. I was reluctant to try them when I come down again but maybe now I will. I have read several stellar reviews of the new operation. I'm sorry you didn't like Conchita Del Caribe: along with El Moro, Los Moros Del Morritos, and Casa Denis it is one of my must go to restaurants in Coz. The Lobster tail is180pesos and huge and delicious served with garlic and butter. Their cerviches are excellent too. I hope they haven't gone down hill.

 

[ae3753]

We were really surprised with Conchita del Caribe too. A lot of very good recommendations. Perhaps it's what we ordered.

The whole fried fish looked excellent (many were being eaten hungrily by local families), but they ran out by the time we got there.

On our trip, there were many repeat customers. Some who have been with Isidro and some with Jorge. Everyone seemed to have a great time.

 

[diveborg]

Thanks for the nice report. I appreciate the effort of doing the write up.

Too bad about your experience at Conchita del Caribe. Maybe it was just what you ordered. My son and I really enjoyed the conche civeche we had there.

 

[Rick Inman]

Great report! Any pics?

Visibility on your dives was 40' to 60', which for Coz is said to be poor. Was there a reason the vis was down?

 

[scububa]

Nice report. Thanks!

My family went AI in January and I know I want to go back and branch out. Your information is very helpful with thinking about that. Very informative.

Jim