Cozumel - For the Last Time?

[Joe-Diver]

So, going to Coz this weekend....I try to go a few times a year as I love the diving and it's such an affordable long weekend getaway. Looking forward to seeing the old favs: Palancar Caves, Bricks, Devils Throat, Santa Rosa....plus just being there is always so much fun.

I can't help but think this may be coming to an end, and this trip or maybe one more this year may be my last. The way things are going with oil prices, I think some tragic consequences are coming to the dive travel industry. It looks like the airline industry is in for a rough ride and we may lose more than half of it. Airline execs are predicting that unless oil prices drop significantly, the business will no longer be viable and upwards of 200 domestic cities may lose all air service. Flying will again become the realm of the wealthy, as it was 50 years ago. This is going to devastate tourist centric areas, and cheap dive travel will be a thing of the past.

I sure hope things change, but as it is now, we're not on a good path......

 

[richerso]

Well, I don't know that I can objectively argue with you on your logic there. Still, I refuse to be pessimistic about this situation. Even if air travel does become exorbitantly expensive, I will still find a way to pay for it; albeit, maybe not as often.

I recognize that the decline in dive travel will force some operators out of business; but I think there will always be a sufficient number of dive ops on the island to support whatever the market demand is. It will just be more expensive. Oh well. Better start saving money now.

 

[Debraw]

Have fun in Cozumel Joe-Diver!!! When I was leaving the island after my first trip to Grand Cayman, I remember telling my husband, I hope you enjoyed the trip and you better look out the window, because it may be the last time you ever see it since it was so expensive. That was about 8 years ago and I have since returned to the island 8 or 9 times. I have lost count. We enjoyed our trip so much that we made sacrifices, created opportunities, and watched for travel specials, for us to get back there. We still complain about $8 TCBY yogurt on the island but we still buy it and we still go diving. Don't be so pessimistic Joe. It will get better. I just know it.

 

[scubafanatic]

..I agree with ya, Joe-Diver....when history changes the course of world events, the people experiencing the changes rarely understand the magnitude of the changes...'history' always happens to someone else, in another time/place, never to them personally. At some point, the age of fossil fuels will end, and on the way there such fuels will become ever more expensive until the bitter end arrives. The massive industrialization/urbanization of the developing world, especially China/India, and the desire of these people to enjoy the Western world's high standard of living, will only accelerate the competition for energy resources, and accelerate the end of the fossil fuel age.

Debra, about the Caymans.....the ongoing decline in the value of the US dollar relative to foreign currencies means that dive trips for Americans will grow ever more expensive, whatever prices you remember paying there are now 'the good 'ol days' compared to present/future prices....combined with outrageous airfare due to higher fuel prices....will be the death knell for the dive travel industry as we know it.

...ultimately though, it won't be too much longer before humanity's ever increasing carbon emissions destroy the planet's coral reefs anyway, due to global warming...and combined with pollution/over-fishing/development.....render the scuba dive travel industry extinct....and something our grandchildren will only be able to read about in history books/museums.

Karl

 

[Debraw]

Well I guess it's time for me to catch up with that guy who was wearing the sandwich board in the middle of Times Square, NYC that "the end is near, salvation is your only hope"!!!!
anicbutton:

 

[peterbj7]

Local fuel prices here in Belize are scheduled to go up by 50% later this year, and that'll have a major impact on the prices charged for diving. In fact on everything, as on this island everything has to be brought by boat, even drinking water.

 

[Ryanh1985]

...ultimately though, it won't be too much longer before humanity's ever increasing carbon emissions destroy the planet's coral reefs anyway, due to global warming...and combined with pollution/over-fishing/development.....render the scuba dive travel industry extinct....and something our grandchildren will only be able to read about in history books/museums.

Karl

I really hope this was a joke and I did not catch it.

As for me, plenty of places to Dive in the U.S. so im happy, I don't ever plan going on a trip to Mexico. Guess it does not bother me. I like the water nice and dark.

 

[Debraw]

Well I am not hitting the panic button just yet...BUT....I have definitely curtailed my spending. Taking my motorcycle instead of my diesel truck everywhere, buying smaller cartons of eggs, milk, etc. buying American when I can, including travel. I have already ruled out foreign travel for the next two years. I will go to Cayman, tropical destinations, etc. in the future knowing full well the prices are higher. I will adjust my spending now and saving more so I can still do all the things I love to do. My point in the post was and I guess if I have to say it in one line..."where there is a will, there is a way".
Europeans have been dealing with $5.00 gasoline FOR YEARS!!! We can too. Bicycles, growing and buying veggies, produce locally, shopping in markets instead of department stores. We just all have to adjust. It feels dramatic at this point, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I question what the media feeds us and I especially question the airlines. I guess I am a glass is half full woman. I found an interesting article a while back from the Allied Pilot's Union. It was written by a travel columnist 4 years ago and discussed the future of airline fuel and oil. Oil prices increasing is not new news.

Great article:
http://www.alliedpilots.org/Public/Topics/Issues/is_17.pdf

 

[Lake Travis Scuba]

Wow, what a buzzkill this thread is.........I am going to just close my eyes and imagine diving in the blue.....I better enjoy that trip to Grand Cayman next week cause I may never see it again if I go by the comments above.....

Does anyone have suggestions on converting my boat engine to an alternate source of power.....Maybe paddles for the divers to move the boat to the dive sites. I know, I will follow the airline industry and begin charging for each tank and gear bag brought aboard.

Just some fun food for thought.....

 

[Ryanh1985]

Wow, what a buzzkill this thread is.........I am going to just close my eyes and imagine diving in the blue.....I better enjoy that trip to Grand Cayman next week cause I may never see it again if I go by the comments above.....

Does anyone have suggestions on converting my boat engine to an alternate source of power.....Maybe paddles for the divers to move the boat to the dive sites. I know, I will follow the airline industry and begin charging for each tank and gear bag brought aboard.

Just some fun food for thought.....

<<< Will oar the boat for cheap diving.