Campana
Guest
On day three, I mostly waited for calls from Living Underwater, which I got, but no joy. The wind continued to blow. I walked down to a couple of other operators and they weren't going out in the afternoon. It was way to rough for a shore dive....so that night Michele and I went to a restaraunt named Capi Navigante, a very good seafood place. We had a Ceaser Salad prepared at the table, and some excellent shrimp. When in Cozumel, seafood is the way to go, in my opinion. This restaraunt is now my third favorite and we always go there. Be sure to get a Flan. Theirs is very creamy, not at all like the cheesecake consistency of some, and I like creamy.
Day four, I went out with Del Mar. It was still rough, and we had a bit of difficulty picking up some divers at La Ceiba (El Cid) dock, one guy came within inches of falling in, only a quick grab by a crewmember saved him. We headed out for Palancar Bricks, my second favorite. By now, Bob had gone on his cruise and I just hung out with the group, a couple of really good divers who knew it, a couple that I really liked, and a couple of rather insecure folks. We did a lot of swim throughs, hung out among the pinnicles, and floated along in the light current. At about 10' into the dive, we saw a medium sized Hawksbill turtle, then about 5' later, saw another one who joined us for a while. Cesar the videographer was there again, and I snuck up on the Hawksbill and managed to swim along with him for quite a ways, with Cesar on the other side of the turtle, and he got a lot of shots of the turtle and me swimming about 1 foot apart. When he did the editing, he froze some of those frames, and if I can, I'm going to have the video digitized and try to get those pics made for my new Scuba Office wall. Anybody know how to do that? This dive was 86' for 43'.
Dive #2 that day was on C-53, the ship. It's starting to get a little crusty, and we explored all through it. The current was moderate by that point, and we did 74' for 42 minutes. There were quite a few little baitfish that I don't really know how to i'd, but I think there were some kind of Jacks. The ship is certainly worth doing if you like that sort of thing. There are plenty of holes cut in it, and the reef critters are starting to like it better each year.
Note on changing Divemaster behavior, there is no feeding going on now. The DM's used to feed the groupers, the eels, and the anemones, but pretty much don't do it anymore. I also did not see a DM touch or harass any creatures or plants, except once, when one held a knife and offered the handle to a toadfish, which brought him (her?) out of his hole all the way. The DM still didn't really bother the fish. One of the DM's mentioned that they had been told to not touch or feed the fish. The groupers no longer follow the group as they formerly did, but it's ok, I think the no feeding policy is best.
I didn't get to do a night dive, didn't see any octopus, sharks, etc. I did see lots of lobsters, a few big groupers, and the usuals.
Altogether, it's still a great place to dive. I was happy with Deep Blue, Del Mar, and everything with the travel company FunJet. Exchange rate is almost 10:1 now, which is very convenient. I also thought Casa Del Mar exceeded expectations, the hotel is adequate, the service is outstanding, and the location is good. Again, we don't do all inclusives in Cozumel.
The night of the last day, we ate at La Choza, just up the street from La Prima and around the corner from Capi Navigante. I had Lima Bean soup, and a steak, cut thin in Mexican style. One group of three musicians was very good, a couple of others weren't so hot.
Charging things (or rather debiting things, we don't charge) goes very smoothly now, the charges were all deducted before we got home at a rate of 9.78 pesos to the dollar. There are several ATM's available with good reliable service. Security is about what you would expect or a little less; they open all bags and search them rather superficially. They seem very unwilling to actually take my net dive bag out of my suitcase and open it up, but went through carry-ons at least three times, and made fun of me for all the food in my carryon. At the metal detector, the young Mexican rifled through saying "Breakfast, Lunch, Diving stuff, Dinner, diving stuff, Chocolate, Diving Stuff" and laughing at me, and of course patting my fat belly in between. They aren't very inhibited from mentioning how fat one is, it does not appear to be shameful to be large in Mexico, and I'm not that sensitive....
Anyway, that's about it. I hope those of you who haven't ever been to Cozumel will go down soon. Feel free to ask any questions you might have.
Dave
Day four, I went out with Del Mar. It was still rough, and we had a bit of difficulty picking up some divers at La Ceiba (El Cid) dock, one guy came within inches of falling in, only a quick grab by a crewmember saved him. We headed out for Palancar Bricks, my second favorite. By now, Bob had gone on his cruise and I just hung out with the group, a couple of really good divers who knew it, a couple that I really liked, and a couple of rather insecure folks. We did a lot of swim throughs, hung out among the pinnicles, and floated along in the light current. At about 10' into the dive, we saw a medium sized Hawksbill turtle, then about 5' later, saw another one who joined us for a while. Cesar the videographer was there again, and I snuck up on the Hawksbill and managed to swim along with him for quite a ways, with Cesar on the other side of the turtle, and he got a lot of shots of the turtle and me swimming about 1 foot apart. When he did the editing, he froze some of those frames, and if I can, I'm going to have the video digitized and try to get those pics made for my new Scuba Office wall. Anybody know how to do that? This dive was 86' for 43'.
Dive #2 that day was on C-53, the ship. It's starting to get a little crusty, and we explored all through it. The current was moderate by that point, and we did 74' for 42 minutes. There were quite a few little baitfish that I don't really know how to i'd, but I think there were some kind of Jacks. The ship is certainly worth doing if you like that sort of thing. There are plenty of holes cut in it, and the reef critters are starting to like it better each year.
Note on changing Divemaster behavior, there is no feeding going on now. The DM's used to feed the groupers, the eels, and the anemones, but pretty much don't do it anymore. I also did not see a DM touch or harass any creatures or plants, except once, when one held a knife and offered the handle to a toadfish, which brought him (her?) out of his hole all the way. The DM still didn't really bother the fish. One of the DM's mentioned that they had been told to not touch or feed the fish. The groupers no longer follow the group as they formerly did, but it's ok, I think the no feeding policy is best.
I didn't get to do a night dive, didn't see any octopus, sharks, etc. I did see lots of lobsters, a few big groupers, and the usuals.
Altogether, it's still a great place to dive. I was happy with Deep Blue, Del Mar, and everything with the travel company FunJet. Exchange rate is almost 10:1 now, which is very convenient. I also thought Casa Del Mar exceeded expectations, the hotel is adequate, the service is outstanding, and the location is good. Again, we don't do all inclusives in Cozumel.
The night of the last day, we ate at La Choza, just up the street from La Prima and around the corner from Capi Navigante. I had Lima Bean soup, and a steak, cut thin in Mexican style. One group of three musicians was very good, a couple of others weren't so hot.
Charging things (or rather debiting things, we don't charge) goes very smoothly now, the charges were all deducted before we got home at a rate of 9.78 pesos to the dollar. There are several ATM's available with good reliable service. Security is about what you would expect or a little less; they open all bags and search them rather superficially. They seem very unwilling to actually take my net dive bag out of my suitcase and open it up, but went through carry-ons at least three times, and made fun of me for all the food in my carryon. At the metal detector, the young Mexican rifled through saying "Breakfast, Lunch, Diving stuff, Dinner, diving stuff, Chocolate, Diving Stuff" and laughing at me, and of course patting my fat belly in between. They aren't very inhibited from mentioning how fat one is, it does not appear to be shameful to be large in Mexico, and I'm not that sensitive....
Anyway, that's about it. I hope those of you who haven't ever been to Cozumel will go down soon. Feel free to ask any questions you might have.
Dave
