I leave back to Indiana tomorrow after spending a week in Cozumel at the Hotel Cozumel. I spent the week diving with Dive Paradise and went with a group of divers, numbering 13.
For most of us, this was our first trip to Cozumel and most of us didn't know what to expect. Personally, I had roughly 60 logged dives prior to the trip, with the majority of my dives in quarries and lakes in the midwest. I had made my first salt-water dives earlier this past summer to the Panama City & Port St. Joe.
So, now you know where I'm coming from when I give my opinions about my week in Cozumel.
The staff at Hotel Cozumel were very nice, accomodating, and extremely friendly. The food was pretty good, but I'm not a picky person when it comes to eating, so I liked about everything. However, a few from my group were picky eaters, and had a few troubles finding food that was palatable. But, the staff managed to cook a cheeseburger on request. The rooms were kept very clean, but remember to use the bottle water ( I figure if the locals are all drinking the bottled water, then I best do the same). The nightly entertainment was not on the level of say a Las Vegas show, but kept me entertained before bedtime.
The staff on the boat for Dive Paradise were safety minded, but went out of their way to show us mid-westerners the stuff we just don't see in Haigh Quarry. Two dive masters usually went into the water when we had the larger group; Emilio and 'Gato' were great. Without naming all the various sites we visited, I'll name the highlights....
Palancar Gardens was the first dive. This was a nice easy intro. to Cozumel. I especially enjoyed the swim throughs. I, of course being used to bass and bluegills in my nearby quarries, was amazed at the color of the fish and corals.
Columbia Shallows. We dove this site twice. The reason being, is that on our first dive we were all greeted to a hammerhead (and I have the video to prove it) sighting. On our second pass through Columbia Shallows, we were greeted to a dolphin! Not to count out the turtles that were seen along the way.
Pasa del Cedral. Many cool nurse sharks. I had hoped that this trip would have a few shark sightings, and I wasn't disappointed.
Punta Sur "Devil's Throat". Perhaps the t-shirts hyped it up. Maybe it was the reviews in the magazines. But, a few of us decided to dive 'Devil's Throat' and expected to be 'wowed'. As we emerged from Devil's throat, and I looked at my computer and saw that my depth gauge was a record (for me) 121'; but the crystal clear waters made it feel as if I was only down 50' or so. The deep hole at Haigh in cold, murky 74' was actually a bit more ominous. The dive wasn't a bad dive at all...just expected something a bit more difficult.
I also did a few shore dives from the pier. Two were during the day, and two were at night. Many folks haven't given Cozumel great shore dive reviews. But, I thought they were just fine; no they didn't have the beutiful coral to look at, but several pretty fish and other critters. The octopus at night were kinda cool.
For most of us, this was our first trip to Cozumel and most of us didn't know what to expect. Personally, I had roughly 60 logged dives prior to the trip, with the majority of my dives in quarries and lakes in the midwest. I had made my first salt-water dives earlier this past summer to the Panama City & Port St. Joe.
So, now you know where I'm coming from when I give my opinions about my week in Cozumel.
The staff at Hotel Cozumel were very nice, accomodating, and extremely friendly. The food was pretty good, but I'm not a picky person when it comes to eating, so I liked about everything. However, a few from my group were picky eaters, and had a few troubles finding food that was palatable. But, the staff managed to cook a cheeseburger on request. The rooms were kept very clean, but remember to use the bottle water ( I figure if the locals are all drinking the bottled water, then I best do the same). The nightly entertainment was not on the level of say a Las Vegas show, but kept me entertained before bedtime.
The staff on the boat for Dive Paradise were safety minded, but went out of their way to show us mid-westerners the stuff we just don't see in Haigh Quarry. Two dive masters usually went into the water when we had the larger group; Emilio and 'Gato' were great. Without naming all the various sites we visited, I'll name the highlights....
Palancar Gardens was the first dive. This was a nice easy intro. to Cozumel. I especially enjoyed the swim throughs. I, of course being used to bass and bluegills in my nearby quarries, was amazed at the color of the fish and corals.
Columbia Shallows. We dove this site twice. The reason being, is that on our first dive we were all greeted to a hammerhead (and I have the video to prove it) sighting. On our second pass through Columbia Shallows, we were greeted to a dolphin! Not to count out the turtles that were seen along the way.
Pasa del Cedral. Many cool nurse sharks. I had hoped that this trip would have a few shark sightings, and I wasn't disappointed.
Punta Sur "Devil's Throat". Perhaps the t-shirts hyped it up. Maybe it was the reviews in the magazines. But, a few of us decided to dive 'Devil's Throat' and expected to be 'wowed'. As we emerged from Devil's throat, and I looked at my computer and saw that my depth gauge was a record (for me) 121'; but the crystal clear waters made it feel as if I was only down 50' or so. The deep hole at Haigh in cold, murky 74' was actually a bit more ominous. The dive wasn't a bad dive at all...just expected something a bit more difficult.
I also did a few shore dives from the pier. Two were during the day, and two were at night. Many folks haven't given Cozumel great shore dive reviews. But, I thought they were just fine; no they didn't have the beutiful coral to look at, but several pretty fish and other critters. The octopus at night were kinda cool.
