Cozumel shore diving?

[blue steal]

Has anyone ever done a shore dive from the Barracuda Hotel? They have what looks like an easy in and out stairs just off from their pool/bar area. Not sure what you would do with any hotel keys, shoes, towels, etc when you were in the water though.
I have done many a shore dive from blue angel and it is very nice for a twilight or night dive.

 

[ReefHound]

Has anyone ever done a shore dive from the Barracuda Hotel? They have what looks like an easy in and out stairs just off from their pool/bar area. Not sure what you would do with any hotel keys, shoes, towels, etc when you were in the water though.
I have done many a shore dive from blue angel and it is very nice for a twilight or night dive.

I talked about this site in my earlier post. When we dive there, we rent tanks/wts from the onsite dive "shop" (basically a counter in a small room) and leave our personal stuff in a bag in there with the attendant. If doing a night dive we just bring minimal stuff (no phones, wallets, etc) and leave our towels/sandals/etc on the dock and have faith in humanity. So far so good. If you shoved it all in a bag you could probably leave it with the hotel desk clerk.

 

[Gdog]

Aldora is a hotel ?? With dive shop or ?

ALDORA VILLA

Check it out. Great accomodations.

 

[Gdog]

What is SCC?

Scuba Club Cozumel

 

[ggunn]

A few nights ago - I don't remember which one because the days all run together when I am on Cozumel and the weekends have no significance - we did the drift dive between the Villablanca pier and Blue Angel. It was great! Blue Angel has a satellite bar and restaurant location there with a small dive shop, so we got them to stash a couple of tanks for us in the bar. We walked up (our Plan A was to take a taxi but cabs are apparently reluctant to stop for suited up divers that might get their seats wet) from BA hotel and got in just as it was getting dark. We had about a 90 minute dive back to the hotel.

The current was nearly nonexistent so we were able to go really slow and hang out whenever we wanted, like at the little coral head with the big octopus and free swimming eel about 3/4 of the way to the stingray pen. One thing, though - with the current that slow I was very glad I had my compass with me and had taken a bearing on the pen when we first got in. Without it it would have been very easy to get a little too far out and miss the stingray pen in the dark. The direction of the current was not a reliable nav aid.

 

[ReefHound]

The current was nearly nonexistent so we were able to go really slow and hang out whenever we wanted, like at the little coral head with the big octopus and free swimming eel about 3/4 of the way to the stingray pen. One thing, though - with the current that slow I was very glad I had my compass with me and had taken a bearing on the pen when we first got in. Without it it would have been very easy to get a little too far out and miss the stingray pen in the dark. The direction of the current was not a reliable nav aid.

The compass bearing is important but so is the depth. If you keep it 15-20' you shouldn't miss the pen. You can check out the grasses in 20-25' as long as you zig zag back in shallower now and then.

I know you know this, it's for others reading.

 

[NYCDiver2017]

+1 on the shore dive at SCC. Do it a couple of times during daylight and you'll be ready to do it at night. I found the folks at SCC incredibly friendly and suspect that you could tag along with other shore divers if you didn't have a buddy. Although the dive is only 15-20 feet there is a current so I certainly recommend going with a buddy. At night just hang a strobe or green or red marker at the stairs by the pool and you will find the exit easily

 

[cruiser]

Abby Diver -- It's Scuba Club Cozumel

 

[Willar]

Several years ago we suited up all our gear, grabbed a taxi from in front of Scuba Club and dropped in about 1 mile (??) south of there just as the sun set. We navigated along in the current at about 25 ft. until we found the Scuba Club pier... home! We saw all kinds of creatures, lots of squid and octo. It was so fun we did it again the next night but started a little later. Its a very fun night dive. Just make sure the current isn't going south (very unusual) or non-existent as you'd have a long swim and you don't want to be on the surface due to all the boat traffic.

 

[Sue Sue]

Of Course...Boat diving is all that for Cozumel however, all of the above sites work well for Cozumel Shore Diving...I have also done some shore diving from El Cid La Cieba...Sand, some grasses, some debris and some rusty plane parts....Very enjoyable experience especially at night (once the cruise ships leave) and with the use of my Red Filter light and Magnifying glass...Arrange the tank rental during daytime hours with. Babieca