Cozumel Mexico, May 3 thru May 12 trips report
We had uneventful flights from Denver to Cozumel via Dallas on American Airlines.
We took the later flight on return from Dallas to Denver in case of thunderstorms around Dallas which caused us missed flights and delays on previous trips.
Once again Global Entry paid off and we were through immigration very quickly. TSA pre-check was very useful. We were hoping Dallas had a Customs line for Global Entry like Houston but we got through Dallas Customs quickly. They have expanded it a bit.
We arrived as the events in Cedral were going on so there was quite a bit more traffic on the highway to the south.
We stayed at Reef Regency/Sunscapes
It was very full tourists but it appeared their stays were around 5 days.
We were told that the weekend after we left that they would be at 100% capacity.
The old coast road from Secrets (old Aura) North to sunscapes and I believe much further up is now one way going South. So when coming back up from Punta Sur we had to find the cross road to the old coast highway from the newer highway and come back south. Apparently the police are handing out tickets. We stayed out of town for our cross island trip to avoid the congestion.
We only made it in to town only once to eat at Guidos. Relaxing and night dives interfered with more trips to town.
It appears that two of our bags were searched on the way back to Denver but had no TSA papers inside. Nothing missing though.
The first day was hot but a Norte moved in and closed the port the next day so our am dives were cancelled. I did 4 tanks the next day to make up for it. Morning and twilight dives. The weather stayed cool for a few days afterwards until the wind switched back and it was hotter later in the week. The waves were a bit choppy but manageable and got better as the week progressed.
There were alot more jelly fish this time and the last day I had one wrap around my calf which is still a bit red. Some even managed to get up my surf shorts and get me on the hip. I had quite a few elsewhere. The jelly fish were not the thimble jellies but small clear ones.
We had very few mosquitos and sand flees this time which was nice. We bring bug spray (lower deet) but didn't need all we brought.
We did not dive as much as this trip was also for some needed relaxation from work so we took of a mid- trip day to go to the other side of the island. The north winds quieted down the water on the east side quite a bit and the temps stayed cool.
Diving
Our dive op, Bottom Time Divers, had too many divers for his boat this time so Raul rented another and he and Joaquin swapped duties. We liked Joaquin. The rented boat had narrow gunnels which were a bit harder on the behind when back rolling.
Turns out that we had dived with everyone on both boats on previous trips. Easier duty for Raul and Joaquin as all were experienced and knew the routine.
The visibility was down this time but the currents were mild. Alot of green water in places and colder fresh water coming in. Towards the end of the trip the water cleared up nicely. The other boat went north to the sites North of the marine park and told us the currents were slow so I wish I had gone. All dives were on the south end in the marine park.
We noticed many more trunk fish this trip and lots of turtles including two loggerheads one of which was massive. We are seeing many more green turtles than in the past years, quite alot of large green morays, few brown spotted eels, only a few spotted drums, few lionfish, alot of nurse sharks that were in twos and threes, tons of chromis at the southern sites, and alot of scorpionfish.
Prior to this trip I bought a glass dome port and a wide angle lens with gears from Optical Ocean Sales but unfortunately was not able to even get it in the bath tub to check for leaks so the first dive with it was faith. The camera is more of a beast on land but is more buoyant underwater than with the flat port. I did not change any float configuration.
I am still working through the settings for the wide angle lens but I am generally pleased with the results for the first time. I made attempts at some over/under shots which were more difficult due the chop. There is some distortion on the edges but that is to be expected.
I shot some photos with the "normal" lens in the flat port and did a bit of macro. I missed a few opportunities due to the wrong lens but came back with about 500 photos.
The crab was found during our safety stop on a night dive on San Francisco wall. I identified it as a blue crab but I have never seen one in the water column.
The Loggerhead turtle was one of two and this one was massive.
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We've had some beautiful diving the past several weeks!
