Cozumel update please

[inkabodpain]

I own a dive shop and am running a trip to Cozumel in March...I have a guest that heard that the diving was no longer any good there due to Wilma....I would appreciate it if any divers who have been there recently could shed some light on this matter please.He is convinced this trip will be a waste of time and wants his money back-the trip is booked and paid for but I want him to know the actual conditions from an unbiased source.Thanks.

 

[Mawg]

I own a dive shop and am running a trip to Cozumel in March...I have a guest that heard that the diving was no longer any good there due to Wilma....I would appreciate it if any divers who have been there recently could shed some light on this matter please.He is convinced this trip will be a waste of time and wants his money back-the trip is booked and paid for but I want him to know the actual conditions from an unbiased source.Thanks.

CONDITION GOOD. COME.

 

[Christi]

Here is an excerpt from a trip report written by a very sesaoned diver. The author, "Judy G" www.awoosh.com has traveled and dove all over the world.

You can also direct this person to this website where Cozumel diving is ALL that we talk about...for the most part anyway. There are numerous trip reports here and elsewhere.

Cozumel diving rocks. Yes, the effects from last year's storms are evident on some sites (I could have cried at Columbia where the effects at depth were most evident to me), but there is still lots of healthy reef (can you say Palancar?) to enjoy, and wonderful signs of comeback everywhere we dove. We saw a great variety of critters, including numerous sightings of eagle rays, variety of eels, splendid toadfish (I found 3 on our first dive!), juvy drums, two sharks, numerous turtles, large groupers, octopus, the usual reef fish suspects, including large schools of grunts and jacks, and to Pedro's glee, a juvy frogfish that he found sitting just so in the sand at 69 feet in Palancar gardens.

We dove all of Palancar, several times as the Ps were grooving on the amazing terrain - bommies, swim thrus, tunnels etc etc. We dove Columbia (Shallows and moderate Deep), Tormentos (love those sand dunes), Chankunaab Ballones (where we had a surreal encounter with the submarine and its occupants), Paradise, La Franscesa (several times - love that healthy reef and its swim thrus), Santa Rosa wall, Las Palmas (killer current dive) and a couple of others that now escape me. 20 dives and we didn't see it all. Need to go back :^)

full report here: http://www.scubadiving.com/forum/m.aspx?m=11001

 

[ggunn]

I own a dive shop and am running a trip to Cozumel in March...I have a guest that heard that the diving was no longer any good there due to Wilma....I would appreciate it if any divers who have been there recently could shed some light on this matter please.He is convinced this trip will be a waste of time and wants his money back-the trip is booked and paid for but I want him to know the actual conditions from an unbiased source.Thanks.

I have been diving Cozumel for more than 15 years, and I have been there twice since Wilma.

Some of the shallower, more gardenlike dive spots near the center of the west coast were hit pretty bad, and there are a couple of spots where sand has covered up sections of the reef. What little shore diving there has ever been from Cozumel is further diminished.

On the other hand, on the deeper reefs farther south, one would have had to be very familiar with pre-Wilma conditions to be able to tell that anything had happened. There are huge sections of Colombia Shallows at the southern end where even the very shallow reef is in great shape. I have had some excellent post-Wilma dives on Palancar (all sections), Colombia, Santa Rosa Wall, Cedral, Tormentos, and others. IMO, your customer is wrong.

 

[Fin59]

Been there 3 times since Wilma. Tell him to stay home and I will go in his place

 

[parrotheaddiver]

I agree with all the above....I have been twice since Wilma July 06 and Dec 06 I was amazed at the regrowth one year later....

I have been through Hurricane Gilbert and the damage done to Paradise reef when the cruise ship dock was built and I will continue to return...

I would give that fool his money back....no matter how many good opinions you get here or anywhere else....he will probably still complain that the diving was a waste of his time....maybe he would enjoy the lake more....I'm with Fin59

 

[DandyDon]

I would give that fool his money back....no matter how many good opinions you get here or anywhere else....he will probably still complain that the diving was a waste of his time....maybe he would enjoy the lake more....I'm with Fin59

And tell him we said that.

 

[akbpilot]

I agree with Parrothead and DandyDon, give him his money back. He's going to whine and moan no matter what the situation. Even if he reads a hundred posts here, he's going to lose it the first time something doesn't live up to his expectations. It's going to be one of those " I told you so " situations.

Don't worry if you can't fill the slot, whatever it costs in terms of lost money will be worth it to everyone who does go not to hear him whine.

It always amazes me when people plunk down a deposit or pay in advance for a trip (and not just this instance, I see it quite often on this board), and then hear a rumor or have second thoughts, and start freaking out. A little research PRIOR to signing up goes a long way.

 

[DandyDon]

Now, it could start a stampede if he has influence on the others. Keep that in mind, and again - tell him we said that. :lol2:

 

[Ron Brandt]

And tell him we said that.

I too agree !

Ron