Cozumel versus Roatan or Bonaire

[tracydr]

---------- Post added July 25th, 2013 at 12:23 PM ----------

And I'm also in complete agreement. Even from the west coast, it's a lot easier to get to Cozumel than to the Indo-Pacific or Micronesia. French Polynesia is closer, but too expensive. Hawaii is closer yet, but just as mediocre as the Caribbean and also very expensive. But if the good Indonesian and Micronesian sites were as easy and cheap to get to as Cozumel, I'd be returning there instead of making yet another Cozumel run.

My last trip to Indonesia required a 16 hour flight to Bangkok followed by a 5 hour flight to Bali, then an overnight, and a 2 hour flight the next day in a small cramped prop plane. My Micronesia trips involved a 5 hour flight to Hawaii, then a 7 hour flight to Guam, then a 2-3 hour flight to the final destination. 15-23 hours in the air depending on destination, not counting airport time, and obviously even longer flight times for any Americans not living near a west coast hub. On the other hand, my last flight to Cozumel was 3 hours followed by 2 hours, and only 1 hour to kill in Houston. Barely six hours from taking off from LAX and I was landing in Cozumel. No malaria meds, no need to change currency since U.S. dollars are the local currency, and no language barrier since everyone there speaks English or understands my high school/college Spanish.

Your Indonesia and Micronesia trips sound like my trip to Pemba Island,Africa. I think total travel time each direction was nearly 36 hours. It included a prop plane and a van that required a push start/clutch pop. It was an experience. The safari part of the trip included 4 vehicle breakdowns and a lot of duct tape.( on the trucks). Oh, our dive gear was shipped to Nairobi and stored in a warehouse while we did the safari. It was miraculously there when we arrived, driving from Tanzania.

 

[crux0724]

Anyone who does not fully understand the old saying of "remain quiet and people will think you a fool, speak and you remove all doubt", need only read Mikes posts to see that in practice.

Mike, exactly what in my post leads you to believe that my dive experience is limited to Cozumel and Bonaire. Suffice it to say that hailing from South Africa that is not the case. Think before you make yourself look even more foolish.

What is true is that my profession and conscience does not allow me to take more than a week from my patients and as such I am now limited to the Caribbean and while it is different from diving world wide I do not see it as a midget. In fact the only midget in this forum.......

It is a logical statement to say diving in the Pacific is better and most would agree. Mike was being a bit extreme in his analogy but he is absolutely correct about the biodiversity. When one chooses Cozumel, they choose it for the whole package. Convenience, affordability, culture etc... If you make convenience and affordability equal to all places, I have a feeling that people would be choosing other locations in the world more so than not. For the record, I loved my stay in Cozumel and will be back next May.

 

[Mossman]

Actually, I've seen dolphins in the wild twice in the Caribbean. Once was in Cozumel, when a pod of dolphins swam by on a wall dive. The other time was solo dolphin hanging out at the end of a groove in the tongue and groove formations in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Stayed there posing for a few secs until we all acknowledged its presence, then it fled. The only other time I've seen a dolphin in the wild was in the Tuamotus.

Sharks are heavily fished in the Indo-Pacific. I saw more sharks in my last two Cozumel trips than in my last two Indonesia trips. Manta rays are hard to find most anywhere unless you do the "canned" Kona night dive or go to Yap at the right time. Besides Yap and Kona, I've only seen three in the wild. One dive in the Tuamotus, one in Indonesia (somewhere west of Komodo), and a glimpse of one in Palau but the water in German Channel was way too murky at the time. The only other place I've seen a whale shark, besides the Galapagos, was in Roatan.

What Cozumel really lacks compared to the Indo-Pacific IMO is not the famed pelagics that are rare most everywhere except a few hot spots, but the incredibly diverse species of corals, fish, and other critters that populate closer to the Wallacea "Garden of Eden". Instead of the handful of butterflyfish that inhabit Cozumel, you can find 20 or more species for example. Nudibranchs galore. Fish and critter ID can become a nightmare.

But it's still good diving, mediocre as it may be. Honestly I prefer Bonaire, but it's a real pain to deal with. Once a week flights, red-eyes, and a nightmare if your dive buddy breaks her ankle walking out of the water from a shore dive when there's no one else around at the site and still a ways back to the truck. Grand Cayman is definitely more mediocre than Cozumel and Roatan, well, my first experience there was enough to keep me from returning. So Cozumel is a great alternative to spending two days each way in travel time, and also a great alternative to braving the 50-60 degree local waters. I shall happily return.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I was just diving with wild dolphins off Ambergris Caye Belize. They came to us at depth and hung around for most of our dive. Each of the dolphin checked out each of the divers at least twice. A wonderful experience!! Oh yes, and perhaps it should be noted that Belize is a Caribbean dive locale.

---------- Post added July 25th, 2013 at 11:58 PM ----------

Nurse sharks are ubiquitous off of Ambergris Caye.

---------- Post added July 26th, 2013 at 02:43 AM ----------

And so are large grouper.

 

[azscubadude]

August 2012 on the way back to SCC from a southern dive site we had 6-10 dolphins come up to the boat. The captain stopped the boat and they played around the boat for about 30-40 minutes. Every time the captain started to move the boat to head back they came back to the boat and played, just having fun. They would break up then regroup. It was fun to watch and didn't cost anyone on the boat a single penny.

Sorry for the bad photos, all I had was my P&S and it was so bright from the sun and water glare I couldn't see the LCD to adjust my settings (it has a touch screen, no dials)..

Here is a link to a full sized shot showing the shoreline, someone might be able to tell where we were when the dolphins came to the boat. I cropped it to take out some of the ocean and sky.

http://amazingfotos.net/postings/cozumel/dp-5a.jpg

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[judydivescoz]

I like diving in Cozumel. I am lucky enough to get to dive there a few time a year. Makes me happy. Its easy to get to, I like to visit friends and I have a great time. Not to shabby in my book.
That said, I have also had the pleasure of diving the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. We are very excited about going to Truk and Palau in November, its a 32 hour flight from NY and we are not whining to much.
Cozumel is special to us and we will keep going back. Please do not confuse the fact we love diving in Cozumel with a lack of diving experience.

 

[Mike]

I've ran out of stuff to keep you guys entertained. Check back monday.

Wait- I thought of something -

Nice dolphins, but those are on the surface, I'm talking about diving with dolphins, where they come to play with divers, want their belly's scratched. If I want to see dolphins on the surface, I'll go to sea world.

There you go. Rock on now...

 

[chillyinCanada]

I was just diving with dolphins a few days ago up close and personal in Belize which is in the Caribbean.

Last time I dove with dolphins, it was actually a snorkel because we didn't have time to get completely geared up. But again up close and personal. Next day, a much larger pod was diving with us though they were moving fast and I had trouble keeping up. Those experiences were in Roatan.

 

[Mike]

Let's get positive guys, and back on topic too, this threads not about the diving in indo-pacific, it's about how great Cozumel is and how Roatan and Bonaire suck. I hate to see threads like this go on and on.... every dive destination has its pros and cons, so lets get back to why Cozumel is the best.

If we are going to talk about dolphins lets do it in a positive way also.

Cozumel beats the other places out because it has captive dolphins where you stand in a pool with them and can ride them and get your picture taken with a party hat on the dolphin, Roatan only has a wild dolphin experience with no riding, and it's in scuba gear where you have to interact with them in a natural way, and Bonaire has nothing at all, the Dutch refuse to let them capture dolphins like they are able to do in Mexico.

 

[dmoore19]

I have done a dolphin snorkel in Roatan. Must have gotten ripped off. The dolphins there didn't have party hats.

One time was at Anthony's Key and the other time was with a pod of wild dolphins. As we were going to the trip to Maya Key there was 6 or 8 of them around the boat. Captain Dean stopped the boat and DM Marvin and most of us on the boat grabbed our snorkels and masks and jumped in. They hung around us and played for about 15 minutes. I have video of it.