Cozumel VS. Stuart's Cove Bahamas! Which?

[Christi]

Weird. Now correct me if I am wrong, but Las Palmas is the area with small coral heads scattered about a sandy bottom? Great place for finding Splendid Toadfish, though, and fun to swim from coral head to coral head and poke around and look under and such. But that is a SANDY reef....

As for the rest: devastated? Really? Algae dead zones? Really? Palancar Garden and Columbia Shallow, two shallow reefs off the top of my head, don't seem, to me, to be this wasteland you are describing. There is life everywhere.

Nurse sharks: if you mean one or two every dive, then yea. Sometime a few more than that. Probably the most I have seen on one dive was 5 or 6? In the ripping current of Santa Rosa last trip I was fumbling around with camera and looked up to nearly get run down by a nurse shark. (In retrospect, I think he had the light.... ) Usually a few decent sized grouper.

You sure you were in Cozumel? You make it sound crappy. :w-t-f:

Chief - scubafanatic has a history of posting post Wilma diatribes about Cozumel - even when he hadn't been here since RIGHT after the storm. I think now he just posts these things now to get a reaction from us - I just ignore him when he posts about the devastation that he still claims there is. It's obvious that he doesn't see what we do and has not paid attention to the amazing regrowth. Then again, he has only been here twice post Wilma by his own admission. I bet he hasn't been to San Juan in the past year or two - it is once again carpeted with finger coral. He obviously wants to focus on the bad can't accept any change and hasn't opened his eyes to the real beauty of nature and constant change.

 

[cvchief]

Chief - scubafanatic has a history of posting post Wilma diatribes about Cozumel - even when he hadn't been here since RIGHT after the storm. I think now he just posts these things now to get a reaction from us - I just ignore him when he posts about the devastation that he still claims there is. It's obvious that he doesn't see what we do and has not paid attention to the amazing regrowth. Then again, he has only been here twice post Wilma by his own admission. I bet he hasn't been to San Juan in the past year or two - it is once again carpeted with finger coral. He obviously wants to focus on the bad can't accept any change and hasn't opened his eyes to the real beauty of nature and constant change.

Ah! Thanks for the word to the wise! He really had me going :w-t-f: now I can calm and get back to the :zen:

 

[scubafanatic]

Weird. Now correct me if I am wrong, but Las Palmas is the area with small coral heads scattered about a sandy bottom? Great place for finding Splendid Toadfish, though, and fun to swim from coral head to coral head and poke around and look under and such. But that is a SANDY reef....

As for the rest: devastated? Really? Algae dead zones? Really? Palancar Garden and Columbia Shallow, two shallow reefs off the top of my head, don't seem, to me, to be this wasteland you are describing. There is life everywhere.

Nurse sharks: if you mean one or two every dive, then yea. Sometime a few more than that. Probably the most I have seen on one dive was 5 or 6? In the ripping current of Santa Rosa last trip I was fumbling around with camera and looked up to nearly get run down by a nurse shark. (In retrospect, I think he had the light.... ) Usually a few decent sized grouper.

You sure you were in Cozumel? You make it sound crappy. :w-t-f:

yeah, did 20 dives the last week of 08/2010 with Del Mar Aquatics......yup, that's Las Palmas......45 degree sloping wall, 50% sand and 50% reef coverage, very light current....I thought this reef was the only reef that remained in it's pre-Wilma condition of the reefs I visited. I 'do' Cozumel because it's a cheap 2 hr, non-stop flight from DFW, and it's a nice place to just go and blow bubbles in a nice, warm place. I also enjoy wall dives, and the ease of just surfacing and being picked up by the boat whenever I surface. I don't go to Cozumel with unrealistic expectations of seeing tremendous things and have come to accept post-Wilma Cozumel for what it is....both the good and the bad.

 

[scubafanatic]

Chief - scubafanatic has a history of posting post Wilma diatribes about Cozumel - even when he hadn't been here since RIGHT after the storm. I think now he just posts these things now to get a reaction from us - I just ignore him when he posts about the devastation that he still claims there is. It's obvious that he doesn't see what we do and has not paid attention to the amazing regrowth. Then again, he has only been here twice post Wilma by his own admission. I bet he hasn't been to San Juan in the past year or two - it is once again carpeted with finger coral. He obviously wants to focus on the bad can't accept any change and hasn't opened his eyes to the real beauty of nature and constant change.

Christi, I know our differing viewpoints on Cozumel go way back to my 02/06 post-Wilma trip report.....and if my viewpoint is a 'diatribe' then your position is obviously a self-serving business advertisement for your own dive shop in Cozumel. I DID return to Cozumel 08/2011 for a week (20 dives) just to see how the reefs were doing. I guess I'll have to dive with your shop for a week and your DM's can show me the wonderfulness I've overlooked. Nope, I'll admit I've not been to San Juan, and I'll bet most other divers to Cozumel have not seen San Juan either as it's one of the advanced sites most recreational divers won't be taken to........isn't San Juan one of the 'deep' / high current sites that would have suffered less damage from Wilma anyway ? I've already stated that the deeper sites fared better than the shallower sites. Is Cozumel recovering from Wilma ? Yes, it is....SLOWLY......and I'm assuming you know how slowly those big sponges/corals grow back.....its decades /centuries...NOT months/years, let's be real here.

 

[cvchief]

Christi, I know our differing viewpoints on Cozumel go way back to my 02/06 post-Wilma trip report.....and if my viewpoint is a 'diatribe' then your position is obviously a self-serving business advertisement for your own dive shop in Cozumel. I DID return to Cozumel 08/2011 for a week (20 dives) just to see how the reefs were doing. I guess I'll have to dive with your shop for a week and your DM's can show me the wonderfulness I've overlooked. Nope, I'll admit I've not been to San Juan, and I'll bet most other divers to Cozumel have not seen San Juan either as it's one of the advanced sites most recreational divers won't be taken to........isn't San Juan one of the 'deep' / high current sites that would have suffered less damage from Wilma anyway ? I've already stated that the deeper sites fared better than the shallower sites. Is Cozumel recovering from Wilma ? Yes, it is....SLOWLY......and I'm assuming you know how slowly those big sponges/corals grow back.....its decades /centuries...NOT months/years, let's be real here.

I on the other hand don't have a business interest. The beauty of diving in Cozumel is costing me a mint. I just gotta get back as often as possible. Maybe it isn't as nice as pre-Wilma, but it is pretty darn nice. In all fairness, you make Cozumel sound like a quarry dive with a cheap beer stand and nice weather. Now if you want to compare pre and post Wilma, knock yourself out, but your description of sand covered devastated reefs doesn't hold water, so to speak, on its own. I think many of us who are losing pesos to the draw of Cozumel diving would agree. Maybe you better let Christi crew take you around and make sure we are talking about the same reefs. As a bonus, you will get 32 and 36 nitrox if you just say "nitrox".

 

[Ron Lee]

San Juan is for the special club mentioned in another thread.

 

[Tunaman68]

COZ COZ COZ - Stuat's cove is OK, and if you're looking for warm water with different scenery from SD to dive in, then you can't go wrong with either place. If you want to work your way up, then do the Cove first, and then 'upgrade' to Coz. It will make LaJolla cove seem like a lot of cold hard work in comparison (for me anyhow).....Value to $, great people, and truly amazing diving, Coz is hard to beat!! You'll have to go further or at least spend a lot more (live aboard) to get what you will find in Coz.

 

[Slater]

I'm also heading from California. I've been to Cozumel and Bonaire and Grand Cayman multiple times, Roatan once, but never to the Bahamas. I have no interest in shark feedings, I've done plenty of shark dives of all sorts, and from everything else I've heard about the diving there, my money and travel time is better spent on the aforementioned places. That said, I might try a Bahamas liveaboard someday if the price and timing were right.

As for the poster who suggested "local" Mexican sites, it's not much cheaper to fly to Cabo or La Paz and you only save about 3 hours of flight time each way. There are day boats available from the Cabo area, where the diving isn't so hot, and from La Paz, where the boat rides will be long. Currents can be very strong in the Sea of Cortez and it's not drift diving. Yes, animal life can be plentiful and large, but viz can also be quite murky. Meanwhile, I've never seen a bad viz day in Cozumel. Also, the Sea of Cortez is frigid water for half of the year, whereas Cozumel waters are warm year-round. A liveaboard would be a nice way to travel the Sea of Cortez and is necessary for the Socorros, but you didn't mention you wanted a liveaboard trip and they can be much pricier than land-based options, at least when compared to a place like Cozumel which can be done on a budget.

For a first dive trip, it's hard to go wrong with Cozumel, though I honestly feel there are other places in the Caribbean better suited for beginner divers (Bonaire would be my first choice as currents are much milder and you can dive shallower, but it can be a pain to get to).

Ive had some decent dives in the Sea of Cortez way below La Paz, actually called East Cape where Cabo Pulmo Marine Park is but as of yet was unable to actually dive the park due to murky conditions the time of our trip & had to settle for some shallow nearby reefs..
Yes really dont care for a liveaboard at this point, Ill checkout Bonaire also...
Newbie for sure but by the time this trip comes around we will have a few more dives under our belt, next week doing a Kelp Bed Specialty & doing Advanced Open Water at Catalina Island..

 

[Christi]

Christi, I know our differing viewpoints on Cozumel go way back to my 02/06 post-Wilma trip report.....and if my viewpoint is a 'diatribe' then your position is obviously a self-serving business advertisement for your own dive shop in Cozumel. I DID return to Cozumel 08/2011 for a week (20 dives) just to see how the reefs were doing. I guess I'll have to dive with your shop for a week and your DM's can show me the wonderfulness I've overlooked. Nope, I'll admit I've not been to San Juan, and I'll bet most other divers to Cozumel have not seen San Juan either as it's one of the advanced sites most recreational divers won't be taken to........isn't San Juan one of the 'deep' / high current sites that would have suffered less damage from Wilma anyway ? I've already stated that the deeper sites fared better than the shallower sites. Is Cozumel recovering from Wilma ? Yes, it is....SLOWLY......and I'm assuming you know how slowly those big sponges/corals grow back.....its decades /centuries...NOT months/years, let's be real here.

Hahahahaha! Yes, all of my posts are self-serving advertisements!

You and I agree on many things - but we do not agree on how "bad" the reefs are 2, 3, 4 5 and 6 years later. Are they the same as they were before Wilma? Absolutely not! But the regrowth is happening much faster than I think most of us expected. And I'm sorry, if you still think the sand cover on certain areas of certain reefs is from Wilma, then I would question if you actually dove here pre-Wilma. As long as I have been diving Cozumel, there are sandy areas on every single reef - it's due to the currents and varying weatrher conditions that contantly displace and move the sand for lack of a better description. Las Palmas? It's ALWAYS been half sand and half reef as long as I can remember - my least favorite dive on the island and we go there only by request or when weather keeps us close.

San Juan that I refer to up north. Yes, there is typically a strong current - but it has a bottom at 50 or 60 feet depending on what section you dive. It is absolutely gorgeous now but was one of the very hardest hit from Emily and Wilma - more marine life than you can imagine here in many years!

 

[Mossman]

Ive had some decent dives in the Sea of Cortez way below La Paz, actually called East Cape where Cabo Pulmo Marine Park is but as of yet was unable to actually dive the park due to murky conditions the time of our trip & had to settle for some shallow nearby reefs..
Yes really dont care for a liveaboard at this point, Ill checkout Bonaire also...
Newbie for sure but by the time this trip comes around we will have a few more dives under our belt, next week doing a Kelp Bed Specialty & doing Advanced Open Water at Catalina Island..

Kelp Bed Specialty? OK... When I started, kelp was just part of the dive. But then, so was a boat or a shore so we didn't have boat diving or shore diving specialties where I trained either. Other than teaching how to swim through kelp and over kelp and how to unstick yourself when you get stuck in kelp, what else do they teach? I guess a little marine life, maybe even some basic kelp anatomy, but it seems odd to make it a specialty course. As long as you feel you got your money's worth, that's what's important.

For Cabo Pulmo, we didn't get our money's worth. The dive op sent us out in a panga with a DM-in-training and we did the same site twice, a pretty boring reef with little life on it. It definitely wasn't worth the 5-6 hours of driving to and from Cabo either. I suppose there are better sites, but unless I stayed out there, I doubt I'd ever dive there again. La Paz doesn't have the coral like Cabo Pulmo is supposed to have, but it does have hammerheads, huge tropical fish, possibly even mantas and whale sharks, plus there's an airport there and food and lodging are much cheaper than in more touristy parts of Mexico. That said, I prefer Cozumel.

As for Bonaire, you'll find it costs about twice what it costs to fly to Cozumel, but the diving is much cheaper - you can get a package of 6 boat dives for about $100, or shore dive practically for free (shore dive air/nitrox packages are usually included at many resorts/hotels on the island). More varied fish life than Cozumel, great viz though not as stellar as Cozumel's, far fewer cruiseships (a few per week instead of a few per day), and a very laid-back atmosphere with a Euro-Caribbean feel. I tend to alternate between Bonaire and Cozumel, getting to one or the other every year or two, and would be hard pressed to say I like one better than the other. They're very different. This year was Cozumel and we had an excellent time, but I'm starting to miss Bonaire again.