Diving coinditions in Cozumel after Hurricane?

[steeliejim]

Christy, anyone? I haven't checked in for awhile, but the last time I did, I recall that night diving was being limited to only a couple of sites. Have the restrictions been loosened, and if not. is there an indication of when they might be? I'll be coming back to Cozumel the last week of Feb., have always loved the night dives--along with all the other diving, of course.

Jim

 

[diveborg]

There is no reason not to go to Cozumel.

I can absolutely agree with this sentiment.

I recommend avoiding Continental Airlines if you can. I had a really bad experience with them going to Coz and returning home.

Do you think the experience would have been better on another airline? I don't. In fact, your choice of airline going to Cozumel in the beginning of December was limited to, let's see if I remember correctly, I think it was only one, Continental. So, at least you got to go there. If you had tickets on American, you wouldn't have gone. They didn't start flying there until Dec. 15. Fly to anyplace after a major hurricane closed all the the big resorts would definitely not be "normal". Considering the circumstances, I think Continental, for the most part, handled things fairly well.

I can't a agree with this statement. We flew on CO from Oregon to Cozumel. Our Cozumel morning flights we cancelled which moved us to afternoon flights from Houston to Cozumel. It wasn't a really big deal. It made out layover going down there 4 hours longer which wasn't fun, but not a disaster either. Getting moved to the afternoon flight made us miss the last direct flight back to Portland. The CSA gave us some choices, stay another day in Cozumel, spend the night in Houston (at our expense ), or go home thru Las Vegas flying Alaska from there to Portland. The problem with the last choice was getting to Portland on 1:20 AM Christmas morning would have sucked. I gave it some thought and asked them if they could send us home thru Phoenix and fly Alaska from there. After a few minutes talk with a supervisor, I got my request. The only problem was the connecting flight was at 11:00 AM and I wanted to stay in Phoenix longer. I called Alaska and they were happy to change us to the later flight. We left Phoenix at 4:00 PM. My Mom lives in Phoenix in the winter, so seeing her on Christmas was a bonus.

So, everyone's experiences with every airline are different almost every time they fly. I can certainly understand someone having a preferred airline, but when you live on the west coast and every flight east has to connect somewhere, there really isn't all that much choice. For me, price and schedule are far more important than the name on the plane.

 

[halocline]

I fly at least 10 trips/year, usually on CO, Delta, and Southwest. I agree with diveborg, really it's a crapshoot IMO with regards to flying experience, all the airlines are struggling the last few years and they're all getting pretty surly. Since I'm a musician and usually flying with a very expensive and fragile instrument, Delta's new policy of no instruments in the cabin that exceed the absurd carry-on dimensions is a real PITA to me and now I avoid them whenever possible. I say absurd because on any given flight there are MANY bags in the cabin that exceed the stated dimensions for carry on items. Sorry for the hi-jack!

 

[diveborg]

Oh, and the diving conditions were quite favorable December 19-24 for me. Water temps ranged from 77-80. I wore a Bare 5/4 mm velocity full suit and was comfortable on every dive, even at the end of the second hour long dive of the day.

Current was fairly strong on several of the sites. Delila was one of them. It was a very fun dive flying over the reef, but up in the shallows, there looked to be a lot of new sand and some of it was suspended in the water, enjoying the current with me, it indeed sand can enjoy anything. Over all, visibility was better than it ever is in the PNW, or even BC.

 

[RLarsen]

I dove Cozumel from Nov 26 to Dec 3 and had a great time, but it was obvious the reefs took a very serious beating from the hurricane. I was surprised to see some deeper locations worse off than some more shallow reefs. Columbia Deep was an example of that. It looked like it was hit by a lot of sand and I was saddened by what I saw as compared to my last visit eight months ago. A number of more shallow reefs looked pretty good and had an impressive abundance of sea life which made the dives great.
My experience with Cozumel is limited but I think divers are fooling themselves if they don't think the hurricane had a very dramatic impact. Still, I had a great time and can't wait to go back, but my next stop is Belize.
Cozumel is a special place, don't hesitate to go.
Rex

 

[Nevis Diver]

Do you think the experience would have been better on another airline? I don't. In fact, your choice of airline going to Cozumel in the beginning of December was limited to, let's see if I remember correctly, I think it was only one, Continental.

I was scheduled to fly on US Air Nov. 26 and Dec. 2. They camcelled our flight but re-booked us on Delta which did fly in and out on the same days albeit slightly different times.

 

[Ron Brandt]

I just returned last Thurday. The reefs were looking a bit "weathered" and some that I expected to look bad did'nt and the one's I thought would be good are white.

Ron

 

[diveborg]

I just returned last Thurday. The reefs were looking a bit "weathered" and some that I expected to look bad did'nt and the one's I thought would be good are white.

Ron

"Weathered" is an excellent adjective to describe some of the dive sites, especially the shallow, near shore ones. "Changed" would describe most of the sites, especially the ones that have swim thrus.

 

[clockradio]

i was there in early Dec. from my point of view, the diving was great. on the shallow reefs you could tell that they had been thru a bad storm. still their were a lot of fish. the deep dives had some different swim thrus. word of caution. make sure your hotel is up and running and, check on the airlines. personally i had no trouble at all. i stayed at hotel cozumel and, dove with dive paradise. oh ya i flew with continental. hope this helps. geo