Diving/Deep Sea Fishing in May - Interested?

[Moodiejeff]

Hey all

I'm going to be down in Coz May 15-22 with my girl and will be diving with Christi of BlueXTsea. I'm very excited about this because of all the stellar reviews her outfit has gotten on this board. I am thinking of deviating from that for one day however....

On to the point of this post... I have read that Papa Hogs does a trip to the mainland which is half diving and half deep sea fishing. Apparently it goes to 2 of the better sites off Playa Del Carmen. One has a lot of Turtles, the other I think is "Tarpon Alley" which is known for it's (you guessed it)... Tarpon. During your surface intervals you cruise around fishing.

Anyone interested in this? I was thinking of trying to reserve a boat on Thursday May 20th. Price is $100 a piece. If I can't get anybody from the forum to bite I guess I'll take my chances that people from Papa Hogs will want to do it.

Anyone done this trip? Is it worth it? Any other operators do this trip as well?

Please let me know asap as I would like to give Christi a set schedule.

Thanks
Jeff

 

[ggunn]

Hey all

I'm going to be down in Coz May 15-22 with my girl and will be diving with Christi of BlueXTsea. I'm very excited about this because of all the stellar reviews her outfit has gotten on this board. I am thinking of deviating from that for one day however....

On to the point of this post... I have read that Papa Hogs does a trip to the mainland which is half diving and half deep sea fishing. Apparently it goes to 2 of the better sites off Playa Del Carmen. One has a lot of Turtles, the other I think is "Tarpon Alley" which is known for it's (you guessed it)... Tarpon. During your surface intervals you cruise around fishing.

Anyone interested in this? I was thinking of trying to reserve a boat on Thursday May 20th. Price is $100 a piece. If I can't get anybody from the forum to bite I guess I'll take my chances that people from Papa Hogs will want to do it.

Anyone done this trip? Is it worth it? Any other operators do this trip as well?

Please let me know asap as I would like to give Christi a set schedule.

Thanks
Jeff

My advice: If you want to go deep sea fishing, then book a deep sea fishing trip. A dive boat trailing a few lures around in the water between dives ain't really fishing. Besides that, the attributes that make for a good fishing boat are different from those which make a boat good for diving. Additionally, fishing is a beer intensive activity, diving is not.

May is the best month for fishing in Coz-PdC waters, and the dark of the moon (also good for fishing) is on the 19th. I'll be there during that time as well, and I'll be out after marlin and dorado at least two of those days.

 

[nwdiver2]

Papa Hog (Mike) uses a Bertram 48 deep sea fishing boat for the trip, the same boat he won the Mexican National Sports Fishing Championship several years ago in. It is a Sports Fishing boat used for diving. He also will load it up as a fast semi cattle boat, 12 divers, when the port is closed to small 6 pack boats to get divers out to the closed reefs in the park.

 

[ggunn]

Papa Hog (Mike) uses a Bertram 48 deep sea fishing boat for the trip, the same boat he won the Mexican National Sports Fishing Championship several years ago in. It is a Sports Fishing boat used for diving. He also will load it up as a fast semi cattle boat, 12 divers, when the port is closed to small 6 pack boats to get divers out to the closed reefs in the park.

And yes, that Bertram hull is just fine for fishing. But be that as it may, my advice is still to go diving, or to go fishing, one or the other, and not to try and combine them. I fish and I dive, and that's why a week on Cozumel is just not enough! ;^)

 

[all4diving]

I believe there are a number of fishing tourney's going on in May and you might have some difficulty obtaining a boat. Last May when we were there for 10 days there must have been hundreds of boats. Very cool. Bill fish tourn I believe. There were a number of guys on the plane that were going for the fishing.

 

[ggunn]

I believe there are a number of fishing tourney's going on in May and you might have some difficulty obtaining a boat. Last May when we were there for 10 days there must have been hundreds of boats. Very cool. Bill fish tourn I believe. There were a number of guys on the plane that were going for the fishing.

I am pretty sure that there are two Coz fishing tournaments in May; one of them is the Captain's Tournament and is not, I believe, open to outsiders. They are both on weekends, so during the week should not be a prob.

 

[Moodiejeff]

My advice: If you want to go deep sea fishing, then book a deep sea fishing trip. A dive boat trailing a few lures around in the water between dives ain't really fishing. Besides that, the attributes that make for a good fishing boat are different from those which make a boat good for diving. Additionally, fishing is a beer intensive activity, diving is not.

I'm not really doing it for the deep sea fishing or the beer... well, sort of (the fishing). Mostly it seems like a relaxing half day with a chance to go to some dive sites that are rarely visited from Coz.

Maybe it's not all that it's cracked up to be but I remember reading some dive reports on those sites and apparently you have a good chance of seeing a LOT of turtles. Correct me if i'm wrong. Still looking for advice from anyone who has done this trip or those dive sites.

Green Wall & Tarpon Alley are the sites