Just returned last night from a week of diving in Cozumel. Wednesday was to be our last day of diving and we were disappointed when a norte blew in and the harbor was closed.
Memo Mendoza of Aldora called about 8:00 a.m. and asked if we would like to make an exploratory dive on the East Coast. We said we would be very interested and he told us he would call back at 9:00 a.m. to let us know if conditions were good on the other side of the island. Memo called back to let us know that the conditions were calm so we walked over to Aldora's shop and the truck was loaded with tanks, gear and extra gasoline.
We drove over to Playa Chen Rio and loaded a small open boat with our gear and tanks and launched it from the beach. Four of us motored out to Punta Chiqueros in search of the reef. The viz was about 30 feet and we circled for a bit while Mario (our DM) searched for reef. Mario, Tom (my buddy) and I backrolled off the gunwale into about 50 feet of water over a large expanse of sand. Mario blew a surface marker so the boat could keep up with our location. We then started swimming in a zig-zag pattern mapping the area while towing the marker.
It was evident that Wilma had covered a lot of patch reef with sand. We spotted about a dozen bushy hydriods at one spot which appeared to be planted in the sand like a Christmas tree farm and when we fanned the sand away at the base, we discovered a rocky area underneath.
After about 55 minutes of pretty steady finning we had found 5 outcroppings covered with life. Two were fairly good sized covered the soft corals and sea fans in pristine condition. We saw lots of juvenile fish and small morays hiding amongst the soft corals. We ended our dive over the largest outcropping so it could be plotted on the GPS.
Upon surfacing, the wind had changed directions and the seas were getting rougher. We had a bumpy ride back to Playa Chen Rio where we spent a relaxing time on the beach. We decided to forego the 2nd dive because of the worsening conditions.
In spite of being mostly an excercise in mapping the area, we had a great time seeing an area that is seldom dived where the only damage was damage caused by nature. If you get a chance, try a Wild Side dive on your next trip to Cozumel.
We had pretty good diving this trip and I'll try and write a trip report later.
Memo Mendoza of Aldora called about 8:00 a.m. and asked if we would like to make an exploratory dive on the East Coast. We said we would be very interested and he told us he would call back at 9:00 a.m. to let us know if conditions were good on the other side of the island. Memo called back to let us know that the conditions were calm so we walked over to Aldora's shop and the truck was loaded with tanks, gear and extra gasoline.
We drove over to Playa Chen Rio and loaded a small open boat with our gear and tanks and launched it from the beach. Four of us motored out to Punta Chiqueros in search of the reef. The viz was about 30 feet and we circled for a bit while Mario (our DM) searched for reef. Mario, Tom (my buddy) and I backrolled off the gunwale into about 50 feet of water over a large expanse of sand. Mario blew a surface marker so the boat could keep up with our location. We then started swimming in a zig-zag pattern mapping the area while towing the marker.
It was evident that Wilma had covered a lot of patch reef with sand. We spotted about a dozen bushy hydriods at one spot which appeared to be planted in the sand like a Christmas tree farm and when we fanned the sand away at the base, we discovered a rocky area underneath.
After about 55 minutes of pretty steady finning we had found 5 outcroppings covered with life. Two were fairly good sized covered the soft corals and sea fans in pristine condition. We saw lots of juvenile fish and small morays hiding amongst the soft corals. We ended our dive over the largest outcropping so it could be plotted on the GPS.
Upon surfacing, the wind had changed directions and the seas were getting rougher. We had a bumpy ride back to Playa Chen Rio where we spent a relaxing time on the beach. We decided to forego the 2nd dive because of the worsening conditions.
In spite of being mostly an excercise in mapping the area, we had a great time seeing an area that is seldom dived where the only damage was damage caused by nature. If you get a chance, try a Wild Side dive on your next trip to Cozumel.
We had pretty good diving this trip and I'll try and write a trip report later.
