sealskin98
Contributor
Coz. Trip Report
6-3 to 6-6-04
I had a short notice opportunity for a few days in Coz., so I snatched it! The only problem with short notice trips is that it is hard to find someone else who is able to go. Ended up doing the solo thing.
Booked the trip at the inexpensive but livable Motel 6 with palm trees (Casa Del Mar) but didn't ask the flight times. Bad move, late flights. Was supposed to leave D/FW about 4 p.m. and leave Coz. about 7:30 p.m. Yuck.
6-3-04
Flight was about 45 minutes late taking off, and then went through Louisiana to go around a storm. Landed in Coz. close to 8 p.m. Checked into hotel and went to Caballito del Caribe to check on the 2 p.m. dives I had booked for the next day. The schedule had changed as they did not have enough divers for an afternoon dive, but did have a trip going out at 11 a.m. That would work. Went by La Chosa to eat, was getting late so just had nachos then back to hotel.
6-4-04
Boat arrived at the dock a little after 11, had 3 other divers on board. Two were a newlywed couple and the other a guy from Florida, all had came over from Cancun to dive. This was the couple's first dive after certification. The first stop was Las Palmas, and the DM's plan was to go to about 50 feet and if everything was alright with the couple we would go to about 70 feet.
The couple had a hard time getting down, can sympathize with them. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt when I was a newbie. We got down to the wall and the DM kept the couple at about 70 feet. The fellow from Florida and I were allowed to go deeper; I stayed at about 90 and the other guy went to about a 100 taking photos. There was a medium sized barracuda, a nice green moray, and the other normal reef fish. We hit a thermocline with the little "squigglies" in it like clear oil and water trying to mix, got really chilly. We surfaced after only 30 minutes, which was according to the dive plan.
After a surface interval on the boat the next stop was Paradise reef. Shallow dive to 35 feet. We saw a spotted moray, several lobster, a sea cucumber, and a small stingray. Hit another thermo and got cold again in just a dive skin, and we surfaced after 35 minutes. Still had over 1,200 psi. left.
Dinner at Primas. Matao seated me at a nice little table overlooking the Plaza walk-way. We sat there and people-watched (read that chicas
) for awhile. Matao really likes blondes. Had the great mahi-mahi and pasta that was on special that night. Food was excellent as usual.
6-5-04
This time booked a 1 p.m. dive with Papa Hogs. There were three other guys on the boat from the Dallas area. On the way to the reefs they told me some bad news; George, one of the old DM's for the shop, had passed away the night before from heart problems. Was sorry to hear of their loss.
The DM had been told to have the boat back by 4 p.m. First stop was Yucab, max. depth 50 feet along spur-and-groove type coral heads. We saw another barracuda along with blue tangs, queen angels, parrot fish, blennies, ocean sunfish, and other normal stuff. Current was light at first, then after about 25 minutes the DM did an air check. I had about 1,800 left, and one of the other guys later told me he had over 2,000 at that time. Then the DM led us into a pretty stiff current. Everyone was burning air pretty well after a few minutes. We surfaced after 35 minutes of bottom time and everyone was getting low on air. No thermocline on this dive.
Surface interval was at a café/dive shop I have driven by several times before but can't remember the name of. It is the one that is faded stone with the Dos Equis Xs on the side, just north of the Reef Club on the old highway. Had a rather long surface interval of an hour and twenty minutes.
Next stop was Las Palmas again. Nice light current for a drift. We hit 70 feet and saw another barracuda, a stingray, spotted moray, and a sea turtle swam ahead of us along the edge of the wall for quite a distance. Also saw a rather large black with orange tailed fish that looked like a large, funny colored wrasse. Had thermocline again. Everyone was doing fine and having a good time, but we surfaced after 35 minutes. I still had over 1,300 psi. left and others had more. Then it was back to the docks. They didn't quite make the 4:00 time, I got off at about ten after so they made it back to Papa Hogs at about 4:15.
La Chosa for dinner tonight, had the tropical shrimp in the sweet mustard sauce that is great. I've almost got the sauce down in my own recipe that I put together a few years ago when it was called Caribbean shrimp on the menu.
6-6-04
Check-out time at hotel was noon, flight wasn't supposed to leave until 7:35 p.m. Checked out and left bags in hotel storage. Grabbed a cab to the Plaza and lazed around there for a couple of hours, had lunch at Casa Blanca, then back to hotel to catch some beach time. Hit the lounger under a palapa for a bit until some storm clouds came up, wind was coming from the east, uh oh. Went back up to the hotel restaurant and wasn't there 5 minutes before the usual Cozumel downpour for about 5 or 10 minutes hit. Had a couple of cervazas until time to go to the airport.
Now, the start of the flight from hell. Everything started out o.k., only about 30 people ahead of me in line. Was waived through the baggage search and got boarding pass pretty quickly. A little while later I noticed on the schedule monitor that the flight was delayed. It finally landed a little before 8:00. They unloaded the passengers pretty quickly and we started boarding a little after 8:00. We took off at 8:35 p.m., an hour late from the schedule.
It was an uneventful flight until we reached the Dallas area, a severe thunderstorm over D/FW. The pilot went into a holding pattern to wait out the storm. At a little after 11:00 p.m. the Captain announced that we didn't have enough fuel to wait out the storm. We were going to run over to Houston to get gas. Happy happy joy joy.
We landed in Houston around midnight, then the fun really began. We were an unscheduled flight on an airline that did not provide service out of that airport. Argument on getting fuel. Negotiations between airport and the airline reps. by phone. They were also trying to figure out what to do with the passengers as we had not cleared customs. They decided to give us a pass-through instead of clearing us there. So...everyone had to stay on the plane while they argued then finally re-fueled. We finally left Houston a little after 1:00 a.m.
Made good time back to Dallas, landed a little after 2:00 a.m. Total time aboard the aircraft for a two-and-a-half hour flight: a little over 6 hours. Clearing customs went about normal, went through fairly quickly and took shuttle to remote parking lot. Meant to have brought my umbrella, but during the last-minute-getting-stuff-together-to-leave I forgot it. Had to walk to the far southwest corner of the parking lot in the rain. Left the airport at 3:02 a.m. Drive home went smoothly, very little traffic. Pulled into driveway at 5:30 a.m., got in bed just before full daylight.
While we were sitting in Houston arguing about fuel a lady made the remark "Let's just turn around and go back to Cozumel!"
Excellent idea.
6-3 to 6-6-04
I had a short notice opportunity for a few days in Coz., so I snatched it! The only problem with short notice trips is that it is hard to find someone else who is able to go. Ended up doing the solo thing.
Booked the trip at the inexpensive but livable Motel 6 with palm trees (Casa Del Mar) but didn't ask the flight times. Bad move, late flights. Was supposed to leave D/FW about 4 p.m. and leave Coz. about 7:30 p.m. Yuck.
6-3-04
Flight was about 45 minutes late taking off, and then went through Louisiana to go around a storm. Landed in Coz. close to 8 p.m. Checked into hotel and went to Caballito del Caribe to check on the 2 p.m. dives I had booked for the next day. The schedule had changed as they did not have enough divers for an afternoon dive, but did have a trip going out at 11 a.m. That would work. Went by La Chosa to eat, was getting late so just had nachos then back to hotel.
6-4-04
Boat arrived at the dock a little after 11, had 3 other divers on board. Two were a newlywed couple and the other a guy from Florida, all had came over from Cancun to dive. This was the couple's first dive after certification. The first stop was Las Palmas, and the DM's plan was to go to about 50 feet and if everything was alright with the couple we would go to about 70 feet.
The couple had a hard time getting down, can sympathize with them. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt when I was a newbie. We got down to the wall and the DM kept the couple at about 70 feet. The fellow from Florida and I were allowed to go deeper; I stayed at about 90 and the other guy went to about a 100 taking photos. There was a medium sized barracuda, a nice green moray, and the other normal reef fish. We hit a thermocline with the little "squigglies" in it like clear oil and water trying to mix, got really chilly. We surfaced after only 30 minutes, which was according to the dive plan.
After a surface interval on the boat the next stop was Paradise reef. Shallow dive to 35 feet. We saw a spotted moray, several lobster, a sea cucumber, and a small stingray. Hit another thermo and got cold again in just a dive skin, and we surfaced after 35 minutes. Still had over 1,200 psi. left.
Dinner at Primas. Matao seated me at a nice little table overlooking the Plaza walk-way. We sat there and people-watched (read that chicas
) for awhile. Matao really likes blondes. Had the great mahi-mahi and pasta that was on special that night. Food was excellent as usual.6-5-04
This time booked a 1 p.m. dive with Papa Hogs. There were three other guys on the boat from the Dallas area. On the way to the reefs they told me some bad news; George, one of the old DM's for the shop, had passed away the night before from heart problems. Was sorry to hear of their loss.
The DM had been told to have the boat back by 4 p.m. First stop was Yucab, max. depth 50 feet along spur-and-groove type coral heads. We saw another barracuda along with blue tangs, queen angels, parrot fish, blennies, ocean sunfish, and other normal stuff. Current was light at first, then after about 25 minutes the DM did an air check. I had about 1,800 left, and one of the other guys later told me he had over 2,000 at that time. Then the DM led us into a pretty stiff current. Everyone was burning air pretty well after a few minutes. We surfaced after 35 minutes of bottom time and everyone was getting low on air. No thermocline on this dive.
Surface interval was at a café/dive shop I have driven by several times before but can't remember the name of. It is the one that is faded stone with the Dos Equis Xs on the side, just north of the Reef Club on the old highway. Had a rather long surface interval of an hour and twenty minutes.
Next stop was Las Palmas again. Nice light current for a drift. We hit 70 feet and saw another barracuda, a stingray, spotted moray, and a sea turtle swam ahead of us along the edge of the wall for quite a distance. Also saw a rather large black with orange tailed fish that looked like a large, funny colored wrasse. Had thermocline again. Everyone was doing fine and having a good time, but we surfaced after 35 minutes. I still had over 1,300 psi. left and others had more. Then it was back to the docks. They didn't quite make the 4:00 time, I got off at about ten after so they made it back to Papa Hogs at about 4:15.
La Chosa for dinner tonight, had the tropical shrimp in the sweet mustard sauce that is great. I've almost got the sauce down in my own recipe that I put together a few years ago when it was called Caribbean shrimp on the menu.
6-6-04
Check-out time at hotel was noon, flight wasn't supposed to leave until 7:35 p.m. Checked out and left bags in hotel storage. Grabbed a cab to the Plaza and lazed around there for a couple of hours, had lunch at Casa Blanca, then back to hotel to catch some beach time. Hit the lounger under a palapa for a bit until some storm clouds came up, wind was coming from the east, uh oh. Went back up to the hotel restaurant and wasn't there 5 minutes before the usual Cozumel downpour for about 5 or 10 minutes hit. Had a couple of cervazas until time to go to the airport.
Now, the start of the flight from hell. Everything started out o.k., only about 30 people ahead of me in line. Was waived through the baggage search and got boarding pass pretty quickly. A little while later I noticed on the schedule monitor that the flight was delayed. It finally landed a little before 8:00. They unloaded the passengers pretty quickly and we started boarding a little after 8:00. We took off at 8:35 p.m., an hour late from the schedule.
It was an uneventful flight until we reached the Dallas area, a severe thunderstorm over D/FW. The pilot went into a holding pattern to wait out the storm. At a little after 11:00 p.m. the Captain announced that we didn't have enough fuel to wait out the storm. We were going to run over to Houston to get gas. Happy happy joy joy.
We landed in Houston around midnight, then the fun really began. We were an unscheduled flight on an airline that did not provide service out of that airport. Argument on getting fuel. Negotiations between airport and the airline reps. by phone. They were also trying to figure out what to do with the passengers as we had not cleared customs. They decided to give us a pass-through instead of clearing us there. So...everyone had to stay on the plane while they argued then finally re-fueled. We finally left Houston a little after 1:00 a.m.
Made good time back to Dallas, landed a little after 2:00 a.m. Total time aboard the aircraft for a two-and-a-half hour flight: a little over 6 hours. Clearing customs went about normal, went through fairly quickly and took shuttle to remote parking lot. Meant to have brought my umbrella, but during the last-minute-getting-stuff-together-to-leave I forgot it. Had to walk to the far southwest corner of the parking lot in the rain. Left the airport at 3:02 a.m. Drive home went smoothly, very little traffic. Pulled into driveway at 5:30 a.m., got in bed just before full daylight.
While we were sitting in Houston arguing about fuel a lady made the remark "Let's just turn around and go back to Cozumel!"
Excellent idea.
