Friday Night Norte

[Christi]

W

Streydog, do you have any recommendations for diving out of Playa? Monday and Tuesday look promising in Cozumel. Wednesday is iffy.
My buddy and I are at the Blue Angel till Saturday.

Hmmm - Monday I'm giving a 50/50 - Tuesday will be fine - Wednesday 50/50

 

[dmc78]

I’m just going by what the guys at the dive shop at BA are telling me. Could be a long week Christi!

 

[H2ODoc]

Yeah. I just bailed on this week....

Looks like you made the right call!

 

[Streydog]

W

Streydog, do you have any recommendations for diving out of Playa? Monday and Tuesday look promising in Cozumel. Wednesday is iffy.
My buddy and I are at the Blue Angel till Saturday.

I dove with Scuba Playa today with a recommendation from my di e shop here. They are the sister shop to Blue Angel, so check with them. That was my only experience in Playa. Kind of short dives but it was $69 for a two tank, nice small boat and good facilities. 135 Pesos going and 69 back. Took the 7AM ferry, could have rushed for the noon ferry but took my time looking at the scenery and came back on the 3PM. The beach is worth a walk on.

 

[Streydog]

You would never know how windy it is here if you are in Playa.

 

[dmc78]

Thanks for reply SD, they look to be 5-6 blocks from the ferry terminal. Do they launch the boat from the beach? I didn’t see any pier other than the FT. What were the 135 and 69 pesos for?

I dove with Scuba Playa today with a recommendation from my di e shop here. They are the sister shop to Blue Angel, so check with them. That was my only experience in Playa. Kind of short dives but it was $69 for a two tank, nice small boat and good facilities. 135 Pesos going and 69 back. Took the 7AM ferry, could have rushed for the noon ferry but took my time looking at the scenery and came back on the 3PM. The beach is worth a walk on.

 

[ReefHound]

We did a few dives in PDC last month during a norte. Tortugas was a flat bottom, 60-70', mostly small hard coral heads and soft corals and sponges with moderate amounts of fish. Carolina Reef, like many in Coz, was tantalizing close to shore but probably not reachable for most, just 25-30', flat soft corals til it meets sand. But so many soft corals swaying in the sand and endless massive schools of fish. Just did a quick low-res upload to show you. Viz was not as good as in Coz but a bit better than the video makes it appear.

 

[dmc78]

Thanks ReefHound. It’s still better than No diving!

 

[northernone]

Rolling breakers on the east side today met fellow divers.

 

[scubafanatic]

My understanding that in Cozumel it is a factor of wind direction and strength. Typical winds keep the waves down on the west side and produce waves on the wild side (east). When nortes blow these conditions are reversed with higher waves on the west side and calmer conditions on the east side. This is why Aldora will occasionally move their boats to dive the east side during a norte.

Some divers from other locales may not understand why “sporty seas” may shut down diving when they may be accustomed to diving in these conditions at home. I was one of them. But I learned that the typical dive boat in Cozumal (panga) is not designed for sporty seas.

I've dove many a sporty sea in the TX Flower Gardens, but it's a 110' live aboard, born and bred for such conditions, the typical Coz day boat is a child's toy by comparison, suitable mainly for mill pond sea states.