Gary's Gulf Divers go to Cozumel

[seadoggirl]

Eight of our crew met at 5:00 a.m. Friday February 22, in Pensacola for the trip to dive Cozumel. Everyone received their lei at the airport, including the young lady behind the ticket counter. After all the luggage procedure we sleepily went upstairs to wait on the flight. Everything worked like clock work with American Airlines and we were shortly in Dallas. Two delicious Bloody Mary’s later, we found Kristal – who came in on a different flight and we were on our way to Cozumel. After an hour nap and 10 or 15 Sudoko games we landed in Cozumel. A thirty minute customs wait later, nine of us loaded all the gear in a van and we were off to FeistaAmerican. We were met at the desk with fruity rum drinks and a smile.

We threw the luggage in the room and took off for the Dive House dive shop. We completed the waivers and secured a dive locker then we were set up. A hint for the future is to bring a cheap lock for the dive locker. The locks cost $5.00 where in the US they are $.50. Lunch was a buffet style thing and we all got something to eat. We found the tenth member of our group and we were all set. One of our group needed one more checkout dive and Gray quickly put her in the perfect clear water in front of the hotel for her final certification dive. That inspired us all – so we all drug out the gear and went for a shore dive in front of the hotel. There was not a lot to see and the current was pretty fast but we all got our first dive in to wash off the cobwebs.

Dinner was another buffet style affair and we ended up at the bar were Denise danced and Kristal AGAIN threatened to sing Karaoke but never did. This is the second dive trip with Kristal were she promised to sing but didn’t. (Special K – if you are scared, say you’re scared?) We were in bed fairly early with visions of coral reefs in our heads.

Saturday February 23, 2008

After breakfast we were introduced to our new boat – Dive House IV. The first dive of the day was Palancar Gardens. We saw huge turtles and some small spotted eels – black and white. It was a beautiful clear sunny day with air temps in the 80 range and water temps about the same. The sun was bright and our white Alabama skin quickly became red. I’ve heard a lot about the reefs in Coz and can say that in some places it is beautiful. In other places the damage from the Hurricane Wilma is still obvious.

The second dive was San Francisco where we got swim throughs and large Grouper. Steve is a major spearfisherman and asked if Spearfishing was available. HA! The visibility was endless and the color of the coral was better. We all had a fun time and joked about how clear the water was.

The third dive of the day was Colombia. Denise, Kristal and I were the only ones on the new boat from our group. The currents were stronger but we did see a number of turtles – two were very friendly with each other. We may have seen turtle sex but I’m not really sure what to look for, so we just swam on. The current here is very strong so the drift diving is effortless. We are doing hour dives and I’m coming up with 1200 psi. Kristal had a little ear issue (she can explain later) and was finished with her diving for the remainder of the trip.

 

[seadoggirl]

Sunday February 24, 2008
After a smaller breakfast than the day before – we were all having stomach issues – we were off to the same boat and same crew. By this time the dive boat crew understood that we were all proficient divers and they gave us a more challenging dive. We went to the same general area of Palancar but this time we did the Palancar Break. This dive consisted of a longer swim through dive. The coral inside the swim throughs is wonderful and putting a light on the coral makes the colors jump out at you. Almost the whole dive was in and out of a maze. It was wonderful. We saw a lobster that was as big as Denise!

The second dive was C-53 which is a Navy War ship. Manuel - our DM allowed a swim through the wreck which is very safe. Very cool. We saw a large ray right outside the wreck and headed over to the reef next to the wreck. Again time on the wreck was short because the current just blows you off of it. The cool thing about this wreck was the shape that it is in. Not a lot of growth but lots of small tropics on it.

For the third dive I was unable to talk any of our group into going, so I hooked up with the group from Michigan and out we went. It was a great dive at the Maracalbo or Mountains. Again more turtles but no swim throughs. I did however see a six or seven foot green moray eel with a head as big as mine! Sorry, camera batteries were dead by this time and I didn’t get any pictures. We have seen spiny lobster on almost every dive. We have also seen Queen Angelfish, Gray Angelfish and French Angelfish by the tons. It is amazing that there are so many. I noticed that angelfish seen to travel in twos. The most wonderful fish is a Rainbow Parrotfish. We have also seen many Spotlight Parrotfish.

My fourth dive with my new friends from Michigan was to the San Francisco again. FINALLY – An Octopus! She was a cute little baby – very shy, hiding under a rock. When I first saw her, she had two arms hanging out of her hiding hole, when I got close she pulled her arms back in and covered her face with her arms. All you could see was her eyes and they were closed. I guess if she couldn’t see me, I couldn’t see her. I stopped and watched for a while but the current forced me to leave. I must say that the surface interval with the Michigan crew was the most fun SI ever. Those crazy people dive ice and you’ve got to be nuts to do that. They were hilarious.

I got back to the room, checked on Kristal who was still confined to laying flat because of the vertigo and all us wild and crazy girls were in bed and asleep by nine o’clock.

 

[seadoggirl]

Monday February 25, 2008

Another perfect Cozumel morning. The first dive this morning was on Santa Rosa Wall. A lovely steep wall with many swim throughs and lots of small tropical fish. About two minutes into the dive we saw a nurse shark feeding on something behind a rock and waited – kicking madly to beat the current – until she decided to come out. Then we were ready with cameras in hand. She had her picture taken more times than Brittney Spears coming out of the mental ward. The wall also had a number of small Nassau Grouper on it. The Grouper seen to only come in two sizes – very small and VERY large.

The second dive was Punta Dahilia. We told our dive master Manuel that we wanted to see Octopus. And boy did we see Octopus. We saw about ten different Octopus. The bad thing was that the current was so strong that you can only stay a minute and then you are blown off.

The third dive today was a night dive. We dove Yucab. It is a 60 foot dive that rises to 35 feet at the end over the reef. The rock lobster and spiny lobster were all out in force. There was a school of Horse-eye Jacks chasing each other around. Monica – our new diver - dropped down over the edge of a coral bank and came face to face – within inches of a green moray eel. Needless to say she quickly mastered the art of back paddling.

 

[seadoggirl]

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The first dive today was an afternoon dive. We needed to stay shallow because we were flying the next day so we went to Dahalili reef again. It was a much better dive today with more Octopus and less current.

The last dive in Cozumel for us was by far the best – in my opinion. It was Paradise. Only a small current but we saw three black seahorses, king size crabs, a couple of lobster and a 50-60 pound snapper. Where is my speargun when I need it?

We all compared pictures afterwards and we can’t wait to get them out here. We went out into town for shopping and dinner. Had a great pasta meal at Prima’s and a good glass of wine. Visited C&C as all tourist must and a watched the street vendors paint pictures using stray cans.

Thanks Gary and Linda for all the prep work and taking care of everyone while we were here.

Overall impressions: (scale 1- horrible; 10 – great)

Fiesta American hotel – the food is a 3. Very little variety for breakfast and lunch. Several of us have all had stomach issues. Ice is non existent and you almost have to tip someone to get it. We have eaten at the upstairs restaurant and that was better than the buffet. The rooms were a 1 for us. We have three adult women and paid the same price per person as others in a two person room. What we got was the exact same size room and a roll-away bed.

Dive House – dive operation. The dive boats are a 9. They are on time and well run. The dive masters and deckhands are a 10. I’ve learned a great deal watching them work. Highly recommend the Dive House Operation. I blew my first stage and they had me fixed and in the water without a hitch in minutes. Great crew. The only complaint is that Nitrox was $10 a bottle. I felt that this was steep compared to other places.

Cozumel Reefs – the damage is still here. The fish are here but they need more time to rebuild. One dive master said it best. He told us that right after the hurricane, his first trip out, he jumped off the boat and looked down into the water. He called out to the captain that they were in the wrong place. He didn’t see the reef. The captain assured him that they were in the right place. He saw sand. The reef program is helping and that is important. The angel fish are huge and we saw lots of Octopus. The sharks have left – we were told - because they have stopped feeding the fish on the reefs. We saw many large grouper but they are not as friendly as before because they stopped feeding them also. So I give the reefs and overall diving a 7. In my humble and limited opinion – Belize and Turks and Caicos were both better and about the same money as Cozumel at an all inclusive.

 

[seadoggirl]

Pictures are in my gallery if you want to look at them.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Great report! Sounds awesome!

 

[ShagMan]

Thanks for the report, very well written / concise!

 

[Port Tack]

Great report. Maybe you should take up writing for a living! I sure do want to go where the water is clear and warm.

Mike

 

[seadoggirl]

SHAMELESS PLUG ---

Dominos by Donna Calhoun

 

[seadoggirl]

We are sad that we are heading home. The wind picked up today and the seas are rougher than we have seen. Even with the wind it is beautiful here. We are all checked out and heading to the airport in about an hour. We miss all our families and spouses.

Thanks again to Gary's Gulf Diver in Orange Beach Alabama for working out all the details and making sure everything went well.