Good Bye Cozumel!

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Just a few things to say here...and most will say that my opinion is biased, but I will try to be as objective as possible.

Yes, there was damage to the reefs. As I have said, like a broken record...they are remodeled. They are changed, not destroyed by a long shot. Change is not a bad thing...it just takes some getting used to. And, I firmly believe that what Mother Nature destroys, mother nature will replenish stronger and more beautiful than before.

Are the reefs already showing signs of regeneration? Absolutley!

Is the diving still enjoyable here? Absolutely!

Is the diving and the value of diving of Cozumel still better than other destinations? Absolutley!

Domino, I do not mean to be disrespectful, and you are absolutely entitled to your opinions, but I disagree with your assessments and I have to questions some of your statements. You claim that you have been diving here since 1978...then you must have seen the damage after Gilbert and Roxanne? You know how fast the reefs recovered after those storms. Although Wilma lasted alot longer, the same thing is happening now. Each day there are less sand deposits, and new sprouts of life all over the reefs. There are juvenile fish as well as larger fish and marine life EVERYWHERE...which is a wonderful sign.

I find it disheartening that someone who claims to be such a seasoned diver and such a seasoned Cozumel diver at that...would focus on the damage rather than the rebirth of the reefs and the life that is still very much there. Even the marine park determined that there was less than 30% damage to the reefs. The reefs of Cozumel are massive and to focus on that small percentage of damaged reef vs. what is STILL there is very shallow and short sighted in my opinion, particularly from a seasoned diver. People who have a true passion for diving are happy diving just about anywhere.

I am typically very put off my those who boast about their vast experience and belittle others who don't have the experience they do...and your post came across to me that way. Remember we all started somewhere and being a novice diver or someone without Cozumel diving experience does not make anyone less of a person or make them any less entitled to express their perceptions of diving in Cozumel...or anywhere. Rather than trying to share your objective opinion and sadness over what you saw, it came across as being all about you and how YOUR life has been affected by Wilma. Before you say stuff like that...think about how incompassionate and cold it sounds. Think about how it affected OUR (locals) lives, not for one week of diving while on vacation, but for MONTHS...and yes, we still feel effects of Wilma daily and we are still trying to put all of the pieces back together, financially, physically, and mentally. I think it is natural for me to be a little defensive when people make statements of how their vacations were ruined or not the same because of Wilma.

I know you acknowledged some other things, but the negative things you said repeatedly overshadowed anything positive you had to say...and I think that's where some of the defensiveness came across.

I've dove several other places, although of course 90% of my dives have been in Cozumel, and I still truly believe that Cozumel has better diving than any of the other places I have dove...even post Wilma.

Anyway, I'm sorry you feel the way you do, but I personally do not agree with your assessments.

I hope that you will find a dive destination that brings you as much peace as Cozumel once did...I still find peace here even through all of the turmoil.

By the way, here are some pictures I've taken of the reefs since Wilma:

Palancar Gardens - February 2006
Very_Healthy_Reef_small.jpg


Palancar Caves - November 2005
Splendid_Toadfish.jpg


Paso del Cedral - November 2005
Anemone.jpg


Maracaibo Shallows - February 2006
And_more_healthy_reef_small.jpg
 
domino22:
Well I guess my cold heart got in the way with my post. I expected backlash for posting what I saw. I will remember in the future to not post anymore trip reports due to the backlash that can/will follow. For 28 years I have dove Cozumel I have more dives than most all of you that are having trouble with my post! I bow to your mass experiance and will remain silent on my future trips, I suggest to those who want unbiased info to try "UnderCurrent". This board can turn ugly very fast. I am sorry to all who I have offened and the people of Cozumel. domino22

Ugly? Are you new to the internet? There is some disagreement with you here, and one person called what you were doing "trolling" (and apologized for it, BTW), but by most forum standards, it was and is pretty tame. If you want to see ugly, go over on rec.scuba sometime. ;^)

I have been going to Cozumel since 1978 as well; I have seen lots of changes there, too, and not all have been positive. The changes that the cruise ship industry have wrought, for example... I wish it were the way it was back when Chankanaab was literally a wide place in the road; there were only about 10 hotels on the island, and most folks didn't know Cozumel existed.

It's not that way anymore. Change happens; it's one of the few things that you can absolutely count on. Wilma pounded Cozumel very badly, much worse so than did Gilbert. Many of my favorite dive spots will not recover in my lifetime, if ever. I agree; it sucks.

But... I went back in January and saw it for myself, and I am going back again in May. Why? Well, it's still the best diving I can get to reasonably cheaply and quickly, and many of the things that keep me going back to Cozumel are just as good as they ever were. YMMV, of course, and if it's too different now for you to enjoy it, then by all means go do something else. I feel your pain; vacation time is too hard won and precious to spend somewhere where you'll spend all your time wishing you'd gone somewhere else.

Peace,
 
I for one am looking very forward to going back to Cozumel. I don't care about some reef damage. Who cares about a little sand here and there? This is Cozumel we're talking about. It's the most re-visited diving in the world. People are passionate about this place. Hey, there's the view at Coconuts, the food at El Moro and Casa Denis, the friendly people kissing your butt on the dive boats while taking you to the second largest reef in the world. There's seeing old friends, staying at your favorite hotel, diving your favorite sites, driving around to the east side for a fun day in the sun. This is COZUMEL people. This place will always be awesome. In 21 days I'll be in heaven for my 4th time in 3 years and I don't care about anything else.:D
 
domino22:
Yes you got it! Some did not!

A JOKE !? :-blush;

I was going to ask for an email address. I have a few complaints of my own. That's not nice to tease us like that. Imagine our embarasment.


:wave-smil :wave-smil
 
Mother Nature has a way of rejuvenating our planet. After a vast fire, lush regrowth abounds. I imagine that for some of us, watching the reef regrowth will be a fantastic experience. Imagine all the new, tiny corals, the rebirth of species and all the great stuff that nature did NOT take. Glass half full here! I'll be back... often!

Christi, thank you for the pics and helping others to read this board a better visual of what Cozumel STILL is.
 
Seeing what IS there is really an important dive skill....We get people who come to Hawaii and immediately start moaning about no soft coral, no this, no that, WHILE THE WHALES ARE BREECHING, next to the boat. ...or they miss the Mantas because they can't snap out of muck dive speed and get their heads up and adapt to a new type of environment. I cannot tell you how many times we are diving with the almost deafening call of whales. Certain distinctive melodies, that keep repeating... from different directions. Then we get on the boat and some people did not hear or notice at all....cause they were determined to find something they saw last year in Bonaire!
 
catherine96821:
Seeing what IS there is really an important dive skill....We get people who come to Hawaii and immediately start moaning about no soft coral, no this, no that, WHILE THE WHALES ARE BREECHING, next to the boat. ...or they miss the Mantas because they can't snap out of muck dive speed and get their heads up and adapt to a new type of environment. I cannot tell you how many times we are diving with the almost deafening call of whales. Certain distinctive melodies, that keep repeating... from different directions. Then we get on the boat and some people did not hear or notice at all....cause they were determined to find something they saw last year in Bonaire!

How could someone not notice whalesong? It feels like it is inside you it vibrates through your bones and gets in your head! They must have missed all the different kinds of eels and leaf fish that are unique as well. Hawaii may not be as colorful as the caribbean but offers a different dive experience with lots to see.
Loretta
 
Christi:
Just a few things to say here...and most will say that my opinion is biased, but I will try to be as objective as possible.

Yes, there was damage to the reefs. As I have said, like a broken record...they are remodeled. They are changed, not destroyed by a long shot. Change is not a bad thing...it just takes some getting used to. And, I firmly believe that what Mother Nature destroys, mother nature will replenish stronger and more beautiful than before.

Are the reefs already showing signs of regeneration? Absolutley!

Is the diving still enjoyable here? Absolutely!

Is the diving and the value of diving of Cozumel still better than other destinations? Absolutley!

Domino, I do not mean to be disrespectful, and you are absolutely entitled to your opinions, but I disagree with your assessments and I have to questions some of your statements. You claim that you have been diving here since 1978...then you must have seen the damage after Gilbert and Roxanne? You know how fast the reefs recovered after those storms. Although Wilma lasted alot longer, the same thing is happening now. Each day there are less sand deposits, and new sprouts of life all over the reefs. There are juvenile fish as well as larger fish and marine life EVERYWHERE...which is a wonderful sign.

I find it disheartening that someone who claims to be such a seasoned diver and such a seasoned Cozumel diver at that...would focus on the damage rather than the rebirth of the reefs and the life that is still very much there. Even the marine park determined that there was less than 30% damage to the reefs. The reefs of Cozumel are massive and to focus on that small percentage of damaged reef vs. what is STILL there is very shallow and short sighted in my opinion, particularly from a seasoned diver. People who have a true passion for diving are happy diving just about anywhere.

I am typically very put off my those who boast about their vast experience and belittle others who don't have the experience they do...and your post came across to me that way. Remember we all started somewhere and being a novice diver or someone without Cozumel diving experience does not make anyone less of a person or make them any less entitled to express their perceptions of diving in Cozumel...or anywhere. Rather than trying to share your objective opinion and sadness over what you saw, it came across as being all about you and how YOUR life has been affected by Wilma. Before you say stuff like that...think about how incompassionate and cold it sounds. Think about how it affected OUR (locals) lives, not for one week of diving while on vacation, but for MONTHS...and yes, we still feel effects of Wilma daily and we are still trying to put all of the pieces back together, financially, physically, and mentally. I think it is natural for me to be a little defensive when people make statements of how their vacations were ruined or not the same because of Wilma.

I know you acknowledged some other things, but the negative things you said repeatedly overshadowed anything positive you had to say...and I think that's where some of the defensiveness came across.

I've dove several other places, although of course 90% of my dives have been in Cozumel, and I still truly believe that Cozumel has better diving than any of the other places I have dove...even post Wilma.

Anyway, I'm sorry you feel the way you do, but I personally do not agree with your assessments.

I hope that you will find a dive destination that brings you as much peace as Cozumel once did...I still find peace here even through all of the turmoil.

By the way, here are some pictures I've taken of the reefs since Wilma:

Palancar Gardens - February 2006
Very_Healthy_Reef_small.jpg


Palancar Caves - November 2005
Splendid_Toadfish.jpg


Paso del Cedral - November 2005
Anemone.jpg


Maracaibo Shallows - February 2006
And_more_healthy_reef_small.jpg

Well stated Christi and thanks for posting those pics! I sometimes stay awake thinking about the diving I have done in Coz and always want to go right back! I look forward to seeing my old and new friends there. Only 23 more days to go!!! I can hardly stand the waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Loretta
 
Good call Catherine! Every dive location has something good and something "less" than somewhere else.

I have dove Cozumel several times and I will take a "bad vis day" or a reef that has suffered some damage by mother nature over even the best dives that I do here in the Pacific Northwest. It does not mean that I do not like any of the diving I do here, I just can't travel to Cozumel any day that I want to dive (nor can I afford it) and there are some fascinating things to see in our plankton rich waters.

When I was diving off Oahu just over a week ago, it rained like crazy, the vis was really poor most of the time, I didn't even come back with a tan but you know what, in my trip report posted on SB (http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=133476) I wrote about what was good about the diving such as listening to whales singing underwater on almost every dive. I do not hear that off the coast of Washington nor have I ever heard it in many dives around Cozumel. The 75 degree water was alot nicer than our 45 degree water as well...
 
The first time I saw Yellowstone National Park after the big fires, I was shocked. At first it looked like the whole park was a black ash field. But then I looked closer and saw the mushrooms growing, the bouquets of ferns, and the thousands of tiny green shoots that were the seeds of pine-cones that had literally popped like popcorn during the fire and re-seeded every foot of the burned area. Amazing. And beautiful - in a different way. And I realized that I was witnessing something rare; a re-modeling of this natural wonder that most of the generations of people on this planet would never get to see. It's the perfect, natural way this planet stays fresh and new, because the Earth is not like Disneyland where you should be disappointed if a ride is closed. It is always rebuilding itself, becoming new again. And in this world of instant everything, the perfect tempo of re-birth might seem slow to some.

Cozumel is in a snapshot of change right now, a wonder, a sight not everyone will be fortunate enough to see.

Domino22, next time you PM God, thank Him for me for His perfect system and the honor we have to see Him work it.

Oh, never mind. I'll tell Him myself.
 
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