Islanders Protest Approval of 4th Cruise Ship Dock

[JenLoves2Dive]

I think it is worth stating that the 4th pier would destroy some of the best/only shore diving on the island -- which is definitely a consideration for people (like me) considering the possibility of retiring on Cozumel, and others as well. The effect may be hard to quantify, but it should certainly be easy to understand that retirees would like options other than just more pricey boat dives.

Oh I have thought the same. I love puttering around the stingray prison near Blue Angel. Makes me want to cry.

 

[ggunn]

For those interested, this is the list of 20 points presented during the protest and to the governors office etc.. The photoass were posted with the author's public post. Shoes locaton of the pier and the occupancy % of the current piers over the last 5 years.
Translated to English. Spanish translation is below, as well.
Nota: La versión en español sigue a la versión en inglés.

20 Reasons Why We DON'T Want a Fourth Cruise Dock in Cozumel
1. Cozumel does NOT need more piers, we have enough.
2. Cozumel already has 7 world-class berth positions. We don't need more.
3. The Punta Langosta pier will become a "White Elephant".
4. A fourth dock will not create more jobs, it will simply replace those that existed in Punta Langosta before the pandemic.
5. There are not enough cruise ships in the Caribbean Sea to saturate the 3 docks in Cozumel. We don't need a fourth dock.
6. A fourth pier will further reduce the coastal spaces for public use in Cozumel.
7. A fourth dock will mean the dispossession of our marine areas where we carry out tourist and recreational activities.
8. A fourth dock will increase the supply of cruise ship berthing and make the island cheaper, instead of positioning it as a world-class destination.
9. The arrival of 18,000 more tourists to the island will generate wastewater that cannotbe treated by the San Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant Miguelito.
10. The economic spill will be for a few while the negative impacts will be for the whole community.
11. More cruises mean less drinking water, more solid waste and sewage.
12. More piers alters the coastline and degrades the marine flora and fauna of Cozumel.
13. The economic reactivation will be reached when the cruise ships return, not when they build more piers.
14. The occupancy of the three cruise ship piers was just 53% in 2019, a fourth pier will reduce it even more when we reach the tourist recovery.
15. A fourth pier will create even more road problems than we already have.
16. The fourth dock will destroy species protected under NOM-059.
17. Cozumel only has one Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant: San Miguelito that was built in 1987.
18. The San Miguelito Wastewater Treatment Plant is insufficient to treat wastewater generated in Cozumel, especially in high season.
19. A fourth cruise ship dock will cause serious problems for navigation and emerging marine rescue activities.
20. A fourth cruise dock is NOT tourism diversification and is NOT consistent with the Strategic Objective 2 of the current Municipal Development Plan of the Municipality of
Cozumel 2018-2021.
Information taken from the (facebook) wall @ Adrián Villegas
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Those are 20 excellent points, but the problem is that none of the people involved in foisting this blight upon Cozumel give a tinker's damn about any of them. Their plan is to take the money and run.

 

[DandyDon]

Yep, there are many good reasons not to build the pier, none of which matter to the powers that are going to build it. Villa Blanca and the properties around it will sell to the developers who will build the cruise line owned shops. This and the marina condominium construction will further ruin the environment. Some locals will make grocery money with the constructions, then compete for leftovers after. I donated to a Catholic food bank for almost two years, much more than I originally intended, as I did want to help with the pandemic adjustment, but there's been enough time.

 

[Kimela]

Here is the graphic that was in the Riviera Maya Times which appears to be from the official proposal / approved plan (note the lat/long values)
View attachment 697140
Here is a little more detail from google maps
View attachment 697141
This puts the pier starting just north of sunset beach and the Navy search and rescue facility and angling north to smack dab on top of Villa Blanca reef along the wall until the point of Stingray beach. Hotel Villa Blanca will be looking straight out at the middle of the pier and Blue Angel will be looking at the end of the pier. Having dove the other piers for lion fish and expecting them to use both sides of the pier for docking you will get what looks like giant bomb craters along the bottom. When you get an El Norte and with the massive sail area of these ships if they start to loose control in the wind they spin the propulsion pods to a reverse angle and go to high speed to stop the ship in an emergency. The turbulence carves large craters in the bottom.
Now as to your shore dive there is not going to be a lot of room left to dive in.

I was told the terminal for the pier is being built right next to the Palmar condos - directly north of it. This is really sad.

If you want to dive the reef restoration and see the Jacques Cousteau monument, do it soon. Unlike most things in Cozumel, I'm told this will happen fast because it means money in the pockets of certain families pockets.

 

[Kimela]

Does anyone - especially anyone who lives there - think there is a possibility that if a petition signed by 100,000 people who are TOURISTS, not cruisers, objecting to this it could change the tide?

I can only speak for me and Roger. When we travel to Cozumel we pay for lodging, food (not at a resort), diving, souvenirs and extra snacks and whatever else is interesting in the moment. The money we spend represents a great deal MORE in the pockets of locals than does the money a cruiser spends on their cruise - for the locals. My thought is that OUR voices might make more of a difference.

I suspect it would be a useless effort, but I'd like the opinion of locals - including @Christi even though you're not there anymore.

I'd just really begun to really enjoy the part of the island they will be disrupting the most!!

 

[ggunn]

After the first cruise ship dock was built there were protests against every successive one. You can see the result. The problem is the the folks who make their living by providing lodging, food, and diving to visitors to the island are not the same people who profit from boondoggles like this, and the boondoggle profiteers have far more clout because they have a whole lot more money. That, and there are a whole lot more cruseros than divers going to Cozumel.

 

[Kimela]

That, and there are a whole lot more cruseros than divers going to Cozumel.

The impression I get is that the 'important' people are the ones who will get the money from the cruise ships, while the locals get their money from us. I'd love to see a study on how much money is spent by those cruseros when they get off the ships, versus how much is spent by divers. It would take about 4 cruisers to replace one diver - and the money they spend on the actual cruise doesn't make it to any local pockets. I think they're looking at poverty on the island, long-term. The people won't be able to feed themselves on what they make from cruisers if divers pull out because the reef is trashed.

But I'm preaching to the choir.

 

[ggunn]

The impression I get is that the 'important' people are the ones who will get the money from the cruise ships, while the locals get their money from us. I'd love to see a study on how much money is spent by those cruseros when they get off the ships, versus how much is spent by divers. It would take about 4 cruisers to replace one diver - and the money they spend on the actual cruise doesn't make it to any local pockets. I think they're looking at poverty on the island, long-term. The people won't be able to feed themselves on what they make from cruisers if divers pull out because the reef is trashed.

But I'm preaching to the choir.

Yes, you are, but something else to consider is the docking fees that the cruise ships pay; that's a lot of money right there. Also, there are a lot people who go to Cozumel to stay for a while who are not divers. I don't think that all or even nearly all the occupied hotel rooms on the island at any given point in time are full of divers.

 

[scubadada]

I was on Isla Mujeres in 1980, it was very nice
I was in Tulum in 1994, it was very nice
I was in Cozumel in 2006, it was very nice. I may get back to Cozumel one of these days, while it is still OK. So many places to go.

 

[mediumone]

in the pockets of certain families pockets.

That is exactly what a local told me.
This same local told me that there isn't 10% of the island's population that is in favor of the project.