Trip Report Landmark Condos, crazy currents, and eels, eels and more eels!

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Nice report @morecowbells - you always do a great job with your trip reports. A couple things:

1. I have done surface intervals at least 5 times at Money Bar and no one has ever said a thing and it always seemed like a natural thing and I was met and greeted warmly. Walking in after my boat drops me off and I am somewhat wet. Purpose for the surface intervals there are due to doing 4 dives a day and my boat would drop me there after the morning dives and I would have a very long and leisurely lunch and surface interval while they went back to the marina to pick up the afternoon divers and swap out tanks. Most recent occurrence of doing this was last November.

2. I have to agree with you on Cerveceria Punta Sur. I really want to like their beer, but honestly, it is just not good. Granted, I am a bit of a snob, but still.
However, their pizza and salads are excellent and keep me coming back.

3. Cerveceria Internacional, which you visited regularly, is the best place I have found for quality craft Mexican beer on the island. Nice options from all over the country and listed by the State they hail from.

4. You nailed it calling Money Bar food akin to a Chili's. Great location and convenient for those random surface intervals I have done, but the food..... Ugh!

Glad you got back to Cozumel and found a new place to stay that you like.
 
If you are a birder, Elvis is the guide to hire! He sent me a list of the birds we encountered. I am cutting and pasting his findings.

1. Great tailed grackle
Wow. Rare sighting. :D

We used to see green parrots on Cozumel, but I haven't seen one there in years. I am an early riser when I am on the island; when I am sitting outside having my coffee there is usually a big flock of swallows that comes by. They appear suddenly, are there for a couple of minutes whizzing around chasing bugs, and then are just as suddenly gone.
 
@Redfoot , Thanks for giving some insight of using the Money Bar Pier. I am curious of how they handle divers using the pier whom are not guests of The Landmark.

@reddiver970 , thanks for the compliment! I use an Olympus TG5. I have the Sea Dragon video light, but need to buy a strobe to work around the shadows.

@drrich2 I am more lucky than enchanting:wink: I do love my eels, they have such cute faces.

@Catito If you are a birder, Elvis is the guide to hire! He sent me a list of the birds we encountered. I am cutting and pasting his findings.

1. Great tailed grackle
2. Snowy egret
3. Brown pelican
4. Tricolored heron
5. Little blue heron
6. Ruddy ground dove
7. Tropical mockingbird
8. Black bellied plover
9. Spotted sandpiper
10. Wilson's plover
11. Ruddy turnstone
12. Laughing gull
13. White winged dove
14. American redstart
15. Tropical kingbird
16. Blue-gray gnatcatcher
17. Bananaquit
18. Western spindalis
19. Great blue heron
20. Least grebe
21. Palm warbler
22. Yellow rumped warbler
23. Cape may warbler
24. Black vulture
25. Cozumel wren
26. Turkey vulture
27. Golden warbler
28. Yellow faced grassquit
29. Black and White warbler
30. Lesser goldfinch
31. Gray catbird
32. Caribbean elaenia
33. Red legged honeycreeper
34. Black catbird
35. Rose breasted grossbeak
36. Yellow bellied sapsucker
37. Yucatán woodpecker
38. Yellow bellied elaenia
39. Great kiskadee
40. Rufous browed peppershrike
Thank you very much!
 
Wow. Rare sighting. :D
You seem to have “zingers” this week. I think you need a trip to Cozumel to relax:p
 
You seem to have “zingers” this week. I think you need a trip to Cozumel to relax:p
I didn't mean to zing anyone. Grackles are extremely common here in Austin, and they are very bold. At outdoor restaurants they will land on your table and steal food off your plate right in front of you if you don't shoo them away. They congregate in large numbers in their favorite trees, and under those trees the sidewalks are slick and smelly with their excrement; it can eat the paint off your car if you park under a grackle tree. A local writer once referred to grackles as "fire ants with wings".

But yeah, I am ready for a trip to Cozumel right now, but I must wait until April.
 
I usually avoid Cozumel in the winter, since it seems every time, we lose diving days due to nortes. Airfares to our preferred winter destinations were out of our price range. We decided to accept the risk, booking a Feb. vacation in Cozumel. I have found it nearly impossible to find lodging at The Residencias Reef during peak winter months. For part of our vacation, my sister(non-diving) joined us for a few days. After scouring vacation rentals, I figured a that a unit at The Landmark would be an ideal location.

Landmark of Cozumel condos:

We secured a great deal on a unit which had 2 bedrooms(one king, one with 2 twin beds), 3 bathrooms and an additional office/ sitting room(no door) with a fold out couch which could be used as a 3rd bedroom. The cost of rentals increases substantially with each floor up. Ours was a ground floor unit. Patio area and bathrooms were enormous. The downside is a lack of privacy with the patio facing the Money Bar and walkway. It really wasn’t an issue for us, plus the patio was so large that it never felt like people were too close. Kitchen and bathrooms were high end, with ample hot water and supplies. The king bed was too firm for my preference, the twin beds were much softer. We had a washer/dryer and dishwasher in the unit. WIFI was stronger than ours at home. Pool area was large with plenty of lounge chairs for all the guests. I found the water to be cold, but a peaceful area for reading a book and warming up after dives.

Some of the evenings hosted live music from The Money Bar. I know I sound like an old coot when I complain about music being so loud. It was practically deafening anywhere near the band. I have listened to live music venues on the island, not sure why this one is always the loudest. Needless to say, our unit was not immune to the loud jams. However, on a positive note, it did not last after 9 pm. While it will inevitably disturb a tranquil evening, I found the pool area(located behind the complex) very peaceful and quiet. After 9 pm, everything was completely silent. I never heard any noise from units next to, or above ours. I am a light sleeper, and this was dead quiet at night. The complex was clearly built using solid construction. The lobby area is almost ornate/fussy and more formal appearing, but there is an absence of pretense. Every one that worked there was friendly and approachable. My vacation rentals usually lack any type of lobby, so this was different. Our dive op picked us up at the Money Bar dock. There was one day that a Money Bar employee gave our boat the stink eye and had a terse exchange with our dive master, but after realizing we were guests at The Landmark, he quickly relented and assisted us off the boat. A) either they don’t want divers spending surface intervals at their place or B) they discourage people staying elsewhere from using dock.

On our last day, our flight didn’t leave until 4 pm. The wonderful staff at Landmark let us use their facilities and hold our luggage until we departed for airport.

Diving:

We have tried other dive ops, when traveling with groups or staying north of the marina. I am always so glad to return to Bottom Time Divers. Raul is a master at finding all forms of marine life. He truly has an amazing eye for finding the macro life. He pointed out seahorses(3), multiple pipehorses, juvenile trunkfish and even a batfish. I don’t recall ever seeing so much macro sea life as I did on this vacation. We saw several nurse sharks, often in pairs sleeping under coral overhang. The upside to diving this time of year is the abundant number of eagle rays. The downside was losing a day of diving due to a short lived norte. While I enjoy the dramatic topography of a wall dive, I have come to the conclusion that the shallower dives of Tunich, Tormentos and La Francesca are my favorites.

What is with the crazy currents?

I have been diving in Cozumel for 17 years. I have never encountered such random, multi directional currents as I did during this vacation. One day on Santa Rosa wall, the current shifted from south to north to north to south. Another day the current at Tunich shifted three times. The craziest time was doing an afternoon dive on 2/15. We were diving San Francisco wall. The first part of the dive was typical drift diving. Near the end of the dive, the currents changed from south to north to mildly downwards and west. I noticed my bubbles going down and to the left. Then it was like the sea opened up and we were getting pelted with endless sargassum from the surface. I managed to catch some of it on video, but it is of crap quality. When we surfaced, the sea around the boat was calm, but the surrounding waves were slapping against each other, each in a random direction. I am interested in hearing from anybody else who may have been diving that same afternoon.

Guided bird tour:

My sister is a bird enthusiast. I only know of the ones that visit my feeder. We hired Elvis Jiminez as our guide. He picked us up at our condo, handed us some binoculars and off we went to the southern shoreline to scout out some of the coastal birds, then we walked around the neighborhoods of El Cedral. He is very passionate about his skill and eagerly shares his knowledge with his guests. He was simply amazing at locating over 45 different bird species. I have never participated in a bird tour, but I cannot imagine anyone better than Elvis!

Dining:

The Money Bar is akin to Chilis serving Mexican food. Nothing great but it was convenient to grab some guacamole after dives, plus their house salad is quite good. We would start out the evening grabbing a drink at either The Pub or Cerveceria Internacional, then pick a place to eat. We were never able to get a table at New Especias. Which is unfortunate, because I have been wanting to try them. The beer at Cerveceria Punta Sur and Kusam were mediocre, but the food was quite good. I have always been a cheerleader for Ceiito Lindo, but was disappointed after our last visit. Their Caprese salad is always delicious and unique compared to other preparations. Both my husband and I ordered their three mole enchiladas. It felt like an eternity before we received our food. It was room temperature. There were plenty of staff, so I am not sure what happened.

General Observations:

-We did not encounter a single lionfish. This was a first for me. Apparently, they are prevalent in deeper waters.

-My Sharkskin jacket worked great in keeping me warm during surface intervals.

-I don’t know if it is just my perspective, but I feel the cab drivers have become far more aggressive with their driving. Between zigzagging between cars and complete disdain for crosswalks, it was harrowing at times.

- I have always been a fan of Residencias Reef, but now Landmark condos are on my favorite places list.

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Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Raul has been very busy this winter. And he is good at finding all kinds of things. We were lucky in Jan/Feb to not lose any days to nortes in two weeks. Luck of the draw.
There have been alot of eels but many seahorses too. I haven't seen them in these numbers in years.

If you like Punta Tunich and Tormentos, try Yucab.

Yes, Landmark is nice. We have friends who own there. We considered buying there originally but it is far from town for errands and such. And the live bands at Money Bar... they do stop earlier tho.
 
Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Raul has been very busy this winter. And he is good at finding all kinds of things. We were lucky in Jan/Feb to not lose any days to nortes in two weeks. Luck of the draw.
There have been alot of eels but many seahorses too. I haven't seen them in these numbers in years.

If you like Punta Tunich and Tormentos, try Yucab.

Yes, Landmark is nice. We have friends who own there. We considered buying there originally but it is far from town for errands and such. And the live bands at Money Bar... they do stop earlier tho.
<curmudgeon alert>

As for all the loud American music on Cozumel, my own personal preference would be that it all go away. If I wanted to feel at home I would stay here. :D
 
@Trailboss123 , The pizzas and salads at Cerveceria Punta Sur are the main draw. They also have some great mojitos. At Cerveceria Internacional, we had a wonderful Mexican IPA. I forget the brand, but it had a dog's face on the label.
@ColoDale I have seen some of your photos on Rauls Facebook page. They are amazing! I meant to mention Yucab as one of my favorites as well. It was cool seeing more macro subjects emerge in Cozumel.
@ggunn , I am not a fan of Grackles either. I guess that I can also qualify as a curmudgeon. I prefer the music to be more ambient in nature than in your face. Don't get me started on Mariachi's next to my dining table...
 
Wow. Rare sighting. :D

We used to see green parrots on Cozumel, but I haven't seen one there in years.
I've seen them, briefly, as recently as Dec 2018/Jan 2019.
 
@reddiver970 , thanks for the compliment! I use an Olympus TG5. I have the Sea Dragon video light, but need to buy a strobe to work around the shadows.

Once again, proving that's it's the photographer (and somewhat the subject, conditions, and luck) more than the equipment.
@Catito If you are a birder, Elvis is the guide to hire! He sent me a list of the birds we encountered.

1. Great tailed grackle
SNIP!

My wife & I are avid but naive birders -- if it's not a local species, we're unlikely to put a name on it -- so your recommendation for a guide sounds great.
 

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