May Roll Call

[gopbroek]

late update, did not have computer access on the island

 

[Harro10]

No excuses. You are fired.

 

[loady]

Has anyone stayed at Cozumel palace and can you post a review?

 

[DSR-3]

Has anyone stayed at Cozumel palace and can you post a review?

We're heading there in 6 hours!
I think it's our 5th time there- always great for us.
*I see that they now have an Indian restaurant 2 nights a week, and lost the Italian (not our favorite).

 

[vimaldude]

We just came back from a great week in Cozumel. We stayed at Palmer (unit 6E) and dived with ScubaTony. The condo was great with expansive views and very near to Marina Fortuna.

Diving was great. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Cozumel reefs are healthy (had read some negative reports). We found diving here to be fun and easy and compares with the best in Caribbean. The deep dives on Columbia Deep, Columbia Reef and Palancar Bricks were memorable for their walls and swim-thrus. The shallow dives on Delilah, San Francisco and La Franchesca were all drift dives. The current was always stronger on shallow dives compared to the deep ones. On the Delilah, the current was ripping at 2- 2.5 knots!.

ScubaTony lived up to their 5 star reviews. Their boats are small (max 6 divers) but fast. We were usually the first boat out at dive site in the morning. Most of the days, we only had 3-5 divers per boat. Their divemasters are very experienced and know the reefs quite well. Most of the dives were in 50-55 mins range.

The fish population is quite healthy and varied. We saw the usual caribbean reef fauna. Saw quite a few large groupers, and tuna, one of the biggest Puffer that I have ever seen (he was almost 3 feet long!). The angel and butterfly fishes were the biggest we have seen anywhere. Saw quite a few turtles. Also saw a couple of dolphins on one of the dives.

The island had a very laid back feel. The diving business seem to be back to normal but the cruise dependent businesses were still recovering. Saw lots of boarded up shops near the cruise terminal. The traffic was quite light on the roads and the centro areas were not crowded at all.

We also did 2 cenote dives at Dos Ojos with CenoteExperience. Having never done a cavern dive before, I was a bit apprehensive but the dives turned out to be the easiest I have ever done. The caverns are beautiful and easy to navigate by following the yellow line. This is a good cenote for beginners also since there is hardly any silt (most of the time you are over rocks).

All in all, a very good first time visit to Cozumel and definitely worth repeating in future.

 

[ggunn]

We just came back from a great week in Cozumel. We stayed at Palmer (unit 6E) and dived with ScubaTony. The condo was great with expansive views and very near to Marina Fortuna.

Diving was great. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Cozumel reefs are healthy (had read some negative reports). We found diving here to be fun and easy and compares with the best in Caribbean. The deep dives on Columbia Deep, Columbia Reef and Palancar Bricks were memorable for their walls and swim-thrus. The shallow dives on Delilah, San Francisco and La Franchesca were all drift dives. The current was always stronger on shallow dives compared to the deep ones. On the Delilah, the current was ripping at 2- 2.5 knots!.

ScubaTony lived up to their 5 star reviews. Their boats are small (max 6 divers) but fast. We were usually the first boat out at dive site in the morning. Most of the days, we only had 3-5 divers per boat. Their divemasters are very experienced and know the reefs quite well. Most of the dives were in 50-55 mins range.

The fish population is quite healthy and varied. We saw the usual caribbean reef fauna. Saw quite a few large groupers, and tuna, one of the biggest Puffer that I have ever seen (he was almost 3 feet long!). The angel and butterfly fishes were the biggest we have seen anywhere. Saw quite a few turtles. Also saw a couple of dolphins on one of the dives.

The island had a very laid back feel. The diving business seem to be back to normal but the cruise dependent businesses were still recovering. Saw lots of boarded up shops near the cruise terminal. The traffic was quite light on the roads and the centro areas were not crowded at all.

We also did 2 cenote dives at Dos Ojos with CenoteExperience. Having never done a cavern dive before, I was a bit apprehensive but the dives turned out to be the easiest I have ever done. The caverns are beautiful and easy to navigate by following the yellow line. This is a good cenote for beginners also since there is hardly any silt (most of the time you are over rocks).

All in all, a very good first time visit to Cozumel and definitely worth repeating in future.

I just got back, myself, and I agree with most of what you have said. Are you sure you dove Dalila? It's closed to divers this month and your op should not have taken you there. The tuna you saw were most likely jacks; they look a lot like tuna except for their bulging foreheads.

I'm glad you had a good time; we did, too.

 

[gopbroek]

I just got back, myself, and I agree with most of what you have said. Are you sure you dove Dalila? It's closed to divers this month and your op should not have taken you there. The tuna you saw were most likely jacks; they look a lot like tuna except for their bulging foreheads.

I'm glad you had a good time; we did, too.

One man's Dalila is another man's Francesa. While most DM's and Captain's call the reef off Punta Palancar Dalila many of the old timers consider that Francesa. Several times we have had eventual Captain's and asked to go to Dalila and they would go straight out from the Palancar pier

 

[loady]

We're heading there in 6 hours!
I think it's our 5th time there- always great for us.
*I see that they now have an Indian restaurant 2 nights a week, and lost the Italian (not our favorite).

DSR 3, after your first dives please post on the marine life , reef health.