Must Dive Spots in Cozumel

[mediumone]

There is a swimthrough at Brix that is every bit as good and it's not nearly as deep.

Love Bricks. With the right swim-through maniac dm. you can spend nearly the whole dive doing swim throughs. Yes, the long one that twists ..... good stuff.

 

[Christi]

Another waste of Nitrox is Cathedral. After that swimthrough you have a looong swim over sand (feels like 10 min).

Did these dives more than a handfill of times and will try and veto the sites in the future.

Al

Hmm - sounds like you weren't really at true Cathedrals but perhaps Devils Throat and a small section of Cathedrals.

Cathedrals itself when done from the beginning without the throat is an absolutely stunning dive and an ideal nitrox dive because of the average depth of 80-90 feet.

Big giant "rooms" and majestic formations with healthy life and more often than not large life can be seen including black tips, eagle rays and it's the site of one of our few hammerhead sightings over the years.

Sorry that wasn't your experience.

 

[NDL_Diver]

You are correct. I guess it is the way we have to dive the site. We dive and have been diving ~25 years with ~15 years and over 200 dives with Aldora. Their 120 CF tanks makes for a long dive. Diving Cathedral site with 120's can easily put you into Deco if you stay deep. We do 90 min dive even on deep dives. Aldora does a great job keeping the group out of deco by moving to the shallow reef at the end of the dive. But that requires the long swim over the sand to reach that shallow reef at about 40 min and I see no way around that unless you cut your dive short or dive an 80CF tank. While Cathedral is a nice big swim through and have done it more than a dozen times, I would rather not anymore. Aldora does a great job in seeking a balance of what dive sites the group does that day. They have a large enough fleet to allow us to be on a boat that does not go to that site that day and allow people who have to do that site do it. So, from my standpoint, I rather not waste my Nitrox on that dive because of the swim over the sand. If you have never done it before, Devil Throat and Cathedral could be fun if you are near the front of the line and not sucking sand at the back. We love the fish life and colorful Coral of Cozumel and love the 120's. Too many great sites on Cozumel, they just not my favorite.

 

[Streydog]

Strey, our last trip it was RIPPING to the North. Absolutely an adrenaline dive. We also got caught in a down current and while I though I maxed out at 80 feet, my computer read 103 and Kelly's 105. It looked like your video caught a bit of a downcurrent as well. We will be back October 28 to Nov. 3, probably staying at CM and diving Aldora. Halloween/ Day of the Dead in Cozumel is an amazing experience. I may miss my birthday trip in April and go somewhere else, but I won't miss Cozumel for Day of the Dead. If you want to take a break before the Thanksgiving/Christmas shopping nightmare, I probably still owe you a beer!

Jay

Just booked a flight 10/27- 11/2. Looking forward to seeing/diving with you guys again. I will probably end up staying at Bahia so at least we can eat breakfast together.

 

[KeriMe]

To each his own. I have been on some excellent dives at Paradise Reef.

I had a great dive at Paradise too. It was a morning dive while my hubby was getting AOW certified. No one else was there and I saw multiple spotted eagle rays and nurse sharks.

 

[mediumone]

I had a great dive at Paradise too. It was a morning dive while my hubby was getting AOW certified. No one else was there and I saw multiple spotted eagle rays and nurse sharks.

Yes, heard about a few days last January when divers saw a few squadrons while diving Paradise. They were so thankful they were so shallow -- able to watch for a loooong time.

 

[Prop Joe]

I don't know of any bad places to dive on the Island.
All dives are conditions permitting. You may not be able to go where you want to go if it is not safe. Deal with it. Blow bubbles and be happy.
I like going North mostly, way North if I'm there with out non-divers (gone all day) . If we are doing the normal Barracuda/ San Juan/ Cantarell, Playa Azul has a great breakfast buffet. Usually meet the Non-divers in our group there for breakfast. They can walk or bike there from Villa Aldora where we stay. While staying at Villa Aldora I can be back before noon and eat the Playa Azul breakfast on the normal two tank boat. That is wonderful!!! That makes for a great early siesta if going for four dives a day, or leaves the day open for non-diving activities the rest of the afternoon.
If you go way North do not follow the Mummy!

 

[MMM]

While staying at Villa Aldora I can be back before noon and eat the Playa Azul breakfast on the normal two tank boat.

Did I hear/read somewhere recently that Playa Azul isn't allowing divers (or maybe anyone not staying at the hotel) at the breakfast anymore? Have you done this in the recent past?

 

[Streydog]

Did I hear/read somewhere recently that Playa Azul isn't allowing divers (or maybe anyone not staying at the hotel) at the breakfast anymore? Have you done this in the recent past?

We did it about a month ago. It was a Saturday, don't know if that makes a difference. We all sat in the restaurant but only had coffee. There was a buffet going on that looked very good.
I didn't get any indication we were not welcome but I could understand why they wouldn't want divers doing their SI's there.

 

[Christi]

We did it about a month ago. It was a Saturday, don't know if that makes a difference. We all sat in the restaurant but only had coffee. There was a buffet going on that looked very good.
I didn't get any indication we were not welcome but I could understand why they wouldn't want divers doing their SI's there.

Well, it is not an all-inclusive resort and the restaurant is open to the general public. Divers are part of the general public, so as long as they are consuming I don't think it is a problem. I have not heard that it is.