OFFICIAL Press Release from the Cozumel Tourism Board

[pilot fish]

"Seasoned divers that I know that have a lot of experience with Coz and deep sites in general. They said that the deeper the site the less damage, or NO damage, they will receive, while shallower the site the more likey damage would occur."

I've reposted my statement, above, for clarification

 

[soakshishead]

Since I was there for Wilma I thought I would add my thoughts. While Cozumel did take a beating, the focus and speed that has been applied to clean-up and rebuild is phenominal. I left the Wednesday after the storm. At that time the hotel I was in was cleaned up and putting regular services back in place. Roads were back in operation, and stores with lesser damage were selling their wares. The people there took great care of us visitors.

On Tuesday after the storm, I was snorkeling in front of the hotel. Since there was reduced boat traffic I swam out to the drop-off. I free-dove to the bottom (about 50 feet). There were schools of fish, coral heads and sponges looking pretty healthy and unaffected by the storm. This is a spot that is not a normal dive site because it is not as spectacular as the well-known reefs, but in spite of that it looked good.

Soakshishead

 

[JC Fedorczyk]

I am questioning some of the hotel opening times. I was previously booked with Coral Princess and was told by my travel agent that they had an opening dat of Jan 1, 2006. When that schedule didn't work for us she found bookings for us at Fiesta Americana. So now I'm freaking out again. I've got her calling to confirm our reservations.

 

[JC Fedorczyk]

Just as an update. The dates are indeed true. I've got nothing but nasty things to say about USairvacations who allowed us to book a hotel when it wasn't even planning to open. Let the crisis begin again.....

 

[Christi]

Just as an update. The dates are indeed true. I've got nothing but nasty things to say about USairvacations who allowed us to book a hotel when it wasn't even planning to open. Let the crisis begin again.....

Hey John,

I just replied to your e-mail with some options...just wanted to make sure you received it...I actually sent you two because I thought of some other stuff after I sent the first one Don't worry, we'll get you taken care of

 

[JC Fedorczyk]

Kudo's to Christi for all her help over the past 2 days tracking down an alternative place to stay. I'd also like to thank the few people that messaged me about available units down there. We've ended up at the Elcantil condos in a 4 bedroom villa. Last one that fit the dates. Without Christi's help we would have been up the creek without a paddle. Who knew that she wore the travel/rental agent hat in addition to cook/dive master/dive instructor and all around incredibly nice person. I think I can finally rest easy and look forward to this vacation. Thanks again to Christi and the other folks on the board who offered to help.

 

[clampinator]

Christi is just informing you with good solid information. Please thank her and appreciate the thought. It seems that things will be back to normal before we know it. Thank God Great Job Christi and Thanks again

 

[Bear-bear]

I am hoping to go to Cozumel this winter but need to know that it has recovered from Hurricane Wilma (2005).

Please let me know if you have been there recently and how the accommodations are as well as the diving.

 

[ggunn]

I am hoping to go to Cozumel this winter but need to know that it has recovered from Hurricane Wilma (2005).

Please let me know if you have been there recently and how the accommodations are as well as the diving.

Onshore facilities are mostly recovered; some hotels are not yet to 100%, but most are. In town away from the waterfront you'd never know they were hit. The naval station and the cruise ship facilities are still a long ways from recovery, and some of the waterfront businesses (like Acuario Restaurant) are gone for good.

The reefs will take much longer to recover. Some of the shallow sites closer to town suffered terribly and may not be worth going to for years, others not so much. Generally, the deeper and more south you go, the less the damage, though every reef was affected.

The good news is that here is still excellent diving to be done there; I have been twice since Wilma, and the recovery is definitely underway. At Colombia Shallows, for example, you have to look for it to see any damage at all. The Palancar sites and Colombia Deep are still excellent dives. The wall dives are still very good as well, though some areas still have some sand evident on top of things.

Go for it.

 

[RonFrank]

This thread is over a year old. There is plenty of information available that is more recent on current or recent COZ threads. There is no doubt that hurricanes change things, but there is also no doubt that nature finds a way to survive, and flourish.

I'm looking forward to COZ in January!