Port closure

[Jayfarmlaw]

We have one soul that needs his last certificate dive for his OW, so we’re shipping him off to Playa tomorrow to complete his C card! Too iffy to wait it out here on CZM.

Yup...I helped certify a couple a few months ago. As with all the classes I help with, I rant and rave about Cozumel. They called and asked me how I do it and I gave them more information than they probably wanted....they got there today.

In 5 years of 2-3 trips a year I've never been blown out. Their first dive trip and they hit this. Crap crap crap crap....... I hate this for them.

Maybe Friday.......

Jay

 

[MMM]

Very uninformed question - what are the wind speed/gust numbers that are considered bad enough to close the port? I'm within a period to cancel a planned trip in two weeks and although I know forecasts are not reliable that far out, I'm not sure if I should risk it given that my travel companion was planning on doing his first dives and certification during this trip and I don't want it to be a bad experience :/

Wind direction is as important as wind speed. And really hard to predict 2 weeks out... especially this time of the year.

 

[DandyDon]

It's not quite wintertime yet, but it is Norte season, unpredictable & risky. There is a good study in the sticky at the top of the forum: Historical Port Closures by month/year for Cozumel

 

[ggunn]

Very uninformed question - what are the wind speed/gust numbers that are considered bad enough to close the port? I'm within a period to cancel a planned trip in two weeks and although I know forecasts are not reliable that far out, I'm not sure if I should risk it given that my travel companion was planning on doing his first dives and certification during this trip and I don't want it to be a bad experience :/

It's not the wind speed so much as the direction. If you look at a map of Cozumel, see what wind direction is an onshore wind for the west side of the island south of Punta Norte, which is the "horn" of the island just west of the bay where Isla de Pasion is. A due north wind starts to have an onshore component, and the farther around to the west it gets the worse it is.

 

[ChuckP]

I'm curious as to how common these multiple day "storms" are, I don't think I'd cancel a trip based on weather predictions two weeks out although the wind forecast does seem to be more accurate.

We'll see how the ferry ride is this morning, have to go to Playa again - the wind hasn't let since yesterday.

 

[ggunn]

Playa Secrets Aura Cozumel, Cozumel, Quintana Roo - Webcams de México

 

[NDL_Diver]

Maybe Friday.......

Jay

Probably Saturday port opens for day and maybe closes till Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

[gopbroek]

By itself Saturday should not cause a closure due to the low speed but being a brief period between a closure on Friday (probable) and Sunday (very probable) the port captain may be hesitant to reopen it

 

[Alan P]

First time I haven't been there at this time in years. I guess it worked out as I would have missed lots of diving. Two years ago it was perfect and last year only missed the first day. Everything happens for a reason.

 

[Lowrus]

I'm curious as to how common these multiple day "storms" are, I don't think I'd cancel a trip based on weather predictions two weeks out although the wind forecast does seem to be more accurate.

We'll see how the ferry ride is this morning, have to go to Playa again - the wind hasn't let since yesterday.

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't cancel if the forecast was good on the off chance it would turn bad but the possibility of having a repeat of this week has me a bit spooked. Accuweather forecasts (again, I know they're basically an educated guess at this point) have wind speeds in the teens and gusts in the 20s for most of the days I'd be there. However they are predicting SE wind direction...so maybe that would be fine given what others have said about direction?