JFS
Contributor
Effective March 30 the port is closed till further notice to all tourist and recreational activities. Ferries are running albeit at only a few times per day.
r
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
WetInPortland
Contributor
Well, kinda.
The notice specifically denies tourism boats and personal boats for sport and recreation. Commercial operations can (apparently by their absence in the notice) continue. I'm not certain what constitutes a commercial fishing vessel, but there are certainly locals who try to make a living by fishing from small boats. Not that they have nearly as many buyers with all the restaurants closed. One could also imagine an uptick in subsistence fishermen that would apparently not be covered by the ban. [I'm not a lawyer, much less a Mexican one, nor a port or navy official. So how this is really going to be interpreted and enforced is anyone's guess.]
What I'm wondering is if this is going to have the same force and effect as a port closure for a norte, that suspends, "all aquatic activities" (IIRC the wording), which includes snorkeling and shore diving. At first blush it also doesn't appear to affect reef conservation efforts, that divers can volunteer to support.
As they (used to) say, "stay tuned".
The notice specifically denies tourism boats and personal boats for sport and recreation. Commercial operations can (apparently by their absence in the notice) continue. I'm not certain what constitutes a commercial fishing vessel, but there are certainly locals who try to make a living by fishing from small boats. Not that they have nearly as many buyers with all the restaurants closed. One could also imagine an uptick in subsistence fishermen that would apparently not be covered by the ban. [I'm not a lawyer, much less a Mexican one, nor a port or navy official. So how this is really going to be interpreted and enforced is anyone's guess.]
What I'm wondering is if this is going to have the same force and effect as a port closure for a norte, that suspends, "all aquatic activities" (IIRC the wording), which includes snorkeling and shore diving. At first blush it also doesn't appear to affect reef conservation efforts, that divers can volunteer to support.
As they (used to) say, "stay tuned".
WetInPortland
Contributor
Cozumeleña @JenLoves2Dive posted her interpretation of how this will be enforced here.
CajunDiva
Contributor
@ChuckP -
I have followed your posts for a long time and have truly enjoyed your enthusiasm about diving and moving to the island.
It really sucks that this is all happening after all of your efforts. I hope it's all over sooner rather than later and that things will get back to normal for you.
Thanks for being a voice of reason and letting us know how things are looking on the island.
I have followed your posts for a long time and have truly enjoyed your enthusiasm about diving and moving to the island.
It really sucks that this is all happening after all of your efforts. I hope it's all over sooner rather than later and that things will get back to normal for you.
Thanks for being a voice of reason and letting us know how things are looking on the island.
I appreciate it. We moved here for so many reasons, diving was part of it but the people here - the open friendliness of 90% of the folks here is why we picked Cozumel.
You drive down Melgar now and you just want to cry, how could that entire street just close? Where did everyone go? Then reality hits you, how's everyone going to eat? You don't see many talking about it, I don't know if it's true for all but the ones I do know, business was way down before this problem - some were really struggling and high season was just the thing that would lift them up thru another year and it's gone. Harsh reality is it's probably not coming back very soon either.
I'm not worried for us, we had issues that slowed our plans down but we'll be fine - it's the every day folks here. Some will leave I'm sure, those that stay will do whatever it takes to get by - when the vacationers start coming back, they'll be here smiling just like they always have, even thru the pain and hardships they have back at home. Folks here are pretty tough, they'll make things work - I think of my friends mother, a short little Mayan lady that I'm sure has seen worse, her smile is wider than she is tall.
They report only one case here but as of today, two deaths and two more suspected cases. The two that passed away were with a church group, not really directly connected with tourism so they say. I think there is some unknown here...... and that is really what sort of spooks folks. It seems most are taking it seriously but IMO, there was way too many people out mingling on 65 today - time will tell - as I can here the police driving around telling everyone to stay indoors.
I said to a friend of mine that this has got to be worse than Wilma - she said no way, we have electric. That may be true and how folks are looking at it I suppose. I'm looking at it from a long term thing - the world economy took a huge hit - this isn't rebuild a dock so that people can come why we rebuild the city. This is people ain't got any money to come, we've got nothing to do while we wait for them..... Folks here are really going to struggle, even if we dodge the bullet with this virus, things will get much worse here simply from the lack of work/income.
ScubaBoard people are crazy passionate about this place and rightly so - the once a year folks, once a month folks and the year round folks - everyone likes their own dive shop but the one thing everyone seems to agree on is the people here - how great the people are. I know everyone will, but, please keep your family friends from Cozumel in your thoughts and prayers and everyone here hopes to see you real soon!
CajunDiva
Contributor
We are in Louisiana a couple of hours from New Orleans. Of course Mardi Gras attracts MANY thousands of people to our area. Just so happens the timing of Mardi Gras was before the Covid-19 virus warnings took place...really bad timing.
It's spreading like wildfire in Louisiana. Over 5,000 confirmed cases, but honestly...testing was not even a thing until a couple of weeks ago and the results are just now coming back in most cases. I would seriously suspect it's the same in Cozumel. Fatalities in Louisiana are already near or over 300. I say this just to let you know...once this thing takes off, it goes QUICKLY. The more you can stay at home, the better. If there's any way you can stay out of the line of fire for a few weeks, that's the way to go.
Don't mean to make it look like doomsday...just trying to share what we're seeing. I know it looks bad for the island. If it's any consolation - EVERYBODY in the world is going through the same thing. Take care buddy.
It's spreading like wildfire in Louisiana. Over 5,000 confirmed cases, but honestly...testing was not even a thing until a couple of weeks ago and the results are just now coming back in most cases. I would seriously suspect it's the same in Cozumel. Fatalities in Louisiana are already near or over 300. I say this just to let you know...once this thing takes off, it goes QUICKLY. The more you can stay at home, the better. If there's any way you can stay out of the line of fire for a few weeks, that's the way to go.
Don't mean to make it look like doomsday...just trying to share what we're seeing. I know it looks bad for the island. If it's any consolation - EVERYBODY in the world is going through the same thing. Take care buddy.
RockiesFan
Banned
Nothing to like about this post. FL is going to get a similar surge soon.
Similar threads
