Report from the Time Machine

[El Graduado]

I ran across an old government report I had squirreled away since 1978. It says, among other things:

In the year 1977:

Cozumel’s population was 21,905

Cozumel had 29 hotels of all categories, with a total of 1,636 hotel rooms. Hotels were at an average of 56% room occupancy. That was an increase of 12% over 1976

For the six month period January to August 1977, Cozumel had a total of 87,468 tourists, of which 50,728 were not Mexican

During the same period, Cancun had 37,077 non-Mexican tourists

The average stay on Cozumel was 3 days

Average amount spent per day including room was $31.00 usd

Cozumel had daily flights from Merida, Mexico City, Houston, Miami, and Isla Mujeres (the Isla Mujeres airport is now closed).

Cozumel had 600 telephone numbers. Cancun only had 227

Cozumel had no radio station or television reception

Cozumel generated 13 tons of solid garbage per day, with one garbage truck making three trips to the dump per day.

 

[rick00001967]

looks like things have changed quite a bit since then. haha

 

[Mark IV]

looks like things have changed quite a bit since then. haha

I'll say. When I first lived on Cozumel, it cost a fortune to call back to the states, I'd never used a cell phone or computer, and don't think I knew anyone that owned them, either. Just a few years later, but well before I moved back to the states, virtually everyone I knew had a cell phone, and internet cafes were all over the island. By then, I could call home for 10 minutes for 10 pesos (a whole buck, at the time), and rent a computer for an hour, in a briskly air conditioned cafe, for the same 10 pesos (hell, if I could do that as easily now, I wouldn't even own a computer !).
When they first installed a red light at the big intersection on 30th in front of the Super San Francisco, it was like alien technology and they had to station a cop there...for about a year,LOL.... to walk out and stop traffic when the light turned red, to condition everyone to acknowledge it !
Back then, mom & pop businesses were still all over the waterfront, I watched the jewelry operations squeeze them out and take over. The famous La Ceiba plane wreck was still a dive, and there was only one cruise ship pier, so the cruise ships being it town were more of a novelty than the giant swarms it later turned into.
Most of the dive operations fought for dock space, coming and going, on the humble Pro-Dive pier. I loved that little pier, and was heartbroken when the hurricane wrecked it.
Also, this was still a well known downtown landmark........

 

[ggunn]

I remember the wreck of the Xel-Ha; it was out there for years. Near Cinco Soles, wasn't it? For a while after they moved it we used to see it ashore down south someplace nosed into the trees.

But yes, I remember when being on Cozumel meant being out of touch with everything stateside. I kinda miss those days...

 

[Mark IV]

I remember the wreck of the Xel-Ha; it was out there for years. Near Cinco Soles, wasn't it? For a while after they moved it we used to see it ashore down south someplace nosed into the trees...

Yeah, it was on the northern edge of town, just before what I think was military housing (IIRC) on the beach right in front of the runways. It doesn;t look like it, but for that photo I got down so low I had my chin in the sand, trying to get the upward angle I was after. The original actually came out better, but this ^ was a pic taken of the original by my brother on his smart-phone not long ago, then e-mailed to me. And yeah, they hauled the thing down south a ways, and dumped it on the beach, where it was more of an eyesore than anything. I think the hurricane pushed it into the jungle. I've been told the hurricane also tumped the old minesweeper over, I dove it on day one, and a ton of times since, but it was still sitting upright on it's bottom back then.
I used to take divers into the bow, where there was about 8 inches of trapped air on the ceiling. I'd tell them during the boat briefing not to remove their reg or breath the air. When we were cramped in that tiny, dark space, I'd take my reg out and say something like, "now you know what it felt like to be going down in a sinking submarine " !
In retrospect, probably not my swiftest move, but the clients (almost) always dug it !

 

[ggunn]

I used to take divers into the bow, where there was about 8 inches of trapped air on the ceiling. I'd tell them during the boat briefing not to remove their reg or breath the air. When we were cramped in that tiny, dark space, I'd take my reg out and say something like, "now you know what it felt like to be going down in a sinking submarine " !
In retrospect, probably not my swiftest move, but the clients (almost) always dug it !

Merely reading that nearly triggers a claustrophobic reaction in me. No, thanks!

 

[Mark IV]

Merely reading that nearly triggers a claustrophobic reaction in me. No, thanks!

...and it's worse than you think. I didn't mention that the compartment was so small, the divers had to go in with me...one at a time !