Returning to Cozumel in Feb. Any suggestions? All the Same?

[Guitarcrazy]

Thanks Chuck. Interesting. It looks like they fly Caravans and Station Airs. I am a pilot by trade and have quite a few hours in the mighty 206. It looks like am departures unfortunately, so would not be able to take advantage unfortunately.

 

[js1221]

I was on Cozumel for 10 days in December, did 23 dives during the time. I thought the reefs looked better then they had the previous two years I was there. Saw at least 6 very large Eagle Rays, several nurse sharks out swimming around and more than a dozen Splendid Toadfish. I took off one day from diving and on that day a hammerhead was seen on Dalilia. There were a lot of dive boats out every day, in fact we had to come back between dives to pick up new tanks because there were so many divers out.

 

[Living4Experiences]

I haven't been back to Cozumel since the pandemic started, but hearing from SB posters about the overcrowded ferries, limited service, and one of them just got shut down for the overcrowding, that's enough of a deterrent for me not to go to Cozumel via Playa del Carmen. Also, I've only done the bag drag once, and I'll never do it again. Waaaay too much hassle. I'm in Oregon and it is a long-haul for us Northwesterners to get to the Caribbean. Sometimes I like to break up the long travel to a destination by staying overnight in a layover city, say Houston. It's nice to wake up fresh in the morning and look forward to a short flight to your destination. Starting March 11th, Southwest will begin flying to CZM from HOU. American flies from IAH to CZM. You could buy 2 round trip tickets, one with Southwest and one with American.

In these times of disrupted travel, you've got to get creative!

Have fun!

 

[cozcharlie]

A couple of thoughts:

1) Maybe slightly fewer turtles post hurricanes, but definitely still plenty still around as Trailboss indicated. Somewhere in back of my head I think the turtles like the jellies we have seen lately. Internet says juvenile turtles are omnivorous and eat jellies. Group saw six turtles on one dive on Friday (and a couple of nurse sharks). I was flying in that day, so that is secondhand info. Btw, total of 12 people on United flight from Houston is what I counted at Customs--benefits of flying on actual holiday. For United (and my) sake I hope the empty flight was just due to the holiday and isn't the start of a trend. Christmas Day flights are usually deserted in my experience also.

2) I think we are seeing more Eagle Rays than normal. Hard to quantify, just seems like you see them more frequently down south than before. I actually dove up north on Saturday (yesterday), we didn't see any group but I think we saw 5 individuals. Kind of wonder if we might have seen the same one a couple of times in there.

3) At diving depths life is probably a little healthier than a year ago. Shallower depths took a beating with the hurricane, but even some of that is recovering a little faster than I thought. Spent a couple of hours snorkeling up north today, was pleasantly surprised. Obviously still damage, but plenty of fish life and the coral and sponges looked healthier than I could have hoped given the beating they took.

4) Maybe I missed it, but not certain when you are hoping to book the trip. Make certain you don't want to screw up your and your wife's vaccination schedules for second shot. Also allow for a few days after second shot just in case you have side effects (you don't want to get held up somewhere for having a fever that is result of the vaccine itself).

5) Really, really hate the ferries these days. Avoid if at all possible, but one thing to consider is flying into CUN and out of CZM (or vice versa). Having to do the bag drag once is better than twice. Overnighting at Houston or DFW is something to consider also. Just to be clear, I have ridden the ferries a few hundred times pre-Covid--just avoiding like the plague right now. If both you and your wife have gotten both vaccinations risk for you is obviously a lot lower. Still kind of a pain with lines and full ferries. Cozumel4u has pictures and videos of ferry lines running on for ever (think end of line more than a block from pier).

Not certain if this link to someone's video of ferry line in Playa will work. Also saw pictures of people in line sitting on seawall in Cozumel.

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[Guitarcrazy]

We have already bought our tickets. We don't have American or Southwest here, so no chance to take them. Only options are Delta, United, or Alaska, and only United is flying to Cozumel this year, and only on Saturdays. We aren't able to leave and return on a Saturday, so we are stuck.

 

[Ole Larson]

My wife and I will be heading to Cozumel the end of February as well and this will be our first time staying on the island. We are both proficient divers and would like to find a dive operator that caters more to experience divers versus newer divers. I am not sure if this exists but thought I would throw it out to the group.

 

[flyboy08]

Personally, I felt the reefs looked a lot healthier, with a lot more fish life. The only thing that will be different is less crowds and wearing of masks. Also, step on the rubber mats of disinfectant when entering an establishment - and always wear your mask when indoors (and not seated at a table to eat). Some will say to wear it when you're in public. I only did that when I was walking close to people that weren't in our party.

Edit: The one thing we didn't see in any of our dives (eight total) was turtles. I don't think the dive master had seen them in a while, either.

We saw a few turtles last week....one humongous one! The bricks never fail to bring a smile...go and enjoy!

 

[ChuckP]

My wife and I will be heading to Cozumel the end of February as well and this will be our first time staying on the island. We are both proficient divers and would like to find a dive operator that caters more to experience divers versus newer divers. I am not sure if this exists but thought I would throw it out to the group.

Call Aldora, they are big enough to group people accordingly but small enough to provide great service - there's tons of dive shops here, you won't be disappointed.

 

[flyboy08]

My wife and I have been going to Cozumel 2 to 3 times a year for the last 5 years. We change hotels, but typically dive with Salty Endeavors. We were there last February and stayed at the Coz Palace, but after reading Kimela's post and answering a few questions we decided to take a return trip and stay at Fiesta Americana. My wife just received the vaccination and I am scheduled for the end of January, so we feel a bit safer traveling.

For those of you that have been diving recently, any changes on the reef? I have heard stories about more pelagic sightings, but I haven't been able to verify that. Any dive sites that you would feel are better or different now that the cruise ships are gone? We typically do a night dive on Paradise or Villa Blanca, and wonder if the lack of pressure on Paradise has made any improvement to the wildlife there?

Any suggestions for better handling the Covid threat? We were hoping to fly into Cozumel for the first time, but United is the only airline we can book from Montana that flies into Cozumel, and their schedule doesn't align with ours so we are back to Cancun for the bag drag. I typically use Jhony at American Transfers for the shuttle to the Playa pier. Any reason to do anything different now?

Fortunately there is no penalty if we decide to cancel or change the trip so that made it a bit easier to take the risk of traveling now. Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

Just used Johnny last week from Puerto Morales to CUN...very reliable....the line getting onto the ferry was ridiculous though and that was the Sunday the 27th!..Few from Coz, but three ferry deep on the Playa side looking to get to CZM. Wear a mask, keep a bottle of tequila handy and just deal with it..in the end, it'll be worth the effort.

If you want/like 90 minute plus dives...Aldora is the ticket as Chuck suggested. Ask for Juan if you like a DM that has a knack to find the small stuff!

 

[sefuchs]

My wife and I will be heading to Cozumel the end of February as well and this will be our first time staying on the island. We are both proficient divers and would like to find a dive operator that caters more to experience divers versus newer divers. I am not sure if this exists but thought I would throw it out to the group.

There are many Dive Ops that cater to "experienced" divers but most are not going to take your word for it. They let you demonstrate your abilities underwater on your first day then adjust the dive or boat schedule accordingly. Your profile lists 25-50 dives so unless that is seriously outdated I would not count that as much experience.