H2Andy
Contributor
just got back from a week in CoCo View. it is not your average dive destination,
but it sure is worth it. my wife (a non-diver) and I loved it.
here's a quick recap of my impressions:
Dive Operations
Awesome. The dive masters are excellent, the boats are great, the facilities
are just about perfect. there are gear areas next to the dock, with rinse tubs
(and camera rinse tubs), as well as tanks ready to be grabbed for shore diving.
definetely A++
Diving Conditions
The boat diving is good (two trips each day, at 8:30 and
2:00 pm), with sheer drop-offs and quite some structure,
particulalry on the walls.
The coral in popular dive spots like Mary's Place and Calvin's Crack is
clearly stressed and, in many places, beyond repair. But most of the
dive sites I went to looked very good, with lots of life.
There's a great deal of small critters to see, and quite a lot of small
to medium fish. there are few large fish. I personally identified 72 fish species;
there were lots more, but i couldn't i.d them properly.
Lots of crustaceans and invertebrates and all that sort of stuff as well.
Shore diving is limited to the wreck of the Prince Albert, CoCoView Wall,
and Newman's Wall. both these walls are not pristine dives, but they are
alright. lots of damage, particularly in the shallower portions.
The Prince Albert is an interesting wreck, and there were three sea horses
in residence while i was there.
Overall, I'd give the diving a B
Accomodations
This is not a four-star place. maybe not even a three-star place. it's clean,
however, and the staff are super-friendly (no... they are ultra-friendly... no...
super ultra friendly... you get the idea). the electricity has an interesting habit
of going off at least twice a day, for a minute or two. we were always afraid
it would not come back... but it always did. annoyingly, we had to reset our
alarm clock after each such power blink.
no air in the dining room. very good food, with good variety (steak, shrimp,
small lobster tails, etc.). $1.50 beer ($.75 during happy hour). need i say more?
the accomodations get a B-
Overall, the place runs like clockwork, the dive staff and other staff are
excellent, gear management and dive infrastructure is excellent, the
accomodations are ok, but nothing to write home about, the food is pretty
good, and the booze is cheap.
Some pics below:
1. Green Moray
2. Queen Angelfish
3. Snapper (maybe a cubera snapper?) with shark sucker
4. Hermit Crab
5. Barred Hamlet
but it sure is worth it. my wife (a non-diver) and I loved it.
here's a quick recap of my impressions:
Dive Operations
Awesome. The dive masters are excellent, the boats are great, the facilities
are just about perfect. there are gear areas next to the dock, with rinse tubs
(and camera rinse tubs), as well as tanks ready to be grabbed for shore diving.
definetely A++
Diving Conditions
The boat diving is good (two trips each day, at 8:30 and
2:00 pm), with sheer drop-offs and quite some structure,
particulalry on the walls.
The coral in popular dive spots like Mary's Place and Calvin's Crack is
clearly stressed and, in many places, beyond repair. But most of the
dive sites I went to looked very good, with lots of life.
There's a great deal of small critters to see, and quite a lot of small
to medium fish. there are few large fish. I personally identified 72 fish species;
there were lots more, but i couldn't i.d them properly.
Lots of crustaceans and invertebrates and all that sort of stuff as well.
Shore diving is limited to the wreck of the Prince Albert, CoCoView Wall,
and Newman's Wall. both these walls are not pristine dives, but they are
alright. lots of damage, particularly in the shallower portions.
The Prince Albert is an interesting wreck, and there were three sea horses
in residence while i was there.
Overall, I'd give the diving a B
Accomodations
This is not a four-star place. maybe not even a three-star place. it's clean,
however, and the staff are super-friendly (no... they are ultra-friendly... no...
super ultra friendly... you get the idea). the electricity has an interesting habit
of going off at least twice a day, for a minute or two. we were always afraid
it would not come back... but it always did. annoyingly, we had to reset our
alarm clock after each such power blink.
no air in the dining room. very good food, with good variety (steak, shrimp,
small lobster tails, etc.). $1.50 beer ($.75 during happy hour). need i say more?
the accomodations get a B-
Overall, the place runs like clockwork, the dive staff and other staff are
excellent, gear management and dive infrastructure is excellent, the
accomodations are ok, but nothing to write home about, the food is pretty
good, and the booze is cheap.
Some pics below:
1. Green Moray
2. Queen Angelfish
3. Snapper (maybe a cubera snapper?) with shark sucker
4. Hermit Crab
5. Barred Hamlet
