This second trip was so much better than the first one last November, mainly because this time we knew what to expect and the port stayed open. We flew into Cancun on our direct Austin->Cancun flight (not missing it this time) on Monday, March 18th morning then dove twice on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings before flying out from Cancun on Friday afternoon.
We stayed at Villa Aldora and dove with them again, and this time we got to walk from our room onto the boat where our gear was already setup then after the dives back off right at our rooms - mostly. There was strong wind meaning we taxied to the 'downtown' pier Tuesday and Thursday mornings but otherwise embarked and disembarked at the villa.
Our previous and first trip was an El Norte, so we dove the east side and Columbia Deep and Maracaibo. This trip was 5 new dive sites (for us) in the park and El Islote, which we did last time.
Our Tuesday dives were on Aldora IV with 3 other divers (5 total) at Palancar Caves; we started at only 83 feet (25.3 m), averaged 52' (15.8 m), and dove for only 34 minutes. It was ridiculously short, because my SO's Air2 on her Zeagle was near freeflowing. We agreed with the DM to come up as a pair based on her air without affecting the group. When she got low enough, the DM popped an SMB for us, and the boat got us. It was short, but at least we got to dive at a new site. It was gorgeous, and we saw a giant hogfish feeding, great swimthroughs, and some small jellies (at the safety stop) with four black spots.
We stopped at Playa Palancar for our SI all three days. During this first one, Aldora brought us a rental BCD and regs, so she could do the 2nd dive with her integrated computer - that was nice.
Our second dive was at Punta Dalila at 62' (18.9 m) for 90 minutes. The current was strong, but the swimthroughs at the beginning and mounds at the end were still gorgeous. Our sharp-eyed DM showed us a tiny nudibranch, a giant fireworm, and two Sexy Shrimp in a condy nem!! I've never seen them in the wild and definitely didn't expect them in the Caribbean, but they definitely looked just like Thor amboinensis (I need to put together my video for photographic evidence).
On Wednesday, we were on Aldora III with 3 other divers (5 total). We first dove Punta Sur reef at 103' (31.4 m), average 62' (18.9 m) - deep dive average - for 68 minutes. When we got to depth, we saw multiple sharks swimming in what looked like wide circles/ovals in the deeper distance - entrancing. We swam through Cathedral and over the Devil's Throat. We saw several turtles, a large spiny lobster, a slipper lobster, a very large green moray, a large southern stingray, and a large crab. Another great dive.
Our second dive was at Santa Rosa wall at 85' (25.9 m) for 80 minutes. Fortunately, with the strong currents we didn't encounter any downdrafts. The DM found us a super tiny juvi drum - still don't know how he spotted it. We also saw a splendid frogfish, a giant green moray, a turtle chomping on sponge, multiple flounders, and a dancing anemone shrimp in a condy (I really need to get my video together).
On Thursday, we were on Aldora III again with 3 other divers (5 total). We first dove El Islote (wind out of north fairly strong, let the DM get some lionfish for ceviche) at 109' (33.2 m), average 62' (18.9 m) - deep dive average - for 73 minutes. The coral and sponges are so lush on that side, we didn't mind diving there again. We saw a giant crab with one claw. One of the other divers became ill, which was the result of dehydration (due to the night before), and the DM handled the problem very professionally. Unfortunately, the other three divers left during the SI to care for their buddy.
The second dive of the day, sixth and last of the trip, was just me, my SO, and the DM. We dove at La Francesa, where we had a very long, very close encounter with three nurse sharks! If you want to skip right to the most exciting action, skip to 3:25. That put a cap on an excellent trip on our trip, and we started planning our next trip on the ride back to the villa.
We stayed at Villa Aldora and dove with them again, and this time we got to walk from our room onto the boat where our gear was already setup then after the dives back off right at our rooms - mostly. There was strong wind meaning we taxied to the 'downtown' pier Tuesday and Thursday mornings but otherwise embarked and disembarked at the villa.
Our previous and first trip was an El Norte, so we dove the east side and Columbia Deep and Maracaibo. This trip was 5 new dive sites (for us) in the park and El Islote, which we did last time.
Our Tuesday dives were on Aldora IV with 3 other divers (5 total) at Palancar Caves; we started at only 83 feet (25.3 m), averaged 52' (15.8 m), and dove for only 34 minutes. It was ridiculously short, because my SO's Air2 on her Zeagle was near freeflowing. We agreed with the DM to come up as a pair based on her air without affecting the group. When she got low enough, the DM popped an SMB for us, and the boat got us. It was short, but at least we got to dive at a new site. It was gorgeous, and we saw a giant hogfish feeding, great swimthroughs, and some small jellies (at the safety stop) with four black spots.
We stopped at Playa Palancar for our SI all three days. During this first one, Aldora brought us a rental BCD and regs, so she could do the 2nd dive with her integrated computer - that was nice.
Our second dive was at Punta Dalila at 62' (18.9 m) for 90 minutes. The current was strong, but the swimthroughs at the beginning and mounds at the end were still gorgeous. Our sharp-eyed DM showed us a tiny nudibranch, a giant fireworm, and two Sexy Shrimp in a condy nem!! I've never seen them in the wild and definitely didn't expect them in the Caribbean, but they definitely looked just like Thor amboinensis (I need to put together my video for photographic evidence).
On Wednesday, we were on Aldora III with 3 other divers (5 total). We first dove Punta Sur reef at 103' (31.4 m), average 62' (18.9 m) - deep dive average - for 68 minutes. When we got to depth, we saw multiple sharks swimming in what looked like wide circles/ovals in the deeper distance - entrancing. We swam through Cathedral and over the Devil's Throat. We saw several turtles, a large spiny lobster, a slipper lobster, a very large green moray, a large southern stingray, and a large crab. Another great dive.
Our second dive was at Santa Rosa wall at 85' (25.9 m) for 80 minutes. Fortunately, with the strong currents we didn't encounter any downdrafts. The DM found us a super tiny juvi drum - still don't know how he spotted it. We also saw a splendid frogfish, a giant green moray, a turtle chomping on sponge, multiple flounders, and a dancing anemone shrimp in a condy (I really need to get my video together).
On Thursday, we were on Aldora III again with 3 other divers (5 total). We first dove El Islote (wind out of north fairly strong, let the DM get some lionfish for ceviche) at 109' (33.2 m), average 62' (18.9 m) - deep dive average - for 73 minutes. The coral and sponges are so lush on that side, we didn't mind diving there again. We saw a giant crab with one claw. One of the other divers became ill, which was the result of dehydration (due to the night before), and the DM handled the problem very professionally. Unfortunately, the other three divers left during the SI to care for their buddy.
The second dive of the day, sixth and last of the trip, was just me, my SO, and the DM. We dove at La Francesa, where we had a very long, very close encounter with three nurse sharks! If you want to skip right to the most exciting action, skip to 3:25. That put a cap on an excellent trip on our trip, and we started planning our next trip on the ride back to the villa.
