Question Tell Me About Shore Diving at Cozumel Hotel (Wyndham)

[rick00001967]

I agree with ReefHound; I see no reason to tow a flag when shore diving around Cozumel. Like RH, I carry an SMB, and I send it up ahead of me if I need to go to the surface before I am closer to shore than boats will go. In all my trips to Cozumel over the years I can only remember seeing a diver towing a flag once. It was when I was on a drifting boat doing an SIT stop at Paradise, and the diver nearly snagged his flag on the boat.

remember though....the dives we are talking about here at hotel coz, is right along shore, very shallow, and there can a lot of boat traffic.

i have already commented on my regular practice, but do not want to give any newer divers the impression that diving in 20 feet of water, 50 feet from shore, around docks, in an area where there is boat traffic is the best idea. ideally they should have a flag with them. but again, almost no one does. but that does not make it right.

as an instructor i have seen many new divers loose control of buoyancy (it has happened to me) in shallow water and end up at the surface before they could correct it. not ideal if it happens when boats are overhead.

different story if we are doing a shore dive in 60 to 100 feet of water and are 200 yards from the shoreline. obviously no one is going to tow a flag in that circumstance.

anyone diving coz should always have an smb on them at all times.

 

[ggunn]

remember though....the dives we are talking about here at hotel coz, is right along shore, very shallow, and there can a lot of boat traffic.

i have already commented on my regular practice, but do not want to give any newer divers the impression that diving in 20 feet of water, 50 feet from shore, around docks, in an area where there is boat traffic is the best idea. ideally they should have a flag with them. but again, almost no one does. but that does not make it right.

as an instructor i have seen many new divers loose control of buoyancy (it has happened to me) in shallow water and end up at the surface before they could correct it. not ideal if it happens when boats are overhead.

different story if we are doing a shore dive in 60 to 100 feet of water and are 200 yards from the shoreline. obviously no one is going to tow a flag in that circumstance.

anyone diving coz should always have an smb on them at all times.

Do you know of any instances where a diver shore diving from Cozumel was hit by a boat where had the diver been towing a flag it would have been prevented? I remember Kirsty McColl being hit by a boat near Chankanaab some 15 or 20 years ago, but I'm pretty sure she was at the surface when she was hit.

 

[phAphO]

The shore diving is wonderful, plenty to see within 50' of the dock. The best spot is the tidal pool at night. Just bring a snorkel and float around. Every trip there, I watch the octopus, sometimes some squid hand in the pool, there are two resident eels (one under the stairs). It's great.

 

[ReefHound]

i have already commented on my regular practice, but do not want to give any newer divers the impression that diving in 20 feet of water, 50 feet from shore, around docks, in an area where there is boat traffic is the best idea. ideally they should have a flag with them. but again, almost no one does. but that does not make it right.

I'm not talking about laws or new divers or CYA advice. I simply said that I feel towing a float makes me less safe. It's one more point of task loading. I can clip off my camera if I have to help a buddy or share air but are you going to clip off the float (bad idea) or let it go? It's also prone to getting snagged as you dive under a dock or roped off swimming areas. Let's see a new diver with no buoyancy control handle that.

Speaking of buoyancy, towing a float makes buoyancy control more difficult. Last thing a new diver with poor buoyancy control needs is something tugging on him and pulling him up and making it harder.

And if it's windy or a good surface current it can wear you out if you need to swim the opposite way. And while the capitans know to avoid it, the tourons on jet skis are attracted to it, thinking it's a beach toy that got away or something to do figure-eights around. And even if you smartly don't have it clipped off, there's still a chance of getting caught on it if a boat snags it.

I know there are laws in many places but were the laws written by divers or those familiar with diving? If a place hassles me to take a float I won't argue, I'll just tie it off to something shortly after entering, do my dive, then get it just before exiting.

 

[NDL_Diver]

....
Speaking of buoyancy, towing a float makes buoyancy control more difficult. Last thing a new diver with poor buoyancy control needs is something tugging on him and pulling him up and making it harder.
....

I kinda like being a little negatively buoyant holding my SMB at my safety stop. Just hanging, watching the bottom drift by.

 

[ReefHound]

I kinda like being a little negatively buoyant holding my SMB at my safety stop. Just hanging, watching the bottom drift by.

I wasn't talking about an SMB at safety stop but a big float the entire dive.

 

[rick00001967]

I'm not talking about laws or new divers or CYA advice. I simply said that I feel towing a float makes me less safe. It's one more point of task loading. I can clip off my camera if I have to help a buddy or share air but are you going to clip off the float (bad idea) or let it go? It's also prone to getting snagged as you dive under a dock or roped off swimming areas. Let's see a new diver with no buoyancy control handle that.

Speaking of buoyancy, towing a float makes buoyancy control more difficult. Last thing a new diver with poor buoyancy control needs is something tugging on him and pulling him up and making it harder.

And if it's windy or a good surface current it can wear you out if you need to swim the opposite way. And while the capitans know to avoid it, the tourons on jet skis are attracted to it, thinking it's a beach toy that got away or something to do figure-eights around. And even if you smartly don't have it clipped off, there's still a chance of getting caught on it if a boat snags it.

I know there are laws in many places but were the laws written by divers or those familiar with diving? If a place hassles me to take a float I won't argue, I'll just tie it off to something shortly after entering, do my dive, then get it just before exiting.

hey i dont disagree. as i said before, they are def a pain in the ass. i avoid them whenever possible. when i was teaching however, i had no choice. we were required to use them. sometimes i towed it but most often it was tied off and we stayed close by.

all your points are valid in those certain conditions you laid out.

i think at this particular location however, (which is what this thread should be about) having a flag with you is a very small inconvenience with little down side.

i have said already, i dont use one there. and dont see others using them either. if dive paradise is ok with that, fine. if the diver is ok with that, fine. i have no idea if mexico has any laws that even address this. it would be interesting to know if they do.

i did chuckle at your comment about the figure eights by the jet skiiers. i had spoken many years ago to a group that dives west of where i live on an inland lake. it is a very popular summer spot for boaters etc. they were inviting me to join them sometime for some fun dives and we got to discussing the site. it came up that as you said, the local boaters are ignorant of the meaning of a dive flag and are attracted to it. as it was put to me...."they use the flags as an obstacle course". lol

 

[kingscrown]

we have been shore diving there a number of times.

although it is shallow (around 20 ft) and not exactly amazing diving, we always see a lot of different life. especially at night.

the shop is right down by the water so you can get tanks and weights there. they also have lockers, rinse tanks, and hanging racks. you can get a locker key from the hotel when you check in. at least thats how it used to work.

you can dive either direction. i prefer to head into the current if there is one and then it is an easy time to get back. conditions can change from day to day.

you can either enter off the left side of the dock or there is a small calm area to the right. just be careful when entering and exiting that area as there are usually a lot of urchins on the sea wall you have to swim over.

be sure to use a flag or buoy of some type when diving during the day.

My friends are visiting and this information will be very handy. Thank you!

 

[ggunn]

I kinda like being a little negatively buoyant holding my SMB at my safety stop. Just hanging, watching the bottom drift by.

Oh, I do that as well; at the safety stop I hang from my SMD like a subway rider.