Travel Agents steering away from Coz

[MoonWrasse]

Well.. I booked a quick cruise to Cozumel and was just notified by Carnival that they were changing the port to Calica! Apparently, Carnival lost their dock in the storm and the City of Cozumel wanted to charge them 4 million to use their pier. So, Carnival told Cozumel to shove it and went south. This sucks because I have a friend there who owns a diveshop. Now, I had to make diving plans in Calica...Cozumel will be loosing a lot of money if tourists and cruise ships are being re routed.

The same Carnival who's ship just 10 month ago damaged a reef and almost ran over some divers?
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=91437

 

[CozumelAntonio]

I'll poke my head up quickly here... and hope you all don't bite it off just because I'm a TA.

Was in Cozumel immediately after Emily and again last month, albeit unfortunately only for a day in December. There was definitely some damage to the reefs both times, but they are far from decimated. It's really interesting now how you can see more of certain things now (like anemones, surprisingly) than I used to before the storms. Maybe because the surrounding corals/sponges were thinned out a bit. Maybe because they moved around. Not sure, but I can tell you that the reefs are alive and well worth the diving!

I'm constantly amazed at how quickly the Cozumelenos come together and get things going again. AND I tell my clients that. No, it's not as scenic topside as it was. But it's still an amazing place, and one to put your sense of priorities in order.

Now, as to the cruise ships and Carnival. They are still sending *some* ships there. Part of the issue is that Cozumel, with the tendering since the three docks are in various state of damage, cannot support as many ships (shh, don't tell my clients, but I think that's a good thing - NO port is good with 11 ships at a time). Since Carnival CORPORATION (not just Carnival Line) essentially owned/controlled one of the docks, they've decided to limit their ships going there. However, several of the longer sailings, such as the Conquest out of Galveston, Miracle out of Tampa and others do still stop there. As does Princess, Costa and Holland America, three other Carnival brands.

There are definitely travel agents out there who have no clue. But some also take the effort to get the facts, and some even travel themselves to give first-hand reports to their clients. Just like you support dive shops who do the best job (hopefully ones who work to protect the environment and advocate responsible diving), support those travel agents who do the same.

Oh, and by the way? I'm encouraging all my appropriate clients (those who are not the high maintenance whiners who are never happy even when everything is "perfect") to go to Cozumel as soon as they can. Stay as long as they can. Spend as much as they can with local shops.

::: end of rant :::

::: placing head back under cover again :::

I wish there were more TA like you.....Cozumel thanks you for being a good person!

 

[Christi]

A bunch of mental giants running Cozumel right now isn't there

This is not the reason Carnaval is not sending ships...they ARE sending ships, just not the smaller ones.

I am sure there is MUCH more to the story than the Cozumel officials want to charge Carnival $4 million to use the pier. Obviously that's not it or they wouldn't be sending any ships here at all.

All ships are tendering by the way because there ARE no ship piiers left right now.

 

[Christi]

Hey! We may be the minority, but I'll take any way I can, to get to a dive spot!! If the cruise stops at 3 or 4 dive ports, all the better! (Of course Coz is the best!!) We do what we can to support the dive economy!!

Kat,

I'm sorry, I didn't mean that reamrk in a condescending way...just pointing out that the majority of divers do not come off the cruise ships. Of course we appreciate those that do.

 

[ABQdiver]

Kat,

I'm sorry, I didn't mean that reamrk in a condescending way...just pointing out that the majority of divers do not come off the cruise ships. Of course we appreciate those that do.

That's good to hear! :10:
I gotta get on the stick and get some dives booked with you for upcoming May cruise. Much rather dive with you guys than off the ship.

 

[detroit diver]

Actually, it was pretty simple. I dove down and saw sand covering the corals everywhere I went.

I did not compare it to previous dives, as I had never been there before.

As for the town, it looked like a disaster area, plain and simple. You can spin it any way you want if you have a reason to do so. I just reported what I saw, and it wasn't pretty.

I wonder where you get the basis to make a judgment that the corals were "all covered in sand" having not been to Cozumel before? Same goes for the town. I thought it looked pretty good all things considering. I did notice some more sand in a few areas, but mostly I saw where sand had been removed from many dive sites.

 

[ggunn]

Actually, it was pretty simple. I dove down and saw sand covering the corals everywhere I went.

I did not compare it to previous dives, as I had never been there before.

As for the town, it looked like a disaster area, plain and simple. You can spin it any way you want if you have a reason to do so. I just reported what I saw, and it wasn't pretty.

Hmmm. It's funny that you are the only one "spinning" things this way, while virtually everyone else, including many who have no vested interest in the island, is much more upbeat. No matter, I'll be there Sunday to see for myself.

I fully expect to see many signs of Wilma's passage, but I'll wager that comparing conditions on Cozumel to post-bomb photos of Hiroshima is a way over the top exaggeration.

 

[detroit diver]

Go ahead and enjoy yourself. I have no dog in this fight.

Hmmm. It's funny that you are the only one "spinning" things this way, while virtually everyone else, including many who have no vested interest in the island, is much more upbeat. No matter, I'll be there Sunday to see for myself.

I fully expect to see many signs of Wilma's passage, but I'll wager that comparing conditions on Cozumel to post-bomb photos of Hiroshima is a way over the top exaggeration.

 

[scubawife]

Disaster area? A-bomb? Every reef covered in sand? Are you sure you were on Cozumel? I was there in early Dec and that was not our experience at all. Most of San Miguel looked great to us. The main downtown area showed little sign of a major hurricane pounding the island. On the southern edge of town and walking to Hotel Cozumel there are buildings, restaurants and businesses that were still in need of much work, but considering what they went through just 2 months prior, we were very impressed. Of course, once you head south of Hotel Cozumel there was still much work to be done.

We really enjoyed the diving. The Caletta was not at all crazy at 8am since there weren't that many boats going out. I'm sure that during normal times it would be a mad house. Our deep wall dives were great! If you dive a site that you don't know well or at all, I don't think that the average person would spot much if any hurricane damage. A couple of the shallow reefs did have quite a bit of sand and ruble, but they also had lots of patches where coral was intact and there was alot of life. I enjoy hanging in one spot and watching the little world of a single coral head, so for me this was not a problem at all.

In both Cozumel and even more so in Akumal we saw several very tiny (looked like new growth) tube and vase sponges growing on broken coral. We expected the worst and were very inspired by what was actually going on both above and below the water. We just planned a short trip for mid-Feb to go back and enjoy Cozumel before all the big resorts reopen and the crowds start coming back.

 

[WOODMAN]

We got back from Coz a couple of weeks ago, and were impressed by what we saw. As you walked around, you couldn't help but notice evidence of storm damage here and there, but people were generally working on things most everywhere. Some places looked like they were being ignored, and it seemed that the farther back from the waterfront you went, the less pressure you saw about repairing things. Of course, the farther back you went, the less damage there seemed to be in the first place, so I guess it all evens out. As to the reefs, I really have not much to add to this discussion. It all does seem rather different, but not obviously so, at least not on the deeper reefs. Too bad about the shallow stuff, but nature will deal with this in due course. All in all, it's still a great place, and will continue to see me when I can arrange things. After all, it can only get better! Woody