In general:
This trip was a celebration of my mom’s 90th birthday and her 42nd successive yearly trip to Cozumel. She needed a little help getting on and off the boat but she went out for four full days of deep sea fishing (she caught a sailfish, again with a bit of help) as well as the Blue Angel Cielo cruise where she snorkeled Colombia Shallows. The Thundering Herd was more thundering than ever; we had eighteen at the birthday party at Buccano’s last Sunday Night. We did it again at El Moro the next night. Overall it was a great trip!
The weather:
It was muggy the first day and half of the second, but then a strong Norte came through and closed the port Sunday afternoon and all day Monday. Luckily, it was early in our trip and we were staying longer than usual. After that it was danged chilly with very low humidity for a couple of days, but we had a long string of cloudless days and the wind gradually died down. We had plenty of sunlight for the rest of the trip, though a supercell, a real frog strangler, came through on our last evening.
The diving:
San Francisco Wall, Paradise, Colombia Deep, “Colombia Shallows” (bad drop), Palancar Bricks, Tormentos, night shore dive from BA, Cedral Wall, Punta Tuniche, Dalila, Colombia Shallows (good drop), second half of Cedral to first half of Santa Rosa, San Clemente, Palancar Gardens, second half of Santa Rosa, afternoon shore dive from BA, Palancar Caves, Colombia Shallows (again, but I never tire of it).
Conditions ranged from very good to excellent. Even the bad drop at Colombia Shallows was a decent dive. We saw several eagle rays; I got very close to a pair of them. Other than that, we saw all the usual suspects except for seahorses. Carol got some excellent octopus video on the night dive. There was a LOT of seaweed and a few jellyfish.
The fishing:
Meh. We booked four days on La Graaan Cosa (we fish with them on every trip) but I only went out on the first three. We caught a few chicken dolphin (small dorado) out in the middle of the channel next to the rafts of seaweed, but no mas. The group that went out on the fourth day caught a sailfish (my mom’s), a white marlin, and one tiny bonito.
The food:
We took several meals at the BA restaurant; their selection is a bit limited but it’s all good. Other than that, La Perlita (twice), El Moro (twice), ‘Ohana, La Choza, La Mission, Casa Mission, Kondesa, Buccano’s, and Pancho’s Backyard. All were excellent.
Around the Island:
Mescalito’s (our traditional first stop) was closed, so we opened the day at Senor Iguana’s. From there, Coconuts, Punta Morena, Chen Rio, El Mirador, Paradise Cafe (Bob’s Marley Bar), and our traditional visit to Tree, the huge cieba tree on the old road about halfway across. Why we call it that is a bit of a long story, available upon request. We chartered Jose’s taxi van #350 for the trip; he’s been our driver for three or four trips and I highly recommend him. He stops everywhere we want him to, never rushes us, and his English is very good. His fee was very reasonable. PM me if you want his cell number.
Wrapup:
All in all it was a great trip, a definite standout in my ~35 trips to the island. We already have our 2019 reservations in place.
This trip was a celebration of my mom’s 90th birthday and her 42nd successive yearly trip to Cozumel. She needed a little help getting on and off the boat but she went out for four full days of deep sea fishing (she caught a sailfish, again with a bit of help) as well as the Blue Angel Cielo cruise where she snorkeled Colombia Shallows. The Thundering Herd was more thundering than ever; we had eighteen at the birthday party at Buccano’s last Sunday Night. We did it again at El Moro the next night. Overall it was a great trip!
The weather:
It was muggy the first day and half of the second, but then a strong Norte came through and closed the port Sunday afternoon and all day Monday. Luckily, it was early in our trip and we were staying longer than usual. After that it was danged chilly with very low humidity for a couple of days, but we had a long string of cloudless days and the wind gradually died down. We had plenty of sunlight for the rest of the trip, though a supercell, a real frog strangler, came through on our last evening.
The diving:
San Francisco Wall, Paradise, Colombia Deep, “Colombia Shallows” (bad drop), Palancar Bricks, Tormentos, night shore dive from BA, Cedral Wall, Punta Tuniche, Dalila, Colombia Shallows (good drop), second half of Cedral to first half of Santa Rosa, San Clemente, Palancar Gardens, second half of Santa Rosa, afternoon shore dive from BA, Palancar Caves, Colombia Shallows (again, but I never tire of it).
Conditions ranged from very good to excellent. Even the bad drop at Colombia Shallows was a decent dive. We saw several eagle rays; I got very close to a pair of them. Other than that, we saw all the usual suspects except for seahorses. Carol got some excellent octopus video on the night dive. There was a LOT of seaweed and a few jellyfish.
The fishing:
Meh. We booked four days on La Graaan Cosa (we fish with them on every trip) but I only went out on the first three. We caught a few chicken dolphin (small dorado) out in the middle of the channel next to the rafts of seaweed, but no mas. The group that went out on the fourth day caught a sailfish (my mom’s), a white marlin, and one tiny bonito.
The food:
We took several meals at the BA restaurant; their selection is a bit limited but it’s all good. Other than that, La Perlita (twice), El Moro (twice), ‘Ohana, La Choza, La Mission, Casa Mission, Kondesa, Buccano’s, and Pancho’s Backyard. All were excellent.
Around the Island:
Mescalito’s (our traditional first stop) was closed, so we opened the day at Senor Iguana’s. From there, Coconuts, Punta Morena, Chen Rio, El Mirador, Paradise Cafe (Bob’s Marley Bar), and our traditional visit to Tree, the huge cieba tree on the old road about halfway across. Why we call it that is a bit of a long story, available upon request. We chartered Jose’s taxi van #350 for the trip; he’s been our driver for three or four trips and I highly recommend him. He stops everywhere we want him to, never rushes us, and his English is very good. His fee was very reasonable. PM me if you want his cell number.
Wrapup:
All in all it was a great trip, a definite standout in my ~35 trips to the island. We already have our 2019 reservations in place.
