Trip report Coz July 23-July 28

[scubabob1234]

The diving is still good in the northern sites but unfortunately after Emily the southern dive sites from Punta Dalila are sand covered or worse, so blocked with sand that the diving is impossible
The other dive sites while good vis are dusted to coated with sand and the shallower sites are pretty banged up
The old time dive operators admit it may take a year to get all sites back to pre Emily days
I stayed at the Intercontinental and while half the hotel was blown out (walls and windows gone .. completely!) It was fast rebuilding
I dove a few dives with their operator Scuba Du, they are great for beginners and have a kid’s free package (I think) they look out for all divers and are very conservative and professional
For more experienced divers, and myself, I dove with Dive Paradise who let the diver dive their computers and see and do what they want, I went in more tunnels in Santa Rosa that I had ever gone into before (this being my third trip to Coz)
Still great to be under the water but Coz will take a while for the current to push the
sand away

 

[kevguthrie]

Went to Coz and dove the 24th-30th of August. While it was my first time in Cozumel, we could tell the damage to the reef. Lots of broken finger corals, sand etc. That being said, deeper dives such as Columbia, were exceptional, and the fish and other marine life were more than abundant.

We stayed at Hotel Cozumel and Resort which suffered little, if any damage. We went with the European Plan as the food in Coz is soooo good.

We dove all 6 days with Careyitos Advanced Divers. My wife and I took our AOW through Tony at Careyitos, and had a wonderful time diving with them. The crew on the boat was excellent and the DMs were very safety conscious. Most importantly, I left Cozumel as better diver than I was when I arrived thatnks to Tony and the guys at Careyitos.

Overall, an A+ trip! If you have a trip planned to Coz in the near future, go and enjoy the diving! While the reefs might not be at 100%, it is an experience that you will never forget!

 

[Christi]

The diving is still good in the northern sites but unfortunately after Emily the southern dive sites from Punta Dalila are sand covered or worse, so blocked with sand that the diving is impossible
The other dive sites while good vis are dusted to coated with sand and the shallower sites are pretty banged up
The old time dive operators admit it may take a year to get all sites back to pre Emily days
I stayed at the Intercontinental and while half the hotel was blown out (walls and windows gone .. completely!) It was fast rebuilding
I dove a few dives with their operator Scuba Du, they are great for beginners and have a kid’s free package (I think) they look out for all divers and are very conservative and professional
For more experienced divers, and myself, I dove with Dive Paradise who let the diver dive their computers and see and do what they want, I went in more tunnels in Santa Rosa that I had ever gone into before (this being my third trip to Coz)
Still great to be under the water but Coz will take a while for the current to push the
sand away

Hi Bob....your description of th southern dive sites is very interesting. "next to impossible"...how so? Some swim throughs are actually opened up more than they were prior to Emily, isolated sand deposits are actaully pretty normal, and visibility while not quite up to Coz standards is still 60 to 70 feet plus. By most standards, those are still some pretty remarkable conditions in light of just having a category 4 hurricane pass over.

Not sure which "old time" operators you talked to, but I am an active marine park volunteer and actively participated in the reef clean-up after the storm. We were actually pretty amazed at how well the reefs did, much less damage than Gilbert in '88 and damage to the reefs was actually categorized as minimal, and was limited to 40 ft and shallower. The main damage was to finger and lettuce coral, which grows back rather quickly. Emily actually did much less damage to the reefs than the everyday stresses of 1000's of divers on the reef.

The Presidente did have a few windows blown out, but no walls. They actually removed some of the glass in the north building to replace it...it wasn't ALL blown out as you say.

Just my 2 pesos...as a local

 

[Delta 1/5]

Hi Bob....your description of th southern dive sites is very interesting. "next to impossible"...how so? Some swim throughs are actually opened up more than they were prior to Emily, isolated sand deposits are actaully pretty normal, and visibility while not quite up to Coz standards is still 60 to 70 feet plus. By most standards, those are still some pretty remarkable conditions in light of just having a category 4 hurricane pass over.

Not sure which "old time" operators you talked to, but I am an active marine park volunteer and actively participated in the reef clean-up after the storm. We were actually pretty amazed at how well the reefs did, much less damage than Gilbert in '88 and damage to the reefs was actually categorized as minimal, and was limited to 40 ft and shallower. The main damage was to finger and lettuce coral, which grows back rather quickly. Emily actually did much less damage to the reefs than the everyday stresses of 1000's of divers on the reef.

The Presidente did have a few windows blown out, but no walls. They actually removed some of the glass in the north building to replace it...it wasn't ALL blown out as you say.

Just my 2 pesos...as a local

OK! Now who saw what and when?....................and were you two diving together
on these dives and each saw something different or is this a difference of opinion? Somewhat confusing.
Thanks for any clarification.