I typically don't post Cozumel trip reports. What more can be said, that hasn't already. But, given the fact that I stayed at a new place that doesn't get a lot of notoriety and the southern reef closure/stony coral disease issue, I decided to go ahead and post something.
I have been in the habit of spending 10-11 days in Cozumel over the Christmas/New Year timeframe the last few years. Due to a two-week trip to Bonaire scheduled in January with my Pacific NW dive group, I looked for a window in November to satisfy my annual Coz fix.
I found a reasonable flight into Cancun and pulled the trigger about 2 days prior to the announcement here on ScubaBoard about the temporary southern reef closure. While not initially excited about the proposition of missing out on some of my favorite dive sites, I was still excited about getting away and enjoying all of the rest of what draws me to Cozumel (people, culture, food…); not to mention, the opportunity to see for myself the extent of reef damage that has taken place since my last visit in December-January 2018/19.
After booking my flight, I went online to book accommodations at my regular haunt, Suites Colonial. Suites Colonial is right downtown, just a block from the plaza, on a pedestrian only street. It is super quiet, clean and efficient. It is a sister hotel to Casa Mexicana and the much loved buffet breakfast at CM is included in the room rate. I booked the dates that worked for me, not realizing that we would be there during the annual Cozumel Triathlon. Thus, Suites Colonial was already sold out for ½ of the nights of my scheduled visit. So, I quickly went to plan B and contacted Villa Escondida B&B. Villa Escondida Cozumel Bed and Breakfast is located right in downtown Cozumel, and it is ideal for travelers who want local attractions at their doorsteps: great dining, the main pier, the central park, local shops and more are all at a short walk from this charming villa. A delicious, complete breakfast consisting of fresh brewed mexican coffee, selection of teas, fresh orange juice, pastries or homemade baking, hot main dish /mexican dishes are our specialty!) and fresh fruit and yogurt is served in the terrace every morning.
Villa Escondida has been on my radar for years and is a fan favorite of some here on the Board and has stellar social media reviews. I had decided quite some time ago, that it would be my backup plan, if unable to stay at Suites Colonial.
Villa Escondida totally lived up to its glowing reputation. The location is outstanding. Right downtown on 10th Ave between 3rd and 1st Calles. Right across the street from La Choza and next door to Cerveceria Punta Sur (which is a small micro-brewery/restaurant and does outstanding pizza, BTW). They have 4 very large private rooms/suites. Rooms 1 and 2 are ground level and 3 and 4 are above them. I believe 2 of the rooms have king size beds and the others have 2 doubles. They come equipped with good AC, nice ceiling fan, excellent WIFI, expansive bathroom with walk-in shower, plenty of hot water, albeit the water pressure is not great, but sufficient- which is not uncommon in my Cozumel experience. Bed was extremely comfortable. There is no TV in the rooms, which we were fine with. WIFI in the room was strong enough to stream Netflix movies, if desired. There is a TV in the common dining area, if desired. Plenty of drinking water from a refillable 5-gallon jug. The setting and the rooms are much nicer than the website leads you to believe (what a rarity!). They have a beautiful palm tree garden setting with multiple hammocks, lounge areas in the shade and sun, a very nice and clean pool, outdoor shower and places to dry out gear, if needed. Breakfast is outstanding and one of the highlights of staying at Villa Escondida. For those divers that have an early meet up with their dive op, breakfast starts as early as 7am with an assortment of fresh fruits, granola, yogurt, toast, coffee, tea, pastries and eggs to order. If you are leaving later in the morning for any reason, then all of the above is on offer between 8am-10am, with the addition of a uniquely Mexican breakfast entrée like chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, enchiladas with green mole (to name a few dishes). Just let one of the owners (David or Magdalena) know what time you would like to have breakfast each day.
Cost for accommodations and breakfast at Villa Escondida is $80 per day, all-in. Taxes are included in that rate- which are 16% in Mexico. This is a fare bit more than my normal rate of $45 a night + taxes at Suites Colonial, but honestly, the overall experience is apples and oranges. SC is a hotel and Villa Escondida is an experience. Lastly, they do also have an apartment for rent. The apartment comes with a living room and kitchen and is well suited for long term stays. There was a couple staying in the apartment while we were there. They were there for 6 weeks and had negotiated a monthly rate of $1600. That is quite a savings over the nightly rate in one of the smaller and less equipped rooms that we stayed in.
OK- on to the diving. One of the reasons that we stay downtown is not only the easy access to all of the great restaurants and downtown festivities, but also easy access to our dive op. We have been diving with Blue XT Sea for a few years now and our pick-up and drop off is an easy 2 block walk down to the Aldora Pier. All dive gear, except wetsuits, is handled by the crew each day. It is cleaned and dried and set back up, ready to roll each morning. Boats are high speed 6 packs, with a max of 6 divers. You are allowed to dive your air. Our typical dives were 70-75 minutes on 80cf aluminum tanks. 100cf aluminums are also available for a $5 upcharge, per tank. If there is anyone in the group that is a bigger air consumer, they have 2 options:
1) Signal the DM and let him know that you are low on air and are going up and shoot your own SMB, follow it up to do your safety stop and then surface to the awaiting boat.
2) Signal the DM and have him shoot his SMB and follow it up to your safety stop and then surface to the waiting boat.
If you know there is a chance that you will need to ascend sooner than the rest of the group, make the DM aware ahead of time and if using your own SMB, make sure the Captain is also aware and familiar with your SMB.
Water temps were a consistent 82-83 degrees all week. Water visibility and clarity was outstanding at 80-100 feet. Currents, for the most part, were quite mild and enjoyable, which was nice and thus we rarely ran out of reef on our dives. There were some Norte winds the week prior to our arrival, but we fortunately missed them and didn’t lose any diving days.
The stony coral disease is pretty devastating and extensive across nearly all of the reefs that we dived, and we pretty much dived everything from the furthest south you can dive right now (La Francesa) up to Villa Blanca Wall. We did not do any of the further northern dive sites.
I think Villa Blanca Wall is one of the most overlooked dive sites on the island, which is fine with me, and I will say that it was the only dive site that had absolutely no evidence of disease and was as lush as always. The dive site is like a breeding ground for hundreds of different juvenile fish species and has some of the largest and most prolific number of barrel sponges on the island. Granted, it is a dive site that has little to no stony corals- nevertheless, I just love it. Another highlight for the week was a dive we did which began on the Dalila Wall and then we crossed over to the Mountains of Cedral. A picture-perfect dive with a huge loggerhead turtle sighting and a free-swimming green moray. We were a month + early for prime Spotted Eagle Ray season, but we did have one great encounter with a huge one just as we descended onto Yucab.
Other highlights for the week were my best ever photo of a splendid toad fish and a ½ way decent picture of a red-lipped bat fish. They blend in so well, that they are tough to get a good picture of and I am not a good photographer anyway. It is just my observation, but I am seeing fewer and fewer sharks of any kind each year that we return. We saw one small sleeping nurse shark under a ledge all week.
As ugly, rampant and concerning as the stony coral disease is on the reefs, I think it should be noted that it is relegated to those corals and the rest of the reef structure along the dive sites are quite gorgeous, particularly all of the beautiful barrel sponges, orange elephant ear sponges, rope sponges, gorgonians and soft corals.
I guess that is enough for now. Below are a couple of pics of the stony coral disease evident on most dive sites, as well as my toad and bat fish pics.
I have been in the habit of spending 10-11 days in Cozumel over the Christmas/New Year timeframe the last few years. Due to a two-week trip to Bonaire scheduled in January with my Pacific NW dive group, I looked for a window in November to satisfy my annual Coz fix.
I found a reasonable flight into Cancun and pulled the trigger about 2 days prior to the announcement here on ScubaBoard about the temporary southern reef closure. While not initially excited about the proposition of missing out on some of my favorite dive sites, I was still excited about getting away and enjoying all of the rest of what draws me to Cozumel (people, culture, food…); not to mention, the opportunity to see for myself the extent of reef damage that has taken place since my last visit in December-January 2018/19.
After booking my flight, I went online to book accommodations at my regular haunt, Suites Colonial. Suites Colonial is right downtown, just a block from the plaza, on a pedestrian only street. It is super quiet, clean and efficient. It is a sister hotel to Casa Mexicana and the much loved buffet breakfast at CM is included in the room rate. I booked the dates that worked for me, not realizing that we would be there during the annual Cozumel Triathlon. Thus, Suites Colonial was already sold out for ½ of the nights of my scheduled visit. So, I quickly went to plan B and contacted Villa Escondida B&B. Villa Escondida Cozumel Bed and Breakfast is located right in downtown Cozumel, and it is ideal for travelers who want local attractions at their doorsteps: great dining, the main pier, the central park, local shops and more are all at a short walk from this charming villa. A delicious, complete breakfast consisting of fresh brewed mexican coffee, selection of teas, fresh orange juice, pastries or homemade baking, hot main dish /mexican dishes are our specialty!) and fresh fruit and yogurt is served in the terrace every morning.
Villa Escondida has been on my radar for years and is a fan favorite of some here on the Board and has stellar social media reviews. I had decided quite some time ago, that it would be my backup plan, if unable to stay at Suites Colonial.
Villa Escondida totally lived up to its glowing reputation. The location is outstanding. Right downtown on 10th Ave between 3rd and 1st Calles. Right across the street from La Choza and next door to Cerveceria Punta Sur (which is a small micro-brewery/restaurant and does outstanding pizza, BTW). They have 4 very large private rooms/suites. Rooms 1 and 2 are ground level and 3 and 4 are above them. I believe 2 of the rooms have king size beds and the others have 2 doubles. They come equipped with good AC, nice ceiling fan, excellent WIFI, expansive bathroom with walk-in shower, plenty of hot water, albeit the water pressure is not great, but sufficient- which is not uncommon in my Cozumel experience. Bed was extremely comfortable. There is no TV in the rooms, which we were fine with. WIFI in the room was strong enough to stream Netflix movies, if desired. There is a TV in the common dining area, if desired. Plenty of drinking water from a refillable 5-gallon jug. The setting and the rooms are much nicer than the website leads you to believe (what a rarity!). They have a beautiful palm tree garden setting with multiple hammocks, lounge areas in the shade and sun, a very nice and clean pool, outdoor shower and places to dry out gear, if needed. Breakfast is outstanding and one of the highlights of staying at Villa Escondida. For those divers that have an early meet up with their dive op, breakfast starts as early as 7am with an assortment of fresh fruits, granola, yogurt, toast, coffee, tea, pastries and eggs to order. If you are leaving later in the morning for any reason, then all of the above is on offer between 8am-10am, with the addition of a uniquely Mexican breakfast entrée like chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, enchiladas with green mole (to name a few dishes). Just let one of the owners (David or Magdalena) know what time you would like to have breakfast each day.
Cost for accommodations and breakfast at Villa Escondida is $80 per day, all-in. Taxes are included in that rate- which are 16% in Mexico. This is a fare bit more than my normal rate of $45 a night + taxes at Suites Colonial, but honestly, the overall experience is apples and oranges. SC is a hotel and Villa Escondida is an experience. Lastly, they do also have an apartment for rent. The apartment comes with a living room and kitchen and is well suited for long term stays. There was a couple staying in the apartment while we were there. They were there for 6 weeks and had negotiated a monthly rate of $1600. That is quite a savings over the nightly rate in one of the smaller and less equipped rooms that we stayed in.
OK- on to the diving. One of the reasons that we stay downtown is not only the easy access to all of the great restaurants and downtown festivities, but also easy access to our dive op. We have been diving with Blue XT Sea for a few years now and our pick-up and drop off is an easy 2 block walk down to the Aldora Pier. All dive gear, except wetsuits, is handled by the crew each day. It is cleaned and dried and set back up, ready to roll each morning. Boats are high speed 6 packs, with a max of 6 divers. You are allowed to dive your air. Our typical dives were 70-75 minutes on 80cf aluminum tanks. 100cf aluminums are also available for a $5 upcharge, per tank. If there is anyone in the group that is a bigger air consumer, they have 2 options:
1) Signal the DM and let him know that you are low on air and are going up and shoot your own SMB, follow it up to do your safety stop and then surface to the awaiting boat.
2) Signal the DM and have him shoot his SMB and follow it up to your safety stop and then surface to the waiting boat.
If you know there is a chance that you will need to ascend sooner than the rest of the group, make the DM aware ahead of time and if using your own SMB, make sure the Captain is also aware and familiar with your SMB.
Water temps were a consistent 82-83 degrees all week. Water visibility and clarity was outstanding at 80-100 feet. Currents, for the most part, were quite mild and enjoyable, which was nice and thus we rarely ran out of reef on our dives. There were some Norte winds the week prior to our arrival, but we fortunately missed them and didn’t lose any diving days.
The stony coral disease is pretty devastating and extensive across nearly all of the reefs that we dived, and we pretty much dived everything from the furthest south you can dive right now (La Francesa) up to Villa Blanca Wall. We did not do any of the further northern dive sites.
I think Villa Blanca Wall is one of the most overlooked dive sites on the island, which is fine with me, and I will say that it was the only dive site that had absolutely no evidence of disease and was as lush as always. The dive site is like a breeding ground for hundreds of different juvenile fish species and has some of the largest and most prolific number of barrel sponges on the island. Granted, it is a dive site that has little to no stony corals- nevertheless, I just love it. Another highlight for the week was a dive we did which began on the Dalila Wall and then we crossed over to the Mountains of Cedral. A picture-perfect dive with a huge loggerhead turtle sighting and a free-swimming green moray. We were a month + early for prime Spotted Eagle Ray season, but we did have one great encounter with a huge one just as we descended onto Yucab.
Other highlights for the week were my best ever photo of a splendid toad fish and a ½ way decent picture of a red-lipped bat fish. They blend in so well, that they are tough to get a good picture of and I am not a good photographer anyway. It is just my observation, but I am seeing fewer and fewer sharks of any kind each year that we return. We saw one small sleeping nurse shark under a ledge all week.
As ugly, rampant and concerning as the stony coral disease is on the reefs, I think it should be noted that it is relegated to those corals and the rest of the reef structure along the dive sites are quite gorgeous, particularly all of the beautiful barrel sponges, orange elephant ear sponges, rope sponges, gorgonians and soft corals.
I guess that is enough for now. Below are a couple of pics of the stony coral disease evident on most dive sites, as well as my toad and bat fish pics.
. Nice pics!
