Beiji
Contributor
January 4 - 14, 2011
Travel
Flew from Syracuse to Philadelphia to Cancun without incident. Received cheap first class upgrades on the SYR to PHL segments which meant we did not have to pay for our checked bags. My gear bag was just over 50 pounds, but first class passengers are allowed bags weighing up to something like 70 pounds. Woo hoo!
We arrived at Cancun, terminal 3, breezed through immigration but got the red light at customs. Even though Mario got the red light they opened all of our bags and did a barely cursory inspection. What's the point? We would have had to have been carrying live sheep and pigs for them to have found anything contraband!
At last we made our way outside and bought tickets to the Playa bus. The ticket seller was another model of brisk efficiency. It seemed that each transaction took about 10 minutes. The bus pulled in, and we loaded up our not inconsiderable array of large and small bags only to be told that our tickets were for the next bus! Argument ensued, but driver allowed us to stay.
In Playa we wheeled our bags downhill to the ferry terminal only to find that we had just missed the 3:00 boat. A ferry employee directed us to drop off our bags in a roped off area. We wanted to sit down in the shade near the pier, so we got a table at Señor Frogs. They put us under the Hornymooners sign. We enjoyed watching the other patrons getting tequila shots and getting their bodies jiggled by the shot girl.
And then it was 5:00, and we were off to the island! From the top outside deck of the ferry we watched the sun set. I was glad of the fresh air because the water was a tiny bit rough, and I'm very prone to motion sickness. The Dramamine from the flight had worn off by this time.
When we arrived on Coz I misjudged the distance to the hotel, Casa Mexicana, and hired a bicycle to take us there. He took off, and we half-walked and half-jogged in a futile attempt to keep up. When we arrived at CM, a bellman was already taking our bags upstairs. The escalator was on! We tipped the bicycle guy and headed up to the lobby. We had no problems checking in, even though I had forgotten to print out the Orbitz confirmation. I had the doc on my iPhone and was able to give the clerk the confirmation number.
Why is it that I can remember all these insignificant details about planes, boats, and ferries, but I can remember very few details of individual dives?
The hotel
We were very happy with Casa Mexicana. The escalator was on except during rain or high wind. One time when I was carrying a lot of stuff and it wasn't on, I said "Ayudame" (help me) from the bottom, and they turned it on for me. Another time a bellman came down and helped me carry my stuff up. For the first four nights we were in room 304, oceanfront but with a slightly removed feeling because of the tunnel effect. On Saturday morning I asked if there would be any rooms on the 5th (top) floor available that day. They told me there would be and that we could move. Yippee! We packed our bags, and Saturday afternoon the staff moved them to room 503. We made sure to leave a tip in the old room, and we tracked down the employee who moved our bags and tipped him too. The view from the new room was really wonderful. Although the balcony didn't have the privacy those on lower floors do, the glorious view makes up for it. And if you're inside the room, toward the back, you can leave the curtains open and have privacy in the room and a nice view out.
Housekeeping was excellent, and I liked having the hotel-supplied bathrobe to use. It would be nice if they had something on the balcony from which you could hang wet dive gear, but I managed between the balcony railings and hanging my dive accessory hanger from the metal slatted covering over the balcony. I didn't have that much stuff to dry since my dive op took care of everything except my wetsuit.
The lobby area is very pleasant, and there were usually divers hanging out chatting. I met several very nice people, and one total jerk who was pretty amusing in his total jerkiness. I was talking to a charming couple from Brooklyn, and this guy comes up to us and starts telling us about his dive op, about how great they are and he should know because he's a Coz expert having been diving there for 20 years, and he's also an expert diver having been a Navy diver for five years, and did he mention that he was also a doctor (of chiropractic) and had saved a guy's life that day when he had almost drowned (diving with this highly recommended company). It was so outrageous that it was funny.
Food
We had breakfast each day at CM, but on dive days, I only ate a few slices of melon. On my non-dive days I had omelets, and they were good. The restaurant staff was very good. Mario enjoyed a local restaurant called Sabores, which is in the owner's home. In good weather you can sit in the backyard where Mario saw some big iguanas. My favorite place was Mosaicoz on a corner of the plaza. It was a great place to people-watch, and they had decent non-alcoholic piña coladas, guacamole, and French fries. We also enjoyed the No Name bar.
Diving
The diving, of course, was good. I got in 7 days of my planned 8 days, and missed only 3 dives because of El Norte.
Blue XT Sea was my dive op, and I enjoyed diving with guides Pedro (6 days) and Arturo (1 day). Hector provided conscientious, thoughtful support on the boat. Hector was always there to help me find the cummerbund on my BC and to keep me upright once I got back on the boat. I'm not young, and I'm not very strong, so I really appreciated the help. And it's nice when people help you but don't make you feel stupid or like you're a lot of trouble in the process.
I discovered during this trip that Coz may not be the best dive location for me. While there are many things about diving Coz that I enjoy - the swim throughs, the large dramatic coral formations - what I really love to do is take my time and hover in one place and observe the fish or other life on the reef. Drift diving doesn't usually allow for hanging out long in one spot, if at all. I like Mexico - it's in my budget, it's not a long flight, and I get to practice my Spanish - and I like diving off a boat, so I'll look into the diving from the mainland. Suggestions much appreciated!
Diving highlights
A "family" of seven lobsters at Palancar Horsrshoe. School of eleven barracuda at La Francesa. Night dive at Paradiso with lots of octopuses. Hanging out at Chankanaab Bolones looking at sea cucumbers and hermit crabs. Big black groupers at different sites. Hanging out watching a juvenile spotted drum all by myself on the wall at Palancar Caves. Diving with MikeQTX and his buddy Derek. Thanks for the video!
Lessons learned
If you're prone to fatigue, you may want to use the first full day to rest. If you haven't practiced shooting your SMB in several months, you may do something stupid like fasten your clip to your spool (instead of your BC) before you shoot your SMB! If you're used to diving shallow with oodles of no deco time, don't forget that when you're diving deeper you have to watch your computer! If you're tired, don't be embarrassed to sit out a dive or go over the top of the coral instead of through the swim throughs. If you're tired and don't do the swim throughs early in the week, don't be surprised if the dive guide thinks you don't like swim throughs and is surprised later in the week when you want to go to Palancar Caves. Just because you have the skills to do a thing, it doesn't mean you will enjoy doing it. If you want to see a specific kind of creature, just ask the dive guide. They're really good at finding things. All that money spent on dive gear was totally worth it!
Boutique dive op vs SCC - Some things may seem contradictory
I've only been to Coz twice. Last year I spent two weeks at SCC. Things I liked about the smaller op: diving with fewer people - there were many dives where we didn't see anyone else on the reef; surface intervals on the beach instead of on the boat; fresh fruit, baked goods (I didn't eat them but other divers really enjoyed them), water, fruit juice, and towels - SCC only provides water and juice; dive gear rinsing and storage - that has to be my top reason to dive with a boutique op - it's so convenient and really helps me conserve my energy.
Things I like about diving with SCC: toilets on the boats - I didn't think it would matter, but it does; because SCC is larger there's more flexibility; I actually liked the shore diving at SCC - I could have done some shore diving, but it seemed like too much of a hassle to collect all my gear and transport it and myself to a shore diving site; everyone staying at the same resort means that pick up and drop off points do not affect the selection of dive site; larger boats are slower but more comfortable, with fresh water rinse tanks and lots of room for prepping and storing gear - and I realized that I don't really care how long it takes to get to a dive site.
Miscl sightseeing
On my last full day in Coz, I couldn't dive because of El Norte. Mario and I had lunch at Mosaicoz and walked around aimlessly. Several times during our stay we had noticed the public buses, and we decided to get on one and ride around. The bus we took first went to Chedraui and then headed north and east (I think). We went through an interesting housing complex called Nueva Generación, filled with tiny identical houses that the residents had turned into their own with paint, decorations, patios, and even second stories. I had never seen anything like it before. In many ways it was like other Mexican neighborhoods with a combination of housing and commercial development, but here the tiendas were housed in the same tiny structures where people lived. Apparently it is a government development, and I'm guessing that the large new looking child care facility nearby is part of the same government program. We stayed on the bus past the airport and back to the area where we had boarded.
All in all, it was a very good trip, and I was glad that Mario went with me even though he doesn't dive. A few of my photos can be seen at Flickr: beiji99's Photostream
Travel
Flew from Syracuse to Philadelphia to Cancun without incident. Received cheap first class upgrades on the SYR to PHL segments which meant we did not have to pay for our checked bags. My gear bag was just over 50 pounds, but first class passengers are allowed bags weighing up to something like 70 pounds. Woo hoo!
We arrived at Cancun, terminal 3, breezed through immigration but got the red light at customs. Even though Mario got the red light they opened all of our bags and did a barely cursory inspection. What's the point? We would have had to have been carrying live sheep and pigs for them to have found anything contraband!
At last we made our way outside and bought tickets to the Playa bus. The ticket seller was another model of brisk efficiency. It seemed that each transaction took about 10 minutes. The bus pulled in, and we loaded up our not inconsiderable array of large and small bags only to be told that our tickets were for the next bus! Argument ensued, but driver allowed us to stay.
In Playa we wheeled our bags downhill to the ferry terminal only to find that we had just missed the 3:00 boat. A ferry employee directed us to drop off our bags in a roped off area. We wanted to sit down in the shade near the pier, so we got a table at Señor Frogs. They put us under the Hornymooners sign. We enjoyed watching the other patrons getting tequila shots and getting their bodies jiggled by the shot girl.
And then it was 5:00, and we were off to the island! From the top outside deck of the ferry we watched the sun set. I was glad of the fresh air because the water was a tiny bit rough, and I'm very prone to motion sickness. The Dramamine from the flight had worn off by this time.
When we arrived on Coz I misjudged the distance to the hotel, Casa Mexicana, and hired a bicycle to take us there. He took off, and we half-walked and half-jogged in a futile attempt to keep up. When we arrived at CM, a bellman was already taking our bags upstairs. The escalator was on! We tipped the bicycle guy and headed up to the lobby. We had no problems checking in, even though I had forgotten to print out the Orbitz confirmation. I had the doc on my iPhone and was able to give the clerk the confirmation number.
Why is it that I can remember all these insignificant details about planes, boats, and ferries, but I can remember very few details of individual dives?
The hotel
We were very happy with Casa Mexicana. The escalator was on except during rain or high wind. One time when I was carrying a lot of stuff and it wasn't on, I said "Ayudame" (help me) from the bottom, and they turned it on for me. Another time a bellman came down and helped me carry my stuff up. For the first four nights we were in room 304, oceanfront but with a slightly removed feeling because of the tunnel effect. On Saturday morning I asked if there would be any rooms on the 5th (top) floor available that day. They told me there would be and that we could move. Yippee! We packed our bags, and Saturday afternoon the staff moved them to room 503. We made sure to leave a tip in the old room, and we tracked down the employee who moved our bags and tipped him too. The view from the new room was really wonderful. Although the balcony didn't have the privacy those on lower floors do, the glorious view makes up for it. And if you're inside the room, toward the back, you can leave the curtains open and have privacy in the room and a nice view out.
Housekeeping was excellent, and I liked having the hotel-supplied bathrobe to use. It would be nice if they had something on the balcony from which you could hang wet dive gear, but I managed between the balcony railings and hanging my dive accessory hanger from the metal slatted covering over the balcony. I didn't have that much stuff to dry since my dive op took care of everything except my wetsuit.
The lobby area is very pleasant, and there were usually divers hanging out chatting. I met several very nice people, and one total jerk who was pretty amusing in his total jerkiness. I was talking to a charming couple from Brooklyn, and this guy comes up to us and starts telling us about his dive op, about how great they are and he should know because he's a Coz expert having been diving there for 20 years, and he's also an expert diver having been a Navy diver for five years, and did he mention that he was also a doctor (of chiropractic) and had saved a guy's life that day when he had almost drowned (diving with this highly recommended company). It was so outrageous that it was funny.
Food
We had breakfast each day at CM, but on dive days, I only ate a few slices of melon. On my non-dive days I had omelets, and they were good. The restaurant staff was very good. Mario enjoyed a local restaurant called Sabores, which is in the owner's home. In good weather you can sit in the backyard where Mario saw some big iguanas. My favorite place was Mosaicoz on a corner of the plaza. It was a great place to people-watch, and they had decent non-alcoholic piña coladas, guacamole, and French fries. We also enjoyed the No Name bar.
Diving
The diving, of course, was good. I got in 7 days of my planned 8 days, and missed only 3 dives because of El Norte.
Blue XT Sea was my dive op, and I enjoyed diving with guides Pedro (6 days) and Arturo (1 day). Hector provided conscientious, thoughtful support on the boat. Hector was always there to help me find the cummerbund on my BC and to keep me upright once I got back on the boat. I'm not young, and I'm not very strong, so I really appreciated the help. And it's nice when people help you but don't make you feel stupid or like you're a lot of trouble in the process.
I discovered during this trip that Coz may not be the best dive location for me. While there are many things about diving Coz that I enjoy - the swim throughs, the large dramatic coral formations - what I really love to do is take my time and hover in one place and observe the fish or other life on the reef. Drift diving doesn't usually allow for hanging out long in one spot, if at all. I like Mexico - it's in my budget, it's not a long flight, and I get to practice my Spanish - and I like diving off a boat, so I'll look into the diving from the mainland. Suggestions much appreciated!
Diving highlights
A "family" of seven lobsters at Palancar Horsrshoe. School of eleven barracuda at La Francesa. Night dive at Paradiso with lots of octopuses. Hanging out at Chankanaab Bolones looking at sea cucumbers and hermit crabs. Big black groupers at different sites. Hanging out watching a juvenile spotted drum all by myself on the wall at Palancar Caves. Diving with MikeQTX and his buddy Derek. Thanks for the video!
Lessons learned
If you're prone to fatigue, you may want to use the first full day to rest. If you haven't practiced shooting your SMB in several months, you may do something stupid like fasten your clip to your spool (instead of your BC) before you shoot your SMB! If you're used to diving shallow with oodles of no deco time, don't forget that when you're diving deeper you have to watch your computer! If you're tired, don't be embarrassed to sit out a dive or go over the top of the coral instead of through the swim throughs. If you're tired and don't do the swim throughs early in the week, don't be surprised if the dive guide thinks you don't like swim throughs and is surprised later in the week when you want to go to Palancar Caves. Just because you have the skills to do a thing, it doesn't mean you will enjoy doing it. If you want to see a specific kind of creature, just ask the dive guide. They're really good at finding things. All that money spent on dive gear was totally worth it!
Boutique dive op vs SCC - Some things may seem contradictory
I've only been to Coz twice. Last year I spent two weeks at SCC. Things I liked about the smaller op: diving with fewer people - there were many dives where we didn't see anyone else on the reef; surface intervals on the beach instead of on the boat; fresh fruit, baked goods (I didn't eat them but other divers really enjoyed them), water, fruit juice, and towels - SCC only provides water and juice; dive gear rinsing and storage - that has to be my top reason to dive with a boutique op - it's so convenient and really helps me conserve my energy.
Things I like about diving with SCC: toilets on the boats - I didn't think it would matter, but it does; because SCC is larger there's more flexibility; I actually liked the shore diving at SCC - I could have done some shore diving, but it seemed like too much of a hassle to collect all my gear and transport it and myself to a shore diving site; everyone staying at the same resort means that pick up and drop off points do not affect the selection of dive site; larger boats are slower but more comfortable, with fresh water rinse tanks and lots of room for prepping and storing gear - and I realized that I don't really care how long it takes to get to a dive site.
Miscl sightseeing
On my last full day in Coz, I couldn't dive because of El Norte. Mario and I had lunch at Mosaicoz and walked around aimlessly. Several times during our stay we had noticed the public buses, and we decided to get on one and ride around. The bus we took first went to Chedraui and then headed north and east (I think). We went through an interesting housing complex called Nueva Generación, filled with tiny identical houses that the residents had turned into their own with paint, decorations, patios, and even second stories. I had never seen anything like it before. In many ways it was like other Mexican neighborhoods with a combination of housing and commercial development, but here the tiendas were housed in the same tiny structures where people lived. Apparently it is a government development, and I'm guessing that the large new looking child care facility nearby is part of the same government program. We stayed on the bus past the airport and back to the area where we had boarded.
All in all, it was a very good trip, and I was glad that Mario went with me even though he doesn't dive. A few of my photos can be seen at Flickr: beiji99's Photostream
, and not feeling confined to the resort. I stayed at Suites Bahia, a sister hotel, and the breakfast at Casa Mex. was part of my package, and it was great. Loved diving with Pablo and Hector, hope to do it again soon.
