Which resort in Cozumel has good shore diving?

[idocsteve]

I was in Cozumel on a group diving trip back in 2006...since that time that massive hurricaine ripped through there and took out a lot of good shore diving sites.

At the time, me and my buddy hopped in at the resort where that plane is located just offshore..I forget the name and I wonder if the airplane is still there or if it was ripped apart. Anyway they rent tanks and weights right there. We swam out to the plane, then drift dived along the shore planning to get out at Hotel Cozumel where we were staying.

We only made it about 2/3 of the way before our gas supplies were low enough to be of concern. In retrospect I suppose we could have snorkeled the rest of the way, it was shallow enough..I don't recall why we didn't consider it..maybe we didn't have snorkels or we were concerned about boat traffic..we drifted past several marinas...but we exited at the shore and walked up to the road and were picked up within minutes by a passing cabbie who didn't even bat an eye at our wet dive gear.

He brought us back to the place where we rented the gear, we dropped it off and then caught the cab ride back to the hotel.

 

[rromero2]

I was in Cozumel on a group diving trip back in 2006...since that time that massive hurricaine ripped through there and took out a lot of good shore diving sites.

At the time, me and my buddy hopped in at the resort where that plane is located just offshore..I forget the name and I wonder if the airplane is still there or if it was ripped apart. Anyway they rent tanks and weights right there. We swam out to the plane, then drift dived along the shore planning to get out at Hotel Cozumel where we were staying.

We only made it about 2/3 of the way before our gas supplies were low enough to be of concern. In retrospect I suppose we could have snorkeled the rest of the way, it was shallow enough..I don't recall why we didn't consider it..maybe we didn't have snorkels or we were concerned about boat traffic..we drifted past several marinas...but we exited at the shore and walked up to the road and were picked up within minutes by a passing cabbie who didn't even bat an eye at our wet dive gear.

He brought us back to the place where we rented the gear, we dropped it off and then caught the cab ride back to the hotel.

The place you are talking about is El Cid Resort - La Cieba, we go to this resort often, next time in March. The resort has a dive shop and if you are diving with them, the shore dives are free. The airplane is still there, at least what's left of it, and the last time we dove it, in Oct 2009, it had lots of life.

Great shore dive in front of the resort, lots of rocks and life form. We use the shore dive to get ready for our week long diving or if we still need to get wet. Night dive is also great in front of the resort. Afterward, you can relax in the man made beach area in front of the water. Hope this helped.

Less than two months until Dive Time.

 

[lespaulsf]

To clarify, the shore dives discussed above, and most any shore dive along hotel row on the west side of Cozumel, will be mostly rubble and ironshore, not reefs. That doesn't mean shore dives here are not fun. We did shore dives daily and nightly out of Scuba Club and had a great time with it. There are plenty of interesting fish, crabs, starfish, octopus and other organisms living in/on/around the rubble.

A fun thing was to suit up, catch a cab, and go a little south of Scuba Club near the little lighthouse, enter here and navigate back to Scuba Club. Plenty to look at and plenty of air time at 20-25fsw to get back safely. A fun exercise to do daytime then again at night. It's an amazing change.

If you want a pretty shore dive with reefs, go to Bonaire. But you can still have fun on shore dives in Cozumel.

How hard was it to get a cab with all of your gear, did you put it in the taxi trunk? So how do you known when to get out of the water. are there signs in the water that say which resort your currently at? Sounds like a blast.

 

[lespaulsf]

We did a number of night shore dives off of Blue Angel resort when we were there in September last year. While this is indeed no reef and mostly sand and rubble, there was quite a bit of very interesting marine life, such as octopus, squids, eels feeding etc.... It was a lot of fun. While it is a shore dive, there is still quite a bit of current so one has to be mindful of it (no boat is following you, start the dive against the current).

Hmm we are new divers with only 10-20 dives. Is it safe for new divers in the current, or could we just go down a little ways and then get out when we reach our resort? We are planning on saying at Hotel Cozumel.

 

[lespaulsf]

we exited at the shore and walked up to the road and were picked up within minutes by a passing cabbie who didn't even bat an eye at our wet dive gear.

He brought us back to the place where we rented the gear, we dropped it off and then caught the cab ride back to the hotel.

Do you remember how much the cab ride was? How did you pay if you didn;'t have any money with you?

The place you are talking about is El Cid Resort - La Cieba, we go to this resort often, next time in March. The resort has a dive shop and if you are diving with them, the shore dives are free. The airplane is still there, at least what's left of it, and the last time we dove it, in Oct 2009, it had lots of life.

Great shore dive in front of the resort, lots of rocks and life form. We use the shore dive to get ready for our week long diving or if we still need to get wet. Night dive is also great in front of the resort. Afterward, you can relax in the man made beach area in front of the water. Hope this helped.

Less than two months until Dive Time.

Cool I will have to check it out.

 

[Willar]

The taxi drivers are used to divers so it wasn't difficult to get a cab. We put BC with tank and fins in the back and wore everything else.

We spent enough time diving around Scuba Club and Hotel Cozumel pier next door the first 2 days to recognize it as our exit point when we did the dive. We made sure to make a mental picture so we knew when we reached our exit area. There is enough boat traffic that you don't want to play turtle and pop your head up every few minutes. Just take a compass bearing when you go in, check the current to make sure it's moving in the right direction, keep a constant depth (I think we stayed at 25fsw), and look for your visual markers to recognize your exit point.

We did an early sunset entrance one evening then came back for a later night dive the next night. The later night dive was my favorite. There were lots of cool sealife out. I got followed by a large school of squid for quite some time. Saw a couple of octopus and plenty of small stuff. Be sure to have a tank marker light, a good primary and a good backup torch. There's no boat following you to pickup if your light fails. Stay close to your buddy, check your depth and heading frequently.

Just be sure to bring enough extra cash that if you go too far you can climb out at any hotel and catch a cab home. Don't push it too far out, with a strong current you might end up in Cuba!

 

[idocsteve]

Do you remember how much the cab ride was? How did you pay if you didn;'t have any money with you?
Cool I will have to check it out.

The cab ride was only a few dollars, we're talking a few minute cab ride.

I carry one of those waterproof sealable pouches that I keep in my BCD during shore dives..in this case to hold my C card which was needed for the tanks, and to pay for the rental of tanks and weights.

 

[Chocoholic]

I just watched for the exit point and visual markers that my exit was coming up.

BTW pesos are waterproof, so no problems there.

 

[Christi]

I was in Cozumel on a group diving trip back in 2006...since that time that massive hurricaine ripped through there and took out a lot of good shore diving sites.

At the time, me and my buddy hopped in at the resort where that plane is located just offshore..I forget the name and I wonder if the airplane is still there or if it was ripped apart. Anyway they rent tanks and weights right there. We swam out to the plane, then drift dived along the shore planning to get out at Hotel Cozumel where we were staying.

We only made it about 2/3 of the way before our gas supplies were low enough to be of concern. In retrospect I suppose we could have snorkeled the rest of the way, it was shallow enough..I don't recall why we didn't consider it..maybe we didn't have snorkels or we were concerned about boat traffic..we drifted past several marinas...but we exited at the shore and walked up to the road and were picked up within minutes by a passing cabbie who didn't even bat an eye at our wet dive gear.

He brought us back to the place where we rented the gear, we dropped it off and then caught the cab ride back to the hotel.

Actually, that big massive hurricane you are referring to was Wilma, and it was in Oct. 2005 - before your trip. We haven't had another hurricane since - thank you God.

You couldn't have drifted past any marinas as there are no marinas between La Ceiba and Hotel Cozumel. In fact, there are only two on the island : The Caleta which is south of where you entered and Puerto Abrigo which is several miles north of Hotel Cozumel.

 

[idocsteve]

You couldn't have drifted past any marinas as there are no marinas between La Ceiba and Hotel Cozumel. In fact, there are only two on the island : The Caleta which is south of where you entered and Puerto Abrigo which is several miles north of Hotel Cozumel.

I thought there were a couple of areas we drifted through that seemed to have the likelihood of boat traffic but yeah it was 3 years ago and my memory isn't all that good.

We only made it about half the distance between those two locations before we called the dive and headed into shore.