Cozumel

Date: November 20, 1996 - - November 24, 1996
Airline: Continental - - Austin, TX to Houston, TX,
Continental - - Houston, TX to Cozumel, Mexico
Hotel: Plaza Las Glorias
Dive Operator: Aqua Safari
Travel Agency: Island Dreams

Welcome to Cozumel. The plane lands on the runway and then turns around and taxis back to the terminal on the same strip. A short trip down the stairs and accross the tarmack and we're in the terminal. Next stop, the Mexican lotto, a trip through Customs. A unique experience for the first time. Passage through Customs is regulated by a green/red traffic light. Below the light is a big red button. Push the button and the light randomly turns green or red. Green and you get to go on your way, Red and you get to dump your possessions on a table and have them searched. You guessed it, both me and my dive buddy hit the red. After a slight delay, we were on our way to the hotel.

Another short trip from the airport to the hotel via a Suburban taxi. Eight passengers, including dive gear and drivers, all crammed into one trip.

We stayed at the Plaza las Glorias. Nice hotel, clean and well kept. Our main reason for choosing this hotel was the price of the dive package but we weren't disappointed in the hotel. It's in walking distance of town. Due to the time of year, the hotel and town (San Miguel) weren't crowded. We had our run of the place. There were only two draw backs. The water had a nice tea coloring straight out of the faucet. Our nightly trip into town took us past the local national guard building including heavily armed guards lurking in the dark. Accross from the national guard is a sewage treatment facility, quite an aroma on your way to dinner.

Soon after unpacking our bags, we headed to the dive shop ( Aqua Safari ) located in the hotel and checked in. Our first dive was only minutes away. This was our check out dive. None of our group of five had ever dove in saltwater and all of my gear was new. We wanted to adjust our weights since saltwater is more bouyant than fresh. The dive, a few steps from the hotel off the pier, was a great experience for someone who was accustomed to diving in water that more resembled pea soup at times than water. The shore dropped off 15-20 feet straight to a sandy bottom. Although there isn't a reef located near the pier, there are several man made structures which do support sea life. A point of interest are a couple of sunken cannons. Watch out for the sea urchins. They cover most of the rocky shore wall.

After heading back to the rooms and hanging our gear out to dry, we headed to town for dinner. One of our favorite places to go was La Mission restaurant. We had found several recommendations on our local scuba news group for this restuarant. After trying the restuarant one time we, decided to come back again. We tried a few other places but this one is our favorite.

The first day of diving began early. We ate breakfast at the hotel and met the dive boat promptly at 8:30 am on the hotel's dock. Aqua Safari has three large boats, Ocean I, II, & III. All of our trips were on OCEAN III. The number of passengers range from 12 to 16, although the boat could have held many more divers. We boarded the vessel then immediately began to rig our gear ( BC & reg). Each day, the schedule was the same. The trip out took about an hour to our first dive location. The dive master would give us a dive profile and then we would head off into the deep. The first dive was always the deepest and the farthest away from the hotel. This dive maxed out between 80 and 90 feet and lasted around 30 minutes. An hour of surface time between the first and second dive passed quickly. Time was spent changing tanks and discussing the last dive. Drinks (sodas) were always provided and accompanied by pasteries and fresh fruit (bannanas). On occassion, we would have the opportunity to swim or snorkle in the shallows.

The second dive ranged from 60 to 70 feet and lasted around 40 minutes. After this dive the boat would return all of the passengers back to the hotels after 1pm. If you choose to take the third dive of the day, the boat would return and pick you up between 2:00 and 2:30pm.

The third dive is always at the same location, Paradise Reef. This is a very short trip from our hotel. The dive last 45 minutes and ranges around 40 feet. A casual drift over the reef. This was our favorite reef for the quantity and quality of sea life. The reef is not as spectacular as the deeper dives but the sea life more than compensated. Back to the hotel by 4:30pm.

All of our diving took place off of the south-west shore of the island. We were never more than a few hundred yards from the shore at any time. The majority of the diving included drifting along the reef. The deeper dives either ran along a wall or wonder around towering coral reefs. Some of the reefs stand three stories high. On one trip, the dive instructor had us swim through a "tunnel" in the coral. This is not a real tunnel per say but usually a passage where two huge coral formations had grown together above and left a hole on the bottom side.

We saw a good variety of sea life including parrot fish, barracuda, angelfish, squirrelfish, snapper, grouper, grunt, tangs, butterflyfish, filefish, damsels, and spotted drums. There were several eels along the way including one Moray which swam through the middle of our group. Our night dive had its a distinct variety of sea life also, octopus, lobster (no claws in warm water), and flounder.

The Last Day. Our group had a half a day to kill before our plane left for home. Since we could not dive within 24 hours of flying, we decide to drive around to the south end of the island to the east side. The day before our group had sat through a gruling two hour sales pitch on time shares. If any one ask you to go to one of these, run for your life. The free food and other benefits are not worth the aggravation. Two of our friends had to get very upset before they were allowed to leave without signing a contract. One of the prizes for going to this sales pitch was a $5 car rental - something the locals refer to as a Mexican Ferrari - which is really a VW bug. We took our VW for a trip around the island, mainly to do some beach combing. On the way back, just a couple of hours before we were due to leave, the car died while cruising down the road. Needless to say, we were very concerned about missing our flight. We pulled off the road and let the car cool down for a couple of minutes. Luckily the car started right away. We headed straight back to town and never stopped until we returned the car to the rental place (which was no more than a desk underneath a stairwell on the side of a building.) We managed to get around with only one little mishap when the driver was told by the navigator to turn down a one way street. The driver quickly turned around and we were safely on our way.

The Trip Home. We were not as fortunate on our flight home as the flight to Cozumel. When we got to the airport and checked in, the desk clerk announced the plane had not even left Houston yet and it would be several more hours before it would arrive. The delay was due to a sever cold front moving through Texas. When we arrive in Houston, we were delayed again for another couple of hours for the trip to Austin. We had left our 80+ degree weather in shorts and T-shirts and returned to freezing sleet and snow in Texas. What a change, 50+ degrees lower. We finally made it home at mid night, worn out from our travels.


Our group pitched in together to purchase a video made during our first day of diving. Dream Island Productions provided a professional finish to the video. If you are new to diving, the video will be a real treasure. There are several shots of our group diving and ample video of the sea life.


Daily Dive Log

Water Temp - 80+
Dive Log No. 7-16 First saltwater dives.
Computer Dives

November 20, 1996
Dive Location: Plaza las Glorias (37mn@24ft) Checkout

November 21, 1996
Dive Location: Columbia Reef (30m@86ft)
Dive Location: Punta Tunich Reef (40@69)
Dive Location: Paradise Reef (44@46)

November 22, 1996
Dive Location: Palancar - Horseshoe Reef (34mn@84ft)
Dive Location: San Francisco Reef (42@66)
Dive Location: Paradise Reef (44@41)
Dive Location: Plaza las Glorias (47@20) - night dive

November 23, 1996
Dive Location: Palancar Breaks (31mn@85ft)
Dive Location: Tormentos Reef (41@61)