Cozumel
A Weekend Trip
Date: July 16, 1999 - - July 19, 1999
Airline: Allegro Airlines - - Austin, Texas to San Miguel, Cozumel
($350 w/ hotel)
Hotel: Sun Village of San Miguel
Dive Operator: Aqua Safari, Equalizers of Cozumel ($145
and $35)
Trip Agency: Oak Hill Scuba and Adventure Tours
Car Rental: Geo Tracker ($75)
Weather: Hot 95 degrees, Scattered Showers
The theme of this trip should either be "Quick and Dirty" or "You get what you pay for!" After 6 months not having a day off, I jumped at the first chance I saw at taking a trip. This was a quick one. I felt like I was on the run the whole time, from the time I left the airport till the time I got back.
The airline Allegro is your typical charter airline. We flew a 727, non stop to Cozumel. The flight was packed from front to back. The seats on the plane being typical charter seats, were thin and lacked leg room. On the brighter side, the flights to and from Cozumel were on time. The weather cooperated with us on the way down but a depression in the Gulf of Mexico made 30 minutes of the return trip a bit bumpy. Overall, the airline did a very good job and we made it to and from Cozumel without any problems including getting there and back with all of our luggage!
The hotel, Sun Village of San Miguel (formally known as xxxxxx) is located in downtown San Miguel just off of the plaza. Great location for those who wish to be close to action. My room (#325) on the corner of the third floor on the back side of the three story hotel was just adequate. The room was kept clean and there were no pesky critters crawling around. The room evidently was not designed for divers. It lacked a balcony or any other place to stow my scuba gear. The walls appeared to be recently painted although multiple cracks in the stucco could be found on every wall and the ceiling. The room was cooled by a small window unit which was mounted to what I'm not sure. A crack in the stucco above the A/C unit made you wonder if it might fall out at any minute. Despite all of this, the room stayed very cool. The white floor was tiled, which is a standard for any hotel which divers frequent. A couple small pictures decorated the pinkish walls, one of which had the glass cracked in several places. The beds were old and worn but had somewhat clean sheets.
The hallways though enclosed are not air conditioned as well as the lobby. There is an elevator that holds about three people or two with gear. With no A/C, the stairs turned out to be the better route to take. The hotel being located off of the plaza was surrounded by bars. One of which, (Fat Tuesday's), never closed or it seemed that way. Fat Tuesday's is an outside bar with loud speakers and was located directly below my room. It rocked hard most of the night. This is an "adequate" hotel. Most of the time, I was diving so the only time I spent here was a few hours sleeping. It is bearable but definitely not on the luxurious list, but for around $27 a night, I got what I expected. The only problem I ran into was when the shower head broke off one morning. I laid it on the sink and it was replaced that evening even though I never reported it to the front desk. Other than lack of hot water the first day, every thing else was fine.
The food was enjoyable as always. My favorite restaurant turned out to be very reliable. La Mission, just a block or two from the plaza, serves excellent food. In addition, the food preparation is also something interesting to see as well. The lights were turned down a couple times as the waiters prepared these blue flaming drinks. There was also one chef who prepared a blue flaming spiral. Not sure which dish the chef was preparing but it was interesting to see. The atmosphere was very pleasant with a blind piano player gently stroking the keys off in one corner. Definitely a place to return to again.
A little experimentation led me to a couple new places, Guido's and La Ola. Guido's, Italian of course, sits just off the shore north of the plaza. The restaurant has an interior courtyard with large flowering trees, excellent atmosphere. The food here was very good, a definite place to go for those who have the urge to taste a little pasta. A friend told us about La Ola. The restaurant is owned by a local Austinite and the lady (Teresa) who manages it, was once the manager of a local Chinese restaurant in Austin for many years. I experienced their Chicken Mole and it turned out to be delicious. This restaurant was a couple blocks off of the plaza and there were very few people, possibly due to its location or lack of notoriety.
Of course, there had to be at least one trip to the more traditional tourists trap Hard Rock Cafe. If you are in the mood for a good old American dish, such as a hamburger and fries, then this is your place. Located directly across from the pier on the corner of the plaza, this cafe catches tourist right off the ferries. One thing I learned this trip, traveling with a vegan and a vegetarian, if you're one of "those" people it was easy to find a restaurant which catered to at least a couple dishes which would satisfy their picky appetites. All four of the above restaurants accomodated my dive buddies.
The dive operators we choose turned out to be as different as night and day. The first dive operator Equalizers of Cozumel, selected as a recommendation of the local scuba shop, took us on our first dive. This was a small shop with small boats or at least ours was. We were in a hurry since we had arrived just a couple hours before. The boat wasn't crowded which was good, since there wasn't much room. It was difficult to board and leave the the boat since the dock was several feet higher than the boat. The power train was a pair of Yamaha outboards, one of which knocked seriously as if the motor was trying to throw a rod through the housing at any moment. The dive was suppose to a night dive but turned out to be more of a dusk to night dive on Paradise Reef. It was good to be in the water again, but I've been on better dives. Due to our lack of confidence, we changed to Aqua Safari for the rest of our dives.
Aqua Safari has both large and small boats. We selected one of the larger boats, Ocean III. Some people prefer the small boats since they reach the dive sites faster and get you back to the hotel sooner. The pace on the larger boat is something to consider. You have more time to get your gear together and then relax on the sun deck. Also the ride tends to be smoother and if it rains, there is shelter in the cabin earlier. I only recognized one of the dive masters from a trip I took three years ago. Aqua Safari provided excellent service on every dive.
The trip began with the flight arriving around 4pm and followed with a dash from the airport to the hotel. We had barely enough time to check into the hotel, sort out our gear and run down to the local dive shop. The first dive, a night dive at dusk, turned out to be more humorous than anything else. Though my dive buddies had been certified for 10 years, one had not dove in many years and had all new gear. We left from a small boat dock a block south of the main ferry pier. The first step in the boat (about a four foot drop) was a tricky one with the boat bobbing around. We headed out and in just a couple minutes we were at Paradise Reef. We entered the water via a backwards roll. Hadn't done that one since my certification. Upon our descent, I noticed one of my dive buddies floating at the top, so I returned to the surface. Turns out, it's pretty hard to sink without your weight belt. After a few ridicules and a helping hand from the boat we descended to the depths of 35-40 feet. Wasn't long after we began, my dive buddy with the new gear notices how fast the air disappearing from the tank. After 20 minutes, I still had 2000 pounds and while my buddy's gage was already in the red zone. So we headed for the surface and watched as the rest of the crew hovered below. I wore my Lycra skin and the water was comfortable but both my dive buddies who only wore T-shirts complained about being cold. The current was moving fast enough to help accelerate the heat dispersion process of our bodies. I didn't get to see much, but I do remember one large lobster caught out of the coral by our search lights.
A quick trip back and we were at the hotel. Nothing like walking into a cold room, soaking wet, followed by a cold shower. After a bite to eat, we began trying to fix the "new" equipment. Blindly replacing o-rings, we attempted to repair the air leak without really knowing where it actually was.
The next morning came early, (well early for me, especially since the music from Fat Tuesday's kept me up most of the night). We had to be at the Aqua Safari dive shop to register before we went diving. This was around 7:30 am. We made it easily since the shop is only a 10 minute walk from the hotel and their boat dock is directly across the street. The boat was on time as usual. Being in town, meant being the first on the boat and we were able to choose our favorite seats, the closest to the back, since these are the first to hit the water. After a couple stops to pickup a few more divers, the boat headed out to Palancar Horseshoe.
The first dive which is always the deepest, went down to 80 feet. This was my second trip to this site. The coral formations tower three stories high. You don't see a whole lot of marine life at this depth but the coral formations are splendid. I thought we were going to have trouble with one of the other divers. My dive buddy fondly referred to this diver as Moby number one. An older couple, of which the woman was quite large, complained about going so deep, stating the fact there was little marine life and your bottom time was decreased greatly. The dive master quickly dispensed of the moaning and we were off.
The first agenda, was to check my dive buddy's gear for leaks. I didn't notice any air leaking from any of the o-rings but after watching my buddy's swimming habits, I did notice one problem. My dive buddy's right hand kept hitting the octopus and each time a large amount of air free-flowed since the octopus holder positioned the device upside down in the water. We removed the octopus from the holder and the problem went away. After that, my buddy's air consumption decreased greatly. We are still not sure if this was the only problem or possibly a combination of a leaky tank, the octopus and/or a leaky o-ring. But none the least, the problem was gone.
The dive was a pleasant trip, wondering from one coral head to another. A nice peaceful start to the day. Once back on the boat, we changed out our tanks and began our short voyage to our second dive location, Tormentos. Between the first and second dives there is always a period of off gassing. This lasts for an hour. Time to drink a coke and eat some of the pastries the dive operation provides.
Tormentos is a flat reef much shallower than Palancar. The current is a little stronger here, but the amount of marine life increases drastically. I was fortunate to see one of the largest crabs peeking out from under a small clump of coral. This crab was one and a half feet wide with claws at least 8-10 inches, a very rare sight. Tormentos is probably one of the best dives of the trip.
After the second dive, the boat returns to the dock around 12:30 noon. This allows those who don't want to make the third dive, to get off and it allows the boat to replenish the air tanks. The boat heads out again around 2:30pm for Paradise Reef.
Paradise is always the afternoon dive. The depth is only 40 feet and the reef is very flat. You get more bottom time and get to see an abundance of fish. This trip was not an exception. The current move you along the bottom and all you have to do is watch. Though it is a little difficult to stop and watch a particular item.
We arrived back at the hotel around 4:30 pm, just enough time to relax a bit and have a snack before heading out for the night dive at 7pm. The night dive, like the afternoon dive, is located at the Paradise Reef. This dive turned out to be the one to remember. We saw more octopi than I have ever heard of on one dive. Over eight octopi in addition to several eels, a couple lobsters and a huge hermit crab in a conch shell. There were many different dive groups floating around. From side to side, a sea of miniature search lights scanned the bottom looking for marine life scurrying off into the darkness. I hated for the dive to end but I had switched to a T-shirt for diving and the coolness of the water was beginning to take its toll on me and my buddies. We surfaced in the middle of three boats. None of which were ours. After a short wait, our boat swung around and picked us up. Some how we gained an two extra divers. After dropping the lost divers off on their boat, we headed back.
Sunday morning was a replay of Saturday. The dive boat left at
8am and we headed south again, but this time to Palancar Canyons.
On our way out, we picked up the second of the two Mobies.
This person required several of the deck hands to assist in boarding on
to the boat. After we arrived at the dive site, the deck hands and
dive masters had to assist Moby 2 to get dressed. After dawning enough
weight to sink the Titanic, they placed the diver on the rear of the boat.
Mean while, the captain is attempting to position the boat over
the reef. This led to the diver, who is hanging off the back of the
boat, to start a panic and shouting "why is the boat moving..."
If they had dropped the diver, the weight would have been too much without
a BC or other floatation device. As soon as we were in position,
we bailed out the other side of the boat while they finished dressing Moby
2. The boat carried a full capacity of passengers and was rather
crowded.
This dive was great if you like swim throughs. These are little caves the coral formations have created by multiple formations growing together at the top but open at the bottom. Not a place for the beginner divers who tend to bang into the reef and stir up the silt. Since there were so many in our group, we decided to swim over and let the others bang around below. Again, this is a wonderful dive if you love to see these towering coral formations.
Another hour of off gassing and we were off to our final dive at Las Palomas. The current was really ripping here. Not a lot of time to look around, every thing was flying by. We covered a lot of ground quick and it took the boat 3 stops to pick us all up when the dive was over. The reef was flat and sparse. There was a couple who saw a nurse shark but other than that it was just a blur of coral from beginning to end.
The rest of Sunday was reserved for sight seeing, and souvenirs. The "no fly within 24 hours of diving" rule always gives us some time to kill the last day. We decided to rent a car and head for the other side of the island to see the ruins or the light house. Being Sunday and late, the ruins were all closed to tourist. We decided to try and drive to the light house, but we missed the road on our first attempt. There's a little sandy road which leads to the light house. You would never imagine it went any where. The road is barely wide enough for car to fit. The vegetation is not very tall, 10-15 feet, but extremely dense, a combination of trees and palms. Unfortunately the entrance to the road is not marked. The road, mostly tire ruts and rocks, is not for the light hearted and definitely not for a two wheel drive vehicle. I enjoyed this immensely though my buddies appeared not to share the sentiment. Getting close to dark, we almost got stuck and decided to turn around and call it quits while we were ahead and before the bugs packed us off. I guess the light house will have to wait until another day...
Over all, the trip was very good. It seemed as if we ran from
place to place the entire trip just to get in 7 dives but it was worth
it. The weather cooperated, especially since it had rained most of
the week before and there were several rain showers around us but we always
seemed to just miss it. Being in town, was very convienent but the early
morning smells were definitely something I don't remember from the first
trip. Hopefully I'll be back this fall for a longer, more casual stay in
some new location...
Daily Dive Log
Water Temp: 80+
Dive Log No. 37-43
July 16, 1999
Dive Location: Paradise Reef - Night dive
(40mn@37ft)
July 17, 1999
Dive Location: Palancar - Horseshoe Reef
(38mn@84ft)
Dive Location: Tormentos Reef (45@50)
Dive Location: Paradise Reef (47@39)
Dive Location: Paradise Reef - Night Dive (45@42)
July 18, 1999
Dive Location: Palancar - Caves (32mn@79ft)
Dive Location: Los Palomas (35@56)
