Cozumel, August 2006

by Ian Gould

I am a Sports Diver with 82 dives under my belt. Thanks to Dave and Phil, 'club instructor's, I am doing a bit of dive leading as well. I learned to dive at a PADI school in Taba Egypt , Simon, our instructor was very competent and passionate about his diving. In fact, for those Sharm and Hurghada fans, I recommend Taba as a good alternative.

So why Cozumel. Well having tried Taba twice, Koa Toa once and then there’s Tenerife and well, being 50 years young , I thought I needed a bit of ‘wow.’

Oops, I forgot to mention the ‘Rezza’ and home of Dudley Dolphins and of course Dave and Terry the two greatest dive buddies in the world. Please visit us Here

Anyway, I digress! Having read the BASC trip reports and asking the Introductions Forum for suggestions, I 'emailed 'Simon' who rated the island as having some of the best reef diving in the world. Great tip Simon.

Beware, July to October is low season and it can be very wet and a little windy to say the least.

However, there are loads of reasonably priced accommodation and flights to choose from. High season starts around October and goes through till April/ May. Temperatures are constant, wind, rain or shine, 30s and very humid and hot. Sunscreen is a must and try and keep in the shade mid day.

In the two weeks we were there, it only rained twice. I accept we were lucky . We, I hear you cry! Yes, there were two of us, a very loving and patient non diver at that. The deal was, I dived for five days, every other day and we spent a day on the beach in between and then there was the bike!!!!!

Getting anywhere these days, flights that is, must start on the Internet. Lets you, get ideas about availability and prices and often the vast difference between operators on the same flight.

You can fly direct from Manchester. Unfortunately, we flew with MONARCH and I’m afraid that’s another story which I wont bore you with, lets say we are waiting for a bit of compo.

We were advised to take American dollars and traveler cheques and also pesos, this is probably a good idea. Some restaurants prefer you to pay in dollars whilst others are happy to take pesos. However, you do need pesos around the smaller shops and to keep you stocked up with bottled water, which was about 50p for one litre and you do drink gallons of the stuff.

Flights delays meant we missed the last bus, Ahhhh!!! and to avoid missing, yes you’ve guessed it the last boat from Playa del Carmen we had to get a taxi, this can be expensive about £30 from Cancun to Playa del Carmen. However, if you look on the Cozumel web site, Here it gives you all the bus timetables and the last one leaves at about 8.45pm and it takes about 1 hour. It costs £7.00 single per adult Fortunately we were able to share a Dorma van for about £20.

Playa Del Carmen is a buzzling resort , that is, on the only day we actually went back to visit, and to be honest, for us it was long enough. However, if you want to tour the mainland for days out and see the Aztec temples, then this is the place to start from. A ferry departs Cozumel daily at 7 am.

Buses leave in every direction ,just take your pick. The ferry is thee mins walk from the bus station. Worthwhile, getting your bearings at the bus station, if you want to tour the mainland. It costs about £8 on the ferry per person each way. It takes 45 mins and hold on to your hats.

We arrived at 12.30pm and after a very long day we jumped in a taxi and asked for Flamingo and within 3 min we were there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Subsequently, to find, it was just down the road. Hotel Flamingo is 3 blocks (10 mins) from the Ferry. OK, it's got no pool, but we found the staff very friendly and Ivan behind the bar, will give you helpful tips of where to go on the island. Essentially, it is a budget hotel and at £25 a night for two, it is a very affordable and well located hotel for those needing to watch the pennies. We have posted a report on the Trip Advisor Here where you will find other views, albeit, some are a little more critical than mine. Mind you, you get what you pay for. So we had no complaints. It is excellent for divers and Tom the owner is no mean diver himself. He can be contacted on tom@hotelflamingo.com.



We hired a scooter to get around the island, which can be achieved in a three to four hours. It costs about £15 a day . Its very worthwhile going to the Caribbean side of the island which is more remote and much quieter and has miles and miles of white sandy beaches with its turquoise blue sea and rolling waves and the odd wind surfer dotted about For the price of a beer and a meal, £20 for 2 you get to stay at one of the three/four beach restaurants along the coast road. For the more adventurous, there are the usual jet skies which can be found at Sanfransico beach.

Eating and entertainment comes in various forms and guises from the street musicians playing flamenco and Spanish music on their guitars to the local flurries that occur every Wednesday and Saturday night. There are also many restaurants who have live traditional bands/music. We were early eaters and also early risers, so didn’t really get to see much of the night life . There is the traditional Mexican town square and rows of restaurants and yes they do try to all say how marvelous they all are and they really are the cheapest in town. A few we would recommend would be La Mission which is just off one of the side streets near two very big dive shops and La Chosa and Dennis which are two restaurants just of the main square which both cook traditional and reasonable priced food. For £20 for two you get good home cooked food and a few drinks. Beware of the chillies especially those that don’t look like they're fierce because they're little balls of fire.

I bet your thinking, did this bloke do any diving? Well, where does one start. I dived with an operator called Aquatic Sports and Sergio’s web site is Here. Sergio is reputed to have introduced Jaques Cousteau to Cozumel. So, Diving with Sergio meant, I didn’t have to spend the £10 on the Cozumel’s, must have dive book, because Sergio knows all the best dive site around the island, some 40 in all, and he will take you to wherever you want. The Cozumel diving book does rate the dive sites according to three cateories from novice to competent to advanced. However, Sergio has a guide follow the group on the first few dives to assess your level of skill and if ok you get to try more difficult dives.

OK, so you could dive cheaper with other dive operators, which, there are at 10/15 scattered around the main town island and indeed have much faster boats, what you may miss out in speed, you make up with attention to detail and opportunity to experience wow !!!!!. For two dives, lunch and taxi from Tom's and back and a promise that Sergio Senior will take his camera and include a free CD of memories of your adventure, costs with all the equipment £35 a day. As Tom said, the service is personal, there really is no problem and as a disabled diver myself, they (crew) were extremely helpful and most patient. Significantly, the dives were long, In fact one the longest I had ever recorded of 75 mins. Sergio and his team work on the basis that you go down 25-30 metres bottom time out and come up nice and slow with a three min safety stop on each dive . The reality was no diver came up with a mandatory stop. That's USD70 per day for 12 dives.
I am in the process of negotiating with Tom and Sergio a package deal for BSAC members and as soon as I have those details I will publish them on the site.

Having read previous reports the word spectacular came to mind. However, for those who rave about fish, better to stick to the Red Sea and those wreck divers amongst you, well, you will also be very disappointed. Indeed, those looking for spectacular coral and coral shelves/trees, likewise you would be better off going to Koa Toa and specifically Japanese Gardens. But, if you're looking for awe and wonderments and an experience of feeling of being inside a cathedral of spires and pinnacles at 20-30metres and the sense of depth, as the shallows of the reefs (12-18metres) fall away to a trench which lies between the gulf of Mexico some 6000 ft beneath you, then Cozumel is your place.

Wilma, Yes Wilma did somewhat devastate the island, as it hung overhead and wreked its torrid of damage over three days . Although the land vegetation took a battering it is beginning to recover and whilst the top part 5-10 metres of the reef in some places lies bare, its once spectacle of colour and splendor, in other places the reef emerges as an ebullient and massive display of color, shapes, sizes and formations and then there are the pinnacles !!!!!!!!!

If you're looking for turtles, then this is definitely the place to dive, in Koa Toa I saw two in two weeks, here there were four/ five each dive and not to forget the sharks, blue tipped and nurse sharks at 20 metres. Then there is the experiences of floating along at 3-5 knots an hour ,the Tormentos drift dive is the place to be, where at 15 metres you are take a journey somewhat akin to being on a roller coaster.

I did twelve dives, in all including, three drift ,two wall, one night, three reef, two, what I could only describe as ‘wow’ dives, one I describe as the best ever . Then there is the visibility, 30 metres plus with water temperatures 28degrees. By the way, there are three Decompression chambers on the island and if you are a keen technophobe there are plenty of operators that will take e you down to 60/70 metres. My insurance, fortunately, want let me go below thirty. No doubt Sergio will advice.

Personally, I would forget Kanabua. Although, the 6 massive silver tarpon swimming inside the cave had plenty of wow and then if you want pay mega bucks for swimming with dolphins. However, the max depth of the dive is 10 metres, albeit through some spectacular swim throughs and see a 15ft crucifix weighted down into the seabed and other sculptures weighted down on the bottom and towering 10 feet skyward. However, the entrance was a rip of and £20 for 30 mins made it a very expensive day I was also felt a bit miffed about coming out with 150 bar.

The business is family run and his younger son, also a Sergio, was found to be very friendly. OK they are not BSAC members and perhaps might benefit from some seed training but to be fair initially they use a dive master and a follower who makes sure you are Ok and I have no doubt are assessing both you buoyancy control, abilities and competency, also they did check out my training and dive log,

Words such as majestic, grandee, beautiful, fill the pages of my log book. Intricate rock and coral formations towering above you and the many swim through's ,caves and crevices just blew your mind and no it wasn't the narc's either. At one point, and I must admit, at thirty metres, a little disconcerting, we emerged from a cave and all you could see in front of you was dark blue boundary bordering on 'black' as the cliff face plummets into the abyss. Massive groupers 2-3 feet long adorn the entrances of the caves and there is the occasional shoal of barracuda, trunk fish and even a couple of cow fish all new and exciting. Green moray eels were found gnashing their teeth in many nooks and crannies trying to frighten passing divers away.

I would definitely recommend Cedral Wall, the Palancar Caves and Columbia. A brief entry can only give a taste of the sheer adventure and sense of mystery about what delight lay around each corner. Indeed Cedral Wall was like scaling Mount Everest, with sheer drops to the abyss. Then there was Santa Rosa. I must admit, always thinking this was my best dive, the best was saved virtually till the last but one day, if only there were more days. Another wall dive with pinnacles on top towering 40-60 feet and sheer drops off which really did leave you feeling 'you were floating in space. Sergio then came across what he says was a brand new cave entrance cleared out by hurricane Wilma at about 23m. On entry it was indeed an adventure [particular as it went down some 2/3metres and then at the end a narrowing opening out to the abyss one sensed the enormity of what was around you and the sheer drop and then rising above you the pinnacles. In the distance Sergio was able to point out several black tipped sharks and one intrigued by these aliens in their space turned to investigate only the having satisfied its curiosity to return to its companion to swim down to the abyss, No we didn’t follow.

The perfect end to my diving was a night dive again at the top of the Santa Rosa shelf This was also a slow drift dive and spectacular King crab 2 ft wide and claw as big as my arm. Octopus sliding and merging into their backgrounds, cuttle fish and lobsters dancing around,

Would I go back ? No!!!! If , I was younger, probably. However, I now want to dive in all those other exciting places, you lot have dived in, Phi Phi sounds nice. Would I recoomend it to everybody else?

Most definitely, Cozumel has things to offer everybody and I hope this article will give you a little taste of what you can experience. Certainly for me COZUMEL is another diving jewel in the Crown. Next year it’s a driving holiday in France, any tips ? No, not driving, diving sites! Maybe then I will have completed my Dive Leading course.

Ian Gould Membership no A766890/0857 Dudley Dolphins September 30th 2006


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