Diving -
As part of the management of our house, dive packages are offered but I wanted a chance to dive with the operator before I agreed to that. So, we ended up diving with Buena Ventura Diving. I was pleasantly surprised. The same kind of service as Aldora but without the mother-hen dive mastering that is so common everywhere in Cozumel. No lectures on dive times and depths. We chose our sites based on our preferences and planned our own dive times. A moderately fast (not as fast as some others but faster than most) boat that will hold 6 divers. Fruit and cookies between dives at no extra cost was a nice touch. During one SI one of the divers inquired about fresh coconut milk and they went and found some coconuts for her. No large steel tanks but, we were still able to get some very long dives with long safety stops. I will have no problem recommending Buena Ventura diving to our guests or to anyone else for that matter. In three days of diving, we only once saw any other divers. Partly because of our site choices but also partly because while Ventura honored our choices, he also steered us away from things like Cedar Pass on the second dive.


Friday-
Dive 1 - Palancar Caves 90FSW 86F 0:54 Viz - unlimited
First dive in Cozumel for one of our friends (Amyris - a Venezuelan now a Canadian living in Toronto) and we found her a Splendid Toadfish on her very first dive. One of my favorite dive sites with the towering coral formations and scenery. Lots of life on the reef and being late afternoon, no one else around. A very pleasant dive.

Dive 2 - Las Palmas 51FSW 86F 1:07 Viz - Night dive
Another of our friends has not done a night dive in a while but she enjoyed this one. She is one of the best at finding octopi and she got one right off the bat. Found several more as well as some crabs both large and small. Saw Saddam Hussein's lobster on this dive. Looked like a Chevy Suburban moving across the sand. The base of the antennaes had to be an inch and a half to two inches across. It was HUGE and not especially afraid of divers. Saw more live conch in one place then I have ever seen before - seemed like hundreds - and a Queen Triton moving across the reef.


Saturday-
Dive 1 - Cedar Pass Wall/Santa Rosa Shallows 117FSW 86F 0:42 Viz - 100 feet
Love that deep dark indigo blue when you get down deep early in the morning. Huge schools of ocean triggers headed south (why is it I always see them headed south and never north?) Lots of rays up in the shallows and a scorpion fish as well.

Dive 2 - San Clemente/Punta Tunich 46FSW 86F 1:18 Viz - unlimited
Lots of rays both southern and yellow. Found a couple of nudibranchs in the sand but Murphy's law #1 of cameras strikes again. We had so much household stuff to haul down that there was no room for a camera this trip. Kathy is still finding octopi and is coaxing them out to play during the day.


Sunday-
Dive 1 - Dahlilah/Cedar Pass 79FSW 86F 1:09 Viz - 150 feet
Drifting along over the reef, something caught my eye and made me stop dead in the water. I looked and it saw me turned white, mottled blue and red, red, inked me and scooted away at high speed. First time I have seen an octopus out in the sand in the middle of the day. Lots of jaw fish around. Saw some more nudibranchs and in the swim thru on Cedar Pass, two hermit crabs having a disagreement. Looked like two mountain sheep butting heads. As we were drifting along on our safety stop, three large nurse sharks swam by underneath us.

Dive 2 - Paradise Shallow 38FSW 1:18 Viz - 100 feet
Probably could have done another 20-30 minutes since we had lots of air but we were starting to get cold and tired by the end of the dive. This is another of my personal favorites. Not much current. Not much in the way of coral but a huge abundance of life in the sea grass. Lots and lots of juveniles and they are so much more colorful than the adults in a lot of cases. Kathy collects shells and I found a huge helmet that she wanted REAL bad but it is after all a park and the shell was still occupied by the original owner so she'll just have to find another.

6:28 minutes of bottom time in 6 dives.

Food:
Coffee Bean (across the street from the Bahia) - good coffee, breakfasts, and PASTRIES
Rockin Java (next to the Naval station) - VERY good breakfasts and lunches
La Mission Taqueria (Av 30 N of the grocery store) - great tacos for a buck
El Moro (get a cab) - more food than 5 people could eat for $75
La Choza (downtown) - Fish/shrimp in mustard sauce (now called tropical) - yummmmmmmmmm
Pasta Prima (downtown) - Not as good as I remembered it but then what is? Still good crab. Italian food with a Mexican flair. The Lobster Fra Diablo kinda sneaks up on you.
Coconuts (on the windward side of the island) - great view, cold beer, and OK nachos.

chuck@chopf.com send some E-mail to Chuck



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