Diving -
We had initially arranged for a private boat but when we got there found it had fallen through. Switched to Aldora at the last minute. They were very accomodating and made room for us even though they were pretty well booked up. Personally, the level of service they provide and the type of diving is not what I might prefer BUT... my SO/dive buddy prefers it. Bottom line is we didn't get to dive on Wed when we arrived but we did 4 dives on Thu and 2 on Fri and Sat for a total of 8.


Thursday -
Dive 1 - Punta Sur 96FSW 80F Viz - 60 feet
Lots of sand up on the reef is the thing I noticed the most. Attributable I suppose to Mitch. The viz was also much lower than I have become accustomed to in Cozumel (about 60 feet.) Still, lots of wildlife around.

Dive 2 - Paso Cedral 53FSW 81F Viz - 80 feet
This is always one of my favorite dives for taking pictures and it didn't let me down. Saw lots of neat stuff including arrow crabs in abundance, anemones 1 2 3 a soapfish , urchins , hermit crabs, a large number of very large conchs, a splendid toadfish. The highlight of the dive may have been when one diver (a relative newbie) had his face in a hole and a very large green moray chose that moment to stick its head out the same hole. Thought the guy was gonna stain his wetsuit. Rarely have I seen such a prodigious display of back-pedaling and bubble blowing.

Dive 3 - Palancar Caves 77FSW 81F Viz - 60 feet
Lots of very pretty coral formations. Spotted some lesser electric rays and had an escort of groupers throughout the dive. Since it was getting late in the day, lots of the fish were already starting to hide for the night.

Dive 4 - Chankanaab 48FSW 82F Viz - night dive
Very cool night dive. Caught a large-eyed toadfish out on top of the reef and found several splendids in the reef. Lots of crabs out and about. Played with a sharp-tailed eel and an octopus for a while and found the mother of all lobsters in a cave (biggest one I have ever seen. He/she is up at the top of the page doing a now you see me now you don't routine.) Got some first-time night divers to turn off their lights and they were like a bunch of little kids playing in the bio-luminescence. This dive was so good from a photography point of view that I have created a separate page just for the pictures from this one dive at A Night Dive on Chankanaab.

Friday -
Dive 1 - Devil's Left Nostril 116FSW Temp - 80F Viz - 60 feet
DM said it was the Devil's Throat. It was not. Close but no Havana. I have done the Devil's Throat and this was not it. Not my favorite kind of diving. I do not particularly enjoy swim-thrus. Mostly I dive to see the wildlife and other than some glassy sweepers there is just not a lot to see inside the reef.

Dive 2 - Yucab 74FSW 81F Viz - 80 feet
First time on this trip we encountered any real current. More anemomes , a very active and large sea cucumber, a small nurse shark hiding in the reef, a yellow-headed wrasse (thanks for the ID Feesh), a small ray, some interesting coral , lots of FLRF, some coneys , a nice file fish , and the one I have been trying to get for a long time, a queen trigger. Not an especially memorable dive.

Saturday -
Dive 1 - Dave's Throat 122FSW 80F Viz - 60 feet
More damn swim-thrus. Got peeved with the DM cause he grabbed a turtle that was swimming by and started to hand it to one of the other divers to ride (it fortunately escaped before that happened) and then dug a toadfish out from its hole to show everyone. IMO, this is irresponsible behaviour especially from a DM.

Dive 2 - Paraiso (very shallow) 38FSW 83F Viz - 100 feet
A very cool dive. Like swimming in a giant aquarium. The largest thing I saw was a ray but the small things were very neat. Juveniles of several species, pipefish, seahorses, shrimp, arrow crabs, urchins, more FLRF, a peacock flounder, lantern bass, anemones, the list is practically endless (it was an 80 minute dive and I think everyone still had half their air.) To find the seahorses find the sea grass and just prowl through it looking for grass that is moving on its own. Then look really close.


Notes in general:
Other than the sand on the reef and the poor viz UW, there does not appear to be any real damage in Coz from Mitch either above or below the surface.

The Cancunization of Coz is proceeding. More condos going up and it looks like some roads are being cut across the south end of the island. The new pier downtown appears to be about ready for customers. While we were there, there was never more than a single cruise ship in port but it is probably not the season.

Food:
Jeannie's Waffle House (Vista del Mar hotel) - good breakfasts
Rockin Java (next to the Naval station) - VERY good breakfasts and lunches
Lobster's House (next to the Barracuda) - great lobster (grilled)
La Choza (downtown) - Fish/shrimp in mustard sauce (now called tropical) - yummmmmmmmmm
Pepe's Grill (downtown) - Extremely nice place. Good food, good service, reasonable prices. Good steaks and prime rib. The wine list is not extensive but they have some pretty good Mexican wines.
La Prima (downtown) - Not as good as I remembered it but then what is? Italian food with a Mexican flair. The Lobster Fra Diablo kinda sneaks up on you.
Playa del Sol (surface intervals) - stay away from the burgers. Mostly so-so lunch/snack stuff.
Palmera's (on the plaza) - Denny's with a Mexican flair
Coconuts (on the windward side of the island) - great view, cold beer, and OK nachos.

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