Diving - Aldora Divers. Still like Aldora even though most of the fills were shy of 3500PSI. Dove four days with Alex as DM and Diego (the maniac) driving. Last day was with Antonio as DM.
Dive Sites:
Day 1:
Santa Rosa
Max Depth - 89 FSW Water temp - 80F Viz - 60-80 Time - 60
IMO, this is too shallow for Santa Rosa. Most of the structure seems to be lower as does most of the life. OK dive but not great. I was wearing a new wetsuit and had underguesstimated the weight. Had problems with bouyancy on the safety stop. Current was extremely strong.
Columbia Shallows - night dive
Max Depth - 31 FSW Water temp - 81F Time - 58
Nice but unexciting night dive. Found a small octopus and watched it for a while. Lots of crabs and lobsters. Heard but didn't see any toad fish. Current was so fast it was hard to stay in one place long enough to see anything.
Day 2:
Punta Sur - Devil's Throat
Max Depth - 114 FSW Water temp - 80F Time - 40 Viz 60-80
I am not big on swim-throughs but this and Paso de Cedral are two that I will do. But I like to go last and take my time exploring the nooks and crannies. Found a school of sweepers (46KB) in one of the passages. Lots of other things to see. Current was down some but still stronger than I might like.
Paso de Cedral
Max Depth - 55 FSW Water temp - 81F Time - 62 Viz - 60-80
Always a good dive. Found a porcupine (53KB) right off the bat. The usual collection of large groupers hanging around along with a lot of chubs and an absolutely huge school of jacks. Spotted morays abound but I didn't see any greens. Lots of small life. I saw more arrow crabs than I have ever seen before on this trip and found this Flamingo Tongue (44KB) on this dive.
Day 3:
Columbia (deep)
Max Depth - 126 FSW Water temp - 80F Time - 46 Viz - 60-80
Nice dive. By Friday, the current had calmed down considerably so we were better able to enjoy the dive. Found a Golden Crinoid (66KB) hiding in the rocks. This is one of my more favorite dives since the reef structure (37KB) can be pretty spectacular.
Punta Dahlilah
Max Depth - 57 FSW Water temp - 80F Time - 64 Viz - 60-80
Another of my favorite reefs in Coz. Maybe because most places don't go there and that means it is pretty clean and full of life. First thing down found this baby flounder (69KB) about the size of a silver dollar. No prizes for finding it in the picture and no complaints if you can't.
Yucab - night dive
Max Depth - 56 FSW Water temp - 81F Time - 58
Great night dive. Just the two of us and the DM. Lots of lobsters, crabs, shrimp, etc etc. Sounded like were in the valley of the toadfish (52KB) since you could hear them continuously. Very little current so we were able to just gently drift along and check things out. Also found this scorpion (262KB) fish on a rock. On the ride back, a flying fish flew into the boat and nailed the DM with a fin or a tooth (do they have teeth?) so I played the brave tourist and tossed it over the side.
Day 4:
Santa Rosa
Max Depth - 88 FSW Water temp - 80F Time - 61 Viz - 60-80
Yawn. Been there done that and it is still too shallow on Santa Rosa.
Paso de Cedral
Max Depth - 55 FSW Water temp - 80F Time - 64 Viz - 60-80
One of the divers wanted to shoot video of his friends feeding the groupers and morays. Boy am I excited. The bad part was they didn't even manage to get bitten. While they were busy messing around with feeding the fish, I set out to see what I could find. First thing was this urchin (89KB) out in broad daylight. Also found lots of arrow crabs, cleaner shrimp, hermits, a tulip shell, and some of the largest lobsters (67KB) I have ever seen. Just as we were getting ready to head up, this ray (71KB) made an appearance.
Day 5:
Maracaibo
Max Depth - 167 FSW Water temp - 79F Time - 56 Viz - 60-80
When we go this deep, the camera stays on the boat. Too much other stuff to think about. Spotted a Venus Girdle and wished I had the camera with me though. Also saw a large Hawksbill sitting on the bottom and as we were ascending, a large Eagle Ray swam by beneath us. Very cool dive. By now (Sunday morning) the current had really calmed down and the diving was quite relaxed.
San Francisco
Max Depth - 60 FSW Water temp - 81F Time - 65 Viz - 60-80
Probably the best dive of the trip. Very experienced divers on the boat this day and it was wonderful. Spent a lot of time with a macro lense on the camera poking around looking for things. Found a juvenile drum (74KB) juvenile angel (88KB) (I think), and an arrow crab (63KB) within about 20 feet of each other. A little further on, I came across a huge bristle worm (87KB) and I took the time to try and get a close-up (68KB) of the same worm. If one Flamingo Tongue is good, how much better are three? (68KB)
Diving Summary:
We had five almost perfect days weather-wise. No wind to speak of and calm seas. On the first day, the currents were pretty stiff but by the third day they were down to tolerable levels. There were too many (IMO) cruise ships and pod people around but that is getting to be an epidemic on Cozumel. Maybe we can get someone to give us the schedule of when and where the pod people will be diving so we can be somewhere else.
It was very hot (over 90F) during the day and the humidity was higher than I remember it for this time of year. If El Nino backs off, the water temperature suggests that it could be a hell of a hurricane season.
Food:
Ate at the Chopa Loca in the hotel quite a bit. Doesn't have great food but it is convenient. They also serve a pretty decent buffet at breakfast in El Galeon. Try the Lime Soup.
Lobster Shack (thanks Gordon) way north of town has nothing but lobster by the pound. Served with vegetables (rice and potatoes??) and is very very tasty.
La Choza tried the fish and the shrimp en papel with mustard sauce (thanks again Gordon) and it lived up to its reputation.
La Mission. The billboard say #1 in Coz for lobster and seafood. Number 1 must not mean best. Its OK but La Choza next door is better.
Ernesto's Fajita Factory. It is what it says it is.
Palmera's. Palmera's is Spanish for Denny's.
chuck@chopf.com send some E-mail to Chuck
©1998 Construction started on Apr. 11, 1998 by the MadMonk
