Pics of recent trip to Cozumel

[SHAGGY]

Here are a few pics of my recent trip to Cozumel. We used Dive Paradise and they were great. Every dive we did except for one was on the fast boats and they were definately worth the extra $10. I will never use one of the large boats again. Well, the pics are not done by a professional, and they do not do the sites that we visited justice.

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[unclepooty]

good pix, took me there. thanks

[hychang]

Very cool pics. I have to content myself with the local quarries for now. My wife keeps reminding me that it's good to pay the bills and have a good credit rating. One day...after saving my allowance...! Thanks posting the nice pics and brightening a dreary Tuesday.

[RoadRacer1978]

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to someday see all that beauty in person. For now it is just the gree waters here in the local lakes, but someday. Thanks for reminding me of what I am missing.

[TRACI]

Great Pics, I think I have only 46 days left before I get to go to Coz!

[moosicman]

great photos...i only have 9 more days before I go to Cozumel....how deep were your dives and what is that ship at the end...also how stiff was the current(s)?

[ScubaJW]

Any report of your trip? How is the coral reef there after the hurricane? Where did you stay while you were in COZ and do you like the place? Are there any shore diving?

[SHAGGY]

Ok,. I'll give a lil summary of my trip. We dove all of our dives with Dive Paradise and they were great. The small fast boats are the only way to go. I really didnt enjoy the big cattle boat as much. Ok,... my brother and I arrived on Sunday the 11th of Nov and we checked in to our Hotel The Palma Dorda Inn which is in the heart of town and its very cheap, but you might save just as much $$ with an all inclusive considering what we spent on food and alcohol. We then headed over to the Dive Paradise locoated on the main street right next to the Rock n Java cafe and booked our dives for the week, and we then went over to the Baracuda Hotel and went over to the Dive Paradise shop there and got or complimentary air tank and did a lil shore dive there to set our weight. They call it Pico's Reef and it was pretty cool and visibility was good there and we actually saw a couple of spotted eels there and lots of other fish as well. They told us that its a great place at night to see octopus and lots of other things that you normally dont see during the day.
MONDAY:
We arrived at the Baracuda Hotel which was our pickup locoation for our morning 2 tank fast boat dive. Our 1st dive was at Palancar Caves and it was really great. This trip was also my 1st ever blue water diving. We went into what the locals called the mini devils throat. The current wasnt to bad near the coral. My deepest was 104ft and the end of the cave. My brother and I were more air hogs than the others in the group so we informed the DM that we were getting low and we broke off from the group and then slowly made our way back to the surface, and my brother violated his safety stop even though I did everything I could to keep him at the saftey stop, which locked up his computer the following day, and the boat picked us up a short time later. We then did a 1 hour SI and then headed to La Francesa reef for our second dive and our deepest there was 58ft. It was really abundant with marine life. I saw several hudge green sea turtles and a 6ft nurse shark along with some of the most vividly colored corals you could imagine. It was undescriable. And I didnt take my camera on the first day of diving because I wanted to get used to ocean diving before I brought the camera,....a choice I now regret. The current at La Francesa was really strong. It really made for a relaxing and fun dive though. I never kicked once. I was so captivated by all the corals and fish that I found myself using alot more air than I do while at work in fresh water with my usual zero visibility.
TUESDAY:
Well,... we met the boat once again at 8am for our morning 2 tank fast boat trip and this time I hired an instructor to get my drift dive certification, because it then made it a work training trip,......LOL The instructor was really great and very helpful with my brother who was having buoyancy problems,... matter of fact the instructor spent most of the time with my brother but didnt matter since I still got my cert and it made for a more enjoyable dive. My brother then rented him a computer since his was in violation mode. Our first dive we went to Paso del Cedral Wall and my deepest there was 80ft. The current was pretty mild here. It was really abundant with marine life and this locoation and the next is where I took all of the pics that I posted. we saw several crabs and lobsters and lots of corals. I saw several extremely large schools of fish as well,. some so large that I temporally couldnt see the rest of the group. We then surfaced and did our 1 hour SI and headed to Bolones De Chankanaab, and our maximun depth there was 67ft and it was by far the best site of the entire trip. I saw lots of marine life and the coral was totally the best anywhere and the current was very mild. We saw a hudge Eagle Ray which swam right past us and was within 10ft and it seemed almost as large as a volkswagon bug. Considering the Eagle Rays arent too common to the locoation that we were diving at,... made it an even better dive. While swimming around I kept hearing a motor sound but couldnt find where it was comming from and I kept looking up and never could spot a boat and then while waiting at our safety stop the noise got even louder and I pointed to my brother at the submarine that was going just underneath us, and I then snapped that photo. It was one of the submarines that take tourists on little trips to see the reef.
Later that evening we did a single tank evening dive on one of the big boats at paradise reef. The maximum depth was olny appx 47ft and the coral was not as large and vibrant as the other places and was just in sporadic patches on rock the sand floor. There was very little to no current at all and I wasnt able to get any pictures here because I didnt have the memory card inserted fully into my camera, another lesson learned.
WEDNESDAY:
WE had planned another 2 tank morning dive but since my brother kept violating his computer,.... we decided to not dive on Wednesday even though I really wanted another morning of diving before we left on thursday evening. So I then had many many Margaritas since I wouldnt be diving. But,... overall it was better than I could have hoped for. It was my 1st ocean diving and I'm definately hooked. I'm planning a trip to the Texas Flower Gardens for the spring now.

[CaribbeanDiver]

What is the subject in your last photo? It looks to be a ship but it cant be a sunken ship because it is in pristine condition and sitting perfectly flat.
You did the right thing leaving your camera for your first dive. It is always better to be safe rather than sorry and getting familiar with the environment was the wise choice.
Besides, you got some great shots and saw many things that are captured in your mind. There is always next time if you are safe and cautious.
Glad you had a great trip. Thanks for sharing your photos.

[gthomas]

Loved the pictures. We leave in about a month. can't wait