I just got back from Cozumel. Our original plan was to do 5 days (2 tanks per day) of diving - including one night dive. Unfortunately I caught either a cold or sinus infection the day I left, so didn't dive the first day. However, with a lot of med, I was able to get in three days of diving and a night dive. Thought I'd share some pictures. Sorry - they aren't Jeni or Alex quality.
Background on diving in Cozumel. Cozumel diving is drift diving. Basically - the current carries the divers along, so there is no need to kick. Sometimes the current was moderate, but other time it was a very strong current. This made it very difficult stay still in one place and take pictures. The visibility was about 100 to 200 feet. On October 21st, 2005, Cozumel suffered a direct hit by Hurricane WilmaHurricane Wilma (Cat4) for three days. One of the taxi drivers showed us a DVD of the island after the hurricane, and the devastation was like New Orleans. On land, the damage was still very visible. Although I have never seen the reef prior to the hurricane, there was very strong evidence of hurricane damage. There were bits and pieces or coral skeleton all over the place, and sand was covering a lot of the corals.
Even though there weren't a lot of corals - there were plenty of fish. It's amazing seeing some of the fish in person. These fish were HUGE. For example, most triggers were 12" to 18". We saw a grouper that was probably 4 feet. There was a barracuda that we estimate to be at least 4 feet in length as well. Some of the angels that we sere probably 18". We went looking for shark, but didn't find any.
On our night dive, we saw quite a few octopus. Unfortunately, we had to cut our night dive short because the current was so strong. We also did a wall dive - reaching depth of about 110 ft. Compare to Montrey diving, Cozumel diving was a breeze.
The people of Cozumel were very friendly - although some shop keepers were a little pushy. I felt safer walking in Cozumel than I do walking in some part of Sacramento.
Anyway - we had a great time. I do hope to come back someday to do some more diving. I think our next trip will be Hawaii (because it's cheap and I have a friend who lives there), and then the Philippines.
Image from the restaurant at the hotel:
Picture of the the suite we stayed in:
Sea Turtle. We saw sea turtles on every dive. The largest turtle was probably 3 feet long.
Reef pictures:
Background on diving in Cozumel. Cozumel diving is drift diving. Basically - the current carries the divers along, so there is no need to kick. Sometimes the current was moderate, but other time it was a very strong current. This made it very difficult stay still in one place and take pictures. The visibility was about 100 to 200 feet. On October 21st, 2005, Cozumel suffered a direct hit by Hurricane WilmaHurricane Wilma (Cat4) for three days. One of the taxi drivers showed us a DVD of the island after the hurricane, and the devastation was like New Orleans. On land, the damage was still very visible. Although I have never seen the reef prior to the hurricane, there was very strong evidence of hurricane damage. There were bits and pieces or coral skeleton all over the place, and sand was covering a lot of the corals.
Even though there weren't a lot of corals - there were plenty of fish. It's amazing seeing some of the fish in person. These fish were HUGE. For example, most triggers were 12" to 18". We saw a grouper that was probably 4 feet. There was a barracuda that we estimate to be at least 4 feet in length as well. Some of the angels that we sere probably 18". We went looking for shark, but didn't find any.
On our night dive, we saw quite a few octopus. Unfortunately, we had to cut our night dive short because the current was so strong. We also did a wall dive - reaching depth of about 110 ft. Compare to Montrey diving, Cozumel diving was a breeze.The people of Cozumel were very friendly - although some shop keepers were a little pushy. I felt safer walking in Cozumel than I do walking in some part of Sacramento.
Anyway - we had a great time. I do hope to come back someday to do some more diving. I think our next trip will be Hawaii (because it's cheap and I have a friend who lives there), and then the Philippines.
Image from the restaurant at the hotel:
Picture of the the suite we stayed in:
Sea Turtle. We saw sea turtles on every dive. The largest turtle was probably 3 feet long.
Reef pictures:
Let me know when you want to go. Never been abalone diving, but I am more than willing to try. What do you recommend for abalone diving? A single piece 7mm wetsuit? I also want to try some bug hunting. 
