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10 days of diving in Cozumel |
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| After Key West we ripped
back to Miami and hooked up with some friends, only to take off the day after for Cozumel,
Mexico. |
We thought about going to the Caribbean, but since that was a little on the pricy side,
we settled for a last-minute package from Tarpoon Travel for Cozumel. We stayed at the
Plazas las Glorias which offered a great view over big blue and beautiful sunsets, making us forget about the moody A/C or the fact
that the shower handles came off.
We booked our diving trips through Aqua Safari taking off right from the hotel pier. It takes quite
a while to get to some of the sites and along the coastline you can see heavy construction, some of it right into the coral banks close to shore. |
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Palancar Garden |
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| The garden at Palancar offers an awesome coral flora, but not much aquatic life.
Still, such sites have their own beauty. |
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| date: June 16, 97 |
depth: 85 feet |
bottom time: 0:25 |
visibility: 300 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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Tormentas |
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| This is a very nice and colorful coral reef. Here we got to see our first grouper.
It is also well populated with smaller fish. Last but not least, this reef offered great visibility. |
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| date: June 16, 97 |
depth: 59 feet |
bottom time: 0:36 |
visibility: 300 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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| Tormentos, the second. Gliding
along with the slow current head-down, we checked out the small caves along the reef.
Apart from some nice filefish which crossed our way, the highlight was finding a dive
computer (and later handing it over to a guy in our group who apparently just lost exactly
that one piece the day before). |
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| date: June 19, 97 |
depth: 60 feet |
bottom time: 0:36 |
visibility: 150 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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Hotel Plazas las Glorias |
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| This one was our first shore
dive, starting off right from the hotel. A few small barracudas were the biggest fish we
saw on this tour, but the many smaller and even tiny creatures kept us busy discovering.
We got to see a squid, two beautiful juvenile spotted drums racing around in a little
cave, some smooth trunkfish, a trumpetfish standing on its head and as a special taster a
well-sized seahorse holding on to some cable debris. |
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| date: June 16, 97 |
depth: 20 feet |
bottom time: 1:10 |
visibility: 90 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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| Equipped with monstrous
flashlights, we went on our first nightdive along the shore by the hotel. It's quite a
different feeling, because except of where the beam falls, it's pretty much guessing
what's out there. It was fascinating to look at the choppy surface above us and see the
lights of the city and the stars. The whole trip was pretty turbulent due to the heavy
current, but keeping close to the bottom gave us a break. We saw some small octopi, some
squid, a bunch of fish aggressively defending their nests and some tired fish we rudely
woke up. |
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| date: June 17, 97 |
depth: 22 feet |
bottom time: 1:00 |
night dive |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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Palancar Caves |
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| This was one of the best dives
near Cozumel, where you can totally trip out on the great unterwater wall formations and
heaps of colorful fish. We circled some of the tops of the formations covered with lots of
fans and other corals, to the other side an endless drop leading into darkness. Since the
wall is not too deep at the top, one can still enjoy its colors. |
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| date: June 17, 97 |
depth: 80 feet |
bottom time: 0:27 |
visibility: 200 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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San Francisco |
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| An easy reef, populated by
small fish and some spotted morays. We fed some of the curious angelfish and some grunts
and yellowtail snappers with bananas and other fruit from the boat. Once they got a taste
of it, the connoisseurs would follow every move you make, even the craziest turns, only to
get their share of the food. In a matter of seconds we had a veritable carousel going. |
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| date: June 17, 97 |
depth: 42 feet |
bottom time: 0:42 |
visibility: 200 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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Columbia Wall |
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| This is another nice wall/reef
dive with several tunnels to go through. They are unproblematic and not dangerous. Still,
one must pay attention not to knock off any of the corals and sponges attached to the
sides and ceilings of the tunnels. So take it easy and control your buoyancy. On our way
out of the tunnels and up along the wall we saw some very nice Scrawled Filefish. |
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| date: June 19, 97 |
depth: 80 feet |
bottom time: 0:25 |
visibility: 150 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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Paradise Reef |
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| Paraiso is a really relaxing
reef quite close to the hotel. The reef is not heavily populated but offers some exciting
views from time to time. On that day we came across a huge parrotfish, possibly a
supermale. Especially interesting were a bunch of "dancing" flounders we saw.
There were about five of them, lined up as if on a string, moving gracefully up and down
in unison. A little later we discovered some tiny flounder, about the size of a
thumb-nail. For a diver with an eye for the little things, the juveniles or small species
often turn out to bee the most interesting or beautiful as, for example, the secretive
juvenile spotted drums we saw here. Their comparatively huge dorsal fin and their constant
activity make them a worthwile sight. |
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| date: June 19, 97 |
depth: 40 feet |
bottom time: 0:41 |
visibility: 150 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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| This was our last dive on
Cozumel. While it was unorganized and we chaotically moved with and against the current,
we got to see a scorpionfish which is not a frequent sight, not least because it is rather
difficult to spot thanks to its camouflage. Our last encounter was with a shy spotted
moray trying to hide from our curious eyes in a hole much too tiny to hide in. |
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| date: June 20, 97 |
depth: 40 feet |
bottom time: 0:41 |
visibility: 150 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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Cedral Wall |
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| This was our deepest dive so
far, going down to 90 feet. It was noticeably darker and a lot less colorful. Pretty much
our only company were four big groupers swimming next to us for a little while. Cedral
Wall has quite a strong currrent and undercurrent, constantly pulling you downwards.
Therefore, the dive was somewhat stressful and we can’t recommend it unless you want
to go down deep and get a rush. |
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| date: June 20, 97 |
depth: 90 feet |
bottom time: 0:25 |
visibility: 150 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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Yucab Reef |
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| Here we played with some banded
coral shrimps between imposing anthill like underwater formations. We also came across a
large angelfish with a chunk missing from its back as well as another curious fish of this
species trying to eat the bubbles from our "exhausts". |
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| date: 20 June, 97 |
depth: 50 feet |
bottom time: 0:37 |
visibility: 150 feet |
| We're giving this one (1-5 Bundys): |
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Cozumel Downtown |
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| The hotel is located within
easy walking distance of downtown. Absolutely check out the local version of HOOTERS.
Going out to one of the clubs at night will make you sweat like a pig! Check out the local
HOOTERS... did we mention that already? Never attempt to go shopping during daytime. You
will certainly incurr a massive heatstroke. Don't forget to try some of the Cuban cigars! |
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