I have been asked these questions several times and found it very difficult to answer.
NOTE: Why not try to move your mouse towards the fish, but be careful and DO NOT CLICK on the fish!!!
It can be kind of difficult to say what will make a great visit to paradise.
That can be something very different for individual people and I also know that over t he
past 3 years, it has changed a little for my self too.
One thing I really had problems with on my first visit was the slow attitude in Mexico and
the fact that you have to take things as they are, it can be very difficult to force an
action. If it does not happen today, then it will happen tomorrow (maybe).
I have gotten used to taht now.
My perfect day would be to get up early in the morning, around 7 (early when on vacation)
to get ready for the dive and be at the pick-up point for 8. After that, I usually
enjoy the fresh air while travelling on a fast boat for about 30 minutes (plus possible
stops at other pick-up points) to get to the dive site far south. For the dive
(usually deep), it is very important to get a good DM that knows the area and can find all
the nice things to see. For Aldora Divers, my preference at the moment for DM is
Oracio.
After about 1 hour in the water, I like the long surface interval at Playa del Sol where
you can relax with a (non-alcoholic) drink and a light meal (I usually do not eat
breakfast), sit in the sun (or shade if you prefer) and watch the "birds" on the
beach while chatting with your buddies.
After a couple of hours you are back in the water again for a total different dive with
lots of small critters (usual for the shallow dive). This dive usually last for well
over an hour. The record in April 98 was 1 hour 54 minutes, some of it due to a long
safety stop after having had a twilight dive the day before. After about 1 h 50
min., the DM came down again to pull us up :-)
When back in "town", I usually relax somewhere around the square with a beer or
two, before retiring for a small siesta. Then I usually have appointment with fellow
divers for dinner around 7 - 8. There are lots of good places in Cozumel. One
of my favourites are Pizza Prima (not for the Pizza, usually seafood). For Pasta, I have
been told that Valentino's is a good place and I had planned to visit them last April, but
due to things outside my control (I was "dragged" other places), I did not make
it this time (seems like 9 days is too short).
Another alternative for the afternoon, is to go to the other side of the island and
spend the afternoon on the nice beaches found there. No matter what you do, I think
that the time passes too fast when in Cozumel. On my last trip in April 98, I had 9
days excluding the day of arrival and departure. On my way over, I thought that it
was more than sufficient, on my way back home, I wish I could have stayed longer.
The reasons for time apparently passing so fast is that you are in good company with
fellow divers, nice dives and a relaxinng island.
You could also try places further from the square as they tend to be cheaper.
If you like partying (till late), Carlo's and Charlie's is a well known place, its noisy
and crowded. And then there are of course the "bluer" places a little
further from the square.
You will also find Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood, but I would not visit those places
while in Mexico. Try the local food, but be a little aware of what you eat so as not
to get problems with your stomach, that could spoil the diving the following day.
This trip turned out to be a little different divewise. On 6 of the days, I had
Oracio as DM, 1 day Daniel, 1 day Jorge and one day with Dave Dillehay.
Oracio is a very good DM. He must have some special talent to spot out the wonderful
life in the sea, whether it is the "big" animals like turtles, large rays,
sharks and so on or the microscopic life like nudebrans (hope I spelt it correctly),
bleenies or larger things like the splendid toadfish which he actually gets out from their
small caves so you can watch their nice colours.
A happy (and excellent) group of DMs
On one day with Oracio at "end" of Chankanaab, he let his safety buoy go, tied
it to a small rock and we spent the full hour just exploring one coral head finding
lots of nice things that you will not find when just drifting along. On this day,
it was no current at all, the line was just straight up to the surface.
Usually I go a little on my own, making sure that I can see the DM and the others all the
time (if the current is not too strong), and then come along when he bangs his tank to
saying he has something interesting to show. On this dive, he banged his tank almost
continuously. This time we also spotted an eagle ray swimming around our dive
site. This was the first time I have seen it when diving Cozumel, what a nice view
with this animal moving "slowly" and graciously around us.
When I went on a dive with Dave Dillehay, we went to a place called Dave's throat.
It was discovered some time ago by Dave D., apparerntly no known by too many. It is
a little different to the famous Devil's throat, with a nice vertical plunge. I have
been there before, but got a little deeper this time, 156 ft. On this dive, we saw a
total of 4 turtles and lots of other things, the nice thing is that when you start to
ascend, you are still over the corals as you gradually ascend and thus making the safety
stop at 15 ft. a little shorter. The total divetime was 47 minutes, with a 7 minute
safety stop (it was more than 24 hours since I last time left the water). Dave has
been known for being the "swimmer", but sometimes I think you should do some
exercise too although Cozumel is known for being a place for drift diving. If you
compare to skiing, someone likes the downhill (drift diving), others do cross country
skiing (swimming), some do both.
As you may understand, it can be difficult to tell you what is my favourite dive site as
you have so many different experiences on most of the dives, as Oracio will tell you, you
can have a morning dive, a twilight and a night dive at the same place and it is just like
coming to three different places. The same can happen at regular daylight dives when
it varies a lot with who your DM is. I have not been with all of them, of the
current DMs, I have been with Oracio, Daniel, Antonio and Jorge (the general
manager/course director), but I hear the others are good too. You may have heard on
the newsgroup that Dave D. is a "swimmer", but that is a part of Cozumel
too. Although usually drift diving, it is sometimes no current at all. Of course, as
with everyone else, they may all have their good and bad days.
My home page