Dive report Cozumel and GC

[sportsterjohn]

Just got back from cruising on the Triumph. I did a 3 tank dive in Coz with Eagle Ray divers and 1 tank in GC with Neptune divers. I only have about 15 dives under my belt so you can take my review with a grain of salt.

Cozumel: Most of the dive ops are up and running. There is a marina that many of them operate out of. Eagle Ray uses small boats so it is not a cattle call. When I dove, there was just 1 other diver, my wife snorkled. The 1st dive site was Las Palmas. We went down about 70ft. It was a sloping wall. There was alot of reef damage but there was still enough to see. Saw plenty of fish, a big green eel and a turtle. Vis was about 90ft, water temps were 78 and of course a very strong current. We then went over to the Santa Rosa wll. This was a vertical wall which started at about 50' and went down to about 120ft. We stayed between 70 and 80 feet. Alot of cool swimthroughs! This reef was in good shape, I did not see any damage here. Saw a very large manta ray, had a wing span of about 10', much larger than any other ray I have seen. I forget the name of the dive master for these 2 dives. Antonio went with my wife to another location to snorkle. She said he would free dive 60' and pull things out of the water for her to see! The 3rd site was Paradise reef. This site was a shallow site, 40' and the reef was pretty much gone. We did see alot of building debris on the bottom. I do know that there are some restrictions currently in place in Coz as to which sites are open and how many divers can visit them. Antonio dove with us this time. I believe he was doing a damage assentment at this site.

 

GC: I dove with Neptune divers. This was also a small boat, there were about 8 of us. They pick you up at sea grape beach which is a $5 taxi ride from the cruise ship terminal. They actually back the boat right up to the beach for you. Water temp was 84 and there was no current. Vis was about 120ft. We did a combo reef /wreck. The wreck was the OroVerde, it was a large drug running boat. The boat is pretty much destoyed so it was mostly debris on the bottom. The reefs were 'finger' reefs. Alot of color and fish on them. This was a shallow dive, only about 45'. I missed the 1st dive of the trip due to waiting for someone who was late. From what I heard, the 1st dive was a 75' deep wall dive. Casey was the dm and dove with us.

[fam6]

Hope you had a good time on the Triumph.

I would like to know you got to Eagle Ray dive shop after tendering from the ship? Is it a short walkable distance or does one require a cab, and how much would the cab be. Was the boats that Eagle Ray used in good condition, and what about the equipment needed for scuba and snorkling.

Were you happy with the service and the operation by EagleRay. Did you get a chance to meet Chellie and Anthonio?

Did you get a chance to go to Paradise Beach, and what is your impression. What is the distance between EagleRay to Paradise Beach, is it walkable , or is cab required?

 

My cruise is scheduled to be in Cozumel at around 8am and depart 12am(midnight). Now, due to tendering issues was your departure time from Cozumel cut short( leaving earlier than originally scheduled)

[sportsterjohn]

You will have to take a taxi from where you tender to the marina, it is about a 10-15 min drive. Most of the dive ops operate out of this marina. The cab fare was $7 each wayfor the cab, not per person. I only saw paradise beach from the water. It appeared to be up and fully functionable. We went past it travelling to a dive site. Perhaps, they can drop you off there after the last dive? The boat is a small boat, holds a max of 8. It seemed to be in fair shape. You can eithor bring your own eq or rent from them. I brought my fins / mask and snorkle and rented a bc / reg. You can also rent the fins / mask etc, just let them know beforehand what you need. I thought the service was good except for lunch. The 3 reef trip normally includes a lunch at a beach club. Since all the docks at the beach clubs are destroyed, we got crummy sandwiches on the dive boat and were still charged the $10 lunch price. I thought that was rip, however that is my only complaint. 2 of the 3 dive sites were nice and the dms were good. Antonio was on the boat with us, didn't get to meet Chellie. Our ship was scheduled to leave coz and midnight but due to tendering we had to be back by about 5pm. If you do the 2 tank trip, you will have time to do something after the trip but if you do the 3 tank trip, that will take up just about all of the port time.

[jtonra]

That's a real shame about Paradise reef. I did a trip with Eagle Ray last year that included Paradise and it was one of my top ten all time reef dives. Hopefully, it will recover quickly.

[stingraynz]

Thanks for the update!

 

I am glad they were good dives and seems to be fairly good conditions and vis. I am going w/o Dec 11 on the Radiance to Coz and GC. Dove Coz last year and I was worried about what the sightings would be this year, just to see that manta would make the trip for me. On the same note I have not dove GC since Ivan. last year all the diving was cancelled on my cruise due to bad vis and reef damage so I am glad to hear from you that things are coming around.