Underwater photos from Xcalak

[TheVegasMan]

Marianne,

 

The Olympus cameras are fine for snorkeling, but not recommended for scuba diving. The best of them are only rated to 33 feet. Just checked www.ebay.com and the least expensive quality housings for a Canon EOS are $1,200 or more. I'll stick with my Olympus C-5000 and PT-019 housing I got on ebay for $100.

 

Steve,

 

Any idea what a taxi from Mahahual to Xcalak would be? I'd love to come dive there.

 

TheVegasMan

[XcalakSteve]

Hey Vegasman!

Last time I checked it was around $40 USD. But it does depend on which cabbie you find. Another option is to just rent a car.

 

Melscruise, I use a Nexus housing for my nikon D100. Its pretty pricy though. Check with Sea and Sea or Aquatica but you still are looking at over $1000.

 

Steve

[TheVegasMan]

Steve,

 

Thanks for the info. I'll see if I can make it down there. I was surprised that the diving near PDC was as nice as it is. I love diving in Cozumel, but taking the ferry back and forth adds to the cost. Our time share is in PDC, we'll trade for Cozumel once in a while.

 

I see that one of the two resorts in Xcalak is a nudist resort, not our style. How is Costa de Cocos?

 

Joe

[XcalakSteve]

Hey Vegasman. First off we have about 6 resorts down here, not 2. Now I work at Cocos so I am a bit biased on that but I am also friends with all of the other resort owners here. There isnt a bad one in the bunch. Most are small places (4 to 6 rooms). Cocos is the largest with 16. We have a full restaurant, bar and dive shop on site. The fly fishing is great and so is the diving. If you dont want to drive around we are your best bet. Now a word of warning. If you are looking for air conditioning, cable tv, lots of shopping, lots of nightlife, then Xcalak is not for you. This is a very remote laidback area. All of the resorts are off of the power grid. We generate power with solar, wind and generators. Leave the hairdryers at home. If you want a place to get away from everyone and everything, you want to snorkel, dive, fish or birdwatch or just relax then this is the place. If you need all of that other stuff then this is not the place to be. Hope this answers your question. We do have a website at http://www.costadecocos.com

Steve

[TheVegasMan]

Steve,

 

Sorry, didn't mean to offend about the number of resorts, only two showed up when I checked on www.tripadvisor.com. Cocos sounds wonderful. The dive prices are definitely within budget. Just have to see if I can convince my wife. All she requires is a comfy lounge chair, some sun and a place to keep her wine cold.

 

To keep this on the snorkel and scuba subject: Do you offer any night diving? It's my favorite.

 

Joe

[XcalakSteve]

We do offer night diving as long as the weather is calm. We can keep the wine cold.:):) And plenty of lounge chairs.

Steve

[TheVegasMan]

Steve,

 

Thanks for the info. Maybe you will see us there next year. I had the hardest time trying to get on a night dive last year when I was in PDC. No one else wated to do one, all the shops had a 4 diver minimum. I ended up doing a night shore dive in front of Papa Hog's. Just the dm and me.

 

Joe

[MelsCruise]

Thanks, i really appreciate the input. I'm not a diver, at least not at this point, so I guess I'll stick with my Olympus option.

[CaribKng]

Thanks! Plenty more where that came from.

 

 

Enjoy!

Steve

 

This doesn't really pertain to the thread, but I saw this picture and it reminded me of a snorkel we did in Fl in Feb. We actually snorkeled with the manatees and it was literally one of the best experiences of our lives. they are so gentle....and they love belly rubs.....we saw a mom and her calf and it brought tears to my wifes eyes.....can't dive with them....they are afraid of the bubbles....Thanks for the great pics....I really enjoyed looking at them.