Review - BlueXTC diving, Cozumel, 4/28/2005

[w&k]

Dive review – BlueXTC divers, Cozumel, MX

April 28, 2004 (RCCL Splendour of the Seas)

 

Rating of 1-5 stars:

Overall *****

 

People *****

Equipment *****

Diving ***** (Palancar Bricks ***** 81ft/44min Punta Tunich ***** 56ft/58min)

 

BlueXTC will DEFINITELY be my contacted operation when diving Grand Cayman again.

 

Personal dive biases: I am a Floridian with >300 dives, certification through rescue. My diving experience has been under all sorts of conditions, but I no longer dive rough, deep or cold water (why bother?), and avoid weekend warriors whenever possible. My diving preference is drifting on reefs, and I have been known to bring home a bug or two.

 

I got the tip on BlueXTC from the Cruise Critic Scuba and Snorkeling board, and from Scubaboard.com. The website http://www.blueXTC.com was clean and functional. My initial E-mail was answered promptly, personally and courteously by Christi. Christi reserved the spots for our group of 4, and I sent a bank draft to her Texas address for the deposit. Unfortunately, my check got lost in transit, and Christi and I were having some trouble connecting by E-mail. We finally got our communication problem figured out, and check #2 got to the correct place. Christi sent final confirmation and directions just before we left for the trip.

 

We made it off the ship early, and this time, ship time was the same as shore time. We were at the northern cruise terminal, and got funneled through the shops on the way out, thumping and bumping our gear bags. The taxi lineup tried to put all 4 of us and our 4 sets of dive gear in a small car, but we held out for the van. It’s amazing how a glare can eliminate the language barrier. After a 5-minute ride, we arrived at the marina, and found the boat just inside the entrance to the left.

 

Divemaster Pedro set us up with paperwork, and we discussed dives as we were waiting for our other 3 divers. On the boat, we set up the first tank, and got our weights together and inserted, and stashed the gear bags up front. Once organized, the boat was roomy, with lots of shade. We had 7 divers, Captain Alvaro, and Divemaster Pedro (Tara - 25-27 feet?). Pedro gave a great procedural and briefing for each dive. We did back-rolls and joined up before heading for the bottom.

 

Dive #1 - Palancar Bricks. Top 5 all time dive! The water was absolutely gorgeous, and the relief on the edge of the wall was incredible. Lots of swim throughs and nooks and crannies to peer into. Grouper, tangs, and grunts were plentiful. Tremendous variety in hard corals. The relief was 20-25 feet.

 

For the surface interval, we ran in to a beach club, which just happened to be where the wives of our other 2 divers were relaxing for the day, so we got to spend our break with them. Serendipity is wonderful! Water and snacks were provided on the boat – pretzels, little sweet cookies, chex mix, and some other munchies.

 

Dive #2 – Punta Tunich. Another beautiful dive. Saw live conchs, a couple of scorpionfish, and a juvenile nurse shark. Schools of parrotfish were cruising the reef top with our group. Lots of anemones, and gorgeous coral. Saw some variants of tangs and parrotfish I had never seen before, and lots of babies of all kinds.

 

We packed up our gear, and dropped off the tanks and hotel divers back at the marina. Capt. Alvaro and Pedro then took us to a hotel dock right next to our ship. Diners appeared to be a bit surprised by wet divers pulling gear bags through the restaurant, but the servers looked like it was a normal occurrence. Very convenient drop-off spot – we didn’t have to catch a taxi back.

 

Fabulous dives and diving - we shall return for our next trip to Cozumel! Can’t wait to do it again!

 

Wendy

 

Check out some photos at http://community.webshots.com/user/wendyandkeith

[sportsterjohn]

Do they also bring snorklers on this trip? I dive but due to medical conditions, my wife cannot.

[bruce-r]

W&K thanks for the review. It is feedback like this that makes cruise critic worth while. I definitely agree with your 5 star rating.

 

The actual web site for Blue XT Sea diving is : http://www.bluextseadiving.com

[bruce-r]

Do they also bring snorklers on this trip? I dive but due to medical conditions, my wife cannot.

Sorry Sportser, I don't think Christi takes snorkelers. You might try Blue Angel They offer a snorkel/dive combo.

Quote from their website:

Departing at 10:00 am for familes that want to share a day together, combination of 2 dive reefs with 3 stops for snorkelers. Divemaster and Snorkel guide on board. Lunch included.

 

Other cruisers like http://www.eagleraydivers.com for snorkel/dive combo trips.