Dive Report - Cozumel

[sea-jay]

I recently returned from a cruise on RCI's Explorer of the Seas and dove in Belize and Cozumel. This report is for Cozumel. A separate report has been posted for Belize.

 

I am PADI certified to Advanced Open Water but, since I have only been diving for two years, have only 28 dives so far. You can see some of my dive photos on my Webshots page, the link is in my signature below.

 

Nor for the report: We docked in Cozumel at 8:00 AM ships time, (7:00 Cozumel time). I had previously made arrangements with Alison (Scubawithalison.com) to dive with her and was to meet at her boat at 9:00 local time. I took a taxi to her marina and was dropped off at her boat. The taxi ride was $6.00 and only 10 minutes. Needless to say, I arrived quite early because I didn't know how far the marina was from the dock or how long it would take. After cooling my heels for 1/2 hour or so and chatting with Carlos (her boat captain) Alison arrived. Shortly thereafter, another couple arrived that was also diving with us that day. They were week-long vacationers staying at one of the local hotels.

 

After getting aboard her boat, about a 25-28 footer with a bimini top, we left the marina and headed out. On the way, we had a little trouble with one of the engines and discovered a kinked fuel line was the problem. We stopped at a beach hotel dock and picked up two other divers, young men whose wives decided to shop for the day. Altogether, we now had 5 divers (originally planned for 7 with the shopping wives) and Alison. So our group of six was a nice size for diving.

 

Our first dive was Planacar Caves. For those of you the have been diving in Cozumel, you will probably have at least one dive there. If you haven't, you are really missing something. Entry was a back roll which was a first for me. Alison said I did it like a pro. :) The air temp was 88 with water 82. Our dive was to a maximum of 77 feet for 42 minutes. Vis was over 60'. There was a slight current running so this was a drift dive. There was abundant reef life but the fascination of the caves was the coarl formations. You can see some of them in my photos. I have to list this as one of my top 5 dives to date.

 

When we came up, we headed into the beach near a local pub/bar and tied up for our surface interval of slightly over an hour. We had lots of fresh water and soft drinks in the cooler along with tropical fruits, cakes, donuts and cookies. I should mention that if anyone dives with Alison from a cruise ship, they have to bring her cookies from the dinning hall. I had a whole bag full and they were all gone by the time we got back to the marina.:D

 

Our second dive was a site called French Reef. Again, drift dive with a maximum of 66 feet for 57 minutes. Most of the dive was at about 40-45 feet. Lots of turtles, only one ray, but a huge lobster that would have fed a family of four. The reef was beautiful with lots of color and life.

 

I would rate these dives at a 8 or 9 on a scale of 10.

 

Happy Bubbles.

[rram1234]

thank you for posting the review, hubby and i have never done a dive with on a cruise and am thinking about it on our next cruise coming up this september, glad to hear the dives were great.

[bruce-r]

I have read nothing but positive reports about Allison, so it is good to hear that they were correct. Glad you had a good time.

 

So, have you planned your trip to Cozumel yet? I started the day we got back from our cruise :)

[w&k]

Great review!!!

 

Thanks for the tip - always nice to know who is good in an area.

 

Wendy

[KaC-Cruiser]

We've used Alison several times while diving off a cruise ship, and she's always been great! :D

 

(And she does love those cookies!);)

[DiveCruiser]

I had a great time to years ago and plan to use them again on the Valor cruise in Oct 2005. I breath slowwly and don't use much air. After 45 min (averge depth 85-90) on our first dive the other 3 divers were out of air, I still had 1700lbs lefts. The divemaster told the three to go up and we spent anoth 25 min till my time was up. When I got back on board everone agreed (but me) that I should only get half a tank for the second dive.

Great operation

Bob

[waterrats]

thanks for the review. I visited her website and will mostly likely be in touch with her for our cruise in September.