COZUMEL TRIP
COZUMEL, MEXICO
Trip Report
August 12th, 2001
Dan and Becki and myself (Marc) left Denver, Colorado on Sunday August 12th, 2001 for a weeklong
dive trip to Cozumel, Mexico. We left Denver International Airport on a direct flight
at 8am MST. The flight was fast and easy and we got there around 1pm CST. We
booked our vacation with Apple Vacations (http://www.applevacations.com) and
used A1 Scuba and Travel in Englewood, Colorado (http://www.a1scuba.com) as the travel agent.
We were very pleased with both organizations. This was my first Non-United
States dive vacation and I went with my two Colorado dive buddies. They are
both veterans of Cozumel, with this being their third trip. Our trip was
scheduled for August 12th through August 19th and we stayed at the Costa Club resort
(http://www.hotelcozumel.us/).
The resort was very nice 
and
clean. Dan and Becki suggested we do our diving with Dive Paradise (http://www.diveparadise.com). Sunday, 12th: After checking in with Dive
Paradise, we did two checkout beach dives to determine our proper weighting and
get used to the area.(1st Dive: 19ft for 35 minutes, avg 14ft and 2nd Dive: 18ft for 25
minutes, avg 14ft).The weather was warm, about 90 degrees but very humid. The water temp was 84 degrees and I
started out in a 3mm wetsuit. Soon, I switched to a 1mm wetsuit purely for
abrasion protection. We saw: trumpet fish, yellow tails, damselfish, spotted
drums, smooth trunkfishs, brittle stars, yellow stingrays.Monday, 13th: The boat arrived around 8:30am for
our two-tank dive. After picking up all the divers from the numerous hotels, we
were off to our dive sites. The group decided to dive Palancar Brig and Punta
Tunich (1st Dive: 88ft for 37 minutes, avg 56ft and 2nd
Dive: 66ft for 44 minutes, avg 45ft).Again, the weather was warm, about 90 degrees and very humid. The water
temp was 84 degrees. Both dive spots were beautiful, but I loved Palancar Brig.
Today, we saw: Queen Angel Fish, Parrotfish, Sea Horses,
Great Barracudas, Southern and Yellow
Stingrays. Dan and I did a third boat dive in the afternoon.We dove Paradise Shallows hitting 41ft for
54 minutes and averaged 33ft. I found the shallows to be bland and boarding,
but still 10000000% better than diving in Colorado.
Tuesday, 14th: Our cattle boat arrived on time,
if you use Mexican-time as your reference. The group decided to dive Chancanab
Wreck (C-53) and Las Palmas (1st Dive: 75ft for 42 minutes, avg 55ft
and 2nd Dive: 53ft for 49 minutes, avg 43ft).Again, the weather was warm, about 90
degrees and very humid. The water temp was 84 degrees. We saw: Giant Groupers,
Rock Fish, Great Barracuda, Yellow and Southern Stingray. Our un-named dive
master (only because I forgot to write down most of the dive master�s names)
gave us a guided penetration tour of the wreck. The wreck is a 184 foot long
armed Mexican military ship named, �Felipe Xicotencatl� (For a history of the
ship: http://www.underwatercolours.com/cozumel/wreck/wreck.html
). This was my first wreck penetration dive and I really enjoyed it. Once I
move back home to Southern California I need to get wreck penetration
certified, because I want to do a lot more of this type of diving. Later in the
day, Dan and I did another one-tank boat dive. We dove Chancanab Shallows,
hitting 
49ft for 53
minutes and averaged 38ft. That night, we also did a forth dive, we dove off
the beach from Costa Club, we hit 18ft for 42 minutes and averaged 13ft. Today,
we saw: an Octopus, Spotted Moray Eels, Angel Fish, Parrot Fish, Smooth Trunk
Fish. We also ran across the beginnings of a war between a yellow stingray and
an octopus. A very nice dive! Wednesday, 15th: The group decided to dive
Palancar Gardens and Paso De Cedral (1st Dive: 112ft for 39 minutes, avg 50ft and 2nd Dive: 53ft for 48
minutes, avg 40ft). The weather started
out rainy and the seas were rough. The water temp was 84 degrees. I talked with
the DM before the dive because I wanted to do another 100ft dive. On our second
dive, The DM convinced a Moray Eel to come out of his den. He played with it
for a moment before it got pissed and tried to attack the DM. 
Then the eel tried to take revenge on the
next available diver, ME! The eel got very close. The eel�s face hit my camera
and with my camera against my face. I very quickly left the area and proceeded
to crash into several of my fellow divers. Sorry guys! Later in the day, Dan
and I did another one-tank boat dive. We dove Chancanab Wreck (C-53) hitting
72ft for 44 minutes and averaged 51ft. This night I did a forth dive. With a
person (John) I meet on the boat, we dove off the beach from Costa Club, we hit
25ft for 62 minutes and averaged 18ft. We decided to take a navigation reading
on a sailboat directly out from the beach. We planned on doing an out and back course.
Well, the best laid plans of mice and men, the current had other ideas. I tried
to adjust for the current, as it felt very strong, but I over corrected. We
ended up in the shallows down from the beach. After this error, we had the best
part of the dive. We had the chance for a close-up view of a small octopus.
Wow, that was sweet! Today, we saw: Squid, Spotted Eels, Yellow Stingrays, Rock
Fish, Parrot Fish.
Thursday, 16th: Today is the day we all have been
looking forward to the most. We scheduled a trip to Akumal, Mexico for our
first encounter with Cenotes.(http://www.cenotes.com)
arrived to pick us up at Playa Del Carma after our early morning fairy ride from Cozumel.
Our dive master Gonzalo gave us an introduction to cavern diving at the dive shop.
The talk was very informative and well done. After changing, we were off for the
first of our two-cenote dives. This particular dive (40ft for 40 minutes, avg
24ft) is at a site called Ponderosa. Once in the water, Gonzalo did a through
examination of our gear and suggested some ways to streamline our gear. He then
watched us do a weight check. After some minor adjustments we were off.
Ponderosa is a large cavern and very wide. We saw, stalagmites, stalactites,
2000-year-old pottery. The weather and water were cooler than Cozumel: 79 and
75 degrees. Wow, what a way to start. The support crew helped us off with our
gear and loaded it in to the van and we were off to our next site, Taj Mahal.
The cavern is a not as wide as Ponderosa but it was very sweet (47ft for 43
minutes, avg 26ft). We surfaced into three underground areas. The best being,
�Points of Light�. There were several small circular openings in the roof were
sunlight peered through with the light steams extending into the water, like
laser beams. The roof had numerous stalagmites and bats. What a scene! After
our diving, we headed back to the dive shop where they had a nice warm chicken
lunch on the roof deck waiting for us. We enjoyed our lunch over an incredible
view of the beach. Wow, we were tired and crashed for the night on our return
to the hotel. Friday, 17th: The group decided to dive Santa
Rosa Wall on the first dive and half of the Yucab reef and half of the
Tormentos reef on the second dive (1st Dive: 131ft for 37 minutes,
avg 62ft and 2nd Dive: 52ft for 49 minutes, avg 40ft). The weather started out
rainy and the seas were fought. The water temp was 84 degrees. Again, I wanted
to do another 100ft dive. I talked with the DM before the dive and informed him
of my plans to go deeper than the group. It was a little deeper than planned. When
I was at 115 feet I suddenly got pulled down to 122 feet. So, because I was so close
to the limit of recreational diving, I decided to hit 130 feet (actually 131ft). It
was hard to go up and I noticed it was more difficult to breath. Later in the
day, Dan and I did another one-tank boat dive. We dove Villa Blanca, hitting
70ft for 51 minutes and averaged 43ft. This night I did a forth dive. Dan and
Becki teamed up and headed down from the beach and John and I went up from the
beach, we hit 22ft for 47 minutes and averaged 16ft. Today, we saw: Smooth
trunk fish, Barracudas, hog fish, Squid, Spotted Eels, Yellow stingrays, rockfish,
lobsters 
and sleeping parrot fish.Saturday, 18th:
Today, was our last day of diving because we fly home tomorrow afternoon. So, today we
were more conservative with long safety stops. We also decided to dive Nitrox as an
additional safety factor. The group decided to dive Palancar Gardens and Las Palmas (1st Dive:
84ft for 35 minutes, avg 56ft and 2nd Dive: 55ft for 55 minutes, avg
41ft).The water temp was 84 degrees. We all stayed shallower than the DM throughout the dive.
I was too light this dive after deciding to drop two pound yesterday afternoon. I had a lot of
difficulty staying down at the end of the dive. I fixed the weight on the last
dive of the day and did a 7-minute safety stop. Well, Dan didn�t bring his
camera on the last dive, as he was out of film. Thankfully, I had film. In some
160+ dives I have never had the privilege of seeing what I would classify as a
classic looking shark. In the distance, Becki and the DM pointed out a 6-8ft
Black Tip shark (Too far away for the picture). I was so happy. The only thing
left on my list of things I wanted to see on this trip was a turtle. 
Well, shortly after the shark, we
spotted a turtle. Sunday, 19th: Well, time to go home. Before the
trip, I was really dreading the idea of returning back home and going back to
work. Well, I had such a great time and was so relaxed and at peace with
things, that I almost didn�t mind going back to work. Well.......
Cozumel Picture Loop
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