Cozumel May 10 - 17 2008 trip report
Had an awsome trip ...FANTASTIC......WONDERFUL
Stayed at the Iberorstar good hotel, lots of stuff for non divers LOL
Used the onsite shop which is Dressel. Good company, very experienced and friendly staff. Had no complaints at all with the company. I had used them before in January for 6 discovery scuba dives. Was not given any reason to second guess my choice.
It was a busy trip. obtained my OWD, AOWD,EANXD. So when I was not in the water I had my nose in a book or was watching video or writing test.
dives were wonderful. My buoyancy was good need to work on air consumption, but I am sure this will improve with practice. Currents were varied. two days of real strong currents, and rough surfaces. I just thought that it added to my experience.
Dive 1 - Columbia shallows
depth 10m
bottom time - 41
current - slight
visibility - 100ft
water temp - 28C
this was a nice easy dive after skills tests. Lots of marine life, flounder, parrot fish, angel fish etc.. Broken reef with white sand in between.
Dive 2 - Palancar Gardens
depth 12m
bottom time - 39
current - med
visibility - 90ft
water temp - 27C
wonderful dive very lovely. solid reef, northern current, relaxing drift dive, lots of life, turtles, angel fish, trunk fish, lobster, crab, groupers.
Dive 3 - Columbia shallows
depth 28ft
bottom time - 40min
current - minimal
visibility - 100ft
water temp - 28C
wonderful dive very lovely. broken reef, northern current, relaxing drift dive, lots of life, turtles, angel fish. Of course I had to do skills first.
Dive 4 - Palancar Gardens
depth - 60ft
bottom time - 30
current - med
visibility - 90ft
water temp - 27C
wonderful dive very lovely. solid reef, northern current, relaxing drift dive, lots of life, turtles, angel fish, trunk fish, lobster, crab, groupers, barracuda.
Final dive for OWD.
Dive 5 - Columbia Cordillera
depth - 85ft
bottom time - 23
current - low
visibility - 100ft
water temp - 79F
wonderful dive very lovely. solid reef, northern current, relaxing drift dive, lots of life, fantastic dive. this was my deep dive. I Had a timed test on surface and at depth.
Dive 6 - Punta Dalila
depth - 65ft
bottom time - 27min
current - low
visibility - 100ft
water temp - 79F
this was a nice easy dive after deep dive. This was my AWARE Fish ID Lots of marine life, barracuda, parrot fish, angel fish etc.. nice reef , cool swim throughs.
Dive 7 - Wreck C-53
depth - 71ft
bottom time - 30min
current - none
visibility - 100ft
water temp - 79F
This was my wreck dive and it was great. No other groups just six of us on this wreck. no current at all. huge barracuda, large school of glass fish. saw a huge parrot fish and two large groupers. GREAT DIVE
Dive 8 - Delila
depth - 59ft
bottom time - 38min
current - slight
visibility - night dive
water temp - 78F
This was first night dive. Liked it very much. Saw Lobster, crab, Morry eel, trunk fish. My mask was flooding badly ( later found that purge valve had slipped out) missed two sharks and large turtle. nice swim throughs.
Dive 9 - Palancar Caves
depth - 69ft
bottom time - 31min
current - med
visibility - 70ft
water temp - 79F
nav tests, distance measurements in cycles and time. Nav straight line and square. after which finished with nice swim in moderate current. saw stingray and the usual cast.
Dive 10 - La Francesa
depth - 68ft
bottom time - 29min
current - fast
visibility - 50ft
water temp - 79F
Fast current, nice drift dive. got some nice pics. Saw nurse sharks and turtles and the biggest grouper I have ever seen. always sitting on leeward side of corral, staying out of the current.
Dive 11 - Palancar gardens
depth - 64ft
bottom time - 36min
current - low
visibility - 100ft
water temp - 80F
Nice easy dive , low current so perfect drift. saw turtle, barracuda, large trunk fish, queen angle and four eye. lobster.
