carey@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU (10/17/85)
I am going to take a vacation to the Cancun - Cozumel area in March.
A friend of mine here told me that a while back there was some discuss-
ion here of diving in that area. Can anybody tell me about when those
notes would have appeared? It would give me an idea of where to look in
our archive tapes. If anyone saved a copy maybe you could mail it?
Or if you have something else to add about diving in that area, please
do.
--John Carey
-- {ihnp4,convex,pur-ee}!uiucdcs!carey carey%uiuc@csnet-relay.arpa
carey@CS.UIUC.EDUatkins@opus.UUCP (Brian Atkins) (10/23/85)
A friend of mine has dived both Cancun and Cozumel, and the later
is much better as far as he was concerned. If fact, a rather disturbing
thing happened to him in Cancun. He went charter boat diving with about 10-15
other people. Not only were the guides completely unorganized, causing
them to get into the water almost 1 hour after dropping anchor, but the dive
master also ran out of air at 50 feet!! My friend knows, because he was
the master's buddy. Most of the other people were renting boat equipment
which did not have octopuses. My friend was the only one that did have one,
and the dive master knew it. When his air gave out, he when to by
friend and they went up. (At least he didn't panic also!).
All in all, my friend has been to Cozumel twice and to Cancun once.
He refuses to go back to Cancun, and swears he will never dive there
even if he does go back.
W.r.t. non-diving activities, Cancun has a much better night (and day)
life than Cozumel, which seems to be a rather sleepy place, full of
sun, Coronas, and quiet days, rather than discos, taxis and hustle and
bustle, which are Cancun's traits.
Since I have never been there, but only heard second hand (on numerous
occasions, my friend likes to tell his stories) these descriptions,
others will have better information on the actual sights and diving
experiences. But do beware of diving in Cancun! (Cozumel is supposed
to be better w.r.t. conditions and things to see underwater anyway).
Brian Atkins ...{attunix, hao, allegra, ucbvax}!nbires!atkins
NBI Inc., P.O. Box 9001, Boulder CO 80301 (303) 444-5710repete@inmet.UUCP (10/28/85)
Just to spice things up a bit, I've heard from several different people that the diving operations in Cozumel can be pretty poor w.r.t. safety, organization, and selection of sites. I don't know anyone who has dived Cancun, but my wife and I are planning a trip there in February. If we survive, I'll tell all...
bsisrs@rruxe.UUCP (R. Schiraldi) (11/01/85)
Cancun?? Diving?? DON'T DO IT!!!! My wife and I went there and
tried the diving. I'm a PADI Divemaster, so I think I know how to
dive. First, the boat was about 25 to 30 feet long and a narrow
beam. The thing looked ready to become a wreck diving sight. The
crew was not the most helpfull I've seen (and I've been on a lot of
boats!!). Second, ALL the tanks were stored on the boat leaving no
room for passengers. Not one of the tanks had a VIP sticker, not
even an old sticker! All the tanks I saw were 3 to 5 years OUT OF
HYDRO!!!
Now for the real horror. The first dive was on a coral formation
(if you can call it a coral formation) that was ONE brain coral head
about 30 feet in diameter. Once we got there (two miles from the
dive shop and a 50 min ride) the crew set up all the tanks. They
would'nt let me touch my own BC or regulator. When they set it up,
they put my BC jacket on the tank UPSIDEDOWN. I refused to let them
correct it and put the thing on correctly myself. The first tank they
gave me had a whopping 1200 lbs (aluminum 80 cf @ 3000lbs) and I
refused it. The next tank I got had 800 lbs and they tried to tell
me my gauge was off. I DEMANDED another tank and it had 2500 in it
so I settled for that one.
Now for the first dive: Visablity of about 40 feet ( I had 40 foot +
vis on meny wreck dives off New Jersey) and the @#$*&(#$ hole of a
divemaster wanted ALL divers to hold hands for fear of someone
getting lost!! The coral itself was worse than the scrap that was
under the dive pier at the Flamingo Beach Hotel in Bonaire (Oh if I
could only go back to Bonaire :-) ).
The second dive was about the same as the first. My wife you ask??
Well this was her first warm water dive and she thought it was the
best in the world until I took her to Bonaire ;-) !!!
The best thing about Cancun was the souvenirs. The worst was a toss
up between the diving and the effects of the food (stay away from
ANY sea food) and the water (all salad was rinsed in the local
water).
I can't talk about Cozumel, my sister-in-law was there for the
diving but sucummed to the food and water after 4 days.
Try Bonaire if you want a great diving adventure.
Rich Schiraldi
rruxe!bsisrs
PADI DM# 21546