The
Cozumel Drift
Your E-Newsletter
from Scuba Shack,
Blue
Bubble Divers,
Dive ECO-cozumel & the Village Tan
Kah
Cozumel,
Mexico
Nov 11, 2005
Welcome back to another Hurricane Wilma
Update,
brought to
you by your friends
and family here at Blue Bubble Divers,
Dive ECO-cozumel,
Scuba Shack & Village Tan Kah
on the island of Cozumel. If you
know of anyone who is
interested in Cozumel, please, by all means, forward this
newsletter.
I have
added a date for the start of writing a newsletter to the top of this
update.
Usually,
it takes
a few days to get this done, and with things changing so quickly
here,
they
change again between the time I start to the time the newsletter is
finished. So,
I will
try to be brief and to the point in this newsletter.
Again, a
BIG THANKS
to everyone who has written to us in the past week with
best wishes and offers of help. There are so many
E-mails, that I am just unable
to
respond to each and everyone, right now, but we will be doing so as soon as
we get electricity.
IN THIS
EDITION:
Applause and Thanks
... There is not enough kind words for all of
your help!
The Scuba Shack
Skinny... What we are up against
!!!
Reef Assessment and update... We have personally been on the reefs
!!
Cozumel Capers... and other information that you need to know
!!!
Ayuda... Your Spanish lesson
for today !!!
Some pics... just a couple so you
can see the beach before we rebuild !!!
Applause and THANKS
None of us are going
to be able to repeat it enough. Thank you ! Thank you ! Thanks you
!
Your kind hearts and
generosity show the true spirit of the family that we (and that means
you
too) have created !!!!! We really appreciate each and everyone
of you. My apologies for
not getting back
quicker to people. There are still over 400 unread messages in my
inbox.
And with every E-mail
of help, I was a blubbering idiot !!! And so I did take 2 days off
from E-mails.
That was a mistake, and I am trying to get back on track.
Each and every
E-mail will be
answered though.
We do need to cite
some special thanks though :
Kurt &
Mary Ellen Anderson - from Minnesota. They
were going to make
a donation to the
Red Cross to help after the hurricane, but instead, they sent it to be
divided up
between all of the employees. 3 weeks of no work, and no tips,
has really put
a crunch on
many pockets and their help was greatly appreciated. Everyone here
says
thank you
!
Texas Power
and Light - They made a donation to our rebuilding process.
And we have no
idea who is responsible here. So, if you know, please let me know so
that
we can properly
thank them.
Ron, Dan and
Scott - They have come down here to actually help us with
the
rebuilding. They are doing all of the electrical and plumbing jobs
that we never
get around
to. And then they will start on the construction as
well.
All of this and everyone who
is prepaying, is really helping us out now. Especially since
the first initial estimate for the pier (and only
the pier) came in. No one heard
the scream because I almost passed out - $90,000
USD. So, we aggressively negotiating,
and awaiting the others as
well.
Scuba Shack
Skinny..........
Well, the new dive shop is done
! We are redoing the little library that we had at the
front of the hotel, and that will
be our temporary beach headquarters. Freeing up the
Shark room so that we can rent
it. Which, thanks to so many of you who want to come
no matter what, and thanks to
many hotel closing, we had a good November and December
is looking really good.
Thanks !
2 of the 5 boats are up and
running, and we have been out diving on them. Working
great. The others are still
getting spruced up, and should be done by Dec 15 at the
latest.
All of the rooms at the hotel are
now up and running. When I started this
newsletter,
there is still no power at the
hotel. I am at my wits end. Gladys and Clinton were saints.
As well as Dave and Elaine there
first couple of days. WE had a generator for them to
use, which covers all of their
electrical needs,
except for the airco. Thank goodness those
days were really
cool and
breezy. We finally had to call the Secretary of Tourism, who
intervening on our behalf.
A new truck load transformers arrived and
...... We
were
lights ON !!!!!!!!
Whooohoo.
Phone service has mostly been
established, but phone lines go out all of the time. All
of
our phones are currently
working. But sometimes all of the circuits are busy and it is
very
hard to get the call through to
us. So, if
you are trying to
call, you may or may not be
able to get us. Also, we
are mostly at the hotel and running around. Blue Bubble offices
are open during the day but there
may or may not be someone who speaks English there,
until Jorge returns next
week. Juan the instructor is doing evening duty - 5 - 8 pm.
Scuba Shack at the beach
beginning Friday from 7:30 am - 7:30 pm. Julio is
manning
both phones: 872-4240 as well as
872-6142. The high speed internet, though, ALWAYS
works, even when the phone lines
are out. So, E-mails still are the best way to contact
us.
I check them usually in the early
morning before we head out, and then in the evenings as
well.
The animals - The
cats are all doing well. Euro has lost a bit of weight, but I think that
Patches found
it. And Gladys and Clinton decided that the kitty was not a Wilma, but a
hurricane.
So, HURRICANE it is, her new, more appropriate name. She was conceived
during Emily, and
was born right before Wilma and survived !
Dive boats are now departing
daily !!!!!!!!!! Beach diving from our place.... is a bit deeper
now. We have about 6 feet
less now ! We have found the tail of the plane, but we are
not sure where the rest of it
is. We are going to have to search for that one. Anyone
got a spare plane they would like
to make an artificial reef with ?!?!?!
Reef
Assessment and Update
We have
now personally been diving on the reefs. Juan, Porfirio, Robert and I went
out to
assist the Marine Park in the reef clean up. So, we can now report
what we
saw with
our very own eyes. We all agree, the reefs where not as
bed as we expected
them to
be. Yes, there is damage to the
reefs. The deeper reefs really are not
that
bad.
And the shallow reefs to the south were hardly damaged at all. So we
were all
very happy
about that.
When
we first descended, I gazed down at the top of Palancar Gardens.
You can see
some damage, and there is alot of dead corals strewn
about. If you know the reefs, you
see the
damage. If you are not
familiar with them, you are still entering into a magical
world. And the
damage is not as noticeable. The visibility was very good - at least 80
feet. Maybe
more. We were all very apprehensive when we entered,
but our impression
changed
to a slight bit of sadness, looking
at it. But, at the same time, also of alot of
hope. Bases of sponges
that are now missing can be seen, right next to a gorgeous elephant
ear
sponge that made it through -
causing you to wonder how could it have survived if just
a foot
away, another one didn't. It almost becomes a game,
seeing a barrel sponge that
did
not make, and then finding one that did. Seeing a tear
here, but no damage there.
Descending
down the side of the wall, you really notice how much sand has washed
away.
And, at that moment in time, it made perfect sense as
to why. As the waves above are
taking
water to shore, that extra water has to return to the sea somehow. Huge
undertows
is what must have been coming through the reefs, returning the water to the
sea.
Because of this, you will also notice ALOT of broken coral on the sand.
And I
thought,
there is no way that THAT much coral broke off the reef. But remember, as
the sand
gets washed away, it is uncovering coral that was broken off and buried from
this as
well as many other hurricanes: Emily, Wilma, Roxanne, Gilbert,
Keith........
All of the
accumulation is showing. But Gladys stated it so eloquently "You see life
and
you see
death. It just depends on what you want to focus on!" And
the caves and
tunnels,
so many more to explore now. Places that some of us know from after
Gilbert,
that have
filled in over the years. As well as new places. In
addition, that amount
of fish
life seems to have increased. Maybe it has..... maybe these fish
used to hide
inside the
reefs and are out exploring now that there are less people around. I
did see
4 huge
lobsters right out at the edge of their holes, with their tentacles
extending -
as if to
say, hello and thanks you for coming and visiting again. (And not eating
me as
well! -
HA! HA!) All of us were all pleasantly surprised in how
well Palancar and the
southern
reefs have held up.
For our
second dive, we were assigned Tormentos. But with all the doom and gloom
that we
had heard about Yucab, we could not resist the urge to at least drop on the
end of
Yucab, before heading over to Tormentos. On this descent, you can see that
there
almost all of the finger corals are gone,
which was a substantial part of this
particular
reef. You see huge areas where they
are toppled over. Yet, when you look
closer,
you can see the parts that have
survived, the little fingers that are coming out
to start
the entire process over again. So, at each and
every damaged area, I made
it a point
of checking it out. And was
pleasantly surprised that every single area did
have at
least a couple live growths. Starting to
rebuild this beautiful reef. But there
was still
alot of corals and sponges, and lots of fish
around: big barracudas, octopus
right out
on the reef, spotted eagle rays.... And the other thing noticeable
item: the
amount of
eels that I saw. All looking out and up as we passed by. And I
thought -
this
reminds what it used to be like before the Marine Park made us stop feeding the
eels.
And the
memories came back, of the reefs and the animals from my first few years
here on
the island. Right after Gilbert. And another thought. MAYBE,
it was not
the Marine
Park that caused the eels to go away. Maybe it was that after Hurricane
Gilbert
the amount of eels was way up because they did not have so many places to
penetrate
deep into the reefs. So that over time, as the reef grew
and developed, the
reef itself provided deeper hiding places for the
eels, out of our site. And now,
with
Hurricane
Wilma taking away many of their hiding places again, we are now given
the
opportunity again to see our friends the eels again in the
abundant quantities that we
remember
from before. It certainly gave me alot to think about. I still don't
think
the Marine
Park is going to let us start feeding them !
At the end of the day, we all sat
down, and thought that the reefs:
1 - Yes they are damaged but not
as bad as we expected.
2 - Yes we will have to take
additional care so that the reefs come back.
3 - Yes we were happy to see all
of the abundant life that is still there.
Since then, Juan, Abel and
Profirio have reported that they are extremely impressed
with the status of the reefs, and
the animal life - sometimes is better than ever.
Aaron, on his last 2 dives for
his certification, saw 1 shark, a turtle and 3 spotted
eagle rays on this first dive,
and then another shark, 2 spotted eagle rays, lobsters
and octopus on the second
dive. Diving really does not get much better than that !
Don and Sue... Mike, Chris, Chris
and Bob..... Michelle and family.... they are all
extremely pleased that the diving
is just as good as they remember it.
As of this point of time, the
Marine Park has announced the following rules for diving
for the next while. They
did not say if it was for 1 month, or 2, just for right now.
Now, this is also being debated
and has been in discussions for a couple of weeks.
Remember, part of the idea by the
Marine Park is that the first real tourist impact
on the reefs are going
to be our friends the
cruise ship divers, many of which are not
avid divers. Each week we will be
meeting and these points discussed and reevaluated so
things might change before you
get here.
1 - C-53 - Sunken boat - It is
prohibited to penetrate into the boat right now since
it cracked in half. There
are too many sharp edges, metal rods and panels sticking out,
and creating a potential
dangerous environment. This coming week we will address how to
rectify that problem so that it
will be open again.
2 - Night Dives are
prohibited. Since this requires alot more buoyancy control, and
studies show that there is a 20%
increase of inadvertent coral contact on night dives,
they have been suspended for a
while. But beach night diving is going on.
3 - The following reefs are
closed:
Yucab - (We didn't think it
was that bad but...........)
Tormentos - (Again,
we didn't think it was that bad but...........)
Chankanaab - Shallows as well as
the main reef. Ballones and the wall are still open.
Paradise along the shore.
Regular Paradise is open.
These are the reefs that
sustained the most amount of damage. And will be given a
break for the time being.
But, this is also being debated right now, and may change at
any time. Did anyone notice
that Colombia Shallows is not in the list ?!?!?!?!? It is doing WELL
!!!!!!!!!!!
So, that is the status as we see
if right now. As more people come down, we will be
able to get their stories out to
you and see what they think. Again, our biggest problem
this year is going to be
perception. Is your glass 1/2 full......... or 1/2 empty
???
Cozumel
Capers..........
I am not going to say I told you so,
but................ the city made it's grand
opening on Nov 14. Brand
new palm trees have been planted down main street. All
of the roads that washed away are
repaired and open for
traffic. Besides the ones
with major damage, all restaurants
are open. Things are
moving along. And beer and
alcohol sales are on
again.
This has been a major project of our city government -
and if you were not on their
plan and maintaining their schedule, then in some
instances, fines were enforced. The
first week, when we hoped that we would have 7 ships,
the island received a total of
15 (yes, 15 not 7). The second week it was upped to 20. And there are
many this week
as well. It seems that the only ones who are not
on this time line are the big hotels that
have major construction issues for their beaches,
etc. Even the beaches are open:
Paradise Beach,
San Francisco, Playa Mia. Mr. Sanchos is opening Dec 1, and I am not
sure about Nachi
Co-coon. Metzcalitos is open as is Coconuts. Kuko at Coconuts learned
from Emily - take down your thatch and you will save
your palapa !!!!!! But the road was
wiped out right past Chen Rio. So you cannot
pass there. Some of the beaches lost sand,
and other gained. and there is a ton of sand on
the other side of the road !
As for the west side of the island, you will see that
most of the shoreline damage (as well
as what we see on the reefs) was sustained from Punta
Tunich (Reef Club) north to town.
All of the piers in this area were
all severely damaged or wiped out.
Except for the ferry
pier, which remained pretty much intact. The Aldora pier we used in
town, severely damaged.
All of the rest
are gone, including the Reef Club. But south of their, Occidental,
Paradise
Beach, Playa Sol - they all were pretty much
undamaged. So, it appears that with the
way the winds and waves were coming, this is the area
of the island that is hardest hit.
Sand - well, there really is not hardly any on the
west side of the island. Chankanaab is
going to need alot of rebuilding. All of the
buildings that were destroyed were from
Chankanaab north to about Papa Hogg's. The Hotel
Cozumel did not sustain as much shore
damage.
As for traveling to the island, you will probably need to come here
via Cancun. Here is the
latest airline update:
Continental - 3 flights a week from Houston -
Sat, Sun, and Mon.
More
may be added after Dec 20.
Delta - flying in only on Sat. Will add on their
Sunday flights I believe Feb 1.
NW, AA, UA, USAir all will resume as of Dec 15, and
some of them might be limited.
In addition, we have new airlines and routes that are
going to be coming to the island.
Frontier Airlines - will begin service Dec 17 from
Denver to Cozumel.
United Airlines - will begin service mid Dec from
Denver to Cozumel.
Delta Airlines - will begin service from Los Angeles
and from Salt Lake City to Cozumel direct
beginning in March. all of these flights will help everyone from the northwestern US
to come
and visit us easier, and hopefully cheaper
!
Charter airlines:
Funjet will restore some flights directly to Cozumel beginning Dec
17.
MLT, Adventure Tours, Apple, etc. - all seem to be
restoring their direct flights to the
island as of Feb 1. Why Feb 1 you ask?? Well, many of
the larger hotels (Reef Club,
Allegro, Occidental, etc) will not be opening
until then. And why all the same day. Well,
much of their decision is based on
insurance. They have lost revenue insurance which will
pay them last years profits for the months that
they are not open. So, if you were in
their shoes, would you open for Christmas and Jan
with minimal sales ??? Or wait until
Feb 1, do a huge push for sales
beginning then, and just take the insurance money for
the other months. You guys know then answer
and why they are doing what they are
doing. Only 4 hotels will not be open by then:
Park Royal, Cozumel Palace, Presidente
and the Cid.
So, we are back to a situation here on the island
where the best deals will be arriving into
Cancun and then taking the bus and ferry to
Cozumel. The flights no longer exist either.
They were terminated in April. So, here is the
bus schedule that operates from Cancun
airport direct to Playa del Carmen. And the
buses are really nice and clean !!!!!! If you
want to come and visit, your best bet is via
Cancun.
The bus service from Cancun airport direct to Playa del
Carmen. They run almost every
hour and cost only $65 PESOS per person.
Cancun airport departures
-
10:30 AM, 11:45, 12:45 PM, 1:45,
2:45, 3:45, 4:45, 5:45, 7:30 PM
Playa del Carmen to the
Airport:
8:15 AM, 10:15, 11:15, 12:15 PM,
1:15, 2:15, 3:15, 4:15, 6 PM
Here is the current ferry schedules but additional
departures may be added on
for the busy season.
Cozumel departures - 6 AM, 8, 9, 10, noon, 2
PM, 4, 5, 6 and the last at 8 PM
Playa del Carmen departures - 7 AM, 9,
10, 11, 1 PM, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 PM
Ayuda........your help to us and ours to you !
Many of you guys
are who are heading this way are asking what you can bring for us.
Ayuda
(pronounced a-you-da) is the Spanish word for help. And
there is one thing that
we will need
alot
of. Those Blue Ice reusable ice packs - the hard plastic square
ones.
If you are headed
this way
over the next 2-3 weeks, if you would please bring 1 or 2
max in your
luggage, that would be greatly appreciated. Any more than that gets
too
heavy. They
cost about $2 USD each, so please help us with that.
Come and visit of course. December is looking
great now. But Jan is still slow. The
Village Tan Kah
is booked for the weekend of Jan 12 - 15, but other than that, we
have lots of space.
My help to you - here are all of the flight specials
that have been announced for this
week ! You
will have to book quickly, so I will be standing by diligently to address
availability questions, but there are lots of cheap flights out there ! Last minute
really is the way to go this year !
These trips are too good to pass up.
But you
have to purchase this week ! How about a
Christmas present for yourself
?!?!?!?!
MLT Vacations - MEGA
SALE
purchase
these tickets
by Sat, Dec
3rd. Tickets can be
purchased online as well.
Dallas to Cancun - $109 US round trip for Christmas and January.
Denver to Cancun - $299 US
round trip for December.
-
$199 US round trip for New Years - Dec 28.
-
$179 US round trip for January.
-
$199 US round trip
for February.
Detroit to Cancun - $79 US round trip ! This is a deal not
to be passed up.
This is Dec 31 departure ! Spend your New Year with us
!
-
$129 - 149 for the rest of
Dec.
- $169 - 189 for
Jan 15 - Feb.
Minneapolis to Cancun -
$129 US round trip for Christmas or New Years
Departures.
- $149 - 199 for
the rest of Dec and Jan.
*** Note - in Feb, the
flights to Cozumel are $309, yet the flights to Cancun are 199.
$110 US per person difference in price
!
St. Louis to Cancun - $89 US round trip for Dec 4 and
11.
-
$129 for the rest of Dec.
St. Louis to
Cozumel - $249 for their Feb departures.