From: RFLNG@CLEMSON.CLEMSON.EDU (Reef Fish, Large Nassau Grouper)
Newsgroups: rec.scuba
Subject: Re: Trip report - Cozumel and Akumal
Date: 9 Sep 92 16:51:00 GMT

Bill Mayne <mayne@ds1.scri.fsu.edu>

wrote a very interesting and vivid trip report on Cozumel/Akumal.  I
dive in Czm quite frequently (300+ dives and numerous trips there in the
past 6 yrs or so) and would like to add a few comments (footnotes? from
my perspective) to some of his narratives/observations.

>        ...           On a previous trip we had found the Diver's Inn
> which offered an attractive (i.e. relatively cheap) lodging and dive

Bill is absolutely right that you can find a better (cheaper) package
yourself than booking something through travel agencies, though very few
people are as venturesome as Bill and his wife Kris in not having booked
anything until AFTER their arrival.

> The Diver's Inn had changed to the Scuba Inn, ...
> ...                          Rates were $150 person double occupancy
> for 3 nights and 2 days diving, as we originally planned, $215 for 4
> nights and 3 days which we actually did. These go down a bit Sept. 15.

You can do better than that.  Perhaps you (or others) can try this
formula (for comparison purposes) the next time:

Figure the rates per person double occupancy for X nights and Y days of
diving (2-tank boat dives) as follows:

Start with Y days of boat-diving.  Most operators now charge between $45
(including Scuba Shack with whom Bill dove) and $50.  Also, most of them
will give a "multiple-dive-package-discount" of 10% or 15%.  2-tank boat-
dive prices are the MOST UNIFORM (has the least variance) of all prices in
Cozumel.  If you subtract that price from the total price of the room/dive
package, you'll know how much you're paying for your room (per night).

   Price for double-room per night = 2 * (per person TOTAL - 45*Y) / X

Using Bill's $215 for 4 nights/3 days example, we can estimate his room cost
to be 2 * (215 - 120)/4 = $47.5 per night assuming a 10% dive discount.

Not bad for the "medium-price" season of mid-Apr to Sept.  However, some dive
operators give better than $40 per 2-tank package deals and several hotels
near Pro-Dive Pier (downtown) offer amenities comparable to (or better than)
Scuba Inn at a cheaper price.  Check out the Hotel Sobranis or Bahia Suites,
especially during the low-season of 9/1 - 12/15.

> The Scuba Shack runs small fast boats which carry 6 customers,  ...
>        There is a $15 extra charge for Punta Sur (see below),

Expensive for Punta Sur.  Most dive operators charge only $10 extra.
Discover Cozumel (if you don't mind their slow boats) charges the same
for Punta Sur as other sites.

> In the afternoon we dove the Santa Rosa wall.   ...
> ...       Our second dive was Punta Tunich, characterized by
> many fish and a swift current.

A rarely dived site is the Punta Tunich Wall, which is best described as
a "deep Santa Rosa" wall dive.

> The special dive turned out to be Punta Sur, not what I would really
> call a deep dive, but it was spectacular. The top of the reefs were
> at about 60 feet.   ...

The reef system in Cozumel gets progressively deeper (for dives) as one
goes South.  The Palancars are 70-80' dives;  Columbia and Columbia Deep
are a bit further and deeper;  then comes Punta Sur (Point South).  It's
not a single site, but a series of many different drop-off points, best
dived in the 90-110' range -- all spectacular dives.   Then comes a
section sometimes called Punta Sur II (where Devil's Throat is), further
south;  then Chun Cha Kab and Maricaibo -- forget about doing the last
two unless you can find a special charter to dive in the 130-160' range.

Normally a Punta Sur dive would NOT include either the Cathedral or the
Devil's Throat -- Bill was VERY lucky (or semi-lucky -- will explain later)
to have done them on his Punta Sur dives.   In general, the coral formation
is the forte of Punta Sur dives -- there're many spectacular tunnels and
cut-throughs and there's actually one site that RESEMBLES Devil's Throat
(unfortunately, I THINK Bill dove that one) but is not the REAL Devil's
Throat.  I know -- I've been to both.  The REAL one has a much narrower
passage and has a section that is COMPLETELY DARK (from which the name
Devil's Throat was derived) and exits near 130 feet.

>    ...            The plan was to dive a coral cave called the Devil's
>  Throat, which starts at about 85 feet, goes by some skylights, never
                                                                  ^^^^^
>  completely losing daylight, and emerges on the wall at 120 feet.
   ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^                             ^^^^^^^^

From the above, I think Bill was taken to the bogus Devil's Throat -- a
great dive, nevertheless.  Next time, try DM Betos (of Dive House) to take
you to the REAL one, if they can round up a small group of experienced
divers for that special site.

> Anyway, Punta Sur and the Devil's Throat was a great dive which I
> highly recommend. Ordinarily there is an extra $15 charge, ...

No doubt about it, even the fake Throat :( .  But one thing to keep in
mind is that even if you specially request Punta Sur (especially the
Devil's Throat), you may not get to go because there are not enough other
divers interested/competent to do those dives.   Although I would dive
Punta Sur at the drop of a hat any time (with just about any operator),
I've done it only 14 times, and never exactly the same site, but always
memorable.

> This post is already too long so I'll leave the details of Akumal
> for another post, if there is interest.

If you thought it worthwhile to take the time away from Czm diving to go
dive in Akumal (I've never done it).  If so, what are some special
attractions (other than the cave systems -- I'm not into cave-diving)?

Thanks for an interesting post.

-- Bob.     (RFLNG = Reef Fish, Large Nassau Grouper)
rflng@clemson.bitnet
rflng@clemson.clemson.edu