Hi, y'all

I just returned from one of the most enjoyable trips I have
ever had to Cozumel. It's an annual gathering of family and
friends in Paradise every year since 1977.

The schedule:

Wed May 12 - Arrival, shore dive at the hotel

Thurs May 13 - Dives at Palancar Gardens and Paseo de Cedral

Fri May 14 - Dives at Colombia and Tormentos
        Close encounter with a big eagle ray at Colombia!
       
Sat May 15 - Dives at Maracaibo and Punta Tuniche, and a night dive
        from shore at the hotel
       
Sun May 16 - Excursion around the island.  Boogieboarding at Chen
        Rio and Playa Bonita

Mon May 17 - Deep sea fishing.  I caught a 100 lb marlin blanco!

Tues May 18 - Dives at Colombia and Yucab

Wed May 19 - Deep sea fishing

Thurs May 20 - Dives at Punta Sur Cathedral (wow!) and Punta Tuniche,
        and a night dive at Las Palmas
       
Fri May 21 - Deep sea fishing

Sat May 22 - Dives at Palancar Horseshoe and La Francesca

Sun May 23 - Dives at Palancar Horseshoe and San Francisco, fiesta on
        Plaza at night

Mon May 24 - Last minute shopping, departure

Diving highlights:
Eagle ray at Colombia, swimthroughs at Punta Sur Cathedral, safety stop
at the end of Palancar Horseshoe, turtles asleep under the reef at Las
Palmas, many turtles everywhere, freeswimming nurse shark at Tormentos,
big scorpionfish at La Francesca, octopus and squid at night off the
hotel, BA divemaster Jorge.  The only dive I was lukewarm towards was
the deep wall at Maracaibo (158'); it took a long time to get down and
a longer time to get up, with only about 10 minutes to look around once
we were at depth.  Oh, and 2/3 through the night dive at Las Palmas,
another op dumped a big group right on top of us, who made no effort
whatsoever to keep themselves separate, and suddenly there were 15
divers piled atop each other trying to get a glimpse of the same
octopus. What are these people thinking???

The accomodations:
Caribe Blu, formerly Lorena, and before that La Perla.  I can't really
speak comparatively about the place, since I have only twice stayed
anywhere else; it's a little rustic for some, but perfectly suited to
our needs.  The new owners and management, Alejandra and Jeanie, are
very personable and went to great lengths to ensure our enjoyment of
our visit.  High marks, though I thought that the room renovations (faux
seashore) were just a little cheesey. I miss the shower curtain rods
in the bathrooms.  The drying racks outside the rooms and the new
hammocks are really nice; I can leave my hammock at home next time.

The dive company:
Blue Angel, my first experience with them. The DM's were professional,
knowledgeable, amiable, safety conscious, and attentive.  Once we showed
our skills level, they left us alone to dive our computers. Destinations
were by consensus. BA was economical, plus gave us a discount on our
rooms.  High marks.

The weather:
In a word, excellent.  In spite of thunderstorms predicted throughout
our
stay, none developed.  The humidity was low, the breeze was constant,
and
the rain we experienced was only a minor shower or two.  The north to
northeast wind made it a tad rocky on our fishing trips, but it did not
quash our enthusiasm.

The fishing:
Over three days, we caught 12 dorado, 2 sailfish, 3 barracuda, and the
aforementioned big white marlin.  4 to 6 foot seas with the occasional
8.
The tournament the previous weekend was won by the Marlin Negro, which
brought in a 364 lb marlin azul.  The crew on our boat wished I'd caught
that marlin a day earlier; it might have won 2nd place.

The food:
La Choza, Las Gavilanes (sp?), Casa Mission, La Perlita, La Moreno, Capi
Navigante, El Moro, Casablanca, Pancho's Backyard, Sonora, Guido's, Casa
Denis.  Best new find for us - La Perlita.  Taken off my short list -
Casa Mission (the food is OK but very much overpriced).

General news:
The exterior of the development next to Plaza las Glorias is complete,
and they have started another about the same size right next to it. The
Servi Playa has been moved a bit south, and the gap between it and
Acuario
is being filled by another development of some sort; Darwin's place on
the
water is gone.  The new Pemex station near the southern cruise ship
docks
is open now.  The main drag in town is all torn up for some sort of
drainage project; they are laying pipe down the middle of the northbound
side.

All in all, it was another wonderful trip to Cozumel. I met some folks
that I will try
to stay in touch with.  The diving was great, the weather was great, the
food was great, the company was great, the hotel was great, the fishing
was
great...  Right offhand, I can't think of a single thing that WASN'T
great.
Heavy sigh.  We are already planning our next year's trip.

Cheers,
Gordon in Austin