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Dive Review of Blue XTSea/Casa Mexicana in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan

Blue XTSea/Casa Mexicana, Jul, 2006,

by Karen Guthrie, CA, USA (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 9 reports). Report 2607.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Had read reports of Coz being destroyed after the hurricane. Not true. While soft corals did suffer compared the southern tip and there was some sand on the reef, there were TONS of neat things to see. Had read that the beds at Casa Mexicana were too hard, also not true. The hotel was wonderful and so central you could walk anywhere or for 3 to 5 dollars take a cab. Pickup was a three minute walk from the hotel which included a buffet breakfast with everything from made to order omletts to bagels. The diving was easily the best we have found in the Carribean including Little Cayman before their hurricanes. Although we only dived 5 days we saw loads of tropicals including smooth trunkfish by the bunches, queen triggers and queen angels, french angels, grey angels, sleeping nurse sharks, 14 turtles on one dive called Tortugas near Playa Del Carmen, two hunting octopi and some hunting lobsters on our night dive and an eagle ray and red liped batfish on other days. Usually Queen Angels are shy but here they are used to divers as are many fish and don't run away. Dive op grouped us by skill level most days allowing us to get in one 75 minute dive and many over an hour.

Then we went to Isla Holbox 7/10 and 7/11 to see the whalesharks for a couple of days. Saw many both days and our little boat of 4 to 6 people got one to ourselves because there were SO many that we didn't need to mob one animal. They swim really fast so even if they are just cruising you have to pump to keep up but it is doable. Take your wetsuit as it is colder than Cozumel and if you have a wetsuit you don't need the lifevest which streamlines you for speed. We went with Ricardo. [travelyucatan.com link]
He arranged for us to stay at the Wayak. It is air conditioned but rustic. You usually are awakened about sunrise by the chirping of the gekos that have chosen your ceiling to hang out on. Try the lobster pizza. When driving to Chiquila to get to Holbox, don't get on the 40 near Cancun as it is a toll road and there are no offramps which makes you go hours out of your way. Safest way from Cozumel or Playa Del Carmen is to head to Tulum (in the wrong direction) but you can't mess up the roads and end up having to double back.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Caymans, Belize, Palau, Thailand, GBR, Hawaii, LaPaz Mexico, Cay Sal Bank, Fiji, California
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm, currents, noCurrents
Water Temp 0-0°F / -18--18°C Wetsuit Thickness 0
Water Visibility 0-0 Ft/ 0-0 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile ?
Enforced diving restrictions Dive to 500psi.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks > 2
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 3 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities 4 stars
UW Photo Comments There were a lot more neat things to take pictures of than I expected. Although the boat didn't have a rinse tank the captain nestled it into a bag of towels for safe transport and handed it to you carefully.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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