Isla Mujeres

[Punky]

Headed for Isla Mujeres Jan 28 and wanted to see if anyones been there.

What dive shop did you go with and how was your trip.

The info I'm finding looks good but would like to hear someones experience.

[wtdrm]

I dont know if its close enough. I thought Isla Mujeres was just an island off Cancun. We dove with Blue Peace diving 4 years ago and they were OUTSTANDING.

[jasondbaker]

I thought that area was hit by a hurricane last month. What is the situation in Isla Mujeres?

[Chuck_Northrup]

I flew into Cancun and spent a week in Mexico for my sister's wedding.  I can not speak specifically for Isla Mujeres but I can shed some light on the area.

Generally speaking life on the mainland is coming back together.  The majority of shops and restaurants were up and running.  We made several stops on the transfer from the airport which suggests that a good portion of the Hotels are operational    We were staying in Puerto Aventuras, and I did catch the ferry to Cozumel from Playa del Carmen and would rate Playa equally capable. 

Cozumel on the other hand did not fare as well :'(

Wilma camped over the island for 60 hours and the damage is very real and obvious.  I am not one of those to jump on the "Cozumel has been destroyed" bandwagon because it just is not true.  If anything I was impressed with the places who worked to open up as quickly as they did in the wake of such obvious devastation.  I think Cozumel will be hindered in redevelopment unfortunately.  Their lack of manpower and material compared to the mainland will hinder the progress, and until tourism returns they will be lacking the one thing they really need...income  :-\

The dives I did do were refreshing, the underwater world we love is still there.  The hard corals were in exceptional condition and the fish life was abundant as ever (in fact I saw the first shark in 6 years of diving Coz) most of the damage occurred to soft corals and sponges.  Fortunately these will regenerate the fastest  ;D 

I also noticed quite a bit of "bleached coral."  The hurricanes moved quite a bit of sand around so covered reefs are now exposed.  While it was once thought the "bleaching" meant death it has been discovered that with time these will once again become budding reef societies    The good news is that those of you who have "dove Cozumel 100 times" will be able to enjoy a refreshing new scene  8)

The hardest part of visiting Cozumel for me was trying to reconcile what I saw with what I remember...but just like the coral reefs Cozumel will regenerate and create a new environment we can all enjoy 

I hope that any of you with plans to visit Cozumel this year will honor your reservations.  If you do not have a winter vacation planned yet I would encourage you to go to Coz!  The people there need our support, not in the sense of foreign aid, but in your tourist dollar. 

CN3

[billatlake]

I'll be staying near Puerta Aventura in a week.  If a planned trip to Isla Mujeres holds up,  I will give you some up to date info when I return.
Chuck...  I was thinking of shore diving at Akumel and cenotes at dos ojos
with hidden worlds.  Any other suggestions for that area.  Non-diving wife will hang out at Spa Aventura while I dive,  but any ideas for her or myself would be appreciated.  Like can I buy a good 3 mil full reasonably there?

[Punky]

Here's some info on this area that I recieved.

I'd like to start today with an update on the damage caused to popular tourist destinations in Mexico by Hurricane Wilma.

First, Cancun and Cozumel took the worst hits. A spokeswoman for the Cancun Hotel Association said that 100% of Cancun's hotels were damaged, and that the area might not be fully recovered before Easter. According to the Association of Hotel Owners, 80% of hotel rooms were damaged, with shattered windows being the primary problem.

The government is conducting a massive clean-up effort in Cancun, clearing streets of debris and restoring access to all areas of the city. Telephone and electricity services are coming back online. Many businesses are open, including banks, grocery stores and hospitals, and additional businesses will open their doors to customers in the coming days. The Cancun airport has resumed normal operations, and almost all of the estimated 40,000 tourists who were in the Yucatan when Hurricane Wilma struck had returned home by October 29.

There are reports of beach erosion in some areas and also reports that the beach actually expanded in front of some hotels. The Cancun Convention and Visitor Bureau reports that visitors to resorts such as the Ambiance Villas, Blue Bay Club, Oasis Viva, Presidente InterContinental Cancun and Riu Caribe will now enjoy larger beaches as the result of the strong tides associated with Hurricane Wilma.

The friendly and laid-back island of Cozumel has also suffered extreme damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure. All three cruise piers are out of operation, with the newest, Puerto Maya, having been totally destroyed. Roads on the south side of the island have been destroyed, and the power is still out in many places. The island's world-famous coral formations are being evaluated and early reports indicate that deep-water formations are intact but some shallow-water formations were "affected".

Fortunately, the downtown area is in the best shape, with power and phone service and some operational restaurants. Cozumel's airport is now operational on a limited basis.

Resorts further south on the Yucatan Peninsula, in Playa del Carmen, Puerto Aventuras and Tulum, are in much better shape and many are hoping to re-open within the next month.

Hotel Closures

All hotels in Cancun and Cozumel are currently closed, and most have yet to announce when they will re-open. However, the area's peak season runs from Christmas to Easter, and efforts are being made to bring as many hotels as possible back online by mid-December. Here's a list of popular hotels that have announced how long they will remain closed. Keep in mind these dates may change as progress assessments are made.

Cancun
Cancun Palace - closed through 1/31/06
Caribbean Village Cancun by Occidental - closed through 12/20/06
Grand Oasis - closed through 1/31/06
Hyatt Cancun Caribe - closed through 1/15/06
Oasis Cancun - closed through 1/31/06
Oasis Playa - closed through 1/31/06
Sun Palace - closed through 1/31/06


Cozumel
Presidente Intercontinental Cozumel - closed through 1/31/06


Yes Isla Mujeres is about 6 miles off Cancun.  Avalon Reef Club where we're supposed to be going is supposed to be open Jan 1,2006. Time will tell.

[billatlake]

Shop had closed trips to Isla Mujeres when we arrived 9 Dec.
About 60% of the Cancun Hotels were running,  but pretty short of tourists.
The trees along the hiway from Cancun to Tulum had more than half of the leaves removed by Wilma;  getting better as we got to Tulum area.  Most of the "Mayan" roofs were gone or new.

PDC: Senior Frogs was left as a couple of corner posts and back wall (Concrete)
The sign was laying on the rubble about where the entrance was.

Coz  diving was fine.  Blue Angel picked me up at the Ferry Pier in Coz,  and dropped off there after 2 great dives.  Fish were plentyfull.  current was surprisingly light.  I took in a couple cenote dives with Hidden worlds( found by web search) and found it hard to leave the caverns.
The ride to the cenotes from the shop is interesting in itself.  Spongebob (Bob) guided the dives, and was a pleasure.  Good luck with Isla Mujeres.  Things appeared to be getting back to normal.
They are working hard,  but the tourist based jobs are slim with fewer touristsl.  Worthwhile trip even during the rebuilding! 

[Punky]

We just got back Sat 2/4 from Isla Mujares. Nice weather, daytime 77- 80 deg. Avalon Reef Club, where we stayed, was still being worked on but appeared to be about 70% done.
Diving- The diving was good. It was a little windy so the vis was down to 50' on the best dive and 30' at worst.
C-55, a wreck dive of a scuttled navy boat. Lots of Barracuda around the outside, others fish inside. But best of all were the 3 Spotted Eagle Rays that swam over, just beautiful. They had a wing span about 6 feet and must have been flying a pattern because the came over three different times.
Night dive was great. Lobsters galore, a small octopus, a cuttlefish, and one fish we weren't sure about. It was in a small cavern and looked like a large Puffer Fish but was 5 feet long.
On another dive we saw a Southern Manta Ray and a Yellow Spotted Ray, like the one on the Go Dive open water diving manual.
The dive shop we went with was Aqua Adventures and I will recomend them. They treated us well and out of 8 dives only 1 was disappointing.