Diving in Cozumel with Greta

Greta, my wife and best friend for 49 years, diving on the Felipe Xicotencatl (more commonly known as Wreck C-53) in Cozumel. -Gary

SECURITY IN MEXICO

 

We have talked to a lot of people about this.   

Bottom line, I think it is very safe in Cozumel, Cancun and Merida.  Needless to say, there are places in Cancun and Merida one should not venture into at night I suspect, but Cozumel is a small island (9x31 miles I believe) and there is no sign of any sort of violence here.

 

Last weekend, we were in Cancun staying at our friend Paula Velaso Mom's new home.  Paula and her significant other, Braulio were in Central Oregon last August to visit us.  One of the things Paula wanted to have happen was for us to get to meet all of her relatives that live in Cancun.  I had plenty of opportunity to ask them about violence and/or security in Cancun as they all live there.  Their answers were all the same, they feel that the "Spring Breakers" {100,000 of them} sometimes make bad choices about drugs and alcohol when they are on break.

 

Greta and I do not feel the least bit threatened about driving back to McAllen, Texas when we leave here the first part of May.  Would we drive to Cuidad Juarez - no, probably not even the daylight hours, but Tijuana, Juarez, Reynosa (we drive through Reynosa it borders McAllen) are a long ways from here.  The violence that is occurring in Mexico is more of a border problem, we are nearly 1600 miles South.

 

The following statement was on MSNBC news, and was in response to the US State Department's traverler advisories in regards to travel in Mexico.

 

Warnings issued to travelers
Further, the Homeland Security Department's attache to Mexico said the violence in Mexico is not as dangerous to U.S. tourists as has been portrayed.

Alonzo Pena said the violence is in isolated areas of the country and only affects the people involved in criminal activity. He said the violence is not affecting U.S. citizens visiting Mexico and Americans should not cancel their vacations in the country.

Earlier this month, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives warned college students on spring breaks not to travel to parts of northern Mexico because it was too dangerous.

Gary and Greta Cecil

 

 

 

 

In February, the State Department advised travelers to avoid areas of prostitution and drug-dealing in Mexico.

 

Report Card On Intova Dive Light

When we bought our Intova dive lights (mine just before we left), I bought all the CR123 batteries you had in stock to make sure we had plenty for our winter's scuba diving. For one thing, your price on them ($6.95 was very good), and we thought they might be hard to purchase in Cozumel.

The first set of batteries, we had 25 dives on, including one shore night dive that I used the light just to see how it was at night (it was great)!!

I go by the battery voltage for our lights, for our dive computers, etc. I have a small digital VOM I carry for that purpose.

At the end of the 25 dives, the voltage on the CR123 batteries was 2.58 y 2.56 volts on mine and 2.82 y 2.83 volts on Greta's. The battery voltage on the new batteries was 3.28 volts. We did notice a reduction in brilliancy on our lights at that voltage, so we put new batteries in. We use the lights a lot on day dives, looking into every nook and cranny for critters, so we gave them a good test.

We actually bought two Li-ion CR 123 battery chargers with two rechargeable lithium-ion CR123 batteries from Radio Shack. The problem is they are only rated at 400mAh, as they are for digital cameras. We tested them before we left home. We charged two of the rechargeable batteries fully, put them in one light, put some water and ice cubes in a glass and turned the light on. It took 54 minutes for the light to go out. We thought we would need to use them, but after our experience with the non-rechargeable batteries that we bought from you (rated at 1400 ma (I am sure this is MAhours), we will return the Radio Shack batteries when we get back in the United States.

SUMMARY: The Intova lights are brighter than our UK SL4 lights that we have always used previously, and the CR 123 batteries last much longer than do the four "C" cells - we had to change the "C" cells every ten dives (once a week). We still have six packages left, so we bought plenty for our winter here. As of today, we have another 27 dives on our lights and they are still bright - we will see how many more dives we get on them before we need to change the batteries again.

If you would like to share this with anyone else, you are welcome to do so, including Intova.

Gary y Greta

Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico 77600

Cozumel Scuba Diving Photos: Octopus!

Today we went diving with our friend Pat and saw an octopus in the
daylight, which is unusual. Here are some pictures from our great
dive! Thought you would enjoy the pictures today was the first time to
take out the camera. Not to bad for the first day! -Greta

Greetings from Cozumel, our winter home

Hola de la Isla de Cozumel!

We are Greta and Gary C., avid SCUBA divers from Oregon who first visited Cozumel 20+ years ago on vacation. Now we live here during the winter months, diving with our friend Antonio May and Dive Paradise about five days a week.

We own a cozy vacation rental cottage in a nice neighborhood of Corpus Cristi, walking distance from San Miguel, the main city on Cozumel Island. You can read more about it here at Casita Bonita Cozumel Vacation Homes. Or here at TravelMex.

After living in Cozumel many years now, we have developed many lifelong friendships, and we've learned a lot of valuable lessons about how to manage with only limited Spanish language abilities.

We're going to start posting some links to resources and trustworthy people who will help you enjoy your vacation in Cozumel, whether you're SCUBA diving here, or just playing in the Maya Riviera.

Please leave a comment here if you would like us to help answer a specific question!

Gracias!
Greta y Gary