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The Cozumel Drift
Your E-Newsletter from Scuba Shack, Blue Bubble Divers,
Dive ECO-cozumel & the Village Tan Kah
Cozumel, Mexico
September 2005
Welcome to the 11th edition of The Cozumel Drift, brought to
you by your friends and family here at Blue Bubble Divers, Dive ECO-cozumel,
Scuba Shack & Village Tan Kah on the island of Cozumel. For those new divers who have
just joined our family in the last couple of months - WELCOME. We are glad to have
you aboard. So let' s get going on the juicy stuff !
First of all, my apologies  for becoming delinquent on the newsletter front. Since we
purchased Blue Bubble Divers, as of Sept, 2004, things have become very hectic for us. The
integration process of the dive shops took alot more work that we had anticipated. And then,
in the last month or so, things were just starting to get normal and I was able to start working
on a newsletter....... And then, I guess you know what happened this past week. So, I have
decided to shelve the in progress newsletter for right now, and make this special one dedicated
to the last week of our lives - Hurricane Emily.
Secondly, a BIG         to everyone who has
written to us in the last few days with updates and best wishes. There are so many E-mails, that I
am just unable to respond to each and everyone, so that was another motive to get this newsletter going.
IN THIS EDITION:
Hurricane Emily... the storm time line.
The Scuba Shack Skinny... How we fared against her !!!
Afterwards... What happens and what you need to do !!!
Cozumel Capers... How the rest of the island fared against her.
Survival Club... Who was here and who came to visit first !!!! Hurricane Hints... If you ever happen to get caught in one !
Hurricane  Emily
As most of you know, Cozumel was hit by Catagory 4 Hurricane Emily late Sunday night, July 17, early Monday morning. Since the eye of the hurricane made landfall south of us (just north of Tulum), the worst part of the hurricane - the north eye wall - came directly over our island. But that was not the worst part. The worst part was watching it for the entire week before, coming at us, gaining strength, losing strength, going south, going north, ........ all the while heading straight towards us. Was it going to hit, was it not??? Once we got through the first days of last week with the guessing, by Thu evening, we knew, "SHE" was coming !
Friday, July 15 - by now, we knew that we were in the general path. Direct hit or close hit, really does not make a difference when it is coming straight at you ! So, hurricane procedures needed to go into effect. First thing, where were we going to put the big Blue Bubble 1 boat.... that was our big question. Last year when Hurricane Ivan came close, we got a very small taste of how poorly the Puerto Abrigo Marina in the north is. We desperately called the marinas in Puerto Adventuras, Isla Mujeres, and finally found space at Puerto Morelos, on the mainland. So, plans were made to get a crew and the boat over there early Sat morning. The big discussion with the captains about this particular marina was the fact that it has floating docks/walkways. And they decided that this type of marina would NOT be able to survive a major hurricane. But, it was the only space we could find so..... Other than that, wood out for boarding up. Stocking up on non perishable items including purified water. Figuring out which rooms the guests would stay in at the Village. Obviously, the Treehouse was not an option. Oh, and the gas lines....... since Thu. evening, people were lining up for gas, sometimes 3 - 4 hours ! So, we got all of our gas tanks filled.
Saturday, July 16 - Last dive boats go out for the morning dives. Port closed at 1 pm. Blue Bubble leaves for the mainland Marina. Board up Scuba Shack, the office upstairs, and Blue Bubble. Tie down the small boats in the caletta. Thank goodness we have some great locations for our boats there where they ate not in direct line of any incoming waves. But you have to remember to take the top off of the boat, otherwise it will not be there after the storm ! We watched the city get ready for the hurricane - tieing together the street lights, cutting down the coconuts, last minute run on the banks and grocery stores.........And other than that, sit and wait for the hurricane to hit. Oh, and dry law - another words, no more liquor/beer  sales - until further notice !
Sunday, July 17 - Early morning -Last check with the boats in the marina. Time now to tie down the hotel and board up the bigger windows. Take down the new air conditioning units that have not been properly anchored down yet. Extra water, towels and candles in all of the rooms. And then, sit and wait. We had a curfew for 12 noon that was "supposed" to be enforced., By about 2 pm, everyone was pretty much close to home. But the poor tourists. They had nothing to do in their hotels. The sun was still shining, although more clods were coming over and they were not allowed into the water. The bigger hotels in the south - Fiesta Americana, Reef Club, Occidental, Iberostar - they all moved their tourists into the convention center for shelter. I think the Village was alot better than 1 room with 1200 other people and ???? many bathrooms ?!?!?!?!
5:00 pm - OK, the skies were overcast, and the winds were starting to increase. And they just kept increasing from there. By 8 pm, the wind gusts were quite strong, and it knocked out the electricity at our house. At 9:30, stronger wind gusts crashed the electric pole with the transformers into our office building, and the Village Tan Kah was lights out ! Barbara and Mark and the gang decided that they would go across the street to Ernesto's and see how things were blowing - and it was blowing. They found that they were protected there from the direct winds. Until the police came and told them that they had to go back to their rooms ! Boring police men who are looking out for their safety !
10:30 pm - OK, the winds were really strong, and every half hour after that, it would get even stonger. Each time, you would think that - wow, this is strong, it can't get any stronger than this, it did. By around 11 pm, the entire island was without electricity. About 12:30 am, that was when the worst really hit- winds howling and banging everything, rain being blown into your house from any little crack it could find, or under the door, screeching winds - it was quite a trip ! Ed said that his door was starting to bend at the top and bottom IN towards the room. By 1:30 it SLOWLY started to die down. By 3 am, most everything was quiet and we were all able to get some sleep. 
Monday, July 18 - As we emerged from our houses on Monday morning, things looked  different. Many trees and branches and leaves have come down. With the trees, many electric, phone and cable lines as well. Now, it is the time for clean-up !
Scuba Shack Skinny..........
So, how did we fare - everyone is great ! No damage what so ever to either one of the dive shops, including the palapas - if you can believe that! The pier did sustain a bit more of a cement loss, but since we are planning to redo it anyway, it really is not that big of a deal. The Village Tan Kah is just fine, although the pool is a nice color of brown-green. And not one palapa was lost. With wind gusting to around 160 MPH, I figured that we were bound to lose some of them, especially the old ones. Everything is in tact - no damage to any of the buildings at all. As for our beautiful gardens - our beloved lime tree was ripped out from the ground. We are attempting to replant it, although you never know how that might turn out. The banana trees - well, they are just not made for these kinds of winds. The rubber tree is still standing tall, and the ficus tree is still tall, just a lot thinner. It is amazing how far you can see back into the jungle now when there are no leaves on the trees. But everything grows quickly here so in no time, we should be just fine !
As we speak, there is still no electricity in either one of the shops or the hotel. But, the electric commission is right outside the hotel as I write, and they say that we will be up and running either today or tomorrow morning. Somehow, I am betting on tomorrow morning ! Once we get the electricity back on, then we are 100 back to normal !
All of the boats made it through just fine. In Puerto Morales, they registered a wind gust of up to 155 mph. And the floating dock - worked just great with the waves and storm surge. Everyone was quite surprised ! It is now the marina of choice if and when the next hurricane should come our way !
As of Tues, the sun is shining  and I have electricity and a phone line at my house, so  YEAH! - connection to the outside world and E-mails to all of you ! Still no cable though so we are still a bit cut off from what is happening out there. If there is any good news, please tell me. If not, I can wait to hear it ! 
We took out our first dive trip on Tues morning, at 11 am. The visibility of course is decreased - around 40 feet towards the surface of Palancar, and about 60 feet when you get below 50 feet of depth. The reef is silted with sand, but with the currents, it will be removed quickly and the visibility should be restored soon. The 2nd dive yesterday was to Tormentos Reef - where there is alot of fresh water run off. So, the visibility was bad. But today, Wed, everyone said that it was looking better already ! So, we are up and running with the dive boats again ! How lucky were we - a huricane hits and 24 hours later we are diving !!!!!
So, the short form is ...... we are in business, and doing very well. No matter what you are hearing on the television and radio, WE ARE STILL IN BUSINESS and have a great time making everyone's vacation the best. With this in mind, please let me know ASAP if anyone is planning to change  their vacation plans. We sure hope and and are are looking forward to seeing you all soon !
Afterwards..........
When I emerged from my house at 5 am on Monday morning, I was absolutely amazed at how many other people were doing the same. Neighbors were coming up to each other - people I never even knew lived by me, asking if all was well. There was such a general concern for everyone, which really impressed me. The 2nd thing, was at about 6 am or so, when I drove to the hotel to see everyone, there were people out all over cleaning up their front sidewalk and the streets. Where the trees had fallen down and blocked the street, the neighbors in the area would clean it up, making it passable for people to go out and see what had happened. Even the huge tree that were blocking the main avenues, 5 or 6 men would be there with the machetes chopping like crazy to make it at least passable. The overall main concern was for everyone to be safe and clean up right away so that life could go on as normal.
One other interesting thing that I notices - even at 6 in the morning, right after hours of torrential winds, there were a lot of butterflies out..... I wonder where they stayed during the hurricane? I mean, the bees are out in full force, and they would stay protected in the honeycombs. But the butterflies.........
On Monday, the Mexican Marines were dispatched to the main roads and they made a major cleaning effort of all of the debris. by Tues at mid day, you could not even tell that a hurricane had hit us. (except for the fact that a few windows were missing and that most of the foliage was gone or doubled over). The first cruise ships arrived today, Wed. So, it looks like we are back to business as usual.
As far as the services are concerned, the electricity is getting connected bit by bit. Parts of the island were less than 24 hours without electricity - for this strong of a storm, that is great. Mexico City is flying in more electric workers and they are guaranteeing us that everyone will have power within the week ! President Vicent Fox even made a stop here on Monday. Cable is being connected as well. City water though, I understand that they are having problems at the water plant. They have electricity, but there is a pump or something else that is prohibiting them for functioning right now. It is supposed to be fixed soon though. Telephone service is over all - a big  . We never lost cell phone service during the storm, and most land lines stayed connected as well. Below you will find a list of all of our working numbers. And internet is up and running !
So, overall, we can really smile  and be proud of how the government here is getting things back on track ! Huh - Cat 4 hurricane ............
Cozumel Capers..........
Thing here are looking good in general. A number of hotels are closed. The Bahia and Colonial are closed until they can get electricity up - maybe on Thu. I understand the that Iberostar has closed due to substantial damage, but we went by there and it does not look like it was all that bad. Who knows though. Anyway, they along with a couple of other hotels I guess are going to be closed until Nov 1. So if you have plans for coming over the next few months, please check right away with your travel agents to make sure that you are still staying where you want to stay.
A big booh  to Funjet Vacations ! They have cancelled all of their flights into Cozumel until Aug 1. I am unclear if Aug 1 is the first flight, or the last days of no flights. If you are scheduled on Funjet, please contact them immediately - 1 - to complain  that they cancelled the flights, and of course 2 - to reschedule. If you are not traveling on Funjet, please call them anyway and tell them that you are trying to get to Cozumel and are very disappointed that the flights were cancelled and want to register a complaint. Who knows, with enough complaints, maybe something will change. Their number is 1-888-558-6654.
As for beaches, Playa Mia (old Playa Sol) completely destroyed. Their entire palapa collapsed. Nachi Cocon beach will close for 2 months. Paradise beach lost 1 of their big palapas and the other sustained a fare amount of damage.
Other side of the island - access is being denied because the road is washed away in many places. Or the underneath support was eroded away even though the asphalt is still there. Very dangerous. I understand that Coconuts has lost it's palapa - not surprising. And that Paradise Cafe was pretty much destroyed. Remember, the eastern part of the island took the brunt of the storm, and the southern part of the island took a harder hit than in town since that was closer to the eye.
Kudos  to Costa Brava restaurant and to Las Palmeras. They were both open on Monday evening and serving dinner. By Tues, Rock 'n Java, Kelly's, French Quarter and various other restaurants were back in business.
The ferries resumed their service as of 8 am on Tues morning. So, anyone planning on arriving into Cancun, everything is fine. The car ferry (the one that brings in most of the islands supplies) began running Wed morning, so food and drink will again be plentiful ! As of right now, alcohol is being served to tourists only and only with meals. Supposedly the ban will be lifted as of tomorrow, Thu, morning.
Hurricane Emily Survival Club..........
A big round of applause to our hurricane survivors
Mark and Barbara - Seattle
Ariana and Andy - San Antonio
Missy and Ed - Seattle (I think)
Jerry and Susan, Brianna and Allie - Atlanta
Sandy - New Jersey
Paul and Dava - Texas
Beth - Seattle as well ???
These brave souls made it through Emily at the Village Tan Kah. And bless their hearts, the day afterwards, since there was nothing else to do, the helped Fabian, our gardener, to clean up all of the downed foliage, sweep, they lived through no electricity, buckets of water for showers, ...... and just loved the entire experience of it all !!!!
Another big round of applause to Philipe and his family who came all the way over from France and arrived here on Tues, without even thinking of cancelling !
Helpful Hurricane Hints.........
 Stock up on non-perishable foods and purified water. Batteries, candles and matches are a must. And ice.  Stock up on gas - if there is no electricity after the storm, the pumps at the gas station are not working and you are left with no gas to run the dive boats! Make sure all of your scuba tanks are filled ! Again, no electricity, no tank fills. Coconuts make great projectiles in high winds, so you need to make sure they are cut down. And any other not attached items are put away ! Make sure that before the hurricane, you fill buckets of water for showers and the bathroom afterwards. Again, here in Mexico, no electricity, no water! Get your alcoholic  refreshments ahead of time. Dry law is instilled here so that people will be forced to stay home and take care of their families and homes.
Thanks !
Robert and Roberta
All of the staff of Scuba Shack, Blue Bubble Divers and Dive ECO-cozumel
All of the staff from the Village Tan Kah hotel !
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 CUBA HACK (011-52-987) 872-4240 - WORKING
On the beach between Casa del Mar & Park Royal Hotels
ROBERTA'S  IVE  CO-COZUMEL (011-52-987) 872-4187 - WORKING
 ILLAGE  AN  AH (011-52-987) 872-6142 - NOT  WORKING
TECHNICAL STUFF:
This newsletter is produced by Roberta Cwiertnia, sponsored by Blue Bubble Divers, Roberta's Dive Eco-Cozumel, Scuba Shack & Village Tan Kah. We welcome all contributors, although we reserve the right to cut and paste. To be removed from this mailing list, simply send an e-mail with "Remove From Mailing List" on the subject line to: roberta@robertasdiveecocozumel.com
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LUE