COZUMEL MEXICO
 Of Mexico's Caribbean islands, Cozumel is the largest, extending 28
miles
long by 11 miles wide. This Mexican island lies 12 miles off the
coast of
the Yucatan Peninsula. Most Cozumel diving is drift diving done
along the reef wall off the island's
west coast. The reef is inhabited by sharks, eels, scorpion fish and
barracudas.
Inside the reef are many caves and tunnels to be explored.
AIRPLANE WRECK
Denise Berg
looks through engine of the Airplane wreck. Photos by Daniel Berg
The Airplane wreck was a 40 passenger, twin engine, short-range
Convair
airliner. The craft, which was built by the Convair Division of the
General
Dynamics Corporation, was deliberately sunk in June of 1977 as a
movie
prop for the Mexican movie "Survive II".
The Plane wreck is now a tourist attraction, that is if the tourists
are divers. She is lying upside down in 40 feet of water, only 100
yards out
from the La Ceiba Hotel. This wreck is an easy beach dive and has
remained
remarkably intact. Divers can enter a small area through an open
door just
aft of her cockpit or swim under either of her wings where small
schools
of tropical fish can usually be found. Her hull is cleaned daily by
parrot fish
 who leave deep teeth marks in her fuselage. Wide angle photography
is best
here, and you can easily capture the entire wreck on one photo.
According to Doc Vikingo the Plane/Airplane Wreck had been only
marginally intact until Hurricane Wilma pretty much finished her
off. Now just a few parts strewn about are all that are left.
DEL MAR WRECK
The Del Mor Wreck is the remains of a small, wood hulled fishing
boat
approximately 30 feet long. The wreck is located directly in front
of Del
Mar Aquatics and rests in 30 to 40 feet of water on a sand bottom.
According to Doc Vikingo Hurricane Wilma completely destroyed the
remains of this shipwreck.
According to cozumelscuba.com the (C-53 shipwreck) is the latest
addition to diving in the Mexican Underwater National Park. In fact,
it's the only dive that is NOT a drift dive. It is a C-53 about 180
feet in length. The keel is at about 75 feet and the main decks
start about 45 feet. The crow's nest at 22 feet is a perfect place
to hang out while off gassing, unless of course there's a current at
the time of your dive. Then it's better to head back over to the
buoy line that your boat is tied to. She was sunk in 2000 and since
has evolved into an amazing eco systems.
The ship is still very
intact after Wilma, except for a big crack up the sides of both the
port and starboard sides.
Basic shipwreck
information and images for the Caribbean section of this site was
taken with permission from the book Tropical Shipwrecks by Daniel
and Denise Berg.
You are invited to
submit your shipwreck related articles, images and information. As
long as the text, photographs, sketches etc are of professional
quality we will showcase them. Full credit will be provide and a
same page link to your web site can be arranged.
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