Cozumel

This email was sent to me by Jim Peacock who owns a house just south of El
Presidente.

Reef Fish...

< snipped >

Pretty detailed report which conveyed more or less the same impression
of Wilma's devastation on the island. Below is the first set of PICS
I've seen on the cruise ship piers.

Here's my narrative to the folks in scuba-SE:

Reef Fish...

This link was given in rec.travel.cruises:

It pretty much told the story of devastation of the piers.

The first pic is the Cozumel Ferry, with the town Square in the
background.

The second pic is Puerta Langosta at Punta Langosta. I think it's
the Plaza in the background and the building is where Senor Frog
and Carlos 'n Charlies used to be.

The next several pictures showed the pier with the greatest damage.
The one with the Red Roof top near the street was about 1/3 of what's
left of the gift shops from the cruise ships to the street at
Punta Maya, just south of La Ceiba hotel and the International Pier.

The OLDEST of all the piers, the International Pier was not even
pictured, I think. It was the only pier not severely damaged.

It was also reported that the Bahia Hotel (where many Coz99Nedfesters
stayed) stood up well; so was its new pardner on the ocean front,
Casa Mexicana (built since 1999) and is already open for business.

NOW I know fer sure that my cruises are NOT going to be stopping
there next month. In fact, it's doubtful if any cruise ships go
there the rest of the year.

ronleenospam...

Reports state that Coz expects to accept cruise ships starting 14 Nov.

Ron Lee

Reef Fish...

Jack, looks like you'll have to look much harder for street corners
supporting your favorite hobby of beer drinking at street corners. :)

Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 6:02 PM
Subject: Report # 6 on Wilma Damage in Cozumel

Well, we have been getting bits and pieces of info from our friends in
Cozumel. Beginning Sunday we got a couple of calls, but not much info
because the roads are so blocked people have not been able to cover much of
the island. We have not been able to talk with our housekeeper Feliciana,
because our phone system is not working to Villa Dzul-Ha. Yesterday and
today, we have been hearing from more people and are beginning to get a
better picture of what the place looks like.

In general, everything on the beach side of the road is either severely
damaged or gone. On my part of the island, the beach road offered some
measure of protection. The entire four ship pier at Punta Maya, the car &
truck ferry dock, the sand and trees on the beach are all gone. All the
stores and restaurants in downtown Cozumel lost the storefronts. The
passenger ferry dock downtown survived and is operating (outbound only). The
airport may start operating tomorrow outbound, but no inbound until Saturday
at the earliest. All the power poles are down, and it will be more than a
month to restore power. My guess is one to two months.

We still don't know about the beach road down to our house. In 1988 Gilbert
ate the road over to the center stripe in several long stretches. This time,
there was much greater wave damage because Wilma took 36 hours to clear the
island, so we expect the road may be impassible all the way across in some
places. This will probably delay getting poles and electricity as well as
materials for other repairs at our house. The other big problem is getting
the car and truck ferry operating to supply food, water, and building
materials and power poles. I don't think Mexico has a FEMA.

Fortunately all our friends and my daughter are safe, and David's and Blondy
's houses had no damage. David lost his front concrete fence and his house
was flooded a couple of feet. I haven't talked to Ricardo, but heard he is
OK, and his boat the Careyitos is OK, except for damage to the sundeck. I
hope to call him tonight.

Our house, Villa Dzul-Ha had no damage, except for the landscaping, trees
and beach, and back fence. Our carport and cars survived. Our front fence
survived and helped to protect the house from the waves. We have not been
able to talk to our housekeeper, Feliciana, because the phone antenna on the
house blew away. The radio tower is still standing, but David's tower fell,
so communications will have to wait. Hopefully the cell phone towers will
get repaired soon. Feli has more food and drinking water than anyone on the
island, I think this is why she chose to stay. Our electrician Jose, and
also David checked with her on Sunday, and she is OK.

You have a chance to help here, but it will take some intestinal fortitude
on your part. Go ahead and schedule a dive trip to Cozumel as soon as you
can. These guys are going to be in a tough financial situation, because
insurance claims are really difficult to collect. Most don't even have
insurance. Go ahead and pay what you can now in advance. The island will be
up and running again within a couple of months. We will help you find a
hotel reservation if your favorite place is not repaired.

We had planned to be there November 15, and we plan to keep this
reservation. More info later as it develops.

Jim & Aldara