BIENVENIDOS ... or welcome to The Drift. If you are new to this, this is Scuba Shack's and Village Tan Kah's newsletter keeping all of you up to date with what is happening here on the best island in the Caribbean - COZUMEL, as well as your favorite dive shop and hotel.

A HUGE GRACIAS to everyone for coming to visit us in September. This has been the best September that we have had in forever. Probably because we were close all spring.. All of the staff here hope that you enjoyed your vacation with us.

Oh boy... it's been a busy few weeks here. Sorry for missing a newsletter - but Tropical storm Gamma strengthened at the last minute. If you have never been through a tropical depression before, it is rain, rain, and more rain. And did I mention that it rained??? It started about Fri at 8 pm and the torrential rains did not stop until about 8 am on Sat morning. But we were not washed away. Everyone is doing well, no one's house was flooded. Life is good. The Secrets pier on the other hand did not fair so well... you probably saw it on ABC's national news coverage. It was blown away. And honestly, that was about it.

But then, just four short days later, Hurricane Delta slowed down and gained strength. We were lucky with that one too. They eye of the storm stayed north of the Yucatan Peninsula, which really lessens the impact of the storms on the island because as the storm swirls back towards the west side of the island, it had to come across the Yucatan peninsula which greatly reduces the impact of the storm. The storm came by early on a Wednesday morning and by Thursday we were back diving. WOO HOO! Thank you to everyone who was praying and thinking of us. Nothing, absolutely nothing happened to neither the dive shop nor the hotel. The lime tree did get blown over, but it is standing back up! And the pool pump room flooded but Eddy got the pump working again. NOTE - when the news talks about the hurricane and after is passes, says nothing about Cozumel again - it is because nothing happened. If we were serverely damaged, they would be reporting it! Like the pier!

Have you heard? Finally, FINALLY - boat night dives are on again. We are so happy to be able to do this legally now, ;-) So come on down and experience all the splendor, and all the creatures that night diving here in Cozumel has to offer. There are night dives, and twilight dives.... We are ready and willing and wanting to get back out there at night!

With everyone feeling the effects of the pandemic and not having lots of business, many shops and restaurants are not accepting credit cards at this time. Or if they are, they are not allowing tips to be charged. So, there are some choices for you -

NOTE - Never make a withdrawal in USD, which is a foreign currency here. You will really get hosed on the exchange rate, twice!

In our previous newsletter, we had part one of our two part series on the octopus and we asked the question; Which side of the debate are you on…octopuses or octopi? Well in this weeks article along with more fun facts about the octopus, I promise we’ll settle this debate. If you missed the previous article CLICK HERE and if you missed our last newsletter CLICK HERE and subscribe today.

Here in Cozumel, you are most likely to encounter the Caribbean Reef Octopus (Octopus briareus) or The Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris). The Caribbean Reef Octopus is a medium size octopus, generally 1-2 feet long and with an average weight of about 3 pounds.

With the holidays rapidly approaching you may be thinking to yourself, "Self, what should I get my favorite diver this year?" How about a Gift Certificate to Scuba Shack Cozumel or Village Tan Kah? There are so many options - diving, hotel stay, even a scuba course. Need an idea?

So beat the Christmas rush and order yours today.

As you know, in Sep of 2019, the Marine Park began assigning "vacation times" to the reefs so that they can have a break from the stresses of divers and snorkelers. The yearly schedule was published and will be enforced until further notice. The year is broken down into 2 month periods, with almost all of the reefs assigned to one.

Forget something on your trip? Or did the airline lose your luggage? Or maybe you're just in the market for a new BCD.... and wanna try it before you buy it? Why not try that on your next trip here?

We offer the latest AquaLung BCDs and regulators, so you can try it to see if you like it. And if you do, we'll get you set up with the brand new version of the one you just tried out. No store in town is going to let you do that, and our prices are VERY competitive with the big shops in town. So make sure to ask us if you need something. .

Yes, you heard that right. Some of the most pristine area of the island, down by Palancar, where you can see the endangered Cozumel racoons, and by the pier that we used to dock at.... right there. There is a huge project called Lakam-Ha Waterpark We have been fighting them off for the last 3 years and have been successful. It looks like now, they're going to win this next round. They want to tear down the mangroves and jungle there, and build a water park, new hotel, parking lots, pools, and more.... We need to protect this area because without it, all of that run off from any project will exponentially decrease the ocean water quality, which in turn is the #1 reason that the corals are dying off here all over the Caribbean. We need your help.

There is a petition to protect Palancar beach area, and thus the Palancar reefs. Please, sign it. It is in Spanish, and here is the translation for you....

Please sign and watch our channels. We need your help and will keep you updated !

Are you kidding me?? Another one? If you have not read about it, you can do so here. IMO, that is exactly what this island does NOT need. Right now, with the 3 piers, we do not have much of an overspill on ships being in port and having to anchor as opposed to being tied to one of the piers. And with this Covid situation, we have no ships. So do we really need to plan for more?

Many people have been expressing their dismay with the fact that the island is suffering so much from having no ships. But I have to ask then....

Tourists that come to the island for their entire vacation on average spend $ 425 USD per day on the island, between hotels, restaurants, additoinal tours (like diving or snorkeling) and souvenir shopping. Can we say that about the cruise shippers?

So please, keep up with us on Facebook, and Instagram. We will be keeping you up to date on this... and how you can help.