my recent dive trip to Cozumel made for a few firsts..
1st boat dive. 1st drift dive. 1st nite dive. 1st cave (cavern) dive. all in all I think
drift diving is much easier than just a regular drop-dive from a boat. you figure with
a steady current running in a direction, everyone doing the dive stays together at
about the same pace.................. that being said, photo-divers always want to go
slow to be able to take nice pics. I have no issues with that, just as long as the
group as a whole keeps pace together...................
here is another thought I've got on tropical diving............ (I dive Monterey since I'm
from san jose) and diving in 50 degree water, shore diving, in 15 foot vis, and going
60 feet is a whole other world compared to boat diving in 80 degree water, dropping
from a boat, in 80 foot viz................... the better you can see, the better you can
be confident that everything is okay.........
like said prior, inform the DM when you're heading out for the dive........ make sure
you stay close to the DM, (enjoy your dive of course, don't just hover and look at
his fins the whole time-!) and have a good time.............
another note: I'm a big boy, I dive a 7mm in monterey, and I brought a new 5mil
suit with me for Coz......... I only used it on 3 drops....... all the rest of my trip I
dove in my swimsuit.......... no issues with cold..... although, on my first dive without
wearing a wetsuit, I slightly rubbed up against a coral-plant with my forearm......
it stung very little, but later in the week, became a spreading case of contact
dermititis............. very itchy, little spores just like poison oak contact......... I
bought some cortizone cream at a pharmacia (2.5%) BTW, but it didn't clear it up
till I came home and went to my doc and got all kinds of crap (pills) to take........
enjoy your trip to Coz............................!
--Sherpa