H20Bubbles
Contributor
Well, we made it back from Cozumel and the only redeeming factor is that we are going back in 18 days. 
What an amazing 5 days!!! Here is the brief synopsis.
2/23 - Left Chicago at o'dark thirty in the morning and were late getting into Houston, so after sprinting through the airport we ended up making our connection (only because there were 27 others who were delayed in as well). Arrived in Cozumel around noon.
First impressions of the island were still how damaged the poor trees look. Though the greenery is starting to come back many of the trees are still bare. So visually, you don't see the tropical look that you see in pre-Wilma pictures. Otherwise, they have done an AMAZING job of getting the island back up and running. There are still some hotels, villas, and buildings that show significant damaged but overall the island is thriving.
After getting settled, we headed out to La Casitas beach for the first two OW Cert dives for Marie. Though nothing special it is always fun to be in the water. Unfortunately, by the time the second OW dive came around the long day had set in and we were beat and had to call it a day in fear of feeding the fish. Got back to the hotel and was passed out for the night around 7pm.
2/24 - Woke up and completed the remaining OW cert dives at La Casitas. Found that doing UW navigation into a current strong enought that you don't really move makes it pretty easy. Had the cert dives finished by 9:30am and then had until 1:30 when we were to meet our boat. A special thanks goes out to Alfonso from Scuba Du for the dives.
Dove with Scuba Du from the boat and went to Palancar Gardens and Yucab Reef. On the very fist decent, we saw two eagle rays from about 20 feet. What a way to start. Had great dives - and the current on Yucab made it literally like flying... no effort required to move at all.
2/25 & 2/26 - Dove Columbia Reef, Tormentos, Santa Rosa, and Paradise Reef. Again, all fun dives. The highlights were seeing several turtles (as close as 5 feet), a 6ft. nurse shark on Tormentos which we could have touched, a huge lobster, grouper, and more.
Again a big thanks goes out to Scuba Du and Alfonso and David for an excellent diving experience. We would gladly come back and dive with them again.
The very first attempts at underwater photos... and still have a lot to learn, but it is a start.
Trip Pictures
Five days of diving starts March 19th with Christi and Blue XT Sea, and we can honestly say that it won't come soon enough.
What an amazing 5 days!!! Here is the brief synopsis.2/23 - Left Chicago at o'dark thirty in the morning and were late getting into Houston, so after sprinting through the airport we ended up making our connection (only because there were 27 others who were delayed in as well). Arrived in Cozumel around noon.
First impressions of the island were still how damaged the poor trees look. Though the greenery is starting to come back many of the trees are still bare. So visually, you don't see the tropical look that you see in pre-Wilma pictures. Otherwise, they have done an AMAZING job of getting the island back up and running. There are still some hotels, villas, and buildings that show significant damaged but overall the island is thriving.
After getting settled, we headed out to La Casitas beach for the first two OW Cert dives for Marie. Though nothing special it is always fun to be in the water. Unfortunately, by the time the second OW dive came around the long day had set in and we were beat and had to call it a day in fear of feeding the fish. Got back to the hotel and was passed out for the night around 7pm.
2/24 - Woke up and completed the remaining OW cert dives at La Casitas. Found that doing UW navigation into a current strong enought that you don't really move makes it pretty easy. Had the cert dives finished by 9:30am and then had until 1:30 when we were to meet our boat. A special thanks goes out to Alfonso from Scuba Du for the dives.
Dove with Scuba Du from the boat and went to Palancar Gardens and Yucab Reef. On the very fist decent, we saw two eagle rays from about 20 feet. What a way to start. Had great dives - and the current on Yucab made it literally like flying... no effort required to move at all.
2/25 & 2/26 - Dove Columbia Reef, Tormentos, Santa Rosa, and Paradise Reef. Again, all fun dives. The highlights were seeing several turtles (as close as 5 feet), a 6ft. nurse shark on Tormentos which we could have touched, a huge lobster, grouper, and more.
Again a big thanks goes out to Scuba Du and Alfonso and David for an excellent diving experience. We would gladly come back and dive with them again.
The very first attempts at underwater photos... and still have a lot to learn, but it is a start.
Trip Pictures
Five days of diving starts March 19th with Christi and Blue XT Sea, and we can honestly say that it won't come soon enough.
