ckofabq
Contributor
Thursday, October 17, 2005. Finally, after 3 previous days of trying to get a flight off the island following hurricane Wilma, my wife and I step aboard a jetliner, headed back to the United States.
My bride, thoroughly relieved to be closing this adventure chapter in our lives, passes a Cozumel t-shirt up and down the rows, collecting autographs and sentiments of our fellow travelers. Among them, the tourism secretary for the island, already on his way abroad, to pledge to tour operators and cruise ship companies that they WILL be ready for them.
I, on the other hand, can only think of what the people weve left behind will have to face. For most, quite a while without electricity or running water and little promise of a future flow of the life blood of this island- tourist dollars- and the paychecks they provide.
Aside from childhood memories of an occasional tornado in the Midwest, this was my first, real encounter with the evil side of nature.
ScubaBoard became my link to the seemingly day to day change Cozumel would undergo.
You saw the pictures. You know. But our friends were living it.
All I wanted to do was go back- as soon as possible.
March 2006 found us heading back to the Caribbean, but this time to Puerto Rico.
This was where my new perspective of Cozumel began to take shape.
To say that 5 days of diving were anything less than enjoyable would be to take for granted our precious vacation time. Hot air ballooning, after 25 years, has now taken a back seat to our (o.k., MY) passion for blowing bubbles.
Everywhere weve been diving is, of course, different. No two dives the same.
But P.R. was my first experience with a badly damaged reef system. It was clearly over-dived, severely bleached and sad to see.
We did get two, outstanding dives on a Saturday boat to Sail Rock, on the way to St. Thomas, USVI.
That a half dozen of the 25+ people on the boat fed the fish on the heavy seas, and one of the diesel engines pooped out before the 3.5 hour trip home, was another story.
So we get back to Cozumel.
My wife is sick of my whining (really?) about going back to the Yucatan, NOW.
I spot a killer deal on the internet for a flight, call and score a great rate on digs at the Barracuda, and Christi at Blue XT Sea actually has one spot left on her boats!
June 17th and off I go, on a SOLO trip. Its my first ever in 20 years of life with my wonderful bride.
If youre expecting me to go hard either way toward wiped out, or great comeback, I wont.
Its all about perspective.
Where have you been? Did any of those places stir something in your soul?
From the final approach of the jetliner, to the taxi ride to the Cuda, and the repeated journeys on Christis boats toward the southern dive sites, it remains obvious that this part of the planet took a major hit.
Yup, it looks a heckofalot better than when we left, but theres no mistaking what happened here.
What about underwater?
3 days of diving pre-Wilma, followed by a dunk in our own New Mexico Blue Hole, and a week on the east side of Puerto Rico probably gave me a skewed perspective.
But from where I float, Cozumel deserves to remain on our annual dive itinerary.
Youve surely read the observations of others, and Ive probably read many of yours.
Ill add a few of my own: Maracaibo, Palancar Bricks, Gardens, Caves and Tortugas still blow me away. Santa Rosa Wall shocked me. Looked like the Rocky Mountains after the first snow. And Tortugas anytime and Paradise, especially at night, cant be beat, at least on my budget. I saw more small schools than ever before and the glimpse of a ginormous Southern Stingray was worth the price of admission. And the visibility remains excellent.
You bet I love Cozumel. The people, after all, left their homes and families to baby sit those of us who couldnt get out before Wilma.
Watching the sunset from a perch up on top of Chi, (dont miss their amazing chicken lettuce wraps), sipping a cocktail and watching the Mexican flag wave in the breeze following a magnificent dive day, touched me again.
We were there to watch when that flag was pulled down before the storm. Nothing drove home the point of what was ahead quite like that.
But in the end, we all survived. There is a connection. And its deep.
Theres a certain vibe you get from different places you find yourself in life.
The rhythm of Cozumel is already calling me back.
Will & Becky, Maggie, Dave & Kyla, and of course Christi and her magnificent staff, with whom I dove on this trip I hope youll be there too.
Craig-
My bride, thoroughly relieved to be closing this adventure chapter in our lives, passes a Cozumel t-shirt up and down the rows, collecting autographs and sentiments of our fellow travelers. Among them, the tourism secretary for the island, already on his way abroad, to pledge to tour operators and cruise ship companies that they WILL be ready for them.
I, on the other hand, can only think of what the people weve left behind will have to face. For most, quite a while without electricity or running water and little promise of a future flow of the life blood of this island- tourist dollars- and the paychecks they provide.
Aside from childhood memories of an occasional tornado in the Midwest, this was my first, real encounter with the evil side of nature.
ScubaBoard became my link to the seemingly day to day change Cozumel would undergo.
You saw the pictures. You know. But our friends were living it.
All I wanted to do was go back- as soon as possible.
March 2006 found us heading back to the Caribbean, but this time to Puerto Rico.
This was where my new perspective of Cozumel began to take shape.
To say that 5 days of diving were anything less than enjoyable would be to take for granted our precious vacation time. Hot air ballooning, after 25 years, has now taken a back seat to our (o.k., MY) passion for blowing bubbles.
Everywhere weve been diving is, of course, different. No two dives the same.
But P.R. was my first experience with a badly damaged reef system. It was clearly over-dived, severely bleached and sad to see.
We did get two, outstanding dives on a Saturday boat to Sail Rock, on the way to St. Thomas, USVI.
That a half dozen of the 25+ people on the boat fed the fish on the heavy seas, and one of the diesel engines pooped out before the 3.5 hour trip home, was another story.
So we get back to Cozumel.
My wife is sick of my whining (really?) about going back to the Yucatan, NOW.
I spot a killer deal on the internet for a flight, call and score a great rate on digs at the Barracuda, and Christi at Blue XT Sea actually has one spot left on her boats!
June 17th and off I go, on a SOLO trip. Its my first ever in 20 years of life with my wonderful bride.
If youre expecting me to go hard either way toward wiped out, or great comeback, I wont.
Its all about perspective.
Where have you been? Did any of those places stir something in your soul?
From the final approach of the jetliner, to the taxi ride to the Cuda, and the repeated journeys on Christis boats toward the southern dive sites, it remains obvious that this part of the planet took a major hit.
Yup, it looks a heckofalot better than when we left, but theres no mistaking what happened here.
What about underwater?
3 days of diving pre-Wilma, followed by a dunk in our own New Mexico Blue Hole, and a week on the east side of Puerto Rico probably gave me a skewed perspective.
But from where I float, Cozumel deserves to remain on our annual dive itinerary.
Youve surely read the observations of others, and Ive probably read many of yours.
Ill add a few of my own: Maracaibo, Palancar Bricks, Gardens, Caves and Tortugas still blow me away. Santa Rosa Wall shocked me. Looked like the Rocky Mountains after the first snow. And Tortugas anytime and Paradise, especially at night, cant be beat, at least on my budget. I saw more small schools than ever before and the glimpse of a ginormous Southern Stingray was worth the price of admission. And the visibility remains excellent.
You bet I love Cozumel. The people, after all, left their homes and families to baby sit those of us who couldnt get out before Wilma.
Watching the sunset from a perch up on top of Chi, (dont miss their amazing chicken lettuce wraps), sipping a cocktail and watching the Mexican flag wave in the breeze following a magnificent dive day, touched me again.
We were there to watch when that flag was pulled down before the storm. Nothing drove home the point of what was ahead quite like that.
But in the end, we all survived. There is a connection. And its deep.
Theres a certain vibe you get from different places you find yourself in life.
The rhythm of Cozumel is already calling me back.
Will & Becky, Maggie, Dave & Kyla, and of course Christi and her magnificent staff, with whom I dove on this trip I hope youll be there too.
Craig-
