Even_Stephen
Registered
I'll try to keep this short but informative.
Wife and I just returned from a short trip to the Mayan Rivera. Flew into Cancun on Delta on Tuesday, Oct. 11. Got there on time at noon. There was no wait at immigration, so we went right through. Waited only about 10 minutes for all our bags to show up. Lucked out with no inspection in customs. Running the gauntlet of time share, etc. guys was a pain, but we made it outside. I had a private car service (www.cancunvalet.com) lined up, and they were waiting for us with sign in hand. Nice 30 minute ride south to Secrets Capri. Great car service! $110 round trip for the two of us. Worth it.
Secrets Capri was the nicest place we have ever stayed anywhere. It is all-inclusive. Spotlessly clean. Terrific food and liquor. No buffets. 5 restos, no reservations required. 24/7 room service. The friendliest staff on the planet. Nice beach and pool. Really good concierge. And no children allowed! Mini bar in the room could have been a little cooler
Neither of us got sick!
I pre-booked a cenote dive a few days before our trip with www.diablodivers.com. Neither my wife nor I had ever done (or wanted to do) any cave or cavern diving until we read about cenotes here on Scubaboard. I can attest that you MUST do this!
And this dive operator is head and shoulders above any operator I've ever used. Dennis, the shop owner, only takes a maximum of 4 divers to the cenotes per day. The day we went, it was just my wife and me. Dennis picked us up at the hotel and took us to Dos Ojos (two eyes) cenote. On the way down, he gave us a "pre-pre-dive" briefing plus some of the history of cenote diving and the geology of the caves. Pre-dive briefing, concentration on safety an bouyancy control. Gear up, walk down some steps to the cenote opening, then giant stride into the water from a wooden deck. Water was 78 F that day, so we went with 3mm shorties. That was plenty. I don't think I've ever dived in 200+ ft vis water before. But I did that day. Wow. Anyway, at Dos Ojos, there are a number of surface openings that are all interconnected underground. So it made for long dives without being out of site of light at any time. The passages have you descend and ascend quite a bit. Unfortunately, on the first dive, my wife found herself at one point stuck on the roof of the cave unable to get back down. I went to her aid and so did Dennis. Good thing, too, because it's hard to let air out of your buddy's BC when you're both pinned on the ceiling! Anyway, Dennis got her under control in seconds and then she thumbed the dive. Back to the entrance. (Wife spent the rest of the trip snorkling in the various entrances on the property. The snorkling was good.) Dennis took me back down to complete my first dive. After a surface interval, he took me though a different set of passages from the same entrance. This stuff is really something to see! After the dives, Dennis took us to a little beer joint on a very beautiful beach just south of PDC where we offgassed with some frosty Superior cervezas. What a great day (for me anyway.) Paid for the diving AFTER the dive. The way it should be. I bought the beer and tipped Dennis every dime I had on me.
Back home on The 15th. Cancun Valet picked us up exactly on time. Our return flight was a Delta code-share on Aero Mexico. The plane was clean, but make a lot more odd noises than I'm used to (and I'm a private pilot)! Imigration in Atlanta is no problem, but baggage claim before customs and going through security again was a time-consuming hassle. Reminded me a lot of going through the Miami cesspool.
To borrow a line from a TV commercial for one of the cruise ships, I think of life here at home now to be a temporary exile ...
Wife and I just returned from a short trip to the Mayan Rivera. Flew into Cancun on Delta on Tuesday, Oct. 11. Got there on time at noon. There was no wait at immigration, so we went right through. Waited only about 10 minutes for all our bags to show up. Lucked out with no inspection in customs. Running the gauntlet of time share, etc. guys was a pain, but we made it outside. I had a private car service (www.cancunvalet.com) lined up, and they were waiting for us with sign in hand. Nice 30 minute ride south to Secrets Capri. Great car service! $110 round trip for the two of us. Worth it.
Secrets Capri was the nicest place we have ever stayed anywhere. It is all-inclusive. Spotlessly clean. Terrific food and liquor. No buffets. 5 restos, no reservations required. 24/7 room service. The friendliest staff on the planet. Nice beach and pool. Really good concierge. And no children allowed! Mini bar in the room could have been a little cooler
Neither of us got sick!I pre-booked a cenote dive a few days before our trip with www.diablodivers.com. Neither my wife nor I had ever done (or wanted to do) any cave or cavern diving until we read about cenotes here on Scubaboard. I can attest that you MUST do this!
And this dive operator is head and shoulders above any operator I've ever used. Dennis, the shop owner, only takes a maximum of 4 divers to the cenotes per day. The day we went, it was just my wife and me. Dennis picked us up at the hotel and took us to Dos Ojos (two eyes) cenote. On the way down, he gave us a "pre-pre-dive" briefing plus some of the history of cenote diving and the geology of the caves. Pre-dive briefing, concentration on safety an bouyancy control. Gear up, walk down some steps to the cenote opening, then giant stride into the water from a wooden deck. Water was 78 F that day, so we went with 3mm shorties. That was plenty. I don't think I've ever dived in 200+ ft vis water before. But I did that day. Wow. Anyway, at Dos Ojos, there are a number of surface openings that are all interconnected underground. So it made for long dives without being out of site of light at any time. The passages have you descend and ascend quite a bit. Unfortunately, on the first dive, my wife found herself at one point stuck on the roof of the cave unable to get back down. I went to her aid and so did Dennis. Good thing, too, because it's hard to let air out of your buddy's BC when you're both pinned on the ceiling! Anyway, Dennis got her under control in seconds and then she thumbed the dive. Back to the entrance. (Wife spent the rest of the trip snorkling in the various entrances on the property. The snorkling was good.) Dennis took me back down to complete my first dive. After a surface interval, he took me though a different set of passages from the same entrance. This stuff is really something to see! After the dives, Dennis took us to a little beer joint on a very beautiful beach just south of PDC where we offgassed with some frosty Superior cervezas. What a great day (for me anyway.) Paid for the diving AFTER the dive. The way it should be. I bought the beer and tipped Dennis every dime I had on me.
Back home on The 15th. Cancun Valet picked us up exactly on time. Our return flight was a Delta code-share on Aero Mexico. The plane was clean, but make a lot more odd noises than I'm used to (and I'm a private pilot)! Imigration in Atlanta is no problem, but baggage claim before customs and going through security again was a time-consuming hassle. Reminded me a lot of going through the Miami cesspool.
To borrow a line from a TV commercial for one of the cruise ships, I think of life here at home now to be a temporary exile ...
