E.C.Hansen
Registered
Its been over a week since I got back from Tulum and this is the first time I have had to sit down and go over it. The trip was a mixed bag, I picked up the Mayan Quickstep, and my wallet got lifted in Xcaret, but the diving was incredible.
The first day of diving was in Dos Ojos (two eyes) Cenote, a large cave system with several entrances, two of which look like big eyes and give it it's name. It has a couple large caverns that are mostly submerged and open enough for snorkelers and novice divers like me to play in. I signed up to get PADI AOW certified so all 5 dives I signed up for are skill dives as well as vacation fun. The first dive was along the "Barbie" line, a guide line that leads through one of the chambers and has a Barbie doll tied at the mid point. In the briefing Deon, the instructor, told us this is the easier of the two lines and was going to be my Peak Performance Buoyancy dive. I started with 10 pounds of weight, 2 less than I had used with a similar wetsuit in previous dives, then I did a fast buoyancy check while we finished the briefing in the water. My assignment was to stay third in line (out of 5 in the group), and concentrate on using my breath to control my buoyancy, and all of us are to swim with frog kicks only. No silting allowed. There was a lot of maneuvering once we started and it was a lot like walking out of bright sunshine into a dark building, at first I mostly saw outlines, the contrast between dim objects and dark shadows. Then my light panned over what looked like a tree stump, but its the stump of a stalagmite that broke off or just formed with a flat top shape for some reason, and it looks like it's made of millions of tiny bright orange crystals. Just beautiful.
I guess my eyes adjusted after that because the next thing I realized was that I was surrounded by impossible shapes made of beautiful crystals and pearly milky smooth stone that looks like spilling milk. Occasionally some small fat fish will come swimming out of a shadow, but they didn't seem to upset to see me, and I tried not to bother them. The floor in some places was smooth beautiful formations of stalagmites and in other places were rocks the size of cars strewn out like bricks from a knocked over wall, but when I shined my light down between them I realized that all I could see was darkness that a mere dive light couldn't possibly reach through, even though visibility was perfect, well over 40-50m. I'm new enough to diving that I don't have a camera or really want the distraction of one while I'm learning, but I REALLY wish I'd had one this day, I just cant possibly describe all the incredible formations I swam through.
When I checked my SPG it seemed like I was using air pretty fast, I was definitely excited and conscious of using my breath to control buoyancy, and it had come up in the final in-water check that my regulator first stage had a small leak. Luckily right when I realized that I was almost half way through my air we came to the Barbie that marked the half way point. I told myself to relax and breath easy and what seemed way to soon after that, we finished the dive back where we started, and with plenty of air.
As we all talked after the dive, Deon asked how I felt with my buoyancy control, I mentioned that it felt like I was constantly over correcting and would have to get used to it. He suggested I take 2 more pounds off and then told me that they had a second dive on the other line planned after a surface interval, and that I seemed comfortable and competent enough that I could go along if I had the time free. We would call it the naturalist dive and review the skills for it later. I didn't hesitate to say sure, I knew it would mean not getting in a night dive, but after the first dive in this beautiful cenote I was grateful for another chance.
During the surface interval, I made a small mistake that taught me a good lesson. When I removed the weight from my belt I let the remaining weight sort of settle in one spot on the belt and got to learn the real meaning of "turning turtle" once we got back in the water. I also made the bone-headed move of not realizing that my assigned dive buddy was having trouble zipping the shorty she was adding over her wetsuit to layer up for the second dive. Double bone-headed because she just happened to be a gorgeous blond med student in her early 20s and some other guy beat me to it!
The next dive was on the "Bat Cave" line, still a cavern, but a little bit narrower in spots and a little bit deeper (all of 9m max depth). Still more than enough room to move, and 'wiggle' my weights to a more stable position once I realized the problem. It took no time at all to realize that this dive,while just a beautiful as the first dive, is definitely a different scene. On this dive you see more air spaces above, including a cenote opening that the snorkelers use, and the bat cave that gives this dive its name. Its very cool swimming through dim passages lined with rock formations that take your breath away and then realizing that you are suddenly in the blue water of a cenote with sunlight streaming in casting crazy shadows and sunbeams past the snorkelers at the surface some 5-6m above. We were greeted by crowds of fish that nibbled madly at the fruit that had fallen into the water from the trees high above. Then we swam slowly around the edge of the mound of rubble and sand that was once the roof of a cavern before it fell and became the floor of a cenote, and into another dimmer passage that winds its way Farther into the cavern. When the instructor signaled for us to surface we came up into an air space that had a lot of natural light streaming in, but was almost completely enclosed, and had bats living in groups inside little pockets in the ceiling. There were huge ancient columns of rock and still forming stalactites with roots hanging through them. There was also a small platform and ladder that made the whole room feel like something out of an Indiana Jones movie! We had a brief pause here and got quick lessons in local bats, the formation of cenotes, of how rock formations grow in caves and the interactions of ocean water and rain water in porous rock. Then back down and we continued to wind our way through the beautiful formations, including by an incredible slab of rock that was as big as a patio and was once part of the ceiling. The near meter long stalactites hanging from it are now all at a sharp angle and look like wicked teeth when you first see them.
In a short time we came to the end of the line, but before we surfaced, the instructor waved us over to one end of the cavern and showed us the sign that marked the entrance of the cave area. The part that required advanced certification to enter, and still had a sign with a picture of the grim reaper waring you to turn back if you value your life!
All things considered, this was a fantastic day of diving that I'll remember for a long time! But I wasn't quite done for this day, after the gear was packed up and I got a ride back to our house, I relaxed for a while then did the Naturalist book work and reviewed the sections for the next days diving, Navigation, and Search and Recovery. I also practiced some knots, including one that the instructor wanted us to learn called a figure 8 knot. I hadn't heard of it since I was a kid in boy scouts, so I had to learn it all over again. Then later than night, Montezuma took his revenge. I was doing the Mayan Quickstep at least as much as I was sleeping, but still managed to get enough sleep, and some breakfast, some Pepto, and some crystallized ginger into my angry belly to calm it down by the time I got to the beach for the briefing the next morning.
Day 2 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...certification-mexico-day-2-a.html#post4402883
Day 3 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...fication-mex-day-3-last-dive.html#post4402908
The first day of diving was in Dos Ojos (two eyes) Cenote, a large cave system with several entrances, two of which look like big eyes and give it it's name. It has a couple large caverns that are mostly submerged and open enough for snorkelers and novice divers like me to play in. I signed up to get PADI AOW certified so all 5 dives I signed up for are skill dives as well as vacation fun. The first dive was along the "Barbie" line, a guide line that leads through one of the chambers and has a Barbie doll tied at the mid point. In the briefing Deon, the instructor, told us this is the easier of the two lines and was going to be my Peak Performance Buoyancy dive. I started with 10 pounds of weight, 2 less than I had used with a similar wetsuit in previous dives, then I did a fast buoyancy check while we finished the briefing in the water. My assignment was to stay third in line (out of 5 in the group), and concentrate on using my breath to control my buoyancy, and all of us are to swim with frog kicks only. No silting allowed. There was a lot of maneuvering once we started and it was a lot like walking out of bright sunshine into a dark building, at first I mostly saw outlines, the contrast between dim objects and dark shadows. Then my light panned over what looked like a tree stump, but its the stump of a stalagmite that broke off or just formed with a flat top shape for some reason, and it looks like it's made of millions of tiny bright orange crystals. Just beautiful.
I guess my eyes adjusted after that because the next thing I realized was that I was surrounded by impossible shapes made of beautiful crystals and pearly milky smooth stone that looks like spilling milk. Occasionally some small fat fish will come swimming out of a shadow, but they didn't seem to upset to see me, and I tried not to bother them. The floor in some places was smooth beautiful formations of stalagmites and in other places were rocks the size of cars strewn out like bricks from a knocked over wall, but when I shined my light down between them I realized that all I could see was darkness that a mere dive light couldn't possibly reach through, even though visibility was perfect, well over 40-50m. I'm new enough to diving that I don't have a camera or really want the distraction of one while I'm learning, but I REALLY wish I'd had one this day, I just cant possibly describe all the incredible formations I swam through.
When I checked my SPG it seemed like I was using air pretty fast, I was definitely excited and conscious of using my breath to control buoyancy, and it had come up in the final in-water check that my regulator first stage had a small leak. Luckily right when I realized that I was almost half way through my air we came to the Barbie that marked the half way point. I told myself to relax and breath easy and what seemed way to soon after that, we finished the dive back where we started, and with plenty of air.
As we all talked after the dive, Deon asked how I felt with my buoyancy control, I mentioned that it felt like I was constantly over correcting and would have to get used to it. He suggested I take 2 more pounds off and then told me that they had a second dive on the other line planned after a surface interval, and that I seemed comfortable and competent enough that I could go along if I had the time free. We would call it the naturalist dive and review the skills for it later. I didn't hesitate to say sure, I knew it would mean not getting in a night dive, but after the first dive in this beautiful cenote I was grateful for another chance.
During the surface interval, I made a small mistake that taught me a good lesson. When I removed the weight from my belt I let the remaining weight sort of settle in one spot on the belt and got to learn the real meaning of "turning turtle" once we got back in the water. I also made the bone-headed move of not realizing that my assigned dive buddy was having trouble zipping the shorty she was adding over her wetsuit to layer up for the second dive. Double bone-headed because she just happened to be a gorgeous blond med student in her early 20s and some other guy beat me to it!
The next dive was on the "Bat Cave" line, still a cavern, but a little bit narrower in spots and a little bit deeper (all of 9m max depth). Still more than enough room to move, and 'wiggle' my weights to a more stable position once I realized the problem. It took no time at all to realize that this dive,while just a beautiful as the first dive, is definitely a different scene. On this dive you see more air spaces above, including a cenote opening that the snorkelers use, and the bat cave that gives this dive its name. Its very cool swimming through dim passages lined with rock formations that take your breath away and then realizing that you are suddenly in the blue water of a cenote with sunlight streaming in casting crazy shadows and sunbeams past the snorkelers at the surface some 5-6m above. We were greeted by crowds of fish that nibbled madly at the fruit that had fallen into the water from the trees high above. Then we swam slowly around the edge of the mound of rubble and sand that was once the roof of a cavern before it fell and became the floor of a cenote, and into another dimmer passage that winds its way Farther into the cavern. When the instructor signaled for us to surface we came up into an air space that had a lot of natural light streaming in, but was almost completely enclosed, and had bats living in groups inside little pockets in the ceiling. There were huge ancient columns of rock and still forming stalactites with roots hanging through them. There was also a small platform and ladder that made the whole room feel like something out of an Indiana Jones movie! We had a brief pause here and got quick lessons in local bats, the formation of cenotes, of how rock formations grow in caves and the interactions of ocean water and rain water in porous rock. Then back down and we continued to wind our way through the beautiful formations, including by an incredible slab of rock that was as big as a patio and was once part of the ceiling. The near meter long stalactites hanging from it are now all at a sharp angle and look like wicked teeth when you first see them.
In a short time we came to the end of the line, but before we surfaced, the instructor waved us over to one end of the cavern and showed us the sign that marked the entrance of the cave area. The part that required advanced certification to enter, and still had a sign with a picture of the grim reaper waring you to turn back if you value your life!
All things considered, this was a fantastic day of diving that I'll remember for a long time! But I wasn't quite done for this day, after the gear was packed up and I got a ride back to our house, I relaxed for a while then did the Naturalist book work and reviewed the sections for the next days diving, Navigation, and Search and Recovery. I also practiced some knots, including one that the instructor wanted us to learn called a figure 8 knot. I hadn't heard of it since I was a kid in boy scouts, so I had to learn it all over again. Then later than night, Montezuma took his revenge. I was doing the Mayan Quickstep at least as much as I was sleeping, but still managed to get enough sleep, and some breakfast, some Pepto, and some crystallized ginger into my angry belly to calm it down by the time I got to the beach for the briefing the next morning.
Day 2 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...certification-mexico-day-2-a.html#post4402883
Day 3 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...fication-mex-day-3-last-dive.html#post4402908
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