Hola y Buenos Dias (ok, someone has gotten carried away, lol).
I just wanted to post a follow up to my trip so that maybe others will find useful information. This will be a lot to write so I will copy and repost in the other threads that I also used so please consider when you read again elsewhere...there are several other threads.
After arriving on 1/11/17, I soon realized that my AirBnB lodging that I booked @ $17/day was approx 2 miles from ocean (in Cozumel - Av 65 sur) which is too far away. The guy I stayed with actually only had a trailer and no actual dive shop and I was feeling uneasy about the whole experience. So, after 2 crappy nights of just wondering around town all day I decided to trust my instincts and get closer to the ocean and find a reputable dive shop. A good choice
A lot of you people had mentioned to me about El Norte (winds from the storms coming from the north?) and that diving may be shut down intermittently...which they were correct. My first 6-7 days there was hardly any diving as it was all shut down due to the wind/waves. Talk about being bummed! Next time I will head over to Playa del Carmen right away and do more tourist things up-n-down the coast but, oh well.
I HIGHLY recommend using Tres Pelicanos dive shop if youi're diving in Cozumel. Jeanie (husband Mike), Cathy, Pony, OZ, Edgar, (sorry for anyone I'm forgetting), etc. were all great to deal with! Tres Pelicanos suggested I take a refresher beach dive so I went out with Oz on one of those rare mornings that diving was open during that first 7 days....and I'm glad I did!
After the forecast had the diving shut down for the next several days, I headed over to PdC and did m first open dive there and it was not too great of an experience. The first tank (90') I had to bail out on at about 20-30'. I was having problems with my equipment but it was mostly me hyperventilating, equalization problems, overwhelmed, etc. I was seriously bummed!! I was able to regroup and make the 2nd dive (40-50') but had a great deal of problems with my mask and just wasn't that great of an experience.
Jeanie @ Tres Pelicanas was awesome staying in touch and after 3 days she advised to come back over to Coaumel and try again as the weather was looking better. When I arrived again to Cozumel on 1/20 I met Cathy in the shop and explained my disappointment with the PdC dive and my concern of ruining the dive for other divers if I had to bail on the dive. I was having a bit of a mental block with going 80-90' and was a bit nervous. Cathy showed such great empathy in relating with my concerns and explained to me her similar experience when she was just starting. Cathy recommended hiring a private dive master so I only had to focus on myself and would not impact others in the group.
I remember Cathy saying ...."John, don't come this far and let another $60 deter you....I can see how much this means to you. Do what I did and hire the PDM and you will be glad you did. Trust me!".
I decided she was right and I requested Oz as my PDM who had did my beach refresher dive a few days prior as he made me feel calm, confident and secure.
I was excited, yet nervous, about the next day (1/21) afternoon dive. But, I felt this would be the moment of truth.
Sun 1/21, while on the dive boat, Oz calmly chatted with me and had me feeling good. The group decided to go to Palancar Gardens so, off we went. Once the boat stopped, the others dropped in and then Oz and I began to work our way down. After a couple of equalization stops I finally made it down and I simply couldn't believe it!!! OMG!!!! It was so incredibly beautiful! I was almost in tears. This had been a lifelong #1 bucket list item to see something like this and now here I was......seeing something so spectacular that it was beyond my wildest dreams! Oz was so fantastic to dive with and I will never forget him being part of this.
When we surfaced I just couldn't stop taking about it. I'm sure they felt they needed to tranquilize me to settle me down as I was so excited! lol. This experience SO delivered and was SO rewarding! My explanation just doesn't do it justice.
The 2nd dive was to Punta Tunich and that was also spectacular.
On the way back to the marina, a pod of about 15-20 dolphins escorted our dive boat (The Skinny Shark....nice boat!) for about 3-4 minutes and they were right next to the boat...we could have reached over and touched them. That was great.
WOW!!!! What an EPIC day! It was literally one of the best 3-4 days of my life, if not THE best day!! It was one of those days where you sit back and wonder...."did that really happen?" For all my life, since being a small boy (57 now), I had watched undersea documentaries, Jacques Cousteau, etc. and wondered what this undersea world must be like. It literally brings a tear to my eye when I think about it and I have been on a vacation high for 2 weeks since returning. Unbelievable!!
The next day I dove gain with the group and visited Palancar Brick and Yucab which were both awesome and I had no problems! I'm on my way now.
I just want to again express my gratitude to EVERYONE at Tres Pelicanos .........My PDM, Oz...you're the man and I'll never forget your calmness and reassurance. Thank you Cathy "the Canadian Cutie" for all her politeness, recommendations, encouragement and empathy, Thanks to Jeanie (and big Mike) for being a consummate professional and her personal customer service, followup and her reassurance too. Pony, Edgar and the the boat captains......you guys were great and thanks for baby sitting me! And also Texas Dave for answering a lot of my naive questions and offering advice.
I also want to thank everyone who responded to my questions before I left on the trip and offered their advise and opinions. Your generosity is appreciated 10 fold! I can't wait to return under better weather conditions and do some more diving. So looking forward to it!! Thanks.
