Trip report:
Saturday we arrived in Cozumel on time from Houston and checked in to the Barracuda Hotel. Dragging our equipment up to the third floor was fun to find a small cramped room with an air conditioner that sounded like a jet engine (though it was mercifully cool). We were able to change to a different room on the second floor Monday. Most of the First Floor is being renovated into storefronts.
My hubby and I were here just 9 months ago, and things have changed. McDonalds opened our second day in town and you can now eat at TGIFridays. Several of the local restaurants that use to be downtown have now moved to the more southern parts of the island were space is cheaper. Apparently restaurant and shop rent has gone way up with the completion of the new cruise ship pier & Mall.
We decided that we didnt care about McDonalds, so we quickly unpacked and got down to the waters edge to do our check dive to confirm buoyancy/weighting. Once again the good old rocky edge of the ocean entry proved to be a challenge with slick steps. My new wing and harness didnt throw me any curves, as it performed as reported; there was no squeeze in the chest as the jacket style had given me, and it did try to push me face-forward when on the surface if inflated to more then minimally necessary.
For diner we ventured towards downtown and checked out the new Mall at the new pier. We once again skipped McDonalds and TGIFs.
Sunday we were out on the boat for our first regular dives. Sheila, one of the managers of our dive operation, Dive Paradise, was taking friends out on the boat. This ensured us the farther reefs as dive sites. We went to Columbia Reef and Tormentos Reef. My DH was ecstatic to see turtles and had to be grabbed out of his reverie before he went flying for the surface while watching the turtles ascend.
Sunday afternoon we dove Paradise Reef.
Monday we started our Advanced Certification class with Enrique conducting two shore dives and skills review book sessions. Class One was Peak Buoyancy. Class Two was Navigation. Off the shore of the Hotel Barracuda is a man-made reef system and permanent buoyancy hoops and other navigation lines which facilitated class.
Monday night we decided to kickback and relax in anticipation of the next days activities.
Tuesday we had the remaining three classes and sessions for Advanced Certification.
Class Three was at Palancar Deep for Deep Diving. After once again reviewing the effects of deep diving and dive table calculations, we performed tasks at the surface which would have to be repeated underwater under the influence of the deep dive. Down we went to 82 feet to perform the tasks. Doing math under water is a challenge when your slate wants to float away!
Class Four was our Official Drift Diving which is almost all of Cozumel diving.
Tuesday afternoon (third dive of the day) was a pleasure dive to Paradise Reef. This reef is large but shallow, which makes it an excellent afternoon dive spot with four major areas to discover.
Tuesday evening was Night Diving.
I was nervous going in to this dive, which is natural.
I absolutely loved it!
It was a challenge to conduct navigation at night, but was well worth it. I did take a moment to pause when we swam away from our Instructor in to the night. We had chemical light sticks attached to the tanks, so as it turns out, we could see each others light from 50 feet away, but with my head down looking at the compass, I was wondering if this was such a smart idea.
At the end of the dive when we turned off our lights to see the bioluminescence, we found (as reported) that you didnt have to have a light. There was enough ambient light to see well enough to navigate. It was beautiful. We saw several octopus and a squid. Squid are pretty ugly during daylight hours, but at night they are luminescent and beautiful. The only thing that I didnt like about the night dive was not having my gloves. Usually I wear gloves, but did not want to have to worry about them during the night dive as your fingers are less sensitive with the gloves on, and I wanted to be able to feel for every piece of equipment rather then having to see it. We swam in to an area that had shrimp and krill that buzz at your hands like mosquitoes. They didnt bite, but it was annoying.
Wednesday was three more daylight dives.
Memorable moments came when we saw a Nurse Shark (swimming away from us) a pregnant seahorse, and my finding a large drum fish and a spider crab rather then having the DM point them out to me. I acquired a photo of the seahorse while standing on me head, as this was the only way I could get a shot of hiding away in the coral. Ill let you know if it comes out.
Thursday was three more dives.
On Thursday the funniest moment of the trip came in the afternoon when we dove off of The Tambo. When we came up to the surface, Ray and I were the first people up. We saw a boat coming towards us from Dive Paradise and we yelled that we were from the Tambo. The crew yelled back that the boat was the Tambo II. Our original boat had died and this was our replacement. As other couples came to the surface, they laughed and told us we were on the wrong boat and would not get out of the water. We had to explain that this was the replacement again and again before they finally got onboard. We then went back to the Tambo to get our bags and the other divers to deliver them to shore.
Friday was only two morning dives in anticipation of being on the airplane 24 hours later.
The first was to Palancar Horseshoes. The second was the C-53, a boat sunk for an artificial reef. I had dove the C-53 on our last trip to Cozumel while my husband was sidelined. Here we were glad to have the dive lights, as the engine room is almost completely dark.
Saturday we arrived in Cozumel on time from Houston and checked in to the Barracuda Hotel. Dragging our equipment up to the third floor was fun to find a small cramped room with an air conditioner that sounded like a jet engine (though it was mercifully cool). We were able to change to a different room on the second floor Monday. Most of the First Floor is being renovated into storefronts.
My hubby and I were here just 9 months ago, and things have changed. McDonalds opened our second day in town and you can now eat at TGIFridays. Several of the local restaurants that use to be downtown have now moved to the more southern parts of the island were space is cheaper. Apparently restaurant and shop rent has gone way up with the completion of the new cruise ship pier & Mall.
We decided that we didnt care about McDonalds, so we quickly unpacked and got down to the waters edge to do our check dive to confirm buoyancy/weighting. Once again the good old rocky edge of the ocean entry proved to be a challenge with slick steps. My new wing and harness didnt throw me any curves, as it performed as reported; there was no squeeze in the chest as the jacket style had given me, and it did try to push me face-forward when on the surface if inflated to more then minimally necessary.
For diner we ventured towards downtown and checked out the new Mall at the new pier. We once again skipped McDonalds and TGIFs.
Sunday we were out on the boat for our first regular dives. Sheila, one of the managers of our dive operation, Dive Paradise, was taking friends out on the boat. This ensured us the farther reefs as dive sites. We went to Columbia Reef and Tormentos Reef. My DH was ecstatic to see turtles and had to be grabbed out of his reverie before he went flying for the surface while watching the turtles ascend.
Sunday afternoon we dove Paradise Reef.
Monday we started our Advanced Certification class with Enrique conducting two shore dives and skills review book sessions. Class One was Peak Buoyancy. Class Two was Navigation. Off the shore of the Hotel Barracuda is a man-made reef system and permanent buoyancy hoops and other navigation lines which facilitated class.
Monday night we decided to kickback and relax in anticipation of the next days activities.
Tuesday we had the remaining three classes and sessions for Advanced Certification.
Class Three was at Palancar Deep for Deep Diving. After once again reviewing the effects of deep diving and dive table calculations, we performed tasks at the surface which would have to be repeated underwater under the influence of the deep dive. Down we went to 82 feet to perform the tasks. Doing math under water is a challenge when your slate wants to float away!
Class Four was our Official Drift Diving which is almost all of Cozumel diving.
Tuesday afternoon (third dive of the day) was a pleasure dive to Paradise Reef. This reef is large but shallow, which makes it an excellent afternoon dive spot with four major areas to discover.
Tuesday evening was Night Diving.
I was nervous going in to this dive, which is natural.
I absolutely loved it!
It was a challenge to conduct navigation at night, but was well worth it. I did take a moment to pause when we swam away from our Instructor in to the night. We had chemical light sticks attached to the tanks, so as it turns out, we could see each others light from 50 feet away, but with my head down looking at the compass, I was wondering if this was such a smart idea.
At the end of the dive when we turned off our lights to see the bioluminescence, we found (as reported) that you didnt have to have a light. There was enough ambient light to see well enough to navigate. It was beautiful. We saw several octopus and a squid. Squid are pretty ugly during daylight hours, but at night they are luminescent and beautiful. The only thing that I didnt like about the night dive was not having my gloves. Usually I wear gloves, but did not want to have to worry about them during the night dive as your fingers are less sensitive with the gloves on, and I wanted to be able to feel for every piece of equipment rather then having to see it. We swam in to an area that had shrimp and krill that buzz at your hands like mosquitoes. They didnt bite, but it was annoying.
Wednesday was three more daylight dives.
Memorable moments came when we saw a Nurse Shark (swimming away from us) a pregnant seahorse, and my finding a large drum fish and a spider crab rather then having the DM point them out to me. I acquired a photo of the seahorse while standing on me head, as this was the only way I could get a shot of hiding away in the coral. Ill let you know if it comes out.
Thursday was three more dives.
On Thursday the funniest moment of the trip came in the afternoon when we dove off of The Tambo. When we came up to the surface, Ray and I were the first people up. We saw a boat coming towards us from Dive Paradise and we yelled that we were from the Tambo. The crew yelled back that the boat was the Tambo II. Our original boat had died and this was our replacement. As other couples came to the surface, they laughed and told us we were on the wrong boat and would not get out of the water. We had to explain that this was the replacement again and again before they finally got onboard. We then went back to the Tambo to get our bags and the other divers to deliver them to shore.
Friday was only two morning dives in anticipation of being on the airplane 24 hours later.
The first was to Palancar Horseshoes. The second was the C-53, a boat sunk for an artificial reef. I had dove the C-53 on our last trip to Cozumel while my husband was sidelined. Here we were glad to have the dive lights, as the engine room is almost completely dark.
I leave for Cozumel July 18 for a four day trip with 3 days of diving. I am excited to say the least. I was at Playa del Carmen this past February for a week, and only snorkeled over at Cozumel with my non-diving hubby. All the time I was snorkeling over the divers I kept saying I wish I were down there with them. Due to many reasons my husband doesn't dive any more, but he encourages me to continue and to go on dive trips without him. But that particular day was the day before flying home so, I snorkeled with him. I can hardly wait to go and get to see all those sites, as we are diving with Dive Paradise also I hope it will be just as great.
