Chris Walrod
Contributor
- Messages
- 112
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- # of dives
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Dive Report
As some of you may have read, myself and a good friend just completed out PADI open water certification a few weeks ago. We, with our wives, just got back from our 7-day trip to Cancun last Saturday evening. Wow, what a fun trip indeed!
We stayed at Moon Palace, an all-inclusive resort just south of Cancun. We all were really pleased with the service, property, rooms, plenty to do etc. We would definitely go back, which says a lot. A few little snags along the way, but this will always happen wherever you stay.
The diving. WOW! My dive buddy (Scott Riemer) and I managed to get in 5 dives over three days of diving. We had to integrate the diving with the excursions with our wives as they dont dive. They do snorkel and love the water though.
On Monday, we had scheduled a short dive as a get-to-know-you dive from a LDS in Puerto Morelos called: Dive Puerto Morelos. We had scheduled a three-day package which included a trip over to Cozumel for two drift dives. The Monday dive was in about 55-60 of water, over a short section of the 650 miles of reef, just off the coast. Saw plenty of sea life including a spotted morey eel. A super guy by the name of Jan was our DM. It was just my buddy and I plus Jan and the skipper on the boat. Very private which was more inviting to us as new divers.
Tuesday was a two-tank dive. The first being at the C-56 wreck which is a 110 foot long minesweeper sunk about three years ago. It lies in almost 90 of water. We have never been that deep before, so we were a little concerned. Jan helped prepare us for this and reassured us, no sweat. As soon as we rolled back into the water, it was apparent to us there was no way this wreck was that far down. It looked as though it was RIGHT THERE, like 25, not 90. This is how clear the water is! Close to 80 degrees F as well! Anyhow, we made our way down (five of us diving this day) to the bottom, near the wreck. We did a few laps around the outside bottom of the wreck to see what we could scare up as far as wildlife. We did find a Ray buried in the sand, he fluffed his way out of the sand and cruised around. After this, we ascended about 15 up to the deck of the wreck, saw a good size barracuda, several really cool angel fish as well. The second dive was a few miles north in about 60 of water. More or less on the reef we were at the previous day. Saw some more cool stuff.
Thursday was also a two-tank dive, but over in Cozumel this time! These dives were subbed out to Deep Blue LDS in Cozumel, which we liked as well. The first dive was at Palancar reef. We had heard so much about the drift diving and the currents that are the means for the drifting, but it really didnt seem that strong. Maybe this was a slow day or something. Not sure. We started at about 84 on one of the shelfs that step down. A few more shelf type steps, the water gets REALLY dark and looks VERY deep! Anyhow we dove through some short cave parts of the reef. Plenty of life all around. Very beautiful dive! Still taking in all what we got to see. The second dive was a few miles North at Yucab reef. This was about 55 or so, more current than at Palancar. Lots of coral, no caves or archs to glide through. We did see the largest Lobster we have ever seen. He (or sheJ) was the size of a good sized dog! I could not believe what I was seeing, right in front of me! His neighbor was yet another huge Crab of some kind. Another cool moment was the DM found a clown fish in a small tunnel, he managed to squirt him out into the open, suddenly a grouper of huge proportion started homing in on that poor little clown fish. The DM saw what was about to happen, so he let the clown fish back into his hole, sparing his life.
Even as new divers, we both really appreciated what we got to see and do. We do realize that this diving really spoils what we have available here in SoCal. I doubt it will keep us from continuing divingJ
I can highly recommend Dive Puerto Morelos as a dive shop to book some great diving with. Catriona is the person to speak to. Both Cat and Jan are great people! Absolutely no affiliation, but here is their website: http://divepuertomorelos.com
As some of you may have read, myself and a good friend just completed out PADI open water certification a few weeks ago. We, with our wives, just got back from our 7-day trip to Cancun last Saturday evening. Wow, what a fun trip indeed!
We stayed at Moon Palace, an all-inclusive resort just south of Cancun. We all were really pleased with the service, property, rooms, plenty to do etc. We would definitely go back, which says a lot. A few little snags along the way, but this will always happen wherever you stay.
The diving. WOW! My dive buddy (Scott Riemer) and I managed to get in 5 dives over three days of diving. We had to integrate the diving with the excursions with our wives as they dont dive. They do snorkel and love the water though.
On Monday, we had scheduled a short dive as a get-to-know-you dive from a LDS in Puerto Morelos called: Dive Puerto Morelos. We had scheduled a three-day package which included a trip over to Cozumel for two drift dives. The Monday dive was in about 55-60 of water, over a short section of the 650 miles of reef, just off the coast. Saw plenty of sea life including a spotted morey eel. A super guy by the name of Jan was our DM. It was just my buddy and I plus Jan and the skipper on the boat. Very private which was more inviting to us as new divers.
Tuesday was a two-tank dive. The first being at the C-56 wreck which is a 110 foot long minesweeper sunk about three years ago. It lies in almost 90 of water. We have never been that deep before, so we were a little concerned. Jan helped prepare us for this and reassured us, no sweat. As soon as we rolled back into the water, it was apparent to us there was no way this wreck was that far down. It looked as though it was RIGHT THERE, like 25, not 90. This is how clear the water is! Close to 80 degrees F as well! Anyhow, we made our way down (five of us diving this day) to the bottom, near the wreck. We did a few laps around the outside bottom of the wreck to see what we could scare up as far as wildlife. We did find a Ray buried in the sand, he fluffed his way out of the sand and cruised around. After this, we ascended about 15 up to the deck of the wreck, saw a good size barracuda, several really cool angel fish as well. The second dive was a few miles north in about 60 of water. More or less on the reef we were at the previous day. Saw some more cool stuff.
Thursday was also a two-tank dive, but over in Cozumel this time! These dives were subbed out to Deep Blue LDS in Cozumel, which we liked as well. The first dive was at Palancar reef. We had heard so much about the drift diving and the currents that are the means for the drifting, but it really didnt seem that strong. Maybe this was a slow day or something. Not sure. We started at about 84 on one of the shelfs that step down. A few more shelf type steps, the water gets REALLY dark and looks VERY deep! Anyhow we dove through some short cave parts of the reef. Plenty of life all around. Very beautiful dive! Still taking in all what we got to see. The second dive was a few miles North at Yucab reef. This was about 55 or so, more current than at Palancar. Lots of coral, no caves or archs to glide through. We did see the largest Lobster we have ever seen. He (or sheJ) was the size of a good sized dog! I could not believe what I was seeing, right in front of me! His neighbor was yet another huge Crab of some kind. Another cool moment was the DM found a clown fish in a small tunnel, he managed to squirt him out into the open, suddenly a grouper of huge proportion started homing in on that poor little clown fish. The DM saw what was about to happen, so he let the clown fish back into his hole, sparing his life.
Even as new divers, we both really appreciated what we got to see and do. We do realize that this diving really spoils what we have available here in SoCal. I doubt it will keep us from continuing divingJ
I can highly recommend Dive Puerto Morelos as a dive shop to book some great diving with. Catriona is the person to speak to. Both Cat and Jan are great people! Absolutely no affiliation, but here is their website: http://divepuertomorelos.com
