Tanked Monkey
Contributor
We had a great time on our 2 week trip to Mexico (28 Aug - 12 Sept). Since this was the first vacation where my wife and I are certified to dive, we didn't do a dive-your-brains-out type of vacation. The first week, we drove all around the Yucatan, visiting ancient Mayan ruins. We saw 16 different sites! Some were very remote. Amazing. PM me if you are interested in this type of vacation, but this is a scuba website, so I'll skip that part in this post.
The Dive Operator: We did 7 dives during this trip. We visited The Abyss (in the Blue Parrot Hotel), Tank-Ha, and DiveMike. We ended up selecting DiveMike (www.DiveMike.com), although the 2 other operators seemed great too. We really liked the feeling we got after speaking with the people at DiveMike, so we selected them.
The Diving: We went on a morning 2 tank reef dive. Since this was our first boat dive, we visited Tortugas and Sabalos. Tortugas had many turtles, and is a novice dive. We saw some nice fish too, but not too much coral. I believe this was because the current was running in the opposite direction than normal, so it threw everything off. On the second dive, Sabalos, the current was running the normal way, so we saw more coral, but the visibility was pretty low, as the current had just changed directions. A 3 mil full wetsuit was fine for these dives.
We had a few problems at the start of the Sabalos dive, which kind-of ruined that dive for us. When we rolled into the water, the person next to me rolled in late, and ended up rolling on top of me:icosm12:. Her tank banged my head under water, producing a knot and a lot of blood. I figured the pressure would help, so I continued on. My wife had some trouble descending in the swift current, without a descent line, as we had always used in our previous dives. So the guide dragged her down to 15 feet. He stopped when she vigorously signaled that her ears were hurting. This seemed very dangerous to me, and could have caused barotrauma. Luckily, she wasnt injured, and was able to equalize. But both of us were thrown off for the rest of the dive.
The next day, we went on a night dive at Jardines, which was beautiful. The coral was very nice, and we saw lots of fish, and a few octopuses, which changed color with the lights. We also saw a 4 foot moray eel out of his hidey hole, swimming along the reef. Very exciting.
The next 4 dives were Cenotes, and DiveMike picked us up at our hotel both days. We started with a dive at Dos Ojos and one at the Bat Cave (part of the same system). There was only one other diver with us that day. Our guide (Victor) was excellent, and very thorough. The stalactites/stalagmites were beautiful, and the entire dive was amazing. The next 2 dives were at Chaac Mool and Kukulcan (part of the same system). My wife and I were the only divers that day (plus the guide). There werent as many enormous decorations, but it was still an amazing dive. The halocline was a very interesting effect. A 3 mil full wetsuit was slightly cold, but acceptable. In the future, I might bring a beanie.
All-in-all, it was a wonderful trip. The next time, I will definitely use the same operator (DiveMike). I think the bump on the head was an accident, but my wifes rapid descent should have been avoided.
The Dive Operator: We did 7 dives during this trip. We visited The Abyss (in the Blue Parrot Hotel), Tank-Ha, and DiveMike. We ended up selecting DiveMike (www.DiveMike.com), although the 2 other operators seemed great too. We really liked the feeling we got after speaking with the people at DiveMike, so we selected them.
The Diving: We went on a morning 2 tank reef dive. Since this was our first boat dive, we visited Tortugas and Sabalos. Tortugas had many turtles, and is a novice dive. We saw some nice fish too, but not too much coral. I believe this was because the current was running in the opposite direction than normal, so it threw everything off. On the second dive, Sabalos, the current was running the normal way, so we saw more coral, but the visibility was pretty low, as the current had just changed directions. A 3 mil full wetsuit was fine for these dives.
We had a few problems at the start of the Sabalos dive, which kind-of ruined that dive for us. When we rolled into the water, the person next to me rolled in late, and ended up rolling on top of me:icosm12:. Her tank banged my head under water, producing a knot and a lot of blood. I figured the pressure would help, so I continued on. My wife had some trouble descending in the swift current, without a descent line, as we had always used in our previous dives. So the guide dragged her down to 15 feet. He stopped when she vigorously signaled that her ears were hurting. This seemed very dangerous to me, and could have caused barotrauma. Luckily, she wasnt injured, and was able to equalize. But both of us were thrown off for the rest of the dive.
The next day, we went on a night dive at Jardines, which was beautiful. The coral was very nice, and we saw lots of fish, and a few octopuses, which changed color with the lights. We also saw a 4 foot moray eel out of his hidey hole, swimming along the reef. Very exciting.
The next 4 dives were Cenotes, and DiveMike picked us up at our hotel both days. We started with a dive at Dos Ojos and one at the Bat Cave (part of the same system). There was only one other diver with us that day. Our guide (Victor) was excellent, and very thorough. The stalactites/stalagmites were beautiful, and the entire dive was amazing. The next 2 dives were at Chaac Mool and Kukulcan (part of the same system). My wife and I were the only divers that day (plus the guide). There werent as many enormous decorations, but it was still an amazing dive. The halocline was a very interesting effect. A 3 mil full wetsuit was slightly cold, but acceptable. In the future, I might bring a beanie.
All-in-all, it was a wonderful trip. The next time, I will definitely use the same operator (DiveMike). I think the bump on the head was an accident, but my wifes rapid descent should have been avoided.
