Things I learned on my recent trip to Cozumel

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nice juvenile angel in that pic too. Were you shore diving or snorkeling across from paprika's? I am always on the hunt for seahorses. And my pictures of them always come out blurry But practice makes perfect, right?!

Shore diving. I've never snorkeled there myself. It's a nice place to do a practice dive after being out of the water a year or so, same with La Palapita. There isn't a ton of stuff to see, so you're almost forced to focus on your weighting, buoyancy, gear skills, etc.

Now the night diving at Paprika, that was the best one I've ever done (last year). Seeing things you've never seen before is always fun.

I'm surprised that you didn't have a gastrointestinal reaction after drinking ocean water -- most people do!

Yikes! Maybe because I only drank just a very little? I'm lucky to not be one of those people.. at least not for now!

I know the clinic on 5 well. I've been there for ear problems in the past. You're right about that also being a nice place to go. Dr. Negron at Medica San Miguel is our favorite for ears, however. I wasn't aware of the wide variety of other services they offer (other than the hyperbaric stuff). Thanks for sharing that!

Can i ask. Why would you buy a laptop in cozumel? That seems about as good idea as buying expensive jewelry. glad you had a good time. I have been thinking about getting a go pro- haven't yet though. nice pics.

If you know what you're getting, it doesn't seem like a big deal really. I thought I knew what I was getting, but I was in for a surprise. As far as why, it was for a few reasons, not the least of which is that I really could use a new laptop. Sure the one at Office Max in Mexico was priced a little higher than what could be bought in the US, but I only need so much mem, disk space, and CPU power. Spending the equivalent in the US would have just been overkill. It just hadn't occurred to me that the return policy would not be honored (though ultimately it was). Would I do it again? Hell no lol. Let someone else learn from me. Nothing wrong with Office Max at all, just the staff in the one downstairs from Mega (the guy who sold it to me couldn't have cared less when I told him it didn't support English, and the staff would just tell me to come back tomorrow without a clear reason why. No thanks, I'd rather get this settled now please!).

About the GoPro, I found out fast that there's a lot more to buy than just the GoPro. There's the LCD screen (not mandatory, but it's nice to know what you're aiming at). Then there's a red filter. I bought the flip filter from backscatter, which while a brilliant piece of hardware seems a bit overkill in price for diving in Cozumel. The only time I probably wouldn't use it is when snorkeling. Even diving at a depth of 10 feet I'd use the filter, otherwise things just look entirely way too blue, even at that shallow of a depth. There are cheaper filters which I think just snap on and off. I'd imagine their quality is on par with the others. It's just a red piece of plastic, right? Don't forget about the anti fog inserts. Finally, you need to think about how you're going to attach this thing to yourself. Edit: and the 32GB class 10 micro SD card, and an external drive to dump the videos onto in order to free up some space on the SD card.

That said, totally worth having.

I completely understand the dry mouth. I thought I was the only one who became extremely uncomfortable with it! I hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, and it's not an issue on land. Sometimes I dive with sour, Jolly Ranchers in my cheek, but they only last so long. Although, I've never actually swallowed the water (not sure I could), you will see me with my reg out rinsing my mouth every so often. Freaked a DM out a few times. Don't know if she thought I'd lost it and was just going to start breathing with it out? This seems to work for me, but not too long ago someone here wrote about drinking underwater, I need to go find that and investigate....

I give my mouth a good saltwater rinse now and again too! You're right, that does help somewhat.

As far as drinking underwater, I've read about people doing that with Capri Suns stashed away in a BCD pocket. If you find something that works for you, send me a message!

Forgive me if this is too intrusive, but what illness did both you and your buddy contract thst hsd you seeking medical care and having to depart early?

My dive buddy was hanging around a friend of hers who was sick. Then she got sick. Then I got sick. I don't know what it was, but it was the usual suspects of symptoms: runny nose, sore throat, congestion, coughing, chills, lack of energy, loss of appetite, and some nausea. I'd had a flu shot in December, but I guess this could have been a different strain. Or maybe it was just a cold, or something else. I didn't seek any medical care. My buddy, however, has been a lifelong smoker :( and once this thing made its way into her chest it gave her far more severe problems. We only had 3 more full vacation days left, having already spent 10 days there. Diving any of those days would be out of the question for either of us, so we decided to pack up and head for the hills. Life happens, I can't complain. Cozumel will be there next year, and so will I.
 
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I've thought of getting a GoPro 3 for diving. Do you hand hold it? Attach to your BCD?

I hand held mine, and attached it to the crotch ring on my BCD (below the buckle). That made it very easy to remove as needed.

I bought a clip and 2 types of rope from a hardware store, and tied the knot demonstrated in this video.

Here is a front view, just to give an idea of how it looks. This view of the back shows more clearly how I ran the rope. The thick white rope goes through the 2 holes where the black base piece would normally be (that piece is easily unscrewed and removed, by design). The yellow braided rope goes between the metal bar and the back of the housing. I used this for 2 reasons: 1) something to have around my wrist while holding the camera in case I dropped it, and 2) a backup for the white rope in case it didn't hold up for some reason, as they're both looped through the metal clip as shown in the first picture.

For me this worked out very well, and I trust it more than those plastic retractable BCD clips, which I've read can sometimes break.
 
RE The extra battery for the GoPro 3... I bought the Wasabi Power Battery Pack, which I believe is less expensive/same as 1 OEM GP battery - and you get two batteries and another charger. VERY nice to have three batteries to swap out. For me the batteries lasted the same or longer than the OEM battery (and I ran them all to the ground on dive that were lasting at least 90 minutes).

Amazon.com: Wasabi Power Battery (2-Pack) and Charger for GoPro HD HERO3 and GoPro AHDBT-201, AHDBT-301: Camera & Photo
 
Rubberducky,
You should try a different reg for your dry mouth. I have a vintage Sherwood Blizzard reg that has a couple of small plates that extract some moisture from every exhale and puts some of it back on every inhale. The metal plates that collect work surprisingly well as they give you back some of that precious moisture. I've dove mine for years and used to suffer from the severe dry mouth your experiancing. I've read a metal reg housing like Scubapro models can help also, but I'm sold on the Sherwood.
http://www.sherwoodscuba.com/product.php
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...02443-best-regulator-eliminate-dry-mouth.html

I've seen a lady that swore by one of these on a trip but have never used one.
Apollo Sports: Dive Gear: Regulators: Bio-Filter
Bring your own distilled water. I've never found any distilled water on the island for my cpap machine. Not to say there isn't any just not any that I've found.
 
Rubberducky,
Bring your own distilled water. I've never found any distilled water on the island for my cpap machine. Not to say there isn't any just not any that I've found.

Sterile water is usually stocked with household cleaning products. But sometimes you'll find it near the small electric appliances. It's the stuff that one needs to put into a steam iron!
This Is Mexico!!!!!
 
Rubberducky,
You should try a different reg for your dry mouth.

Good call - you're right on the money. I've read about different regs, and how metal regs especially are supposed to help. I've been stubborn in that department having just finally bought most of my gear last year. I think that's ultimately what I'll have to do though, get a new reg. The biofilter thing looks like a pretty brilliant idea, though I'm personally hesitant about adding complexity to a reg. That said, I'm sure they work great and would be an equally viable solution.

Thanks for your feedback! I'll make this problem a thing of the past with a new reg by this time next year for my next trip.
 
RE The extra battery for the GoPro 3... I bought the Wasabi Power Battery Pack, which I believe is less expensive/same as 1 OEM GP battery - and you get two batteries and another charger. VERY nice to have three batteries to swap out. For me the batteries lasted the same or longer than the OEM battery (and I ran them all to the ground on dive that were lasting at least 90 minutes).

Amazon.com: Wasabi Power Battery (2-Pack) and Charger for GoPro HD HERO3 and GoPro AHDBT-201, AHDBT-301: Camera & Photo

I agree, Kate. I have the same kit for the GoPro 1/2 and have noticed that the batteries last longer than the OEM. :)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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