yak
Contributor
Just got back on Friday from a 9 day trip to Puerto Aventuras (and all 10 of us are feeling fine). We dove with Aquanauts again, and as usual, Dennis and his crew did a great job of making things fun and interesting. I did 8 tanks over 7 days, diving with my buddy Brad and his newly-certified son Andrew, who did his certification dives as a referral.
We did our first couple of dives with Natalie, then a couple with Carlos, and one with Mauricio as divemasters. All did a great job of finding critters and having fun.
We did 6 reef dives, including Tortugas, which only showed about a half-dozen turtles. No tarpon at the end this time, either.
Saw my first spotted eagle that I've ever seen on the mainland side during a safety stop. It was only about 15 feel below us - spectacular.
Dennis took us on a planned deep dive to search for the small wreck Pelicano. We stopped at around 60 feet and searched for a while before descending onto a gentle wall and working our way back up. Had a nice moment where the 5 of us were lined up hovering in front of maybe 6 squid, up close and personal.
Our last day we dove the cenotes. Our first dive was at Dreamgate with Dennis and Carlos. Dreamgate has been on my bucket list, and Dennis was happy to oblige. He took Carlos along as well, so Carlos could get familiar with it for future guiding.
Dreamgate features a central rubble cone, with a couple of loops off opposite ends through some tight (by cavern standards) formations. It's fairly shallow, maxing out at 21 feet for my dive. Some of the trickier sections had a silty rubble cone slope at your left elbow and some delicate-looking formations to your right.
Our second dive was the bat cave line at Dos Ojos. Dennis had to head back to the shop, and Brad was having trouble equalizing so he left with him. That left me, Andrew and another Jack along with Carlos as our guide.
After surfacing in the bat cave, Andrew was having trouble equalizing upon descending. Carlos did a nice job of leading him back through the snorkeler's route at about 5 feet, then slowly took him along the ceiling of the last section to get back to the dive platform.
Andrew did a great job with his buoyancy, despite the trim problems that come with being a small kid with a big Alum80 on his back.
Some pictures from the week:
Brad, Andrew, Dennis, and the other Jack at Dreamgate
Looking down into the rubble cone at Dreamgate
Upper platform at Dreamgate
Entrance platform at Dreamgate
Me, Andrew, and Carlos at Dos Ojos
Andrew in Dos Ojos
Me in Dos Ojos
We stayed in a 4BR condo at Villas del Mar, right next to the Omni in PA. It had a decent pool, nice beach, and was 2 minutes from the dive shop and marina restaurants.
We ate at the Pub a few times, great pizza and fish, good breakfasts, too. Massimo's has great food as always, and slow service as always. The sports pub Wahoo's is now an upscale restaurant called SiSiSi. We ate there our last night. The food was good, the portions were huge, and they give you some free app's and bread, chips & salsa. Definitely need to go there hungry. Next door at Red Beards has the best fish tacos at the marina (IMHO). We went to PDC for a night and ate at our favorite - Carboncitas. Good Mexican food, cold beer, big 'ritas.
Some other shots from our week.
The elusive Pelicano in better days
dolphino
The beach scene in front of the condo
Partying on the rib boats in the caleta near the Barcelo resort.
After our cenote dive, I treated Carlos, Mauricio, Victor, and Fernando (dive boat captain and mate) to some fresh mahi mahi filets from one of the fishing boats. I coated ours with some cilantro-infused oil, cut some diagonal slices and filled them with slices of garlic, some pepper, grilled and served drizzled with fresh lime juice. Perfecto!
Victor and Carlos goofing around
Fire dancer at Red Beard's
I left with the same thoughts in my head as I usually do, wondering how I could swing a two week trip and commit to a cave certification. Maybe some day....
We did our first couple of dives with Natalie, then a couple with Carlos, and one with Mauricio as divemasters. All did a great job of finding critters and having fun.
We did 6 reef dives, including Tortugas, which only showed about a half-dozen turtles. No tarpon at the end this time, either.
Saw my first spotted eagle that I've ever seen on the mainland side during a safety stop. It was only about 15 feel below us - spectacular.
Dennis took us on a planned deep dive to search for the small wreck Pelicano. We stopped at around 60 feet and searched for a while before descending onto a gentle wall and working our way back up. Had a nice moment where the 5 of us were lined up hovering in front of maybe 6 squid, up close and personal.
Our last day we dove the cenotes. Our first dive was at Dreamgate with Dennis and Carlos. Dreamgate has been on my bucket list, and Dennis was happy to oblige. He took Carlos along as well, so Carlos could get familiar with it for future guiding.
Dreamgate features a central rubble cone, with a couple of loops off opposite ends through some tight (by cavern standards) formations. It's fairly shallow, maxing out at 21 feet for my dive. Some of the trickier sections had a silty rubble cone slope at your left elbow and some delicate-looking formations to your right.
Our second dive was the bat cave line at Dos Ojos. Dennis had to head back to the shop, and Brad was having trouble equalizing so he left with him. That left me, Andrew and another Jack along with Carlos as our guide.
After surfacing in the bat cave, Andrew was having trouble equalizing upon descending. Carlos did a nice job of leading him back through the snorkeler's route at about 5 feet, then slowly took him along the ceiling of the last section to get back to the dive platform.
Andrew did a great job with his buoyancy, despite the trim problems that come with being a small kid with a big Alum80 on his back.
Some pictures from the week:
Brad, Andrew, Dennis, and the other Jack at Dreamgate
Looking down into the rubble cone at Dreamgate
Upper platform at Dreamgate
Entrance platform at Dreamgate
Me, Andrew, and Carlos at Dos Ojos
Andrew in Dos Ojos
Me in Dos Ojos
We stayed in a 4BR condo at Villas del Mar, right next to the Omni in PA. It had a decent pool, nice beach, and was 2 minutes from the dive shop and marina restaurants.
We ate at the Pub a few times, great pizza and fish, good breakfasts, too. Massimo's has great food as always, and slow service as always. The sports pub Wahoo's is now an upscale restaurant called SiSiSi. We ate there our last night. The food was good, the portions were huge, and they give you some free app's and bread, chips & salsa. Definitely need to go there hungry. Next door at Red Beards has the best fish tacos at the marina (IMHO). We went to PDC for a night and ate at our favorite - Carboncitas. Good Mexican food, cold beer, big 'ritas.
Some other shots from our week.
The elusive Pelicano in better days
dolphino
The beach scene in front of the condo
Partying on the rib boats in the caleta near the Barcelo resort.
After our cenote dive, I treated Carlos, Mauricio, Victor, and Fernando (dive boat captain and mate) to some fresh mahi mahi filets from one of the fishing boats. I coated ours with some cilantro-infused oil, cut some diagonal slices and filled them with slices of garlic, some pepper, grilled and served drizzled with fresh lime juice. Perfecto!
Victor and Carlos goofing around
Fire dancer at Red Beard's
I left with the same thoughts in my head as I usually do, wondering how I could swing a two week trip and commit to a cave certification. Maybe some day....
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