PaulVS
Contributor
- Messages
- 163
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Just got back from Cancun where my wife and I did our O.W. cert. dives. We were lucky enough to be able to do all four dives with just us and the Dive Master... Manuela from Solo Buceo. Great instructor who really made my wife feel at ease with the test. She's from Switzerland and lives in Cancun full-time.
We did 2 dives on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.
Our 2nd dive was quite an adventure. At "Las Peces" reef we dropped down into a wide part of a canyon that was about 10' below the bottom. There was a really surprising amount of fish there. Then very quickly more and more came streaming in.
Manuela started looking around sharply and giving us the 'wait' sign with both hands. It seemed like the whole canyon was being flushed with schools of swirling fish.
Suddenly several packs of 3-4 Jacks came raiding in over the ridge of the canyon. Then Manuela gave us the shark sign.
Sure enough... a few seconds later a 7' nurse shark came slowly cruising into the canyon from one end... straight towards us. When it got within about 20' of us it turned and glided up the side of the canyon and disappeared. Then another 5' nurse came over the ridge... dropped down about 5' and then went back up and out.
Amazing visual. The whole thing was like an elaborately choreographed dance. Manuella said afterwards that she dives 7 days a week 350 days a year... and only sees this about 3-4 times a year.
I have to say that I was amazed at the quantity of fish on all four dives compared to our 2 dives in Cancun last year. We saw dozens of different fish species... lobsters, crabs, groupers, squid, barracudas, (including a school of about 40) a small moray eel.. and I even got to touch a large sea turtle that was feeding in the coral.
Not to mention the nurse sharks!
Anyway... both my wife and I passed the O.W. with flying colors, and had a huge thrill thrown in for good measure.
Good to finally officially be part of the 'club'.
We did 2 dives on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.
Our 2nd dive was quite an adventure. At "Las Peces" reef we dropped down into a wide part of a canyon that was about 10' below the bottom. There was a really surprising amount of fish there. Then very quickly more and more came streaming in.
Manuela started looking around sharply and giving us the 'wait' sign with both hands. It seemed like the whole canyon was being flushed with schools of swirling fish.
Suddenly several packs of 3-4 Jacks came raiding in over the ridge of the canyon. Then Manuela gave us the shark sign.
Sure enough... a few seconds later a 7' nurse shark came slowly cruising into the canyon from one end... straight towards us. When it got within about 20' of us it turned and glided up the side of the canyon and disappeared. Then another 5' nurse came over the ridge... dropped down about 5' and then went back up and out.
Amazing visual. The whole thing was like an elaborately choreographed dance. Manuella said afterwards that she dives 7 days a week 350 days a year... and only sees this about 3-4 times a year.
I have to say that I was amazed at the quantity of fish on all four dives compared to our 2 dives in Cancun last year. We saw dozens of different fish species... lobsters, crabs, groupers, squid, barracudas, (including a school of about 40) a small moray eel.. and I even got to touch a large sea turtle that was feeding in the coral.
Not to mention the nurse sharks!
Anyway... both my wife and I passed the O.W. with flying colors, and had a huge thrill thrown in for good measure.
Good to finally officially be part of the 'club'.
