Fish_Whisperer
Contributor
- Messages
- 6,317
- Reaction score
- 23
- # of dives
- 50 - 99
I'm back!! It was a blast!! I'm still in the middle of getting unpacked and caught up, but we saw HUGE nurse sharks, a big bull shark, lots of stingrays, and several sea turtles.
On top of this, my breathing is finally starting to get better underwater, and I nailed the last three dives, starting with everyone and finishing with everyone. I'm still using 100 cu/ft tanks, but the last dive was 40 minutes at 55', and I got back on board with 960psi left in the tank. I am elated!! I started out by counting four beats during my inhale, then stopping (not holding or skip breathing!) for another count of four, and then exhaling long and slow. At first, I was counting beats for my exhale too, but then I got caught up in looking at stuff, and forgot to count. Next thing I found was that my exhales were getting longer and longer... I sort of became conscious of it at one point, when I had one exhale that seemed to stretch on FOREVER! I thought to myself, "Wow! Good one!!" From here on out, it's only going to get better. I think I may truly be seeing the end of the problem of being an air hog.
I didn't take a single photo. I was too busy working on my breathing, working on my weighting, (which I dropped from using 12lbs to 10lbs, even with using my 1mm wetsuit), working on getting used to my back-inflate BC, and working on really relaxing. I really feel like everything is starting to come together!
The shallower reefs were in pretty sad condition with sand all over them, but as several of us drifted by, we would wave our hands over the top of them so that the sand would wash away. The current was pulling a lot of sand off of them too, so even though visibility wasn't as great as it was last time, there are signs of healing. Many of the soft corals and sponges are coming back. On the wall dives, the reefs are in excellent shape and it was wonderful to see how everything is flourishing.
I stopped during a dive on Tormentos and watched a sea anenome that was waving gracefully, with a tiny crab hiding in its center. I stayed and watched it for 10 minutes.
One of the dive masters called me over, and very carefully brushed the sand away and managed to bring up a tiny flounder, no larger than a dime, on the tip of his finger. So amazing...
I saw a small green moray eel that emerged from one side of a coral head and then quickly ducked into a crevice before anyone else saw it. I saw a massive nurse shark that was lurking under one of the coral shelves, and on one of my safety stops, I saw a sea turtle with a shell as big as most dining room tables. He was eating thimble-jellies, which were out in force. (In fact, during my safety stop, the current was carrying me into a cloud of them! I put my surface marker in front of me, and thought, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!") I went right through them with no ill effect, thankfully.
At the dive shop, the guy in charge gave me one of Del Mar Aquatics' staff T-shirts as thanks for the help I gave them after Hurricane Wilma. I felt very honored... The Casa Del Mar is as good as new, and Del Mar Aquatics was fantastic. It was like a homecoming, and to me, all of the staff and dive masters are like family.
We ate dinner with one of the dive masters and his wife at La Morena, one evening.... Beautiful restaurant, great food, great people... Another evening, we ate at the Castle Denis. (sp?) Again, wonderful place...
I love the Cozumelian people, the island, the diving... Everything about it... I can't wait to go back. It felt like my October trip had never been interrupted. All together, I guess I got ten or eleven dives. I could have had more, but I was pretty satisfied with how things went.
Life is good.... I'm sooooo tan, sooo tired, and soooo relaxed.
(I have to let my blood thicken up again... Gallons and gallons of beer, tequila, and rum... I should be ashamed, but pffffft... Nawwwww!) LMAO!
On top of this, my breathing is finally starting to get better underwater, and I nailed the last three dives, starting with everyone and finishing with everyone. I'm still using 100 cu/ft tanks, but the last dive was 40 minutes at 55', and I got back on board with 960psi left in the tank. I am elated!! I started out by counting four beats during my inhale, then stopping (not holding or skip breathing!) for another count of four, and then exhaling long and slow. At first, I was counting beats for my exhale too, but then I got caught up in looking at stuff, and forgot to count. Next thing I found was that my exhales were getting longer and longer... I sort of became conscious of it at one point, when I had one exhale that seemed to stretch on FOREVER! I thought to myself, "Wow! Good one!!" From here on out, it's only going to get better. I think I may truly be seeing the end of the problem of being an air hog.
I didn't take a single photo. I was too busy working on my breathing, working on my weighting, (which I dropped from using 12lbs to 10lbs, even with using my 1mm wetsuit), working on getting used to my back-inflate BC, and working on really relaxing. I really feel like everything is starting to come together!
The shallower reefs were in pretty sad condition with sand all over them, but as several of us drifted by, we would wave our hands over the top of them so that the sand would wash away. The current was pulling a lot of sand off of them too, so even though visibility wasn't as great as it was last time, there are signs of healing. Many of the soft corals and sponges are coming back. On the wall dives, the reefs are in excellent shape and it was wonderful to see how everything is flourishing.
I stopped during a dive on Tormentos and watched a sea anenome that was waving gracefully, with a tiny crab hiding in its center. I stayed and watched it for 10 minutes.
One of the dive masters called me over, and very carefully brushed the sand away and managed to bring up a tiny flounder, no larger than a dime, on the tip of his finger. So amazing...
I saw a small green moray eel that emerged from one side of a coral head and then quickly ducked into a crevice before anyone else saw it. I saw a massive nurse shark that was lurking under one of the coral shelves, and on one of my safety stops, I saw a sea turtle with a shell as big as most dining room tables. He was eating thimble-jellies, which were out in force. (In fact, during my safety stop, the current was carrying me into a cloud of them! I put my surface marker in front of me, and thought, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!") I went right through them with no ill effect, thankfully.
At the dive shop, the guy in charge gave me one of Del Mar Aquatics' staff T-shirts as thanks for the help I gave them after Hurricane Wilma. I felt very honored... The Casa Del Mar is as good as new, and Del Mar Aquatics was fantastic. It was like a homecoming, and to me, all of the staff and dive masters are like family.
We ate dinner with one of the dive masters and his wife at La Morena, one evening.... Beautiful restaurant, great food, great people... Another evening, we ate at the Castle Denis. (sp?) Again, wonderful place...
I love the Cozumelian people, the island, the diving... Everything about it... I can't wait to go back. It felt like my October trip had never been interrupted. All together, I guess I got ten or eleven dives. I could have had more, but I was pretty satisfied with how things went.
Life is good.... I'm sooooo tan, sooo tired, and soooo relaxed.
(I have to let my blood thicken up again... Gallons and gallons of beer, tequila, and rum... I should be ashamed, but pffffft... Nawwwww!) LMAO!
