@arcie, thank you for asking. I am up to forty-nine (49) dives now so I should go back and detail some of those dives in my other thread. It seems every dive has had a new teaching moment. I got to Cozumel with twenty-five (25) dives so I almost doubled my count there!!
My week in Cozumel was fantastic! I did five (5) two tank boat dives while there.
I believe Marine World contracts out the boats based on demand. We started the week with eighteen (18) divers so we used one (1) boat for twelve (12) divers and a small boat (Bubbles) for six (6) divers. The big boat was broken into two (2) groups with a dive master (DM) for each. The basic plan for all dives was notify when at seven hundred (700) psi and the DM would send up a surface marker buoy (SMB). Get close to the string and perform your safety stop.
Palancar walls were amazing. It was also crazy to think one could dive that area multiple times and see different parts. I say that based on how many boats were in the area yet the groups weren't just following each other, they all went different ways through the area.
We also dove the wreck which was neat because it is the same as a wreck in Panama City Beach, but intact. The guides took us through the engine rooms and other areas.
I spent a lot of afternoons and evenings diving the "house reef" area (start where sun launches from and swim south toward the cruise ship docks into current and return to steps near road by sub). There isn't a lot to the "house reef," a few rock/coral spots, a lot of sand and some grasses. I'm some ways though it seems like I saw more wildlife here than on the boat dives. I saw tons of small spotted rays, puffer fish, trumpet fish, a few stone fish during the day, and octopus at night (at least three (3) different ones, maybe four (4)). There were other fish, but my fish ID isn't the best yet. They had some PVC squares that could be swam through for fun. Depth wise, this area is maybe mid-thirty foot max depth. A lot of it in the twenty (20) to thirty (30) foot range. I did my longest dive in this area clocking in at an hour and fifteen minutes.
If you go with current from this area there are coral farms and statues. The swim to return wasn't easy for me. I would want to up my cardio game before I tried it again.
The staff at Marine World was great. Several of the DMs had decades of experience. Some were on that same path. A special shout out to Edwardo (apologies if spelled wrong) for taking the time to learn my name (and several others) quickly and to always greet with a smile and hello. Alex is the manager (not sure if owner) and was seen several times throughout the week making sure everything was right.
It was a great trip for me.
