Tigerman
Contributor
As you may or may not have noticed, approxmately 2 weeks ago I was looking for travel advice. After getting some input from the board here and looking into the plane schedules, hotel avalabilities and dive shops, I decided to go to Mexico. The next problem was to decide wether to go to Cancun or Cozumel and what dive ops to choose.
Since Mayan Aqua Dive could provide me with all the different diving I wanted to experience, from one location (namely Cancun) I chose to go there.
Due to the available time I had, I hoped to get to dive 2 dives in Cancun in the morning plus 2 tanks in the evening and night on wednesday.
Furthermore I wanted to have a look at the cenotes and visit the whalesharks as well as checking what all the fuzz was about in Cozumel.
So I get into town on tuesday and talk to Ben at MAD just to confirm what we had been talking about via email before I left and to confirm him picking me up at the hotel on wednesday. Wedensday morning it rains and its a little windy. Typical, its been good wether there for 2 months and when I arrive there comes hurricane warnings and crap weather.
The wether is good enough however to get out and dive and afterall, thats all I really care about on this trip, but some nice weather wouldnt hurt either.
The first dive in tropical waters. First dive in a shorty. First drift dive. First dive with the "small" AL80 tanks.. The excitement!
First dive is totally amazing. Its loads of life all over the reef. Blue fish, yellow fish, long thin fish with huge teeth (aka Barracuda) im loving it and trying to see as much as I can, but my air is running low and its getting time to surface and change tanks.
When I get back to the surface I get reminded that there was actually some waves out here today and that Im actually kinda hungry since the only thing ive had for breakfast is water. By the time the last diver is in the boat and Im preparing the gear for the second dive, I find out that feeding the fish, now THATS a good idea to the crews amusement. They suggest that I wait till im underwater before feeding the fish so that I can take a closer look at them as they feed..
Only one thing to do here, get geared up and back down in the water. Its a wondercure for an uneasy stomach.
Second dive dont have that much life, however the life it DO have is big and graceful. I got my first encounter with the nurse sharks on that dive. It was only one and I wish i got a bit closer to it. What? Am I insane? Its a SHARK! They just looks so much nicer down there than they do in the hollywood movies..
Wednesday I get picked up at my hotel, where Ive got the feeling im the only foreigner since its in downtown Cancun and not the hotel district, 6am in the morning to go to dive the cenotes. My guide today will be Alvaro, or Al as hes hes also called. We drive faar out of town and pick up two more divers, who has come down from Mexico City to dive at the Yucatan peninsula and then drive some further away from town. When where sufficiently far away from town we go off the main road and further into the jungle that now appear to be surrounding us.
Then we park. In the jungle. Near 3 and a sone stair that leads down to a little rock wall with a little pool of dirty water under it.. Or so it seems.
Once we swipe the dirt off the surface of the water, atleast its not dirty, its crystal clear! It still looks to be awfully little of it to dive in tho, but Al claims theres caves down there
.
Well, we prepare the gear and go down to the water weighing off, trying to keep the masks from fogging and going down. Yeah, there IS a hole in that wall for sure and not a small one either.. The first dive is totally awsome. The saltwater on the bottomn and the freshwater above it makes some spectacular effects when you play around with it a little. Being in the separation between the layers is totally weird.. Look down it looks foggy, look up its.. Is there even water??
The second dive is really beyond words. The stala-things and stala-stuff in the roof and floor are awsome. One of them being HUGE and kinda reminding me of the tilted tower in piza. In this part of the cavern we can also surface inside one of the caverns under the jungle. Quite an experinece.
Chak Mool, which is what this cavern was called really blew me out of my socks. I understand why people go into that kinda diving now. Infact.. No, Im not even gonna think it, its too expencive..
Friday Al also picked me at 6am and we where going to Cozumel. THE place to dive according to many I had spoken to. So we went out to dive Santa Rosa and Tormentos, supposedly some of the best diving in Cozumel. The Santa Rosa wall was quite impressive as far as the scale goes, but as far as Im concerned, it ends there. Generally it was CROWDED on and under the water around Santa Rosa and Tormentos and the ammount of life on the reefs was really not impressive either. The Cancun dives, altho shallower and not as impressive coral formations, where much more interesting to me. The same kinda goes for Tormentos.. What WAS interesting was 2 of the divers that joined us on the boat though. Without going into further details, lets just say that none of the other divers on the boat was very impressed with their bouyancy control. Especially one of them really shouldnt have been put on a boat to a wall dive imo and many would probably say she shouldnt be put anywhere near a reef either
When I completed my logs on thursday, I noticed that my SAC had steadilly dropped during these 3 days and its like 20% lower on the dives on Santa Rosa and Tormentos than it was in Cancun on wednesday..
During friday, I have to make a decition that I never wanted to make. Ever since wednesday it has looked as tho the planned whaleshark snorkling on saturday wouldnt happen due to the weather. Im considering going to the caverns again or if I should try finding some turtles and rays. Luckilly Ben calls and says the whalesharks are a go. YEEEHAAAW!
So saturday is another day with an early start, although "only" 7am.
The weather ironically enoght where close to perfect. The silence before the storm?
Karla picked me up at the hotel and drove me to Punta Sam where I got in the boat and headed for the area where the whalesharks stay. We found them quite quickly an I was one of the first to hit the water. 3-2-1-GO! I splash into the water and the first thing im thinking is "whoa! Its murky". The guide later tells me that it was actually pretty good visibility, compared to how it could be out there. So Im in the water, looking into the green murk and expeciting to see this big fish coming from some distance. NOT THE CASE!! I see green murk, then some silvery little fish and then WHAM! Like 6-7 meters infront of me at the most, a barn door of a half open mouth that I cant make out wether is smiling or gnarling coming straight at me. Now this IS kinda intimidating, Im not gonna lie about it. But hey, these dont eat meat, so Ill just swim a couple of meters to the side and follow it. Or so I think.. The shark swims past me dives and is gone. Basically the 2nd encounter goes about the same way, except that Im prepared for it this time.
Three however shall prove to be a charm! I big, lazy whaleshark with a tag saying 592. Comes swiming towards me at a rather acceptable pace for a snorkler. I tag along as it swims around eating its plankton. MAN is these things huge. It goes a couple of meters deeper and I try to follow it, with mixed luck as it goes back to the surface, just fooling around with me.
I honestly cant say for how long I had the pleasure of playing with 592 (who according to the guide is apporxmately 13 meters! :11: ) but its long enough for me to get quite exhausted and the boats suddenly a fair swim away. TERIFFIC!!
However, the whaleshark experience got me thinking. The first two sharks was quite weary and bailed the first chance they got. The thing they had in common was that there was basically boats all over the sea where we found them and it makes me think they got stressed out and/or fed up with the nosy humans splashing around in their food tray.
The further away from the other boats we got, the more calm and interested in letting us observe them the sharks seemed to be so it makes me wonder if we could actually be imposing stress on these amazing creatures with all our tours out there. Maybe they feel like we do when we have the little fly buzzing around us when we eat?
And so, to the question that Ive been getting a lot the last couple of days, both from my friends and family and also from Ben before I went back home. Would I go back to Mexico and Cancun to dive? I think I will, but Im not sure I would go back to Cozumel to dive if and when I go back down there, because its so crowded. Id like to see more sea creatures tho, like turtles and rays and more sharks. The kind of sharks thats not 13 meter long in particular.
Thanks to Ben for making this happen and helping me out a lot both prior to my trip and while I was there. Ill give you a call next time Im there and Ill make sure to keep my phone charged and my log book on me at all times, should I need to contact you for whatever reason
Also thanks to Al and his guys for two great days of diving and all that goes with it.
Hi to all the people i dived with during the week, it was a pleasure meeting you.
Im sorry I dont have any pics on this time. Next time I go somewhere like this, Ill make sure to have a UW cam and some practice using it. Better run to the store
.
I do have some topside pics that I will be uploading as soon as I can get them out of the uncooperative camera that I dropped on the concrete floor in the airport security check..
Even
Since Mayan Aqua Dive could provide me with all the different diving I wanted to experience, from one location (namely Cancun) I chose to go there.
Due to the available time I had, I hoped to get to dive 2 dives in Cancun in the morning plus 2 tanks in the evening and night on wednesday.
Furthermore I wanted to have a look at the cenotes and visit the whalesharks as well as checking what all the fuzz was about in Cozumel.
So I get into town on tuesday and talk to Ben at MAD just to confirm what we had been talking about via email before I left and to confirm him picking me up at the hotel on wednesday. Wedensday morning it rains and its a little windy. Typical, its been good wether there for 2 months and when I arrive there comes hurricane warnings and crap weather.
The wether is good enough however to get out and dive and afterall, thats all I really care about on this trip, but some nice weather wouldnt hurt either.
The first dive in tropical waters. First dive in a shorty. First drift dive. First dive with the "small" AL80 tanks.. The excitement!
First dive is totally amazing. Its loads of life all over the reef. Blue fish, yellow fish, long thin fish with huge teeth (aka Barracuda) im loving it and trying to see as much as I can, but my air is running low and its getting time to surface and change tanks.
When I get back to the surface I get reminded that there was actually some waves out here today and that Im actually kinda hungry since the only thing ive had for breakfast is water. By the time the last diver is in the boat and Im preparing the gear for the second dive, I find out that feeding the fish, now THATS a good idea to the crews amusement. They suggest that I wait till im underwater before feeding the fish so that I can take a closer look at them as they feed..
Only one thing to do here, get geared up and back down in the water. Its a wondercure for an uneasy stomach.
Second dive dont have that much life, however the life it DO have is big and graceful. I got my first encounter with the nurse sharks on that dive. It was only one and I wish i got a bit closer to it. What? Am I insane? Its a SHARK! They just looks so much nicer down there than they do in the hollywood movies..
Wednesday I get picked up at my hotel, where Ive got the feeling im the only foreigner since its in downtown Cancun and not the hotel district, 6am in the morning to go to dive the cenotes. My guide today will be Alvaro, or Al as hes hes also called. We drive faar out of town and pick up two more divers, who has come down from Mexico City to dive at the Yucatan peninsula and then drive some further away from town. When where sufficiently far away from town we go off the main road and further into the jungle that now appear to be surrounding us.
Then we park. In the jungle. Near 3 and a sone stair that leads down to a little rock wall with a little pool of dirty water under it.. Or so it seems.
Once we swipe the dirt off the surface of the water, atleast its not dirty, its crystal clear! It still looks to be awfully little of it to dive in tho, but Al claims theres caves down there
.Well, we prepare the gear and go down to the water weighing off, trying to keep the masks from fogging and going down. Yeah, there IS a hole in that wall for sure and not a small one either.. The first dive is totally awsome. The saltwater on the bottomn and the freshwater above it makes some spectacular effects when you play around with it a little. Being in the separation between the layers is totally weird.. Look down it looks foggy, look up its.. Is there even water??
The second dive is really beyond words. The stala-things and stala-stuff in the roof and floor are awsome. One of them being HUGE and kinda reminding me of the tilted tower in piza. In this part of the cavern we can also surface inside one of the caverns under the jungle. Quite an experinece.
Chak Mool, which is what this cavern was called really blew me out of my socks. I understand why people go into that kinda diving now. Infact.. No, Im not even gonna think it, its too expencive..
Friday Al also picked me at 6am and we where going to Cozumel. THE place to dive according to many I had spoken to. So we went out to dive Santa Rosa and Tormentos, supposedly some of the best diving in Cozumel. The Santa Rosa wall was quite impressive as far as the scale goes, but as far as Im concerned, it ends there. Generally it was CROWDED on and under the water around Santa Rosa and Tormentos and the ammount of life on the reefs was really not impressive either. The Cancun dives, altho shallower and not as impressive coral formations, where much more interesting to me. The same kinda goes for Tormentos.. What WAS interesting was 2 of the divers that joined us on the boat though. Without going into further details, lets just say that none of the other divers on the boat was very impressed with their bouyancy control. Especially one of them really shouldnt have been put on a boat to a wall dive imo and many would probably say she shouldnt be put anywhere near a reef either
When I completed my logs on thursday, I noticed that my SAC had steadilly dropped during these 3 days and its like 20% lower on the dives on Santa Rosa and Tormentos than it was in Cancun on wednesday..
During friday, I have to make a decition that I never wanted to make. Ever since wednesday it has looked as tho the planned whaleshark snorkling on saturday wouldnt happen due to the weather. Im considering going to the caverns again or if I should try finding some turtles and rays. Luckilly Ben calls and says the whalesharks are a go. YEEEHAAAW!
So saturday is another day with an early start, although "only" 7am.
The weather ironically enoght where close to perfect. The silence before the storm?
Karla picked me up at the hotel and drove me to Punta Sam where I got in the boat and headed for the area where the whalesharks stay. We found them quite quickly an I was one of the first to hit the water. 3-2-1-GO! I splash into the water and the first thing im thinking is "whoa! Its murky". The guide later tells me that it was actually pretty good visibility, compared to how it could be out there. So Im in the water, looking into the green murk and expeciting to see this big fish coming from some distance. NOT THE CASE!! I see green murk, then some silvery little fish and then WHAM! Like 6-7 meters infront of me at the most, a barn door of a half open mouth that I cant make out wether is smiling or gnarling coming straight at me. Now this IS kinda intimidating, Im not gonna lie about it. But hey, these dont eat meat, so Ill just swim a couple of meters to the side and follow it. Or so I think.. The shark swims past me dives and is gone. Basically the 2nd encounter goes about the same way, except that Im prepared for it this time.
Three however shall prove to be a charm! I big, lazy whaleshark with a tag saying 592. Comes swiming towards me at a rather acceptable pace for a snorkler. I tag along as it swims around eating its plankton. MAN is these things huge. It goes a couple of meters deeper and I try to follow it, with mixed luck as it goes back to the surface, just fooling around with me.
I honestly cant say for how long I had the pleasure of playing with 592 (who according to the guide is apporxmately 13 meters! :11: ) but its long enough for me to get quite exhausted and the boats suddenly a fair swim away. TERIFFIC!!
However, the whaleshark experience got me thinking. The first two sharks was quite weary and bailed the first chance they got. The thing they had in common was that there was basically boats all over the sea where we found them and it makes me think they got stressed out and/or fed up with the nosy humans splashing around in their food tray.
The further away from the other boats we got, the more calm and interested in letting us observe them the sharks seemed to be so it makes me wonder if we could actually be imposing stress on these amazing creatures with all our tours out there. Maybe they feel like we do when we have the little fly buzzing around us when we eat?
And so, to the question that Ive been getting a lot the last couple of days, both from my friends and family and also from Ben before I went back home. Would I go back to Mexico and Cancun to dive? I think I will, but Im not sure I would go back to Cozumel to dive if and when I go back down there, because its so crowded. Id like to see more sea creatures tho, like turtles and rays and more sharks. The kind of sharks thats not 13 meter long in particular.
Thanks to Ben for making this happen and helping me out a lot both prior to my trip and while I was there. Ill give you a call next time Im there and Ill make sure to keep my phone charged and my log book on me at all times, should I need to contact you for whatever reason
Also thanks to Al and his guys for two great days of diving and all that goes with it.
Hi to all the people i dived with during the week, it was a pleasure meeting you.
Im sorry I dont have any pics on this time. Next time I go somewhere like this, Ill make sure to have a UW cam and some practice using it. Better run to the store
.I do have some topside pics that I will be uploading as soon as I can get them out of the uncooperative camera that I dropped on the concrete floor in the airport security check..
Even
