Scott M
Contributor
To those interested the following is my trip report from last week (Feb. 15th- 22nd) at Playa Del Carmen/Coz. This report is from the eyes of a new diver doing his first Ocean (drift) dive.
Flights: American Airlines out of Montreal thru Miami to Cancun. No problems to report. Everything went fine.
Accomadations: Gran Porto Real Resort and Spas: Nice place, management needs to be replaced. Real bad overbooking problem. This has been reported on several travel sites on the web and I can first hand confirm the them.
Food: We did not opt for the All Inclusive package as we like the little out of the way places better. Capt. Bobs (Fantastic, can't say enough good things), Palapala (Hemingways) excellent place, Karens again excellent. Not so good experiences: Idea Pasta, Argentinian grill the fondue place (Can't remember name of). Overall the food was excellent and the service was great.
Now to the diving: I was able to get four days in with out my wife hanging me.
Monday: PDC: Tank Ha, DM=Martin, Over cast but no rain. Air temp in the upper 70's
#1) Punto Venado reef, 73' max depth, 37 minutes, Vis=about 70', water temp=78. Moderate current.
I really stunk. Remember, this was my first ocean, drift and back roll dive. So I roll off the boat and am a little nervous. I had a lot of problems getting down. I had 16lbs and needed 2 more to get down. My mask kept flooding. I was a little uncomfortable but I had a friend with me that is real experienced that stayed glowed to me. I don't remember much of that dive with all the stress but I did see a few turtles and plenty of marine life. Towards the end of the dive I felt a little more comfortable but my safety stop left a lot to be desired.
#2) Barracuda Reef, 47' max depth, 51 minutes, Vis= 60', water temp=78. Ripping current.
After discussing the first dive and making it thru alright this dive went much better. The current was real strong but I handled that quite well. Worked on my bouyancy and tried to enjoy the dive, which was much better. The safety stop this time went perfect, it felt great just hanging there.
Tuesday
DC: Tank Ha, DM=Wolfy, Over cast w/light rain. Air temp in the mid 70's
#1) Tortugas reef, 64' max depth, 45 minutes, Vis=about 70', water temp=78. Moderate current. I dropped my weight down to 17 lbs. This dive we were joined by another friend of mine and also a new lady named Barbara that was finishing her OW course. She did great and dived with us for the next two days. This dive went perfect. Bouyancy was spot on. It's a lot more fun when you can relax a little and enjoy the actual dive. We saw tons and tons of turtles and large (from what I was told) groups of Angel fish and yellow jacks.
#2) Sabalos Reef: 46' max depth, 54 minutes, Vis=about 70', water temp=78. Moderate current. Nice reef but nothing spectacular to report about. Lots of marine life. I worked on my bouyancy mostly and just enjoyed a very relaxing dive.
Wednesday: PDC: Tank Ha, DM=Stephen, Partly cloudy, Air temp in the 80's
#1) Dos Ojos Cenotes, 22' max depth, 53 minutes, Vis=cristal clear, water temp=78.
What can I say, WOW. To begin Stephen worked on our weighting which brought me down to 6lbs and I could have dropped another one to two. Trim and bouyancy was perfect thru the whole dive which was no easy task as my inflator (brand new halcyon Eclipse)decided to develope a slow leak which I kept having to dump during the entire dive. I never hit anything and was able to stop, turn and hang when needed. What a fantastic dive. I felt like a pro. I worked on my frog kick which my dive buddies and Stephen said looked like I have been doing it for years. Thank you Stephen your a fantastic DM.
#2)Hidden Worlds Cenote, 29' max depth, 34 minutes, Vis=cristal clear, water temp=78.
Another fantastic dive. If you have never done the Cenotes I would highly recommend them. The inflator worked fine for this dive (go figure). It was so cool being able to move along inches from everything and not touch anything and actually look good doing it.
Thurday: Coz: Aqua Safari, Partly cloudy but mostly sun. Air temp in the mid 80's.
#1) Palanacar reef, 81' max depth, 33 minutes, Vis=about 100', water temp=80. Light to no current. Wall dive. Down to 12lbs now. (still maybe a few to heavy)
Sweet dive, we were in, under and around this reef. The color was amazing, tons of marine life. We saw a 7' nurse shark lots of turtles. I would highly recommend going to this reef. The DM's had their hands full. There was one couple there, the woman couldn't dive at all which is fine but admit you can't dive and get help, as I did. The DM basically held on to her first stage thru the whole dive (she never knew he was there). At one point she dropped off the wall down to 100' at least. The 2nd DM had to go get her, thats when he began holding on for the remainder of the dive. The head DM sent her and her SO up about 15 minutes into the dive. On the boat several people asked her what happened - she had no clue she did anything wrong and acted like they were nuts and how dare they address her abiltiy. We also had a former seal member diving with us, great diver and person to talk to but very inconsiderate to others diving with him. He was basically diving anywhere he wanted and if you were in his way, tough he pushed you aside. I'm not sure what kind of profile he was going for but he was up and down like a yo-yo following the reef up and down, I'm talking like 30' to 40' movements at a time over and over again. Even with all this the dive went well.
#2) Chankanaab reef, 54' max depth, 43 minutes, Vis=about 90', water temp=80. Moderate current. Another great dive. The DM had to hold onto our lady diver again. Lots of marine life. This was a total relax dive.
Overall the diving was fantastic and my confidence level was way up and skills were much improved. I was able to drop a ton of weight and still get down. My trim and bouyancy felt very natural. I did not cut anyones dives short due to air usage. Thanks everyone for all the advise and assistance I have received here on SB. I feel with out all the help it would have taken me much longer to get as comfortable as I was on this trip.
Flights: American Airlines out of Montreal thru Miami to Cancun. No problems to report. Everything went fine.
Accomadations: Gran Porto Real Resort and Spas: Nice place, management needs to be replaced. Real bad overbooking problem. This has been reported on several travel sites on the web and I can first hand confirm the them.
Food: We did not opt for the All Inclusive package as we like the little out of the way places better. Capt. Bobs (Fantastic, can't say enough good things), Palapala (Hemingways) excellent place, Karens again excellent. Not so good experiences: Idea Pasta, Argentinian grill the fondue place (Can't remember name of). Overall the food was excellent and the service was great.
Now to the diving: I was able to get four days in with out my wife hanging me.
Monday: PDC: Tank Ha, DM=Martin, Over cast but no rain. Air temp in the upper 70's
#1) Punto Venado reef, 73' max depth, 37 minutes, Vis=about 70', water temp=78. Moderate current.
I really stunk. Remember, this was my first ocean, drift and back roll dive. So I roll off the boat and am a little nervous. I had a lot of problems getting down. I had 16lbs and needed 2 more to get down. My mask kept flooding. I was a little uncomfortable but I had a friend with me that is real experienced that stayed glowed to me. I don't remember much of that dive with all the stress but I did see a few turtles and plenty of marine life. Towards the end of the dive I felt a little more comfortable but my safety stop left a lot to be desired.
#2) Barracuda Reef, 47' max depth, 51 minutes, Vis= 60', water temp=78. Ripping current.
After discussing the first dive and making it thru alright this dive went much better. The current was real strong but I handled that quite well. Worked on my bouyancy and tried to enjoy the dive, which was much better. The safety stop this time went perfect, it felt great just hanging there.
Tuesday
DC: Tank Ha, DM=Wolfy, Over cast w/light rain. Air temp in the mid 70's#1) Tortugas reef, 64' max depth, 45 minutes, Vis=about 70', water temp=78. Moderate current. I dropped my weight down to 17 lbs. This dive we were joined by another friend of mine and also a new lady named Barbara that was finishing her OW course. She did great and dived with us for the next two days. This dive went perfect. Bouyancy was spot on. It's a lot more fun when you can relax a little and enjoy the actual dive. We saw tons and tons of turtles and large (from what I was told) groups of Angel fish and yellow jacks.
#2) Sabalos Reef: 46' max depth, 54 minutes, Vis=about 70', water temp=78. Moderate current. Nice reef but nothing spectacular to report about. Lots of marine life. I worked on my bouyancy mostly and just enjoyed a very relaxing dive.
Wednesday: PDC: Tank Ha, DM=Stephen, Partly cloudy, Air temp in the 80's
#1) Dos Ojos Cenotes, 22' max depth, 53 minutes, Vis=cristal clear, water temp=78.
What can I say, WOW. To begin Stephen worked on our weighting which brought me down to 6lbs and I could have dropped another one to two. Trim and bouyancy was perfect thru the whole dive which was no easy task as my inflator (brand new halcyon Eclipse)decided to develope a slow leak which I kept having to dump during the entire dive. I never hit anything and was able to stop, turn and hang when needed. What a fantastic dive. I felt like a pro. I worked on my frog kick which my dive buddies and Stephen said looked like I have been doing it for years. Thank you Stephen your a fantastic DM.
#2)Hidden Worlds Cenote, 29' max depth, 34 minutes, Vis=cristal clear, water temp=78.
Another fantastic dive. If you have never done the Cenotes I would highly recommend them. The inflator worked fine for this dive (go figure). It was so cool being able to move along inches from everything and not touch anything and actually look good doing it.
Thurday: Coz: Aqua Safari, Partly cloudy but mostly sun. Air temp in the mid 80's.
#1) Palanacar reef, 81' max depth, 33 minutes, Vis=about 100', water temp=80. Light to no current. Wall dive. Down to 12lbs now. (still maybe a few to heavy)
Sweet dive, we were in, under and around this reef. The color was amazing, tons of marine life. We saw a 7' nurse shark lots of turtles. I would highly recommend going to this reef. The DM's had their hands full. There was one couple there, the woman couldn't dive at all which is fine but admit you can't dive and get help, as I did. The DM basically held on to her first stage thru the whole dive (she never knew he was there). At one point she dropped off the wall down to 100' at least. The 2nd DM had to go get her, thats when he began holding on for the remainder of the dive. The head DM sent her and her SO up about 15 minutes into the dive. On the boat several people asked her what happened - she had no clue she did anything wrong and acted like they were nuts and how dare they address her abiltiy. We also had a former seal member diving with us, great diver and person to talk to but very inconsiderate to others diving with him. He was basically diving anywhere he wanted and if you were in his way, tough he pushed you aside. I'm not sure what kind of profile he was going for but he was up and down like a yo-yo following the reef up and down, I'm talking like 30' to 40' movements at a time over and over again. Even with all this the dive went well.
#2) Chankanaab reef, 54' max depth, 43 minutes, Vis=about 90', water temp=80. Moderate current. Another great dive. The DM had to hold onto our lady diver again. Lots of marine life. This was a total relax dive.
Overall the diving was fantastic and my confidence level was way up and skills were much improved. I was able to drop a ton of weight and still get down. My trim and bouyancy felt very natural. I did not cut anyones dives short due to air usage. Thanks everyone for all the advise and assistance I have received here on SB. I feel with out all the help it would have taken me much longer to get as comfortable as I was on this trip.
