Cozumel--Wall Dive

This morning, we had to wake up super early.   Like, it shouldn't be legal to wake up this early when we are on vacation.  However, I'm discovering that scuba vacations are vastly different from the typical idea of vacationing and relaxing.

We were up at 5:30 so that we could catch our ride in front of the hotel by 6:20.  That meant everyone needed to be dressed and fed.  Thankfully, going scuba diving requires no shower, make-up, or general cleanliness or neatness of any kind.

We waited until 6:45 when a really nice passenger van pulled up.  It even had air conditioning.  Already, I knew things were looking good.  We must have spent the next half hour, driving up and down the main drag in front of the hotels, picking up different people who were also going diving.  Then, it was onto the ferry.

Cozumel is an island that is off the Yucatan Peninsula, just south of Cancun.  Although it looks close from all vantage points, it's still quite a pilgrimage to get there.  As we were pulling up to the dock to catch the ferry, our guide tells us that we are going to need to run to catch the ferry.  Otherwise, it's a 2 hour wait for the next one.

One word that is no longer in my vocabulary is that "r" word.  Broken ankle, messed up back, doctor's orders to never "r" again.  Plus, a bag of scuba equipment on my back, and 20 extra pounds on my body?  I did the best I could, trying to keep up with everyone, but the time we reached the ferry (thank goodness), the ankle was throbbing.

No worries though.  The ferry trip was a trip!  The waves were rather large, and that boat was rocking all over the place.  35 minute ride.

Then, we docked at a familiar site.  The same place where we had been just a month earlier when our diving trip had been canceled.  We relived the fond memory of John making us walk back to the cruise ship instead of taking a $6 taxi :-)  Speaking of which, we hopped in a taxi ourselves to get to the dive shop.  By this time, we had been awake for 3 1/2 hours, and we still weren't in the water!

Finally, we got to the shop, but it took a while for everyone to get their equipment (there were 13-15 people diving).  Finally, we were off.  Another 20-30 minutes to get to the dive site.

Deep breath.  We had to take a "giant stride" off the back of the boat.  My least favorite way to get in the water since I still have balance issues.  Even John said I made him nervous when he saw how close my tank came to hitting the boat on the way down.

So why, you may ask, do we do all of this?  Ride on crazy boat rides? take taxis? wake up early in the morning?

Everything is just so incredibly beautiful under water.  Both John and I agree that there's just no way to describe it.  I guess you could liken it to walking through the forest and having animals surrounding you, and plants of every color everywhere.  I think there must be some kind of space-time continuum underwater, because time goes faster there than anywhere else.  Our Dive Masters will tell us that we were underwater for 45 minutes, but it feels like 10.  We start out with 3,000 psi in our tanks, and before we know it, the gauge is clicking down to 1,800, then 1,200, then...  700 psi and it's time to head back up.

Our first dive was a wall dive AND a drift dive, neither of which Johannah or I had ever done.  Too, we were diving down to 80 feet (when 40 feet was our deepest depth previous to this).  I must admit that I was a bit nervous, everything being so new.  However, as soon as I jumped in the water, all fears left me.

The reef wall extends into what we call "the abyss".  Frankly, I don't know how deep it goes, but our job is to catch the current and just sail along next to it.  There are the most beautiful creatures and coral.  Seriously, it's just indescribable.

After coming up for a surface interval, we headed back down, but this time to only 40 feet or so, and not along the wall.  John handed me the camera which made time go even faster!  Grrrr.....

Johannah took the camera from me, and snapped this one of me.

See the beautiful Angel Fish under the rock?  They swim in pairs which is very sweet.

I took some of the coral pictures, but of course I couldn't resist snapping pics of the family.  What treasures!

Yes, we had the same ride back to the hotel, but we were tired and wet.  However, when we got back, we headed to the swimming pool again, rinsed off, went back and showered, ordered pizza from Domino's (yes, Domino's) and watched Mall Cop (with Spanish sub-titles) for the evening.  It was a blissful day, to say the least.