December Diving in Cozumel--December 2003

Prelude

The trip to Cozumel was organized by the folks at Last Frontier Dive Shop in Anchorage, Alaska, while I was flying recon for bowhead whales and other marine mammals in the Beaufort Sea out of Deadhorse near the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. I learned about the trip from a fellow diver at work. The three weeks in Deadhorse in late September and early October gave me a preview of the Alaskan winter--cold, short days, snow. I decided that I needed to get some diving in before we got into the throes of a full blown great northern winter. I signed up for the trip the day after I got back into town. Winter came late to Anchorage by Alaskan standards. It didn't start snowing until mid-November. The trouble is that it didn't stop snowing for any appreciable period of time until the day before Christmas.

Day 1--In Transit

A few day prior to departure, I developed blocked sinuses and congestion that settles into my chest.  The result is a very raspy voice and a real concern about being able to equalize the pressure in my ears when I descend under water.  I load up on decongestant and hope for the best.  

Like many flights from Anchorage, our flight to Cancun originated in the wee hours of Thursday, December 11. The routing took us from Anchorage to Seattle for a plane change, on to Los Angeles to pick up more passengers, and on to Cancun. The plane was full on the first and third legs of the flight. We quickly cleared Immigration and Customs in Cancun.

After straightening out some confusion over ground transportation, we were on our way to Playa Del Carmen where we would catch the 7:00 p.m. ferry for the half hour trip to Cozumel. The ferry terminal is about three blocks from the taxi drop off point. We availed ourselves of the local baggage transfer service, a bicycle with flat bed platform on the front, remembering that in Mexico there is no set fee, all transactions must be negotiated before proceeding and any deviation from the agreed-to service is going to be grounds for reopening price negotiations. The price was inexpensive and more than fair.

The trip to Cozumel was uneventful, and with after a short trip by taxi, we arrived at our destination, the Plaza Las Glorias. The guide book tells us that this hotel has a unique-for-the-island Mediterranean architecture. The hotel is excellent, constructed from native and imported marble. A good thing considering the tracks that scuba divers leave on carpeted floors. From our room, we have a great view of the pool, ocean, and the mainland beyond. The large sliding glass door opening to the balcony ensure we will be refreshed by the constant sea breezes which will build to a small gale twice during the coming week.

Much to my relief, my congestion abates by the time we arrive at the hotel.  Still, I need to be aware of any problems in equalizing during descent in the next few days.

Day 2--Orientation and Shore Diving

The next morning, we took breakfast in the restaurant near the pool. The pool area, which fronts the seawall, seems to be a very popular area, with many of the reclining chaise lounges occupied by 10 a.m.

The trip package included boat diving and drift diving specialty certification. After nearly 1,000 dives, many from small boats around the world, there isn’t much new that the certification will reveal to me, so I approach it like it was a review or extended dive briefing. The "merit badge mentality"of the certification agencies never really infected me. I travel on my expired SSI Dive Control Specialist Card since my basic certification issued two decades ago is no longer recognized as "valid" since the open water certification is now considered the minimum acceptable. Thus, my delaminating basic certification card with a picture that shows me with more hair and less weight, has been relegated to the status of "relic" suitable for donation to a diving exhibit at a maritime museum. I'm do have certification for some real skills, such as dry suit diving, cave diving, and Nitrox.

After the discussion, we walk three blocks to the dive shop to set up our diving for the week. We are using Paradise Diving. A peculiarity of Cozumel is that each of the dozens of hotels seems to have a dive shop on the premises. The dive shop that we used, Dive Paradise, is present in at least two hotels, but not the Plaza Las Glorias, which hosts Aqua Safaris. The trip leader wanted to use a particular divemaster, Antonio, to make each dive with the group and Antonio works for Dive Paradise. It doesn’t really matter since each hotel has a pier and divers are picked up by each shop's boat at the hotel pier. For example, on the first morning we did boat diving (the second day of the trip) a total of four boats picked up passengers from the Plaza Las Glorias.

At the dive shop, they check our C-cards and see if we want to dive with air or Nitrox. I opt for the Nitrox, which some refer to as "geezer gas" for the advantage that it offers in reduction of nitrogen uptake during the dive. While the package includes air tanks for each dive, Nitrox is extra, $10 per tank, which is worth the expense. Still, I have had a terrible head cold for four days and chose to put my order for Nitrox in every day, rather than placing a standing order for the week. It seems that on Cozumel, none of the dozens of dive shops have their own compressors. Rather, tanks are filled at one of two filling stations on the island and delivered the next day to the various locations. I never did find out the reason for this complicated logistical arrangement, although I suspect it has something to do with the cost of a compressor and the economy of scale offered by having two large fill stations.

After the paperwork is taken care of at the diveshop, we proceed the Barracuda Hotel, half way between our hotel and the dive shop, to do our orientation dive. The Dive Paradise shop at the hotel gives us our tanks and weights. We dive in the shallows in front of the hotel, where a number of structures attract fish. The dive affords us the chance to get used to diving in the warmer waters and to check our weight and equipment before going out on the boat. The dive is interesting if uneventful, although we are warned not to enter the restricted waters next to the hotel which fronts the adjoining Mexican Naval Station. The shop staff intimates that we could be shot at if we cross the underwater boundary separating the two establishments. As far as I can tell, the underwater boundary is unmarked. At the end of the first dive, the tank slips from the tank band. This is the first of a minor errors that will plague my first few dives.

We do a second dive at the area in front of our hotel. The artificial reef there is quite interesting, constructed out of old cannons. Given these objects, a diver can easily fantasize about finding a gold-laden wreck.

I swim around the area taking a few pictures with my Bonica Sea King II which has not been in the water since the trip to the Cocos Islands last summer. As I approach the exit point, the stairs carved into the sea wall, the water suddenly fills with ink. I must have spooked on octopus with my approach. The daylight is rapidly fading and the sun sets right after 5:00 p.m. Still we have a full day of sunlight, quite a change from the 5 1/2 hours of daylight that Anchorage had when we left.

That evening, some in the group decide to go for a night dive in front of the hotel. I pass on the dive. So far my head cold is in check, but I don't want to take the chance of inducing a blockage by diving. My two shore dives today were pretty good and the boat diving starts tomorrow.