So, we came to Cozumel to do some drift diving. What image comes to your mind when you think of drifting? Well, probably snow if you are from Alberta but maybe leaves drifting on a breeze or clouds drifting across the sky...a nice relaxing journey from one place to another. Apparently in Cozumel drifting can sometimes be compared to being shot out of a cannon...or driving a Ferrari on the Autobahn or maybe being sucked down a drain! I think the appropriate SCUBA term to describe the conditions today is that the current was 'rippin'...yeah...as in rippin' along...rippin' your mask off your head if you turned too far to one side. Weeeeeeeeeeeee
Drift diving is fun...drift diving is relaxing...drift diving is easy...you just float along for the ride...or so we'd been told by an instructor who will remain nameless - because we still love him :-). I suppose that it isn't really a lie if you find activities like sky diving and drag racing to be fun, relaxing and easy.
The good news is we all made it in and out and back to the shore safely. The boat crew was awesome and was right there to pick us up when we surfaced...even though we were 3 times farther down the reef than normal for the first dive and two of our group were swept right past the first cruise ship dock on the second!
I took my camera on both dives but didn't get very many shots on the first dive at Delilah dive site. We saw lots of cool stuff...turtles, eels, grouper, lobsters but it is hard to snap a pic as you are zooming past them! You need to really try to look ahead and see what is coming up so you are ready to get a quick shot before you get pushed by. There is no 'stopping' to get that shot...unless maybe your last name is Phelps! I think I could hear the big grouper laughing at us as we blasted past him! Wade shot video of this dive too so we're hoping it turned out and can show how quickly we were moving.
Of course, during the dive I didn't know what was 'normal' speed for drift diving so looked around at the others to see if anyone was freaking out or trying to grab on to something but everyone seemed cool so I thought...well this must be normal...so go with it. Sometimes ignorance is bliss...or at least prevents early onset panic LOL.
The second dive site was Paradise...sounds great...shallow dive maybe even get to see some Seahorses! Perfect! As we were gearing up Nestor said to let him get in first to check out the current as it appeared to be flowing south to north...strange for this area as it usually flows north to south. Sure enough it was flowing from the south so we all got in and started our dive...going north with the current. It was a nice easy ride...gentle...like a leaf flowing on the breeze...then it got really calm...SUPER...we can hang out and look for photo opportunities. Now this is the diving I know and love! Next thing we know Nestor is giving us the 'turn around' signal...and yep sure enough the current had changed directions! So we went from a nice stroll in the park to an afternoon drive on the Deerfoot! No Autobahn this time...but by the end of the dive we were movin'. Towards the end of the dive Wade and I were hanging out by a big coral formation that was working like a wind break (or current break) and we found lots of cool stuff there...Lion Fish, Barracuda, Angels and Wade had a close encounter with a Spotted Moray eel (see the photos). We ascended slowly and when we popped up at the surface saw we had drifted almost right up to the cruise ship dock! Not to worry. Our boat crew had us in sight and came to pick us up. We did a quick head count and were missing 2...where were Brian and Micheline??? Apparently when Wade and I were checking out the big coral formation they swept right by and ended up on the OTHER side of the cruise ship dock. Thankfully our eagle eye crew knew where they were and we motored over and got them too.
Whew...finally back on shore and time for a quick shower and some lunch. After lunch led to nap time for a few tired divers while some of us filled out log books and edited photos.
Our plan was to do a night dive tonight when Monica finally arrived (her very important day job delayed her vacation a bit)...so after nap time was over we headed down to Dave's to see if he had an update on Monica's progress...she was going to be late...so no night dive with Dave and Monica. :-(
Wade tried to rustle up a few more of our crew for the night dive but we had no takers so Wade and I did our first solo dive tonight! We were careful and didn't stray too far after securing our strobe light to the ladder to mark our exit point. We both took our cameras and were treated to some awesome photo opportunities. Once again the current was a bit challenging and strange. It was running hard from the north when we left so we travelled against it for a while so we could drift back to the exit point when we got tired...but we didn't make it very far into the current before we were pooped...so we drifted back and checked out all of the nooks and crannies along the way. We let ourselves be carried a bit south of our exit point thinking we could do a bit of swimming to get back to the ladder when we were ready...then the currents changed again and we had a nice easy swim back. Lots of critters out there tonight...creepy and cute...check out the pics!
As we surfaced and were assisted out of the water by our superior shore support team of Brian and Micheline and were then pleasantly surprised to see Monica and Dave approaching. She made it! So after some wet hugs we headed up for another quick shower then dinner to catch Monica up on all the fun she had missed.
Now the day is winding down and we can hear the waves crashing into the dock...time to call it a day and get ready for tomorrow.
After all of the wild and crazy things we did today I am quite confident that we can handle them all again tomorrow. In fact if anything kills us on this trip it is likely the staircase we need to climb to get in and out of our room...well that or the low ceiling at the bottom of the stairs that I've already brained myself on once!
Drift diving is fun...drift diving is relaxing...drift diving is easy...you just float along for the ride...or so we'd been told by an instructor who will remain nameless - because we still love him :-). I suppose that it isn't really a lie if you find activities like sky diving and drag racing to be fun, relaxing and easy.
The good news is we all made it in and out and back to the shore safely. The boat crew was awesome and was right there to pick us up when we surfaced...even though we were 3 times farther down the reef than normal for the first dive and two of our group were swept right past the first cruise ship dock on the second!
I took my camera on both dives but didn't get very many shots on the first dive at Delilah dive site. We saw lots of cool stuff...turtles, eels, grouper, lobsters but it is hard to snap a pic as you are zooming past them! You need to really try to look ahead and see what is coming up so you are ready to get a quick shot before you get pushed by. There is no 'stopping' to get that shot...unless maybe your last name is Phelps! I think I could hear the big grouper laughing at us as we blasted past him! Wade shot video of this dive too so we're hoping it turned out and can show how quickly we were moving.
Of course, during the dive I didn't know what was 'normal' speed for drift diving so looked around at the others to see if anyone was freaking out or trying to grab on to something but everyone seemed cool so I thought...well this must be normal...so go with it. Sometimes ignorance is bliss...or at least prevents early onset panic LOL.
The second dive site was Paradise...sounds great...shallow dive maybe even get to see some Seahorses! Perfect! As we were gearing up Nestor said to let him get in first to check out the current as it appeared to be flowing south to north...strange for this area as it usually flows north to south. Sure enough it was flowing from the south so we all got in and started our dive...going north with the current. It was a nice easy ride...gentle...like a leaf flowing on the breeze...then it got really calm...SUPER...we can hang out and look for photo opportunities. Now this is the diving I know and love! Next thing we know Nestor is giving us the 'turn around' signal...and yep sure enough the current had changed directions! So we went from a nice stroll in the park to an afternoon drive on the Deerfoot! No Autobahn this time...but by the end of the dive we were movin'. Towards the end of the dive Wade and I were hanging out by a big coral formation that was working like a wind break (or current break) and we found lots of cool stuff there...Lion Fish, Barracuda, Angels and Wade had a close encounter with a Spotted Moray eel (see the photos). We ascended slowly and when we popped up at the surface saw we had drifted almost right up to the cruise ship dock! Not to worry. Our boat crew had us in sight and came to pick us up. We did a quick head count and were missing 2...where were Brian and Micheline??? Apparently when Wade and I were checking out the big coral formation they swept right by and ended up on the OTHER side of the cruise ship dock. Thankfully our eagle eye crew knew where they were and we motored over and got them too.
Whew...finally back on shore and time for a quick shower and some lunch. After lunch led to nap time for a few tired divers while some of us filled out log books and edited photos.
Our plan was to do a night dive tonight when Monica finally arrived (her very important day job delayed her vacation a bit)...so after nap time was over we headed down to Dave's to see if he had an update on Monica's progress...she was going to be late...so no night dive with Dave and Monica. :-(
Wade tried to rustle up a few more of our crew for the night dive but we had no takers so Wade and I did our first solo dive tonight! We were careful and didn't stray too far after securing our strobe light to the ladder to mark our exit point. We both took our cameras and were treated to some awesome photo opportunities. Once again the current was a bit challenging and strange. It was running hard from the north when we left so we travelled against it for a while so we could drift back to the exit point when we got tired...but we didn't make it very far into the current before we were pooped...so we drifted back and checked out all of the nooks and crannies along the way. We let ourselves be carried a bit south of our exit point thinking we could do a bit of swimming to get back to the ladder when we were ready...then the currents changed again and we had a nice easy swim back. Lots of critters out there tonight...creepy and cute...check out the pics!
As we surfaced and were assisted out of the water by our superior shore support team of Brian and Micheline and were then pleasantly surprised to see Monica and Dave approaching. She made it! So after some wet hugs we headed up for another quick shower then dinner to catch Monica up on all the fun she had missed.
Now the day is winding down and we can hear the waves crashing into the dock...time to call it a day and get ready for tomorrow.
After all of the wild and crazy things we did today I am quite confident that we can handle them all again tomorrow. In fact if anything kills us on this trip it is likely the staircase we need to climb to get in and out of our room...well that or the low ceiling at the bottom of the stairs that I've already brained myself on once!
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