How I Spent My Christmas Vacation...Diving!
Summary| Hotel| Diving|
Sightseeing
In March, we (this being my wife and I, not me and the mouse in my pocket) decided
we wanted to dive Cozumel just after Christmas. We were on a 4 year holiday visit
cycle, where one set of parents gets to have us visit every four years. We decided to
stretch it to 5 years, and actually give
ourselves one. So, we signed up for the dive trip through our local dive shop
(El Mar Diving) for December 26th, 1998 to
January 2nd, 1999. The following is a summary of our trip:
- Sunday: Fly, eat, sleep, eat, dive, dive, eat, shop, snorkle, sleep.
- Monday: Eat, dive, dive, sleep, eat, night dive, sleep.
- Tuesday: Eat, dive, dive, eat, shop, sleep, night dive, sleep.
- Wednesday: Eat, dive, dive, eat, dive, eat, sleep.
- Thursday: Eat, dive, dive, dive, eat, sleep, eat, party, sleep.
- Friday: Eat, fly, sightsee, fly, eat, sleep.
- Saturday: Eat, sightsee, shop, eat, sleep, fly.
As you can see a few select activities dominated our trip. Now, although the above
is extremely effecient, it doesn't really serve to tell you much. So, I'm going to
bore you with some of the contents of my travel journal. (No, it's not a diary, because
diaries are for girls. Shut up. Yes, it's a book I write it, but it's still not
a diary. :) Now, a talented writer would have you glued to the screen, awaiting
more and more of my gripping travelogue, but I'm not a talented writer. More like
Stephen King. *zing*
But, you get lucky, because just before this trip, I decided that SCUBA diving itself
wasn't nearly expensive enough. So, I decided to buy an underwater camera. I purchased
an Ikelite Aquashot 3e. This means I actually have
pictures to go along with some of the dialog.
We stayed at the Plaza Las Glorias. This hotel is about a mile south of the city, which
made it an easy walk most of the time, and a 15 peso taxi ride when we were lazy or
in a hurry. This is a picture of the road side of the hotel.
So, the real question is how was it? I'd rate it middle of the road, and the only
reason it doesn't get really high marks is the damn bed/pillow combination. I'll
provide a few pro/con elements, and let you decide.
Pros
- On-site dive shop (Aqua Safari)
- Rinse tanks outside big enough for several gear bags.
- Lockers by the rinse tanks big enough for most equipment (bring your own lock).
- Air-conditioning
- Balconies with a bar for hanging equipment on.
- Kitchette including refrigerator.
- TV's with assorted US cable stations.
- Supermarket across the street.
- On-site travel agent.
- On-site Budget Rental Car person.
- Small stores for convenience items and tourist souveniers.
- Time share residents liked to bathe outside nude.
Cons
- Bed was a very firm mattress on a concrete pedestal.
- Pillows were horrific.
- On-site retaraunt was over-priced (even considering it was an on-site restaraunt).
- Restaraunt food was not that good.
Now, looking at the list you'd have to say it looks great. However, the bed was tough
on Tammy, and the pillows on me. I woke up the first morning with a pain in my
neck from the pillows that got worse as time went on. By the last dive my neck hurt
so bad that I couldn't clear my mask because of the pain caused by applying any pressure
to my forehead. We finally looked at the supermarket and bought a pillow for 45 pesos,
but I think it was too late.
We dove with Aqua Safari on the
Ocean III. We were staying at the Plaza
Las Glorias, and they picked up our whole party about 8:30 am every morning. We
had a group of ~16, but it wasn't too crowded. Our crew consisted of our
divemasters Pedro (on the left) and Ricardo (on the right).
Jorge was the boathand (on the left) and our Captain, who I refer to as Smiley
(on the right).
The crew did a good job with almost every aspect of the diving. Among the things
I considered excellent:
- Handed cameras into you once you were in the water.
- Water given out before the dives.
- Fruit handed out (watermelon and bannanas) between dives and after the last dive.
- Softdrinks between dives and after the last dive.
- Hour long surface intervals between all dives.
Additionally we had two women who had recently had accidents that prevented them
from lugging around equipment, and they let them sit on the platform, brought their
equipment to them, and then took their equipment out of the water on return.
Now, most of the first dives of the day were about an hour boat ride out. Then
we would have about a 30 minute boat ride to the next site, and we would sit for
30 minutes to get a full hour surface interval. On the 3 dive days, we would either
stop for lunch, or do another 30 minutes with a 30 minute wait to get the full
surface interval.
Ok, so you are really pretty much out of luck for most of the first dives of the
day. Our first dives tended to be our deepest, and had the strongest currents, so
there were almost zero photo-ops. This is definitely true for Sunday, since this was
our first dive ever in Cozumel.
Palancar Gardens: 68', 38 minutes
On the boat ride out we see what we think are dolphins playing in front of one of the
dive boats. Turns out it's a manta ray! The wingspan is probably 7', and we're
seeing the tips of it's wings breaking the water, looking like dorsal fins. It's
a neat sight, and we burn about 10 minutes there. Then, we finish the boat ride.
Ricardo leads the dive and we swim in and around the coral formations. We come up
on a huge school of what we believe to be mackrel scad. That's about it, we do an
hour long surface interval before we move on.
Paradise Reef: 43', 52 minutes, Fuji ASA 200
Well, the diving was tame enough that I decide to take the camera down. National
Geographic, here I come! Of course I'm going to have to ignore those two white spots
that seem to show up in every shot. Obviously the flash is reflecting off of something
and causing it. Either that or it's the ghostly white-out fish that is like a remora
stuck on my camera.
Plaza Las Glorias, night snorkle, Kodak ASA 200
We've never done a night dive before, and we're interested, so Terry, our group
leader agrees to go on a night snorkle with us to get us acclimated. There are
2 other people going too, and one of them has never snorkled before. Terry works
with her and end works out fine. Tammy finds me a moray, and since I'm setup for
snorkeling, naturally I have macro on the camera! Nonetheless, I make a go of it,
and get this photo of the moray.
Palancar Caves: 95', 30 minutes, Kodak ASA 200
This is the deepest dive we've ever done, and I decide to take the camera. This is the
first dive of the morning and I take the camera. Only happens once. I see a neat
white goby that backs into a hole as I approach, so naturally, no photos. We see
a lot of angel fish and blue chromis, and I get zero good pictures. Tammy sees a
large tilefish, but I don't. The combination of depth and the camera causes me to
burn through air. I come up early. Surface interval.
Punta Tunich: 48', 53 minutes, Kodak ASA 400
Obviously, a much shallower dive. We see a lot of animal life and I actually get
some good pictures. Tammy's favorite fish (ok, one of her favorites) is the squirrel
fish. Now, Cozumel has a lot of them, and they are the biggest I've seen. They
also are pretty nonchalant about divers, so you can get some good photos.
Ricardo is leading this dive again, and he finds a sand diver for me. I try to
get a picture before he scares it up, but instead, get it in motion. Probably got
lucky with a better picture anyway. He's not too pissed off, so he hangs around for
another photo.
Looking at this photo it looks to me like the faster film is actually a little too
sensitive. The light colored fish get washed out. This is especially evident
in my picture of two butterfly fish, that I think would have been much better with
200.
I do get a fairly cool picture of this moray hiding. He's kind enough to open his
mouth to look impressive to all the non-divers that don't know better.
I get a few decent shots of trunkfish, shown here.
It's obvious that I need to try to take down my macro setup as well. Then I could be
changing lenses and diffusers, as well as removing the strobe just to get a shot. The
obvious example is this shot of a juvenille drumfish that would have been much better
macro.
Plaza Las Glorias (night dive): 21', 53 minutes, Kodak ASA 200 macro
Terry again kindly agrees to take us out for our first night dive, right off the
pier at the hotel. This way we can make sure that we're going to be comfortable when
we do the boat night dive tomorrow. I take down the camera and get some nice shots.
Almost the first thing we find is this fish, that lets me get right up to it.
I also get a few nice shots of octopus,
and a nice shot of a brittlestar on a
sponge.
Finally, there is this shot of an aneomone. Not a very spectacular shot, but what I
thought was interesting was how much better the colors look when we also illuminate it
with our primary dive lights.
Santa Rosa Wall: 84', 38 minutes
This is a great dive, with a number of swim throughs. Ricardo spots a large drumfish
(maybe 8" tall). We see a large grouper, a school of about 6 or 7 barracuda.
(I count twice since
it's our safety stop anyway and I have a few minutes to kill, and get 2 different
numbers. I think the Barracuda are laughing at me.)
We also see a school of about 30 yellowfin tuna. Sure makes the safety stops
more enjoyable.
Tormentos Reef: 64', 43 minutes, Kodak ASA 400
This is a good dive, but not as interesting as some that we have been on. As soon
as we hit the water we see a 3' or so black grouper. At the time we're not sure
if it's a black grouper or a yellowmouth. Looking at this photo, I'm guessing
black.
However, that is about it for the photos. We see some blue chromis that like to
swim upside down, and almost look purple. There are several photos from this batch
that teach me the 2' lesson. Do not try to shoot inside 2' without going macro.
The more I think about it, the more I think that they're ought to be a way to easily
change that lens combo. The obvious is to set it up so that you can swing the macro lens
out of your way. Then, you just need to figure out how to get the macro framer to
live in harmony with the strobe. Maybe I'll buy another kit and see if I can't maul it.
Paradise Reef (night dive): 54', 30 minutes, Kodak ASA 200
This dive gets known as the Paradise Express. I take the camera, but we have a
3 to 4 knot current, so I don't take any pictures. We fly over the reef, and
eventually surface as we approach the channel. The night dive off of the hotel
was a lot better.
Punta Sur: 114', 37 minutes
This is a decent dive with some swim throughs. We see several schools a glassy
sweepers in the swim throughs before Pedro decides we need to go to another reef.
This entails a fairly long swim over the sand. We do see some garden eels and
a fairly large stingray.
Paso Del Cedral: 55', 43 minutes, Kodak ASA 400
This is one of the best dives that we have. When we first enter the water we
have a large school of surgeon fish that comes cruising through at a good clip.
I find myself looking back the way they came, trying to figure out what they're
running from. :) We do several swim throughs, and in
one find a good sized moray. I know which picture it is, but the quality is so
bad I can't find the moray. However, I get lucky and we find another moray later
on that is more photogenic.
(No, I refuse to accept it could have something to do with my camera ability. :)
We also see 2 honecombed cowfish that are a soft blue color. In spite of the fact
that they have tiny fins and huge bodies, they decide to show how trivial it is to
swim away from me as I try to photograph them. I get 2 crappy photos of no real value.
Tammy, the great fish spotter finds a juvenille trunkfish for me to photograhp.
Unfortunately he stays back, and because I can't move the strobe, he ends up in the dark.
On our safety stop we have a large school of Bermuda chub that swims without fear
around us. Here is a picture of one about to attack Tammy.
Villa Blanca: 65', 41 minutes, Kodak ASA 200
From a photography standpoint, this is the best dive yet. You'll be able to tell
by how long it takes to actually download this section. One of the first lessons
I learn here is to check for other photographers, before you decide to be considerate.
We see a ~3' long cornetfish hovering around, and I decide not to get too close so
that the other camera people will be able to get shots too. I take a shot further
away than I would like and then look for the other camera people. No one is paying
attention. Another foot in and this photo would have been a lot better.
Right after that we find a coral head with a moray hiding in it. As usual, the
moray is photogenic.
I'm swimming over the top of the reef when some motion catches my eye. It's
scorpion fish swimming! You never see these things swimming, and I try to snap off
a quick shot to show the 'eyes' on his pectoral fins.
I don't get them, but I do
take another photo of the same fish to show what my chances would have been if I
hadn't seen him moving.
Here's another nice shot of a squirrel fish. They make fairly easy to photograph
subjects, so they turn out pretty well.
Now, these next three photos are my favorite. The first is a picture of a rock beauty
and it turned out really nicely.
The second photo is a silhoutte of Tammy and a large grouper during our safety stop.
Sometimes you just get lucky.
And finally, I think my favorite shot. I had been trying for days to get a
shot of a queen angel. I took this and love it.
Palancar Caves (Gargarenta Del Diablo): 121', 30 minutes
This the famed 'Throat of the Devil' dive. Everyone has told us about it, and told
us how you enter at 70' and exit at ~120 to 130'. While this is technically true,
it's a bit deceptive. I picture a 50' tunnel, when in reality it's about an 8' tunnel.
You enter Palancar Caves, a series of swim throughs, until you get to the throat.
The throat is about 110' and you exit on the wall at 120'. It was anti-climactic
for me, especially because of all the hype. We see the cross shaped sponge on the
swim through back. The only other things of real note were the 3' barracuda that
swam around and the large school of yellowfin tuna that decided to mill around
during our safety stop.
Tormentos Reef: 59', 49 minutes, Kodak ASA 200
I get another photo of a juvenille drumfish, that looks better to me.
We also see two large groupers, and two large queen angels. If I hadn't
already gotten my shot of a queen angel, I'd be pissed. No photos of the
rest.
Chancanaab: 49', 49 minutes, Kodak ASA 200
Well, this is the last dive of our trip. By the time this comes around we're
both happy and sad. We're pretty tired, and getting in and out of wet/damp wetsuits
got old about 3 days ago. At the same time, since we're from Arizona, the chances
of us getting in more diving real soon are pretty slim. We see a lot of the usual
life, until the end of the dive. Here, within 100 meters of each other, we see
the largest lobster and the largest crab I have ever seen. These things are huge.
We see the crab first (right after I blow my last shot). He's carapace is about
2.5' across and his claws are bigger than my hands! This is the first crab I've
ever seen that looked intimidating. He lets you get pretty close, problably suckering
you in for a taste. Then, about 2 alcoves down, up in a cave we see the lobster.
You have to have a flashlight to see him, but from head to tail he's about 3'!
Standing on the sand his head is about 2' off the ground. This is a spiny lobster,
and that doesn't include the spines! It's a great dive to end on, and we crawl
out of the water for the last time. I don't get any really decent photos, so that's
it for the dive pictures.
Well, because our trip included January 1st, and
Aqua Safari was shutdown, we had two days at the end of the vacation. (Our
flight out was late Saturday). So, we decided to see Chichen Itza, on the mainland.
The problem is, that the only way to do it in a reasonable amount of time is
to take a puddle jumper there. Our time out of the water was about 13 hours, but
we asked around, and everyone agreed since the airplane only goes to about 5000
feet (heck, the pilot opens the window to cool the airplane down!) it would be ok.
It was.
The flight left Cozumel at 7:15 am, and made a stop over in Playa del Carmen to
pick up more passengers. From there, it was a ~35 minute trip to Chichen Itza.
For those who don't know what it is, it is a Mayan ruin, of a city from several
different eras of Mayan civilization. It is extremely impressive. Here is a picture
of it taken from the air as we come in.
The nice thing about having my camera housing is that I can actually take the
camera out. I have film to use, so I take a bunch of pictures.
One of the nice things about getting there early is that you can get pictures
without too many people in them. Here are pictures of the main temple (also
called The Citadel
and
The Observatory.
Later in the day, as the sun gets higher, I get this shot, which I love. It's amazing
how much easier it is to take pictures on land.
Hey, look! We even have pictures of us not in diveskins or underwater!
One of the things that is relaly interesting about The Citadel was reconstructed
by archaelogists. However, they didn't have all of the rocks for two of the sides,
so most of the photos that you see are of the 2 good sides. Here is a shot of
a good side (slightly hidden by the tree) and a "bad" side.
.
The oldest part of the city (at least the oldest part currently accessible to
us) is what is known as The Nunnery and The Chapel. Here is a photo of a portion
of both. The Nunnery is on the right, The Chapel is on the left.
The other thing that you don't really get a sense of when you see the pictures is the
height of the temple and how steep the stairs are. Hopefully this shot of Tammy
about 20 steps up from me conveys part of it.
Finally, here is a panaromic view of the Temple of the Warriors from the top of
The Citadel. I think it portrays some of both the height and the scope of the
ruins.
We got back from Chichen Itza at about 1:00, grabbed some lunch and then went
to the hotel for some sleep. We took a nap and then rented a Geo Tracker from
Budget Car Rental. We drove around the
island with our divemaster and his buddy for a bit before going back to the hotel for
the evening.
We get up in the morning and meet up with our Terry and Shawna to go see the
ruins at San Gervasio. Again, these are Mayan ruins, but pruportedly of smaller
scale than Chichen Itza.
We stop for breakfast at Ernesto's Fajita Factory before we go to the ruins. They
are much smaller than Chichen Itza, but very nice. We go ahead and get a guide for
~$13 (her name is Margarita). Now, you're not going to get any pictures out of this
because with a 40 exposure roll of film, it takes a while. It's still in my camera.
If you go there, I would definitely suggest you stop at the souvenier shop and look
around near the sombreros. Ask about their unique collection of flutes. :)
We stop at El Cedral to look in a shop that does black coral work, and then we're done.
We go to the hotel, get our stuff together and go to the airport. We leave a little
late and get home even later....and that was our vacation.