April 6, 2000 we take off from chilly Minnesota for Cozumel Mexico. Our plane arrives on the island of Cozumel at 2:00 PM and we are under water by 4:30 PM. Diving off shore in front of the "Dive with Martin" dive shop next to the La Ceiba Pier we pick up 66 minutes of dive time acclimating to the salty water of the Carribean.
The next six days are spent diving the reefs off Cozumel's western shores and savoring some of the foods the island has to offer. We manage to get in fifteen dives in these six days and about as many meals. Some of the reefs we visited were, Palancar Horseshoe, Cedral Deep, Cedral Shallow, Punta Sir Caves, Punta Tunich Shallow, Las Palmas, Santa Rosa Wall, Columbia, Yucab, Paradise and La Fracesa. All of the dives were great.
Many thanks to our great dive master Darios and boat captain Edie from "Dive with Martin." They managed to get us on the reefs before anyone else every morning. Also, the night dive we did with Darios under a star filled sky with a cresent moon at Las Palmas was absolutely fantastic.
I dove with a number of different people on this trip at different times. Among these dive buddies were, Angie and Lisa from Minnesota (a night dive), Paul and Mike from Minnesota (six ocean dives and one night dive), Mark, Debbe and Jay from Colorado (eight ocean dives), Greg and Kirsten from Kansas (two ocean dives), and Angie, Mike, Paul and Roberto (two cavern dives). I would like to thank all of these people for adding so much to my enjoyment of this trip.
For you adventuresome divers, we took one day and traveled to the mainland to dive a couple of the cenotes there. We signed on with Yucatech Dive Shop for this adventure. The day began at the Ferry Pier at 7:45 AM and ended at the same place around 5:30 PM. We took the ferry across to Playa del Carmen and from there traveled by van to two cenotes. We dove Chacmool Cenote near Akumal then traveled further south to Tulum and dove Grand Cenote. Our group, (Angie, Paul, Mike and yours truly), is not cave certified so we limited our diving to the cavern zone of these systems. Carlos was our guide for the day with Rosa handling the video camera. Roberto, a dive master and friend from the island also dove with us on this day. Both dives were great, lasting 45 to 50 minutes each. The water in these cave systems is unbelievably clear and 75 degrees F. The formations and rooms within the caverns are fantastic. The entire day was an adventure including lunch at a local restaurant on the side of the highway. Carlos, Rosa and Yucatech Diving did a great job of showing us a great time and showing us some unbelievable sights.
A warning is in order here. People have died in these caves so beware. These dives are not for new divers and good buoyancy is a must at all times. I strongly suggest some type of training for diving in overhead environments before visiting these sights. I also strongly suggest doing your home work before picking a dive shop to use when visiting these caverns. I would suggest Yucatech. I have dove four different caverns with Yucatech. They are trustworthy and professional. Carlos, Rosa and German are all cave certified divers and instructors.
Some of the restaurants we frequented on this trip were, Guito's (Italian), Carlos and Charlie's, The French Quarter, Leza's, Dorados De Villa and of course Ernesto's. Best meals were the barbequed shrimp at Carlos and Charlie's, the Chicken Fajitas at Dorados De Villa and the pasta and pizza at Guito's. We found The French Quarter to be more than a little spendy. A couple of other don't miss items are the hotdogs from the street vendor at the south east corner of the square (at night) and the Churos from the vendors located around the square in the evenings. We did not suffer any type of illnesses due to any of the food or drink we enjoyed on the island.
For entertainment there are a number of places in town. We chose to share drinks with friends and watch the dancing at Carlos and Charlies. Good music, lots of fun, and the Tequila flows freely. (Divers, go easy on the alcohol)
On this trip we met some friends from home and made some new friends from Cozumel as well as other parts of the U.S. We had a great time and I would suggest a trip to Cozumel to anyone that likes to dive or just likes warm weather and relaxing. We stayed at the Vista del Mar hotel and I can not say enough about how clean it was and how well we were treated. (Hi to Manerva, Aracely and Moses)
I will end this scratching on my slate with this statement. VIVA COZUMEL!
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