Up at 0300 for an early flight, we arrived at noon. (While Fayaway is resting, we can get to the islands much quicker than sailing.) Wow, how I love this Caribbean climate. After meeting up with friends, we hopped on a shuttle to find our way to the hotel, checked into our room and enjoyed a late lunch of fajitas. Delicious!

Welcome Dive: We all got a tank of air right away that afternoon, which allowed us to reacclimate with warm water and try out our relatively new equipment. It had been six years since Mike and Mary’s last dive, previously with decades of experience and hundreds of dives. To these two great friends, scuba diving is like returning to riding a bicycle.

In this initial cobweb removal exercise off the beach we saw a spotted ray, trumpet fish, parrot fish, flounder, and many more unidentified colorful species, at the relatively shallow depth of 21 feet.

I was a bit anxious during our descent, timidly and frequently adjusting my ear pressure, having survived a recently ruptured eardrum. However, my doctor’s insistence that I was “good to go” proved valid, and my confidence was quickly regained. We agreed that our reacclimation dive was a success, albeit with minor weight adjustments.

Jumping back to September 2nd. That's the day I blew out my eardrum on a dive at Nubble Light in York, Maine. The water was a balmy 58F and with a decent swell rolling into the cove, creating turbulent and murky conditions. So much that I could barely see my thickly gloved fingers at arms length.

Ten minutes into the dive I realized that the woman next to me wasn't Kelly. Hmmm. She wore similarly colored gear, but with the thick black hood and mask I couldn’t be sure. Simply by her swimming style alone I eventually realized that person wasn't her. I signaled the dive master that Kelly was missing and we surfaced soon thereafter.

At the surface we communicated with more detail and agreed that if she wasn't at the surface she must be with the other of our two groups. One quick descent to 42ft and… pop, gurgling swoosh, and voila, a nicely torn eardrum. What a sensation! But that’s another story! 

Back to Cozumel…

Next day, Sunday, was another fantastic warm and mostly sunny 80+F. Our dive boat Aires motored out with a dozen or so other divers, all with a different tale – some young tourist couples, finding another spare week away from work in the states, and others retired and pursuing their passion.

We followed Papasito, our dive master, down to 65ft for our first dive of the morning. One of the more experienced divers, he jokes about just learning to dive “last week”.

We spied a native Splendid Toad fish, turtles, and countless vibrant tropical fish amongst the healthy protected coral gardens.

Unfortunately, shortly after surfacing, our friend Mary began feeling symptoms of “the bends”. She was immediately given oxygen and we made a bee-line for shore, where a waiting ambulance took her to a facility with a decompression chamber.

We were so relieved when later that day we met up with Mike and Mary for dinner, when she seemed to be feeling much better after five hours of seclusion in the hyperbaric chamber. She was to go back for another checkup the next day. Unfortunately, their diving holiday was over, but everyone is safe and there’s plenty more to enjoy with friends on Cozumel. Kelly and I continued to dive the following day.

On Monday, Daniel was our new Dive Master. He took us through several tunnels within the coral at a beautiful underwater paradise nicknamed The Gardens. Kelly and I were initially afraid to follow after Daniel into the first cave, and simply swam over the enormous coral heads to where he reemerged. Shortly thereafter we got the nerve and followed him through several new pass-throughs. What a thrill!

We saw two large nurse sharks hiding within an overcropping, as well as more toadfish, turtles and the same but still incredible array of underwater life. Spiny lobsters seemed not to hide from us in this protected marine park, as they remained unhidden, crawling amongst the garden rocks.

We had an inkling the next morning at breakfast that this wasn’t going to be a great day on the water. On previous mornings we gazed from our table overlooking a beautiful moonset with our western view toward the mainland. However this morning the stormy dark cloud cover made for a rough surface.

We returned with our gear to join our group waiting for our dive boat Aires at the dock. We saw the boat at first lingering nearby but then motored off to the north. I checked at the dive desk and was told that the port was closed and there’d be no diving today.

We bummed around for a day, visiting the touristy parts of town, allowing Mike and Mary to share with us a few of their favorites. Time flew past, no matter what we were doing.

For the next two dive-days, the seas remained a bit turbulent after the passing weather. So Aires took us further south into the lee of the Northerly wind to more sheltered areas, no less beautiful underwater. Scores of scuba divers swarmed these protected areas, but our dive masters knew how to keep us cats corralled.

On our last day, a photographer named Pablo followed us around, shooting us, and all the beauty we saw. Hence, all the underwater photos in this post.

In summary, our first Cozumel diving excursion was a wholly wonderful experience. In general, I describe scuba diving as surreal, an out of body experience. One is floating weightless in a different world. Truly incredible as it is, but even more literally breathtaking when with great guidance in a fantasy world such as underwater at Cozumel. Great people, great underwater life, and pleasant surroundings. Cost was not prohibitive. If you want a great diving holiday, we definitely recommend Cozumel!