Long-time blog readers may recall that Ben and I once spent 9 days there, scuba diving with two other couples (see blog entries starting here). Thus, in advance of our cruise, I had arranged to meet up with Felipe, my dive instructor from 3 years ago, and go on two dives with him while in port! (Ben would look after Finley while I dove, and two days later it would be his turn to dive in Honduras. Diving with a little one in tow takes some forethought, but we managed it!)
Once we disembarked in Cozumel, we took a taxi to the marina and, after a while, Felipe showed up. He seemed to have forgotten who I was and what we had organised via email the week before, but luckily he was flexible and it worked out anyway!
After Felipe and his employees had the tanks and dive gear organised, the other divers and I (along with Ben and Finley) piled into Felipe's boat captain Fernando's boat (the same boat and captain as 3 years ago), and motored to a beach a few minutes away.
While the more experienced divers went out on the boat with another Dive Master, the newbies and I sat through Felipe's theory/safety talk for about an hour. (Since it had been over 2 years since I'd last dived, on our Kwaj trip, I wanted a refresher before (ha) diving in.) After the talk, we geared up, entered the water, did some practice exercises, and set off on an easy dive.
I can't remember many specifics about what I saw during the dive, since it's already 2.5 months ago and I didn't write any notes afterwards. I do remember being entertained by wriggling my outstretched fingers towards all the Christmas tree worms I saw, and watching them instantly tuck their Christmas tree-shaped "crowns" out of sight!
I'm afraid I don't have any underwater photos to show you either. I know my limits thanks to an amusing incident on our Kwaj trip: I am NOT capable of operating a camera whilst maintaining my buoyancy, breathing, and balance under water!
After the first dive, we spent some time back on the beach before heading out to do a drift dive along Paradise Reef. I remember enjoying this dive and seeing a lot of interesting fish and coral... but again, the specifics elude me. (Blogging these recent holidays a few months late is a real eye-opener regarding how sieve-like my memory has become!!) Oh, but I saw one of the coolest sights I've ever seen underwater: I watched a large fish completely change its colour and pattern right before my eyes!
By the time we eventually reached the surface, Ben (waiting in the boat) was getting quite worried, as the time we needed to be back on the Conquest was fast approaching.
We hadn't realised until just before the second dive that "ship's time" was two hours different to "local time", so we had a lot less time than Felipe had been assuming. It was 1pm local time, 3pm ship's time, we were about to do a 1 hour dive (followed by boating back to the marina, taking off my dive gear, paying Felipe, driving back to the port, getting through the tourist zone, and making it up the gangway)... and we needed to be back on board at 5pm ship's time! This discrepancy may also explain why Felipe was "late" to our prearranged marina meeting that morning... although if we HAD arrived 2 hours later, I think he and the others would have been long gone in the boat!
Anyway, we made it back with a few minutes to spare, and the food at dinner that night tasted extra delicious after a day spent on the water!
To be continued...
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