Cozumel
“Diving Mexico” I quietly typed into my Google search engine one Sunday morning. What followed was a tornado of Cozumel advertisement almost bursting out of my laptop screen, slapping me in the face with a zillion and one options. Alright, Cozumel it is I guess.
I had to make some true sacrifices in order to get there, like standing three hours in the pouring rain next to a sad gas station with my freezing thumb up in the air, trying to hitch a hike to the eastern peninsula... and taking a 15-hour rattle bus to my temporary stationary point Cancún (a.k.a. the depressing example of everything that’s wrong with the world)... but the biggest sacrifice of all being: the inevitable necessity to pass through Playa del Carmen. The fact that people go here out of free will, or worse: pay money for it, crushes me with incomprehension. Unless you want to spend your holidays among sunburnt tourists (piles of ‘em), speaking your own language, eating the exact same food as at home, spending your time on a pathetic polluted strip of beach with some other loud puking partypeople and passing the evenings spending all your money in a tourist gift shop or gringo bar, you have no reason to go here. I sprinted straight to the ferry terminal, not walking one meter too many in this abyss.
Gleefully I concluded the ferry was cheaper ($8 instead of $12) and more luxurious than expected, bringing me to my destination in a lousy 45 minutes. My first encounter with the island wasn’t the love at first sight my diving instructor told me he personally experienced: It’s how I imagine the US to be, but a bit more tropical… a space designed to serve the need for comfort and entertainment. But that doesn’t matter, I was there to be entertained after all.
People had ensured me Cozumel is one of the best dive sites worldwide, so I didn’t expect any less.
I roamed the streets to track down the absolute cheapest accommodation deal I could possibly negotiate (a private A/C room with ensuite warm-water shower for the price of a bed in a 20-bed hostel dormitory, not bad) and went for an early night to rest my soul and body for the big day to come.
People had ensured me Cozumel is one of the best dive sites worldwide, so I didn’t expect any less.
I roamed the streets to track down the absolute cheapest accommodation deal I could possibly negotiate (a private A/C room with ensuite warm-water shower for the price of a bed in a 20-bed hostel dormitory, not bad) and went for an early night to rest my soul and body for the big day to come.
At 8AM Cozumel-time (which is 7AM normal Mexican time) the Italian Mau(rizio) picked me up. At Dive Mau they don’t mess around: Some scarce moments later three different people helped me into some proper fitting flippers, a wetsuit and a small BCD while I was signing all the paperwork. While zipping up I ran to the boat where the other dive enthusiasts and crew were already waiting. The second I set one foot aboard we raced off.
I looked around me while listening to all the sensational stories dug up out of decennia of personal dive histories, the exchanging of tips using words I didn’t even recognize. All of a sudden I got nervous. These were all professional or advanced scubadivers and I didn’t even know if I would remember how to inflate my BCD. Wouldn’t I slow them down? Our instructor Karina sat down to brief us about the beauty that was yet to come, defying the furious sea slamming our boat from wave to wave. “How many dives did you do, Steph?” The moment of truth. “Ehm, just the ones of my open water certification…” I stuttered. Silence. The look my fellow divers gave me was a mixture of a parent just hearing their infant whisper something unquestionably adorable and that from a man after his darling confided being a virgin a few seconds prior to the act of love. “No worries amiga”, Karina winked, “I’ll keep my eye out for you”… and she started preparing all my gear before I could even lift my hand.
Challenge #1: leaving the boat in a back roll, plunging backwards over the edge holding your mask and regulator, something I only know from a textbook. Anxiety usually comes from a yet unreal situation and is therefore easily overtaken by reality. Before I knew it the pristine blue water had swallowed me and Karina signed to deflate my BCD in order to start with the descend.
Another problem immediately came to the surface (HA, surface, slaps-hand-against-thigh): Equalizing. Sometimes you need to enter a new field (let’s say, diving) to discover you suck at certain things. Apparently my ear canals are a bitch to equalize. Just like the last times I continuously kept on blowing my squeezed nose, like some 90’ies-gogo-dancer, with little to zero results, even needing to ascend every now and then… But the group didn’t mind, they’ve been there, in those good old days diving was as exciting as it still is. That comforted me and all of a sudden I was down in the deep blue.
Another problem immediately came to the surface (HA, surface, slaps-hand-against-thigh): Equalizing. Sometimes you need to enter a new field (let’s say, diving) to discover you suck at certain things. Apparently my ear canals are a bitch to equalize. Just like the last times I continuously kept on blowing my squeezed nose, like some 90’ies-gogo-dancer, with little to zero results, even needing to ascend every now and then… But the group didn’t mind, they’ve been there, in those good old days diving was as exciting as it still is. That comforted me and all of a sudden I was down in the deep blue.
I looked around me and instantly needed an extra sip of oxygen: where I was looking at made me absolutely speechless (underwater-sign-language-speechless). Wow.
I saw fish in shapes, sorts and colours I had never seen before. Aquatic life minding their own business. Reef landscapes expanded my vision. I swam into a school of big, pink nemo’s that accepted me without struggle… Fish don’t know the human concept of discrimination. While keeping an eye on my buddy Lydia I let the strong current guide me to new discoveries. A tiger x-ray, barracuda, turtle… one gift of the ocean after the other swam by. I looked at my fellow divers floating through the aquatic universe like astronauts and let a mixture of adrenaline and pure tranquillity stream through my body.
I saw fish in shapes, sorts and colours I had never seen before. Aquatic life minding their own business. Reef landscapes expanded my vision. I swam into a school of big, pink nemo’s that accepted me without struggle… Fish don’t know the human concept of discrimination. While keeping an eye on my buddy Lydia I let the strong current guide me to new discoveries. A tiger x-ray, barracuda, turtle… one gift of the ocean after the other swam by. I looked at my fellow divers floating through the aquatic universe like astronauts and let a mixture of adrenaline and pure tranquillity stream through my body.
Way too soon it was over, air-cylinders can be ruthless sometimes. But hey, I have two thumbs and they’re both up: I had another dive planned. “It’s worth every dollar”, Mau had told me… and for the first time it wasn’t some slick marketing trick. It’s worth even more than money could ever put value on.
For a professional diving experience I strongly recommend Scuba Mau.
Click on the image to go to their website or call them on 011 521 987 103 02 60
Click on the image to go to their website or call them on 011 521 987 103 02 60
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- Maya and Aztec heritage on Mexican grounds: Izamal, Palenque, Tulum and Valladolid
- An overview of all Mexican streetfood [Palenque]
- Other party-hardy touristy disillusions to avoid: Cancún [Mexico], San Juan del Sur [Nicaragua], Taganga [Colombia], San Pedro [Lago de Atitlan, Guatemala]
- Getting my PADI at the island Roatán, Honduras
- Malaysia's tropical scubadive-island: Pulau Tioman
- Couchsurfing with a scubadiving-teacher in Puerto Madryn, Argentina
- Beaches in Panamá: San Blas, Santa Catalina & Costa Abajo
- My 1-month Workaway-project on an (almost) uninhabited island in Panamá: Isla San Cristóbal, Bocas del Toro
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