Meanwhile in Cozumel Dive Compilation
Hotel Cozumel & Resort, Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
The first thing that struck me about this trip: not only was I traveling with a group of like ten divers, but I'd say 60% of the plane was going to dive. That shows you the kind of dive destination Cozumel is. The second thing that hit me was that Kim (SeaVenture's lead) essentially took care of everything. I didn't have to worry or think about anything! Just show up when Kim said to show up and everything went smoothly (from taxis to the hotel to dive arrangements): it was so nice to simply tune-out and go with the flow.
Hotel Cozumel was a nice, functional hotel. Not great, not scary. It was all-inclusive and the food was the same: not great, not bad either. By about the fifth day, you hit the menu rotation and start seeing the same things again, so by the last day, I really wanted to get off the ranch, but was too tired to go sample the more local fare. But at no point was I not satisfied or unable to find something to eat. Unlimited beer, alcohol, and some pretty tasty pico de gallo to dump over things went a long way towards satisfaction. But it was obvious what this hotel is about: diving. Dive Paradise launches boats from on-site; they even have a tunnel under the road so you don't even need to watch for traffic to get from the hotel to the docks.
So as soon as we got to the hotel from the airport, the whole group got together and did a quick shore dive to dust off the cobwebs and dial in our weights. So that day I woke up at 7AM, was in Cozumel at 1PM (with a 1 hour time shift), and in/under water by 3. Ah! The wonders and convenience of modern life. And even thirty feet off the shore, twenty feet under water, there was some fun little things to see. Puffers, a trumpet fish, and even an eel having lunch. It boded well for some amazing diving that week and I would not be disappointed.
So a typical dive day went like this: wake up at 6AM (I still can't sleep in), have breakfast, gather the gear, meet at the dock at 8, do two morning dives, and back at the hotel around 1. Attack the lunch buffet, chill in the room for a bit, back out to the dock at 3 for the afternoon dive, back to the hotel by 5, relax and chit-chat till 6:30, have dinner, shower and collapse into bed. Then repeat. It was exhausting in the good way.
I also got some karma points on this trip. One day down the hall there was something bumping up against a glass window trying to get out. Turns out it was a hummingbird. It took me about ten minutes to box him into a corner and finally catch him. Once I had him closed in my hands, he calmed right down and I managed to let him go. It was a nice feeling to help the little guy out. Later that week a finch was doing the same thing, so I tried my catch and release again: but he spooked and got away from the window into the open-air hall and escaped. And finally, just like in Aruba, a gecko got into my room. I had to throw t-shirts at him to knock him off the ceiling, captured him, and let him go outside. So I got to save three critters on this trip!
See more about the diving on my scuba page.
Check out my YouTube channel at Mehve's Glide Path