Getting there is half the fun!
10:30 pm April 29th, 2006 - Leave home in a Taxi bound for LAX.
11:00 pm April 30th – Arrive at airport after learning many things about the Islamic religion from our chatty cab driver. By the time we arrived at the airport, I was hoping that we were not going to be the two innocent passengers killed in a car bombing at LAX on the morning news.
12:30 am May 1st – Martyrdom is not looking too bad at this point as we are still in line to check our luggage and dive gear.
12:55 am – Yea! After being moved to the third TSA screening machine, our luggage is on the way to Mexico City and we are on our way to find a martini.
2:00 am – We board the Mexico City redeye, along with many children and several other passengers who, based on their coughs, we can only assume were on their way to get some kind of tuberculosis treatment not offered in the United States. Note to self: surgical mask next time.
7:00 am – With a little help from a wonderful individual in Animal Control we are able to navigate the Mexico City Airport and find our connecting flight.
1:00 pm – We arrive in Cozumel, get our bags sniffed by a skinny German Sheppard, green light out, grab 2 beers and get in the minivan with 13 others for the short ride to Fiesta Americana. Get checked in, have a couple more beers, establish Dive Vets Mexico Headquarters, and take a little nap. Later that night we were adopted by a group that I can only describe as the Dive Vets of Las Vegas. They kept us entertained and included us in their activities most of the week, great group.
Ms Kaydee practices her trim
May 1st, 8:15 am sharp – It was a little unnerving not having to get up at 4:45 to catch a dive boat, but we were starting to adjust to Mexico time.
These are the sites we dove between May 1st and May 8th, not in order: Cedral Wall (2 times), Cedral Pass, Columbia, Columbia Deep, Delilah, Fiesta Americana (Beach Dive), Francesca, Maracaibo Fingers, Planacar Bricks, Planacar Gardens (2 times), Planacar Caves (Mr. Kay Dee’s 100th logged dive), Santa Rosa Wall, San Francisco, San Francisco Wall, Tormentos, and Paradise (2 times at Night).
In general, the shallower reefs sustained the most damage. Columbia looked like a field of snow. Maracaibo had practically no damage, and the Planacar dives were all outstanding. There is still a huge amount of sea life. We saw 7 Nurse Sharks, one was about 6 or 7’, and about 100 other species of fish, none of which I could name, but here are a few pics for those of you who can.
We dove with Christi Courtney’s Blue XT Sea Diving. They cost a little more than the bargain operators, but the service is first rate, they take care of all your gear, we never had more than 6 people on a boat, usually 4, and you could dive as long as you and your buddy had air and bottom time.. Their dive masters and captains were all very professional, friendly and a lot of fun to dive with.
The poor jungle (above)
Divevets MX - HQ (below)
