Back from Cozumel

[Kevbarnes11]

I just got back from Cozumel last night and I was greeted by a very different temperature change. I went diving on Wednesday and it was unreal. I am not a certified diver, but I guess that does not matter in Mexico. I took a crash course on the back of the boat as we were heading to the Palancar reef. I was the only person in the boat not certified. They went 80 ft, and I was told that I could only go to 40 ft. While diving in this beautiful reef, I noticed my depth guage read 60 ft and the dive master wanted me to go a little deeper to look at a lobster. All the corals and fish were beautiful and there were no signs of stressed coral life. Then we got back on the boat and went to another reef called the San Francisco Wall. This was a drift dive and they told me to just go along with the other divers. It was a blast. I am going to have to get certified so I can do the night dive that everyone at the resort was talking about.

 

[gflat65]

Palancar is one of the bast sites I've been to. The 'caves' are awesome... It is interesting that they let you go past 40 feet on purpose. Usually, they want to give an introduction course before taking you out (I thought they had to as businesses) to prepare you for the basics. I guess times are hard since Wilma took out alot of Cozumel and destroyed so many of the reef flats (were there in March). They must be cutting corners. I'm guessing they shadowed you the whole time (should have, being uncertified, esp. with an 80 foot first dive). Was your second dive on a reef flat? If so, was there any coral, or is it still all a sea of sand? When we were there in March (didn't get to see Palancar, though) and we did a wall dive, then a flat (deeper dives are always first), but the reef flat had a head here, one over there, one about a hundred yards over there, etc. Devastated...

 

[Codeman00]

As a certified diver, I feel obligated to chime in here...

I'm shocked that they let you go diving without taking an introductory course. I'm amazed that they would let you go down with them with only a "back of the boat crash course"? :worried: I guess money talks down there. gflat is right...they cut a ton of corners and put your safety and others at risk for a buck. You sounded surprised that you were the only one on the boat that didn't have a certification. I'm shocked to that you thought it was okay go diving without a certification.

I know that many dive operations give quick land based crash courses for people on vacation, but for anyone that reads this that wants to dive, I strongly urge you to spend the time and get certified BEFORE you go on a dive vacation. There's no way you can be prepared for the dangers of diving with even the land based introductory course, let alone the back of the boat crash course.

An example...Two trips ago in the Bahamas, a certified diver in our group ran out of air mysteriously at 100 feet and it required him to buddy breath off of 3 of us to get him to the surface. He could have died and taken others lives with him. Does a crash course prepare you for that? Notta.

Anyway, I dove a ton of the sites in Cozumel back in 1998...a lot of great diving. Glad you had fun and glad you made it back safe.

 

[Kevbarnes11]

Dang Codeman, I guess I will stand in the corner now. lol. This was my third time to do this in Mexico. The first time I went 45 ft, second time I went from the shore to only 30 ft. Both times we had an hour long session in a pool. I do understand the dangers and I am planning on getting certified this winter. This last time I stayed around 55 to 60 Ft, not 80. The certified divers went 80. I do not know why there was not a course in a pool for this one. I guess they are cutting corners like you said. As far as the corals on the top part of the Wall, they were uncovered for the most part. I really do not have anything to compare it to. It was all very beautiful.

 

[gflat65]

Monetarily, it is much cheaper to get cerified prior to going, too. You pay extra for a dive instructor to go with you when not certified (usually around $40 a dive). Plus what you pay for the quickie course at most resorts isn't much less than the full course, depending where you are.

Just out of curiousity, who did you dive with (you can PM if you want)?

 

[Codeman00]

I didn't mean for that to sound so rough, but I did want to let you know that it is not safe to do the quickie course and then drop in the ocean with people you don't know. The last thing I want is to go on a vacation and have an uncertified diver freaking out next to me when something messes up with his equipment and rip my reg out of my mouth to save his own life without thinking about mine. Hope that makes sense.

Also, it's not good for the marine life either because there is no way you can have proper buoyancy control skills necessary to dive around corals.

For real lessons, I highly recommend The Dive Shop in Memphis. They are great people and a close family. I just wish I was closer to Memphis so I could stop by more than I do.

http://www.diveshop1.com/

 

[gflat65]

Yeah, I was certified by one of the Dive Shop's people (Drew J., if he's still around with them). Always seemed like good guys (don't tell Drew I said that, though-he is for harassing).

 

[Codeman00]

I went with Drew and the Ole Miss Crew to the Bahamas on Blackbeards. He's one crazy sob.

 

[gflat65]

Drew is nuts, no doubt. Do you ever hook up with Joe M.? He's a buddy from way back. I think he's been instructing at Ole Miss (or did for a while, anyway).

 

[Reefdiver77]

I have been on many dives, both in Hawaii and Puerto Rico,with divers who have taken a "resort course". All had been in a class and had done a pool dive. There was one dedicated dive master assigned to these folks. They went one way and all us certified divers went the other with a different guide. When we dive with Narcosis out of Tarpon Springs, FL, it is certified divers only. Kevin, do you know if this was a PADI facility? This is totally against PADI rules, which are for the protection of the resort and certified diver. I am glad you are getting certified. I, too, recommend the Dive Shop in Memphis. Rodney and I were certified there in 1977, hence Reefdiver 77. Doug McNeese Sr. and Jr (whom we called Jr) were out instructors. Sr founded the dive shop back in the 60's. Jr. was a year ahead of Rodney and I at Kingsbury HS in Memphis. I take our equipment to them every Spring for a tune up. My daughter lives less than a mile from the shop and we drop by on occasion. We started our diving at Lake Norfork and Greers Ferry Lake. Now that was some diving!! Horsecollar BC, no auto inflators or octopus rigs. Oh, I am showing my age!!!
Rodney and I are thinking about getting Advanced Open Water certified as they will not allow night dives in Puerto Rico without it.

 

[gflat65]

We got into a night dive in Cancun, but neither of us are advanced. We'd been diving with them for three days at that point, though. A twilight and full night dive... The full night dive was incredible. My favorite so far.

 

[Codeman00]

No, I never have met Joe M. Just Drew and "Marshall", another instructor down there at Ole Miss.

I've done several night dives and am Advanced certified SSI. I love the night dives....all the cool critters come out then. In Bonaire, diving off of the hotel dock was best night dive I could ever experience. So much life it was unbelievable.

My favorite story of all is my first night dive in Cozumel (and note that it wasn't the safest dive..lol). About 15 minutes into the dive I noticed a bright light flashing when we were underwater. It took me a few flashes to realize that a storm had moved in above us and the flashes were lightning! The entire ocean bottom would light up and then go dead dark...sometimes a triple or quadruple flicker would happen. It was amazing to see the bottom of the ocean lit up that bright in an instant. After another 30 minutes we surfaced to a horrendous storm but got back safely. By the way, I did the research and one is basically safe in the water during a storm unless you get a direct hit right next to you on right on you. Underwater is a safe place to be, believe it or not.

 

[neuroslicer]

I am going to add my name to the list of finger waggers here Kevin. Even before the first day of training, diving instructors determine if you have the swimming and physical skills that would help you in an underwater emergency. Then in addition to the concepts of underwater safety (there goes the professor again), you learn how to psychologically handle underwater emergencies so you don't panic, or so you can help out your buddy who might be having difficulty. While you might be thinking of yourself when you make the decision to dive without training... oh I'll be ok... if the dive leader has to divert his attention to you or your dive buddy because you didn't receive adequate training, then during a time of crisis he's not able to keep his attention on the entire group.

I got certified in 1976, and the skills I learned made it so much easier to comfortably maneuver underwater, with confidence in knowing that if something were to seriously go wrong, I could take care of myself and help those around me. To all who are reading and are thinking about taking a trip to the tropics, diving at the mid latitudes will be one of the most beautiful natural experiences of your life. The beauty and vast diversity of coral reefs is like nothing you'll ever see in a fish tank or public aquarium. We take Rhodes students to Honduras (actually, Roatan Island off the Honduran coast) every year for a two week field experience, and it's one of the highlights of their college career. Make sure you do a night dive as well, for there's an entirely different set of creatures and sights to behold at night. (I can't fathom taking inexperienced divers out at night!... pun intended). But don't repeat Kevin's lapse of judgement. Get certified before you go. You'll enjoy it all the more.
Done preaching.

 

[MarineFlake]

Good to hear you had a good time. I too plan on going at some point in my future to a resort where I can get a quick class and go see a reef in the wild. Good to know that if you have a level head and common sense about you, you can enjoy one of the coolest views on earth without having to spend a ton of cash and time into a unrelated hobby.

 

[Codeman00]

MarineFlake...I think you missed our point. It's much better to get certified in a real dive program (like at the Dive Shop), not at a quickie dive resort program. A quickie program is not safe for you or anyone else diving with you.

 

[neuroslicer]

I think MarineFlake just likes to stir the pot .... rub salt on a wound... spit in the wind.... kick a hornet's nest....

I think I like coming up with trite metaphors...

 

[willember]

Jennifer and I are going to take the certification class at the Dive Shop before we go to Negril in March (for a wedding, we HAVE to go ) Do you think we could get a club discount if we get a group together?

 

[Reefdiver77]

Quite possibly you could. You will have a wonderful time both in the classes and diving. It is the one thing I enjoy more than any other and the one thing that truly brings me peace and contentment. Lucky you neuroslicer to get to go to Roatan. It is the one place I have always dreamed of going, however, my husband would go into withdrawl if he did not get to golf several times on vacation. As for myself, I could dive every day and never tire of it. My tank is just a little piece of the wonders of the underwater world that I so enjoy!!

 

[redhawk44cb]

Hmmmmm...........

Sounds like the dive leader had the lapse of judgment, not Kevin.

 

[gflat65]

Cody,

I think I've asked before, but at which resort did you stay while in Bonaire? We stayed at Divi Flamingo for our honeymoon (would recommend it to anyone). I can't wait to get back to Bonaire...

I'm not as opposed to the resort course, but maybe what I think of as a resort course is not, really. my wife did her 'resort' course at the Dive Inn, two minutes walk from our room in Bonaire. She had four hours of classroom time, then an hour standing in the shallows clearing, etc. (the basics), then we did a house reef dive, just the three of us. After that he decided she was able to go on other dives, but we had to pay the extra $40 per dive to have a dive master with her at all times. If no corners are cut, it's not too bad, but a crash course on the back of the boat on the way there is cutting some corners... I felt like she got classroom learning and in the water action before going with anyone else. Then having a dedicated dive master made me feel a lot better (he could surface with her if there were problems, and he kept her at the back of the group). She went on to finish the courses for open water and did the open water techniques in a pool in Palay del Carmen before our first dive on our first trip to Mexico. It is much safer to get certified first, though. And as I mentinoed, it is much cheaper ($400 for the 'resort course' plus $40 per dive extra for a dedicated dive master and then another $4-500 to finish class work, where it would have been less than $600 to do it all with a full cert).