I’m at my happiest in or on the water and I’ve wanted to learn to dive for a few years now after doing a couple of trial dives in Malta and Egypt. So after a bit of research and a chat with a recommended dive school (there are some dodgy ones in Mexico where safety is not prioritised) I am booked on for a 4 day padi open water course. I’m feeling trepidatious as I love the water, but as an engineer at heart I need to understand and trust the equipment which is a leap of faith and I’m acutely aware the minute you don’t respect the sea you are in trouble. It feels like the perfect place to learn here in Cozumel, warm water with great visibility and lots of places for beginner diving.
I arrive at the dive shop on day 1 and am pleased to find there are just 2 of us doing the course me and a newly qualified Swiss doctor called Lorine who is lovely and reminds me of Zara and our teacher Gerrie.
Firstly we get kitted up with goggles wetsuits buoyancy aids and flippers to fit us and we head to Tikkila beach where we will learn skills for the next couple of days. We have an intro lecture focusing on the basics of always remembering to breathe slow and deep, never holding your breath (or your lungs might explode) and learning how to setup and check our kit is functioning and safe. We’re then into the water floating on our backs in a bit of chop and we’re soon learning how to ascend and descend, using bcd to control buoyancy, clearing our regulators and masks (hard for me wearing contacts!) , swimming about and getting used to how our breathing affects buoyancy and what weights we need to keep us neutrally buoyant or slightly negative. We start to relax and enjoy some of the giant fish swimming by us and it’s amazing being in the water even if it’s a little challenging staying out of the way of the other beginner groups.
We’re done by 2.30 and a lot of my apprehension has gone away. Gerrie our teacher is ok and my biggest fear now is clearing and taking off mask fully whilst wearing contacts a little deeper tomorrow. We find a great little taco shop opposite the dive shop and have some lunch before we head back to the hotel so I can study for the PADI exams which we’ll do tomorrow and Alex can play in the pool. We head out to find a nice looking Mediterranean restaurant where the food has to go back a couple of times and end up instead grabbing g street food tacos before I cram for the exam until quite late.
After a rest and hopefully enough reading I head back to the dive shop where Lorine and I do a couple of quizzes and then the exam - 48/50 for me (and 47 for Lorine) so not too bad, we both pass and we go straight to Tikkila for some more skills.
I’m a bit nervous again about taking my mask off and my contacts floating away but we get kitted up and do some drills of taking weight belts on and off (bit of a struggle for me with heavy weight belt and diddy arms making it hard to reach behind my back, but I get there in the end). I survive masks off and still have my lenses, followed by bcd off and on, share air and swim, adding and removing air for neutral buoyancy with my mouth.
We head back to shore for second tank and next dive and do more skills at a deeper depth including emergency ascent ( I struggle to clear my ears when going back down), we complete our 100m swim and we’re done by 5 exhausted and had no food all day. We go back to meet guy and Alex and tell them about our day at las nopales where we grab yummy tacos and drinks. We pick up some beers and head back to the hotel and conk after watching Indiana Jones - Alex loves it!
We’re Up early and out to get the boat at dive shop by 8.30, lorine and I are excited to do a boat dive. Annoyingly our Bags of kit have gone and we think they’ve been looted again but they’re on the boat - what a relief! We get a taxi to our boat with a lovely mix of nationalities - German, Portuguese, American, Chinese and Lorine and I. First time on a dive boat and it had clips for our tanks and benches to fling yourself backwards onto the sea. It’s a stunning ride along the south coast of Cozumel to Palancar on a sunny day.
We arrive at the site and get a dive briefing for the other group (they are doing discovery dives with dive master!) and from Gerrie for us. We will doing an 18m wall dive in amongst the formations. We get kitted up and taught how to roll backwards off the boat which is an experience and I needed help getting kit on to step to do it (little midget that I am). We’re in the water and descend slowly to 10m and we’re off swimming through the walls and spectacular coral. This dive is all about the coral and formations are incredible and rose above us. There are not so many fish here. Gerry guides me to swim through a tunnel which is exhilarating and we swim over a deep 40m drop off. We See a toadfish special and unique to Cozumel tucked in the rocks. A second tunnel on the way back I do myself and we see a nurse shark hiding under the rock shelf must’ve been 2.5m long amazing
I start to run lower on air (I use it up faster than Lorine) so we head back to boat after 41mins. I manage to hit my head on the ladder on the way out as it’s a little choppy ouch! All the divers chat happily about the wonderful things they managed to see. We need a Surface interval of over an hour before our next dive, we have this the on beach and swim before next dive. It’s gorgeous turquoise water and we learn how to use a compass to navigate underwater. The next dive is a drift dive along a platform at 15m going with the current. Lorine loses her mask just as we’re about to head into the water so it’s a little rushed and stressful getting in and descending. We can feel the current and start to drift looking at the amazing fish.
We hunt for a seahorse but don’t see him but do see another toadfish hiding and a huge lobster. I manage 45 mins as I’m getting better at managing my air and we both manage to use a compass hooray! We get Back to the boat without injury this time!
We chill as we buzz back to the harbour and Lorine and I pass our padi open water woohoo!
Back at the dive shop most of group head for lunch at la fonda which is yummy and Guy and Alex come find us. Feeling proud of achieving something that’s pushed me out of my comfort zone we relax at the pool where I sleep early happily exhausted whilst the boys get more tacos.
Emma
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