Old dives

Cozumel, 2001
John Kelly

Cozumel, the very word brings up memories of diving at its best. 21 of us gathered together to plumb the depths of Palancar Reef. Bernie and Lib Ann Cappelli led this group and did so without a hitch. Some credit must me given to Marilyn Johnson of Inter-Ocean Tours. Marilyn, was able to accommodate our leaders in the room of all rooms, 55, located on the third floor of Scuba Club Cozumel. The area outside of this room, for those of you who do not know, is a large patio, 57' x 93', overlooking the whole resort and beach area. Every day we congregated there after 5:30PM for happy hour before dinner down at the Fat Grouper. One evening, by actual count there was 27 people sipping and munching Hors 'd oeuvres before breaking for dinner or a night dive. We met a group from Cleveland, Ohio, and another group from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Great people. They all were welcome and fit in with us nicely. We even met a couple from Clayton, CA, who fit in so well that they invited us all to their home on June 2nd for a party. Hopefully they will become members of the Club.

It was the usual, up at 7:00am, breakfast, pack your dive gear to the dock by 8:15am, load gear onto dive boat. Two dives with an hour break between dives and back to the dock for lunch at the resort, then clean gear and rest up for evening meal at the Fat Grouper. The diving was great. I am not kidding, 150 ft. visibility every day. Even Thursday when we had rain squalls. We had a real ``fresh'' water wash down on the way back from our second dive, and sunny skies when we arrived at the dock. The air temperature probably dropped down to $78^\circ$ in the rain. The dive guides did a great job in showing us the various critters, and took us on some unusual tours in and out of caves. It is always a thrill for me when I come out of a cave, at 90' and look straight down at the bottom another 100' or so. ``I can fly!''

On our chosen ``day off'', Wednesday, John Beland arranged for two passenger vans to take us from Playa del Carmen to Xel-Ha where the world's best cavern dive is located. Cenote Dos Ojos (cavern of two eyes). It was crystal clear water with visibility of 200', water temp. $75^\circ$. We were four to a guide. Never more than 30' deep. Underwater lights gave off an eerie feeling as we swam though this dreamland of natural formations. You could see how the timeless forces of nature carved the caverns. I think that there were twelve of us on this outing. After diving the Cenotes we were back on the road to see the ruins of Tulum. Then back to Playa del Carmen to take the ferry back to Cozumel. There are new ferry boats that cut the channel crossing down to 40 minutes. With all of the activities and travel, to and from, in passenger vans and ferry boats, we never felt as if we were rushed, thanks to the arrangements that John Beland made ahead of time. We returned in plenty of time for cocktail hour.

In summary, it was one of the best Cozumel trips that I have ever been on. We all dove together, played together, even danced. Vicki Beland was giving Salsa dance lessons during happy hour. And she is good! We had music, yes we did. It was a great time had by all.

There will soon be images from the Cozumel trip available at the Alacosta web site.