Last week, I went on an impromptu scuba trip to Cozumel, Mexico. I booked the flight (using miles!) just 5 days before I left Tucson and booked the hotel and scuba reservation 3 days before I left. I figured I’d take advantage of the extra time I have before I start teaching for the spring semester.
Day 1: Travel and settling in
The trip got off to an interesting start when I nearly missed my 6:10 am flight out of Tucson. I hadn’t been able to check in online since I have a new passport and hence passport number. Then I cut it a bit close, not realizing how many flights leave the Tucson airport right around that time. Finally, the United desk seemed understaffed. All this combined led me to reach the front of the check-in line about 25 minutes before the departure time. The automated check-in machine told me it was too late. Uh oh.
Fortunately, the overworked people at the understaffed desk had not lost their good spirits and with a couple calls to the departure gate were able to convince them to let me on. Plus, they still checked my bag. Thanks United!
I don’t even have to feel guilty about holding everybody up as the flight still arrived in Houston a couple minutes early. I went straight to the terminal for the next flight to find that my group was in the process of boarding and jumped right in line. Smooth transition!
Here’s a map because maps are cool.
Our flight got to Cozumel just before 2 pm and I got a shuttle to my hotel, Casa del Mar Cozumel. You have three options for airport transportation on this island: rent a car, taxi, and shuttle. Apparently taxis here are crazy expensive (in the range of $40 for the 15-minute drive to the hotel), so I went with the shuttle (it was around $5).
Having checked into my hotel around 3, there was still plenty of time for me to wander around a bit. After settling in, I put on my walking shoes and walked a mile over to Marina Fonatur, the marina the dive company I selected (Scuba Life Cozumel) operates out of. I’m too cheap to use taxis if the distance is less than 2 miles or so, but with the stares I got from motorists as I walked further and further from the tourist area, this is not normal. Oh well – I’ve never been normal.
There’s no such thing as winter here.
Iguana at the hotel.
After walking back to the hotel, I walked another 1.5 miles in the opposite direction, toward the town center, to pick up some groceries. Finally, I walked back to the hotel along the coastline as the sun was setting. A good first day, with 5 miles walked plus chocolate chip muffins located.
Day 2: Scuba and exploring
I met the Scuba Life guys at the marina at 9 am (having walked there, of course). There were 3 divemasters (JP, Carlos, and Alex), plus the captain, Marcelo, for the 9 guests. Alex is a freelancer and was working with a family of 5. The other guests were a couple from Mexico City, a man from California, and me. All were more experienced divers than me, by far. That’s a good thing, cause it means I’m the limiting factor, so I won’t get bored!
JP and Marcelo readying the boat.
The first dive was the Santa Rosa Wall, a really cool coral wall with several fun swim-throughs. In the hour we were down, we saw a ton of colorful reef fish, plus a big southern stingray and a purple-crowned nudibranch. If you don’t know what a nudibranch is, read this. They’re really cool!
Cozumel is famous for its 100-foot underwater visibility, and I wasn’t let down. I also went deeper on this dive than I’ve ever been before (25 meters; 82 feet). The water temperature was perfect; it was 27-28°C/80-82°F. This, paired with a nearly identical air temperature, meant I didn’t really feel cold at all, even with the slight drizzle while we were between dives.
The second dive was the Paso del Cedral. This dive made it clear why Cozumel is such a hotspot for divers. I saw 3 nurse sharks, 2 green sea turtles, a spotted eagle ray (about 2 meters across), 2 yellow stingrays, a pretty big spiny lobster, 3 eels, an octopus, and, my favorite, a big red seahorse! And that’s not to mention all the reef fish.
This marks my first time diving with sharks, my first eagle ray sighting, my first lobster, and my first seahorse! Wow, what a brilliant dive. And all in just under an hour.
Selfie on the boat. Let’s just agree to pretend I didn’t get my thumb over the lens.
After a relaxing lunch at my hotel’s poolside restaurant, I walked into town again, but this time went about a mile further. I got a couple touristy things (postcards, magnets, etc.) and a fish identification book before heading back. All in all, I walked 7 miles today in addition to the 2 dives. Getting fit!
I’m not good at posing.
There’s even a scuba statue in Cozumel.
Day 3: Scuba and pool
Since the Scuba Life guys took care of my equipment and I didn’t have to lug it back and forth from the hotel, I was able to jog, not walk, over to the marina this morning. There were four guests on the boat this time; 2 women getting certified, a guy from Colorado (Mike), and me. Carlos was teaching the two women, while JP led Mike and me on two dives.
The first was at Palancar Caracolillo. I was already plenty impressed with Cozumel from the first day of diving, but when we descended on this dive it was somehow even better. The visibility, the colors, the abundance of fish – it’s hard to describe how moving it was. I had a GoPro this time, and snapped a few pictures. They don’t do it justice.
On this dive, we saw a spotted eagle ray pair, a sea turtle, several arrow crabs, a cute little seahorse that blended in impeccably with the seagrass, a few eels, and some barracudas. Oh, I was also bit by a damselfish while trying to photograph an eel! JP told me after that the males are pretty protective of their territory. Whoops! Fortunately, it wasn’t painful; just quite a surprise!
A pair of spotted eagle rays flying by.
Sea turtle.
Can you see it? It’s a seahorse! If you’re having trouble, look closely at the seagrass in the middle of the photo.
Big boy! Or girl?
Right before I swam through.
Honeycomb cowfish.
The Scuba Life Cozumel boat.
Next we headed over to Punta Dalila, where we saw a big green moray eel just swimming along the reef. It got pretty dang close to both Mike and JP, and didn’t seem to care at all that we were there. Rather than swim quickly into hiding, it just hung out with us for a few minutes. We also saw a nurse shark and quite a few barracudas.
Moray eel going for a swim.
Me underwater. Still need to work on the posing.
Shark!
Playing with a comb jelly.
Anemone!
Parrotfish.
It was a perfect day for diving – similar temperatures as yesterday but no rain at all, and even better visibility.
By the time I got back to the hotel, it was already about 3pm. I took a quick shower then went out for lunch. One restaurant (Mi Mexico Lindo) had such a cool roof that I just had to reward it with my business. It was 4pm by the time I got there so there was nobody else there, but my steak tacos were great. I got back to the hotel around 6 and promptly fell asleep. It was a good day!
There’s a tequila farmer on the roof.
Day 4: Scuba
Last day of diving for this trip. I jogged to the marina again in the morning, and the boat left the marina at about 9:30. The two women doing their certification were there again, but I was the only other client on board. That meant that it was just JP and me on the dives. I had the camera again, and since it was just us, I could take my time taking photos without having to worry about keeping with a group.
First stop: San Francisco Wall. We got down to 27.5 m/90 ft. (breaking my personal record for deepest dive set earlier this trip), then slowly made our way up. We saw yet another sea turtle, a pair of courting pufferfish (the male wasn’t successful…this time), and a flamingo tongue, a neat little type of marine snail. On top of that, JP somehow found a tiny little painted elysia (about half an inch long, if that!). And, just when we were about to come up, I found a couple of flounders in the sand. I like odd things, and flounders definitely fall into that category, so I was really excited to watch them for a bit.
San Francisco reef.
San Francisco reef.
Queen angelfish.
A funny looking filefish (but aren’t they all funny looking?).
Pufferfish.
A flounder.
And another one!
Does this remind anyone else of that scene in Pirates of the Caribbean?
The second dive, Paradise Reef, was a bit different. Instead of drifting along, we stayed largely in one place. I loved this, as I was able to spot all sorts of things that the other groups of divers we saw flying by missed out on. This included several huge spiny lobsters, channel clinging crabs, flamingo tongues, eels, arrow crabs, hermit crabs, and a tiger’s tail sea cucumber (the size of my arm!). It was a great way to finish up my diving for this trip.
Spiny lobster.
Flamingo tongue!
Why hello there.
Grouper cleaning itself.
Channel clinging crab.
Honeycomb cowfish.
Arrow crab.
I had a great lunch at a little restaurant by the hotel and again fell asleep early. It was another great day!
Day 5: Tulum Rest/writing day
My original plan was to check out the ruins at Tulum (on the mainland) but when I woke up I decided Tulum can wait for another trip. What I really needed/wanted was a nice quiet day of resting and writing. So I fell back asleep and woke up at 11! All the diving/walking/jogging took more out of me than I realized.
There’s not much else to report from this day. As I said, it was a nice quiet day of resting and writing!
Day 6: Travel
My flight wasn’t until 2:30 pm so I spent the morning packing and watching the ocean. It was incredibly windy (enough that they closed the marina for the day!) so there were some cool waves to watch.
The travel went smoothly for the most part, with the exception of a fire alarm at the international baggage claim in Houston that lasted 30 or 40 minutes. I still made my next flight but unfortunately the hubbub meant my bag did not. No worries though since it got dropped off at my house the next morning. Thanks again United!
Summary
I’m so glad I decided to go! I knew for a while that I wanted to go somewhere cool over the winter break but hadn’t thought about where until I started looking at flights after the new year. In the end I picked Cozumel simply because it offered the best combo of: (1) flights I could book with miles; (2) low travel time; and (3) scuba.
The hotel (Casa del Mar) was fine. Not luxurious by any means but it got the job done and wasn’t too expensive. The diving was amazing, and I’d recommend Scuba Life to anyone headed to Cozumel. I’ll definitely try to get back for more diving.
Dives this trip: 6
Total dives: 23
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