In February I had a significant birthday so decided to spend it somewhere warmer than the UK – off we go to Mexico!
I’d heard from friends that there was some exceptional diving in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, on the Caribbean side so I researched the local dive shops and settled on one called Diversity Diving. This was a small operation but they provided me with 3 days of super diving.
There was lots of dive shops in Playa del Carmen where Kate and I were staying.
I settled for the Trifecta package offered by Diversity diving. The first day’s dive was to Shark Point where Bull Sharks sometimes can be seen, however we were told they may have moved on a week ago. It was a challenging dive due to the strong current. No sharks unfortunately but we did see Sting Rays and a Remora at this sandy location. Thanks to Mustafa and his girlfriend for guiding.
The second dive was a shallow reef dive called Shangri-La abundant in life and colourful coral.
The second days diving was supposed to be at the island of Cozumel, however when it gets rough the harbour master closes the port to small boats as used by the dive shops. So instead we headed inland to dive somewhere that is not affected by current, tides or harbour masters – the Cenotes.
Cenotes are an underground river system which flow beneath the entire Yucatan peninsula. It is possible to dive them without cave diving qualifications and with a guide. As long as you remain within 60m of a visible exit it is considered to be cavern diving. There is a thermocline in these cenotes that separates the fresh water on top from the salt water beneath. As you descend from the gin clear freshwater through the thermocline the visibility deteriorates to a hazy visibility. Then you emerge into a slightly warmer and crystal clear salt water.
Diving above the thermocline gave some ethereal vistas. The thermocline looks like a mist that you are floating above. The sunlight is pouring in from the opening above and creating rainbows on the rocks.
Another interesting feature of the Cenotes was the Stalactites and Stalagmites from the time when the Cenotes was not submerged.
The first Cenote I dived was called Kukulcan with a max depth of 12.5m.
Although we were not allowed to take in cameras there was a professional photographer on hand!
The dive guide Andrea lead the way. A fixed line can be seen which shows the route.
The second Cenote dive was called Chac-Mool and joined with Little Brother.
This cavern was less busy and slightly more technical. It included an air dome, a cavern that we emerged into with an air space. Daylight could be seen through a small hole ensuring fresh air. There were tree roots in the ceiling of the cavern reaching down to the top of the water. Sitting on top of one of the roots was a tarantula! I’ve never seen a tarantula before on a dive!
A good opportunity to test your buoyancy control and use your breathing to keep your trim. Interestingly I didn’t really notice any difference in my buoyancy when transitioning from fresh water to sea water, but I did notice the temperature change. As you would expect there was very few fish, but there were some solitary ones.
For me the Cenotes was the highlight of the diving and next time I would happily just dive them. I didn’t feel at all claustrophobic which had crossed my mind before doing it.
Finally, the Cozumel port was opened to small vessels and that was my final day of diving.
We shared a boat with Spanish divers from another dive shop. It took about 45minutes going flat out using 400hp of propulsion to get to the marine conservation area off the SW of Cozumel. The first dive was a wall dive. The wall extending down to 600m+, we surveyed to a depth of 35m.
A barracuda appeared as we were on our 6m stop which was cool. Also cool was when myself and the dive guide Megan was surrounded by an inquisitive shoal of fish.
It was apparent that the sea life in this marine conservation park were totally at ease with us the divers.
I would highly recommend diving with the guys at Diversity Diving - a very professional and friendly outfit.