Everything we worked for in our cert class led us to this. Initially, we booked this trip as another snorkeling adventure. I mentioned this upcoming trip to someone who advised me, “If you’re going to Cozumel, you should learn to scuba.” It took all of five minutes to talk Shelli into taking the Open Water Scuba Class at Pacific Watersports, our favorite local dive shop, aka The Candy Store. We managed to pass the class, despite pretty grueling conditions for our cert dives in the Puget Sound. Cold. Windy. Wavy. It wasn’t easy but in the end, it gave us a good start on our scuba journey. Something about “What doesn’t kill you … yadda, yadda.”
We stayed at the Occidental Grand Hotel and booked our dives with Blue XT Sea diving, which came highly recommended. They came and picked us up at the hotel dock every morning that we dove. Our first dive was our checkout dive with our soon-to-be great friend, Divemaster Kim Rogers.
The first dive just blew us away. No sooner had I back-rolled into the drink, when a Spotted Eagle Ray cruised across the bottom about 50 feet below me in crystal clear water. Visibility was in excess of 100 feet for every dive and we got to explore some incredible places. Drift diving was just awesome. By the last dive, we both really got our buoyancy under control and were just flying nap-of-the-earth across the bottom, feeling like pros. All the suffering we endured in the Sound really paid off in the 80 degree waters of Cozumel. Sure we were certified to 60 feet, but that went out the window by our third dive when we were cruising along at 80 feet through the Palancar Bricks dive site. Dive number five, still stands out for both of us. Cruising through the huge pinnacles of Palancar Gardens at 80+ feet, we would come across drop-offs that dropped another 60 to 80 feet below us with no reduction in visibility. It really felt like we were flying through a technicolor mountain range. Through the week, we had three different dive masters, Miguel, Monica and Kim. Everyone was just great, but we really clicked with Kim, who ultimately went on to start her own dive outfit, Dive GalaxSea Cozumel. We booked with her on both our return trips. I highly recommend her operation if you want a great personalized experience.
Shelli created her first video from the footage she took. Discovering that it was far more interesting than taking stills, she amassed a ton of footage. She could only do some color correction in post-production, so most of the footage is bathed in blue. We long since learned about using white balance at depth to help bring out the color. I still love this video.
If any video won’t play, click the 3 vertical dots and download it to your device.
This one is a nice still compilation:
Top-side, the hotel was great. It was an all-inclusive deal we got through Costco, so it had some perks and resort credits. Most of the on-resort restaurants were good, but our favorite was the Beach Club. We spent every post-dive lunch there, enjoying the food, drink and incredible ocean views.
On our last day, we rented a jeep and toured the entire island. What a cool place. It still has a special place in our hearts.