Cancun/Cozumel

[laurie12r]

Well, lets try this again. I just posted a long thread and it just disappeared and then said I wasnt logged on. *sigh*

Anyhow, Chris and I just got back from our wedding/honeymoon trip to Cancun. We did our first saltwater dives. We got in 6 dives. 4 in Cancun and 2 in Cozumel. We both agreed that Paradise Reef in Cozumel was our favorite.

We went through a group called Scuba Cancun. We really liked the dive master and crew and they were very concerned with our safety through every dive. HOWEVER, thier equipment left something to be desired. We own everything except our BC's and octopuses. My BC wouldnt tighten, and I had to constantly pull on it during my dive and Chris's regulator/mouthpiece was held together by a zip tie!! Which consequently came undone during one of his dives and he took in a bunch of salt water. Thank goodness he was able to stay calm. With that being said, we are going to buy our own BC's and octopuses ASAP!

Here are just a couple pics of us. I will post more later after we get settled back in. We just got home at 1:45am today!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11108862@N06/

[DeepDiverBob]

And all this time you thought it was just the shops trying to sell you gear...lol...now you know.

Glad you had a good time down there, and congrats on the wedding.

[theskull]

Thanks for the pics. And glad the trip and the diving were a success.

Tanks and weights are the only gear I'm comfortable renting. And for women especially the BC fit is a troublesome thing.

Besides, you need to own your gear so you can dive lots 'round here! But don't buy tanks unless or until you really become a local diving nut--for 2 or 3 trips per year it is cheaper and much easier to rent them than to buy, fill, store, and get inspections and hydros.

theskull

[nauifins73]

Congrats on your wedding. You picked a lovely location. Our daughter did a destination wedding also. The only way to go as far as I am concerned.

I must echo the guys - that is why we recommend gear.

PS Little Seth is a cutie too!!

[MgicTwnger]

Glad you had fun, and yes, rental gear tends to be crap. Buy the good stuff, especially life support equipment.

[laurie12r]

Thanks everyone!

I dont think we would ever desire to own our own tanks. But the BC is a definate must for me. You are exactly right when you say it can be troublesome for women. I had a small one day and it cut into my arm pits and then got a medium the next and it was falling off of me. ugh....

The wedding was beautiful and the dives were incredible. Scuba diving, for me, has turned out to be much more than I had ever anticipated.

Oh we also saw a GIANT sea turtle our very first day. And when I say giant, I mean GIGANTIC! The divemaster even said it was rare to see a turtle of that size. Of course being our very first saltwater dive, none of us had a camera on us. I loved the yellow tailed fish. I had one that followed me the entire dive. Maybe it thought I was its mother since my fins have yellow tips! LOL

I couldnt have been more happy with the whole experience, and I know Chris really loved it too.

[theskull]

. . . . Scuba diving, for me, has turned out to be much more than I had ever anticipated. . .

Amen to that! I bet every member of this board feels that way!

And it only gets better the more you do it and the better you get at it.

theskull

[modiver]

Glad you had a great time and enjoyed the diving. Owning your own certainly has merit. I agree with the Skull...tanks and weights are okay to rent, everything else I bring.
Cozumel is one of my favorite places to dive. Congratulations on your wedding

[Atlaua]

I'd like to say sorry about the eqipment troubles but as has already been indicated, it isn't abnormal to get questionable equipment at a destination.

Like TS said, you really want to own everything but the weights and tanks. Consider Scuba Diving to be a lot like golf....yea it hurts a lot up front and it hurts a little each time you play.

That being said, it doesn't have to hurt that much. You can get a complete set of gear that is very good quality for both of you for less than $1k each. If you want some basic stuff you can go for less than $600 each, and still have a good safe set of eqipment......Golf clubs.

All that being said, wow, you really did strike a bit of gold. The diving on Cozumel and the dving on the mainland (not counting cenotes) is like day and night. The fact that you found a shop that took you over to Cozumel for a dive was pure luck. And good luck at that as it turned you on to some fabulous diving.

I consider Cozumel to be my second home. To find a bad dive off Cozumel you either have to have arrived just after a major Hurricane, have gone on a dive well outside your comfort zone, or be impossible to please. I can count on 1 hand the number of dives outside of Cozumel that have been better than my worst dive there. When you are ready to go back drop me a line I can tell you where to stay, where to eat and who to dive with. (And if you're not ready to pony up for the eqipment yet, I assure you that my "who to dive with" list will set you up with good eqipment.)


Gratz.

James

[laurie12r]

Thanks James! And we will probably take you up on that. Chris and I both said we would just stay in Cozumel the next time, as the van ride and ferry were a little much from Cancun. It took us almost 2hrs just to get there from our hotel! We had to listen to a guy barf the entire ferry ride home. :( It wasnt very pleasant.

[chris_thompson98]

But it was really funny to see that guy thorw up after slamming beers before we left. We have allready decided to get our own BCs and regulators. And the next time we go were deff going to stay on Cozumel. My stuff wanst so bad cept for the regulator poping off of the mouth peice and sucking in a ton of salt water.
It was my first panic situation. I almost freaked out but tried to stay as calm as possible and put in my backup till I got it fixed. It did it again 15 mintues later.
We will get the rest of our pictures uploaded. Thank you for all the replies!

[BottomDweller]

I just have to stick my two cents in here. I, too, decided to buy my own gear after a bad experience with rental gear. I just about had to find another job at the time to pay for it, but it's been so great having my own that it's made up for the expense. The last BC I rented had weight pockets that wouldn't stay in - the velcro was shot and it was older so it didn't have a positive clip system; the velcro was the only method of holding the pockets in. Anyway, congrats on your wedding and for getting to go to such a great dive destination. Enjoy your new gear when you get it!

[laurie12r]

Thanks bottomdweller! You are so right about the gear. The velcro must be the first to go. I also wonder if the salt water is harder on the BC's as well. I'm sure they get extended use there though. Either way, definately a good idea to purchase your own.

[Gluehuffer]

Be sure to try a cenote dive on your next trip to Coz/Can. I liked the cenotes better than the ocean. It is an experience you will not forget.

[theskull]

Thanks bottomdweller! You are so right about the gear. The velcro must be the first to go. I also wonder if the salt water is harder on the BC's as well. I'm sure they get extended use there though. Either way, definately a good idea to purchase your own.

Yes, salt water is very corrosive; lots of direct sunlight to degrade the fabrics as well; and of course, frequent hard use.

I'm about to take a very short trip to Cancun, and am taking my own snorkelling gear! Certainly not a safety issue, but it's still worth it for the comfort and fit.

theskull

[laurie12r]

I figured as much. The saltwater literally took off all my fingernail polish! :|

I guess I'm not familiar with 'cenotes'. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the advice. :)

[laurie12r]

Oh... I added more pics. Go check em out!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11108862@N06/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11108862@N06/)