Cancún - Scuba diving

It was my first time scuba diving after a long distance flight. I arrived on a Sunday to Cancún and slept well so I was feeling fairly confident that I was in a good condition to dive on the Monday. Boy, was I wrong!

As soon as I got into the water I knew something wasn't quite right but, being stubborn as I am, I pushed through and refused to quit. I felt very nauseous all throughout the dive and kept telling myself: You are safe. It is possible to vomit through the regulator. It will be near impossible to clean properly but you won't drown! Stay calm and carry on. I managed to push through with only the nausea. As soon as I got on the boat, my luck turned. I spent the next hour, perched on the side of the boat vomiting. The crew looked at me with pity. Every time I tried to drink water, it would just come out. I obviously did not dive any more. I was better on the way back and managed not to vomit although the boat was bouncing a bit and, as soon as my feet hit land, all nausea disappeared as if my magic. Well, at least I only lost a dive. Lesson learnt for the future: have a rest day after a long distance flight.

I planned the dives so that there were a few free days towards the end of the trip in case some got cancelled and had to be re-schedule. I'm glad I did it because there were a few days of strong wind. According to the locals, much more wind than usual. When the wind is strong, the boat struggles to navigate out of the shelter of the strip between the continent and Isla las Mujeres. One of the days the captain tried even though all other boats were returning to shore but half-way through quit and returned to port. I was finding the boat ride quite fun, being bounced up and down the waves and permanently splashed with water but the captain is the boss and his word is law. A few Americans that had come over to Mexico to do their PADI training left with it unfinished as they did not allocate enough days on their trip to cater for any eventuality.

I dove with Scuba Cancún Dive Centre which is based in Cancún (Avenida Kukulcán, km 5), 10min bus ride from my hotel. I had to be carrying my equipment to and from the diving centre so I wanted the most convenient option. Drinking water is available which is pretty much a bag of ice which melts throughout the day so you always have cold water to drink (smart!). They are nice and helpful and I would recommend diving with them. One of my divemasters was Polish which I was not expecting at all. As usual tipping is expected, propina, 10% of the price paid for the dive is enough and they have a big shell where you leave the tip which is divided by the crew. Scuba Cancún Dive Centre

I had heard that the Mexicans were quite relaxed with the rules. It's not wrong. Be sure to know what you are doing. One of my dive buddies was given a BCD with a leaking hose. The divemaster was quite relaxed saying it was a small leak but poor Matthew grabbed onto it throughout the dive and kept checking the amount of air left, clearly worried it may run out! It didn't but...

Please be advised that sunscreen is not allowed in Cancún so if you want to avoid getting burned you'll need to stick to the shade of the boat or keep your diving suit on for longer. Matthew joked calling Cancún 'the capital of melanoma'! Joke aside, sunscreen destroys the coral reef so it's understandable.

I have my own equipment for 3 very good reasons: 

• I know it's always working and it top condition.
• Hygiene - my mouth is the only one my regulator knows.
• It fits me - being petite means that hired diving gear is always too big for me.

As I was travelling alone, I usually join in with the group booked to dive on the same day as me. The advantage is that you meet new people everyday, the disadvantage is that choosing where to dive and what to see is not just dependant on the weather conditions, but also on what the group wants to do. Luckily I am quite relaxed, I love diving and I really do not care where as long as it's in the water. I met a Canadian hedge fund manager, an American anaesthetist, an American therapist and a mixed South Korean & Japanese couple studying in America. There was always conversation flowing.

With Scuba Cancún they have diving packages which you can pick according to what you want to do. I booked the following dives:

• Underwater Museum & shallow reef dive (2 dives) - 1 day
• Cozumel (2 dives) - 1 day
• Cenotes (2 dives) - 1 day
• Wreck (2 dives) - 1 day

The dive centre has a package for US$361 that includes the first 3 dives and the added 2-dives (wreck) cost US$65 if you have your own equipment. Total for 8 dives with own equipment was US$426 (MXN$8,925). Not a bad price at all!  

The Cancún Underwater Museum (Museu Subacuático de Arte - MUSA) is not worth the time. A few statues covered with some corals. Did not convince me and, talking to other divers, they weren't convinced either.

The wreck dives did not happen in the end and were replaced with reef dives. The wind was too strong and the boat wasn't able to go past Isla las Mujeres as the majority of the wrecks are in less sheltered waters.

The reef in Cancún is part of the world's longest coral reef, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, also known as Great Maya Reef or The Great Mayan Reef. It stretches over 1,126km (700mi) along the coast of 4 countries: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras. The reed system is home to more than 65 species of coral, 350 species of mollusc and more than 500 species of fish. There are numerous species that live in and around the reef system that are endangered or under some degree of protection.

There is a fee to dive in the Cancún National Marine Park: MXN$37. If you do not lose the wristband, you only pay this once. If you do, you pay for it everyday. I kept it in my purse so I wouldn't loose it.

The Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef and encompasses the reeds on the south side of the Cozumel Island. There isa fee to dive in this park as well: MXN$100.

I thought that the Caribbean Sea was very similar to the Red Sea. Turquoise warm water (sea temperature during teh dives was 21-27⁰C), white sand, plenty of corals and colourful fish.

What I saw:

• Leatherback Turtle
• Green Turtle
• Stingray
• White Spotted Eagle Ray
• Barracuda
• Cow Fish
• Snapper
• Angelfish
• Stripped Triggerfish
• Atlantic Triggerfish
• Reef  Butterflyfish
• Sand Diver
• Foureye butterflyfish

I did not see some of the highlights of the area: whale sharks (season between June-September), bull sharks (season between November-March in Playa del carmen), Cozumel Splendid toadfish.

Cozumel trip:

Prepare for a long day if you are going to Cozumel from Cancún. 

Pick-up is at 7.40am. I was the first one, then 3 more from Puerto Morales. Southbound to Playa del Carmen to get the ferry. 

Our driver left us on the queue to enter whilst he was going to get our tickets and for a good 5-10min we thought he had left us altogether because we got to the top of the queue and had to wait for him as we did not have the tickets to board. He finally showed up with our tickets, which were part of the package (MXN$220.57, £8.4, US$11), and then left us on our own to get the ferry which departed at 10.15am. Departure times are not set in stone, they are approximate. It departs once it's full.

The ferry journey was about 40min and we were met in Cozumel by a taxi driver to take us to the boat. The same happened on the way back.

This was the busiest diving trip in Cancún. On the other days we were 2-5 divers on the boat. In Cozumel there were about 12 divers on the boat. Lunch was included but it was just a small sandwich + banana so, on our return to get the ferry back, we stopped at a restaurant for some food and cocktails.

Ferry was at 5pm and there was a singer entertaining the passengers. I had had 2 cocktails, he wasn't too bad and I was feeling generous so I gave him a very generous propina.

Cenotes trip:

The day of the Chichén Itzá tour we could float on a cenote, but diving in a cenote is another experience.

Chac Mool Cenote was our destination. 

The area has facilities: toilets, dressing rooms, shop.

Dressing room

Shop

Parking area

Diving in a cenote is different from diving in the sea. It's cold and dark in places, there is very little life, whether fauna or flora, and, although not a very tight cave, you can't be claustrophobic to go in. Good buoyancy is essential to navigate long the caves behind the other divers and to avoid lifting the sand from the bottom which severely impairs visibility. I struggled in the beginning as the diver in front of me was going too slow and the one behind me was going too fast. At some point we seemed to have figured out how to cope with each other's speeds.

Cenote water is very clear, as the water comes from rain water infiltrating slowly through the ground, and therefore contains very little suspended matter. We could see stalactites and stalagmites inside the air pockets in the caves. The light shinning from a hole in the ceiling and through the water has a magical look.

Although my dive computer stated that the water temperature was 25⁰C, I was shivering when I came out. I was wearing a 3mm full body diving suit which should have kept me warm but the lack of sun makes a huge difference. My advice would be to have a full body suit, hood, boots, gloves and do not forget a torch.

There is also time to swim in the cenote as you are waiting for your next dive. I did so and watched from above as divers were entering and exiting the caves.

There was a photographer working in the cenote. I bough a package of pictures for MXN$500 (£19, US$25) and they show the highlights of the cenote.