Dive: 58
Cozumel Dive: 3
Date: 11/29/11
Site: Kukulkan, Playa del Carmen
Avg/Max Depth: 29/47
Temp: 77
TBT/CBT: 0:41/47:29
Buddies: Nick, Curtis, Kristen

On Tuesday, we were really sick of this no diving business, so we decided to head over to Playa del Carmen to dive the cenotes. Cenotes are basically naturally made caverns and caves. There are stalactites and stalagmites; it’s basically like swimming under ground. The water is fresh and crystal clear. At times it didn’t even feel like we were underwater at all. It got dark, so we all had to carry lights. Our Divemaster, Delphine, instructed us on different signals to use with the lights before we took the plunge. As disappointing as it was, I decided not to bring my camera along. I didn’t want to juggle the camera and the light, and I figured the photos wouldn’t turn out well in the low (and sometimes lack of) lighting.

We weren’t completely in a cave. For the most part there was always light from somewhere, and we could usually see the surface, even if it was off in the distance and around a corner. I was a bit nervous going into it, but as usual, once underwater, I was fine.

Although we were never very deep, there were lots of ups and downs as we swam over the landscaping, and my ears started giving me problems right away. Typically with my ear issues, it’s only on the second dive, and that’s after diving for a couple of days and descending to 60 or so feet. Not on the first dive at 20 feet. It was very frustrating, especially knowing I was holding up the group. Granted, the group was just the four of us and Delphine, so I didn’t feel too badly. Still, it’s not fun to be that person. But it comes with the territory of diving, and I think everyone has been there at some point. Hopefully it’s something other people are patient about.

The water felt chilly, and I was glad that Delphine convinced me to wear a shorty wet suit or I would have been freezing. There were only a few little fishies here and there. The coolest thing for me to see was the halocline. When the salt and fresh water meet, it creates this oily layer that we could see. When we descended into it, everything became blurry. It was a head trip, that’s for sure.

Here’s a fancy little video Curtis put together: