Drew...you were a blast too! In fact it did seem that we were all friends just catching up for yet another great vacation!
The trip started without a hitch and some got to start early! (Ah yes the beauty of SD.com trips...you can add or subtract from them most of the time and make them truly your own!)
The lionshare arrived on Thursday...Dandy Don was supposed to have arrived earlier than us but his flight was cancelled and being the savvy traveler that he is...rather than accept travel the next day...he made Continental book him on AA out of Dallas so he was on the same flight as Georoc1, ScubaDrew, Purple Starfish, PamWyn, FLStarfish and myself. (I hope I didn't miss someone in my recap...but more importantly I had everyone on the flight that was supposed to be there so we were set!)
We arrived in Cozumel, entered the country, got bags and then congregated until we got tickets for transfers to the hotel. They were $8 each vs the $10 that we thought they were. The transfers will be a filled van but hey...its a short ride so not that big of a deal. And we are on vacation so it was time to stop sweating the small stuff and start having a great time!
A few minutes later we were at the hotel and getting checked in, getting some lunch and getting our dive waivers filled out. Most everyone including myself were going to do a 'day of arrival' dive and wanted to check gear, weighting and just 'get wet'!
From the moment this group met...we started bonding. Drew is right...it really was like old friends getting together to meet up again! Introductions were made from the first time at the airport, common backgrounds were shared and soon people were becoming quite a tight and cohesive group!
Our first day of diving was great! We saw the usual assortment of Cozumel critters...turtles, sharks, lots of fish and something new...TONS of junvenials to go along with the rebirth of the reef. We were all on one boat which some like and some do not. However we have the group jump with two different dive masters so that those that are ready and last longer air/gas wise can jump first and those that are newer can take their time and stay together. I was with the latter group and after the first 2 dives all of them were doing great. They got their weight settled out, they dialed into their bouyancy and they got the hang of drift diving! Many of us did a 3rd dive of which 75% of the newer divers all joined in on. That says a lot for our newer divers literally all 'jumping in and just doing it"! I can tell you that they did great despite facing some new challenges and learning on the fly...literally as the current on the last dive was pretty swift!
When do you see newer divers conscience of where their octos are and their guages? When do you see newer divers monitoring air regularily and advising their buddies and their dm of their ongoing air status? And where do you see newer divers staying calm in the water and just relaxing...well if you were with me...that is what you would have seen! Oh and by the way...they did great on air consumption too!
The boat put up our SingleDivers.com banner and several people asked us about the group including some divers who just happen to need some dive buddies!
Our crew was awesome and they all wore their singledivers.com t-shirts!
The folks at Del Mar Aquatics have ALWAYS taken great care of our group and this trip albiet short...was no exception. And the folks at the hotel have ALWAYS taken great care of our groups and divers and this time was no exception either!
One of the members was concerned about the impending hurricane and decided to leave on Friday. By Friday night/early Sat am several more opted to leave and by about 6am Saturday morning the balance were booking tickets out. By 9am everyone was booked off the island. Dandy Don was the only member to dive on Saturday with a flight originally for Monday and later changed to Sunday. Most of us departed on Saturday which was entirely too soon but soon enough given the storm approaching. Laptops were plugged in everywhere keyboards flying and Georoc1 and I had dueling laptops booking tickets for people as fast as we could....snagging 9 of 14 available slots on one USAir flight alone. All in all 11 left on Saturday and 3 left on Sunday and 1 left on Monday with everyone now safely out of the country.
We pray that our friends in Cozumel/Cancun/Talum/Holbox will be spared harm so we can be diving with them again soon!
While the trip was short and certainly not without a few complications and surprises...it was as Drew said a "One Day Wonder"!!!
So when they all opened up I had to run down to the correct one and wiat behind a bunch of people...
