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HOT Cozy Nites in Cozumel 7/22-7/29 2005


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#16 Travelnsj

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Posted 30 July 2005 - 10:41 PM

And George aka Tolly got the "Best Invisible Buddy" award...in a sharing air drill...this was NOT a real emergency it was merely a drill...how did we know...well no EBS came across the screen...er...anyway...George did a share air drill on the resident 'spare gas diver' and was so perfectly neutrally bouyant that the spare gas diver aka me did not know he was there borrowing my octo until one of the photographers gave it away! He was able to hover so closely that had they not given his presence away...I would have never known he was there...NO WONDER my air consumption was low on that dive!  :idea:

Ah yes...what a great trip indeed!!! -ww


Can we arrange about a 30 minute "sharing air drill".....twice a day? I promise to be almost as "Invisible of a Buddy" :unsure:

I am so excited a 60 minute dive at 120' :teeth:
You must endeavor to pursue!

#17 sun50

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 06:34 AM

Great trip report.

Thanks for the dives, folks (and the tolerence for the inexperienced single guy).

My only additions?

Every person on the trip was a nice guy or gal. There wasn't a person I wouldn't trust as a roomate or dive buddy. It's the kind of group that teaches you about yourself.

Kamala? Go get some rest now. You worked your ass off (Texas times 2 :cool2: ). You deserve a break.

Jim(SFRet) said it all. It was fantastic diving with everyone. Kamala never stopped working(except for some sleep and diving), whether at the hotel or at the dive boats, and it was apparent. No problems, glitches or complaints; an all around great job; and I can't wait to go on another SD trip!
And Que;...yes you do have to surface once in a while!(Not that anyone wanted to).
I also have to comment on the people of Cozumel, and the staff of Casa Del Mar. They did a remarkable job of putting everything back together after a major hurricane a week earlier although some might wish they hadn't got the pool functioning again since we kept flooding the bar and bartenders with the "whale riding". :teeth:

#18 sfret

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 08:17 AM

Hey guys. I hope you got my email requesting you send your pictures to my email. If you do so, I will make a composite CD/copy for everybody who was on the trip.

Send me your address (duh) with the pictures!!!

If you didn't get my PM, PM me for the email address to send it to.

I'd like to get all your pics by friday. Then, have the copies in the mail by Monday.

Jim
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#19 sfret

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 11:07 AM

Picture removed for server.... Never Mind !!!!

Edited by sfret, 02 August 2005 - 09:11 PM.

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#20 sfret

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 11:23 AM

Picture removed for server.... Never Mind !!!!

Edited by sfret, 02 August 2005 - 09:11 PM.

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#21 sfret

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 11:23 AM

Picture removed for server.... Never Mind !!!!

Edited by sfret, 02 August 2005 - 09:10 PM.

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#22 Guest_Sea Urchin_*

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 11:56 AM

Warning: This trip report will be long...maybe too long. :dazzler:

My trip started at 4AM getting off of work. We had to change flight at the last minute because the agency we were booked on canceled due to damages to the high-end resorts on the south side of the island. So I find myself with an extra 2 hours and it was a good thing I headed to the airport. It took me 2 hours due to an accident on LBJ when normally only a one hour drive. If we were on the original flight, I wouldn't have made it so I considered myself very lucky.

Doug greeted me at the terminal as I wheeled my luggage around. We sat down and chatted before John joined us. Both of them had been very cautious and packed light planning to buy more T-shirts when they get there. On the other hand, I scaled down from three suitcases to only two but the two combined outweight me. Champion Air had a 44 lbs. limit so we all thought I would have to shell out some money. Kamala joined us later and she was in the same overweight situation like me. Lady Luck shined on us again because the guy checking us in actually came out from behind the counter to tag our luggages instead of having us passing it through on the scale.

The flight was not full so we get to spread out chatting with the flight attendants and other passengers. I had my blanket with me and three empty seats and took a wonderful nap. Yes, Doug, you can post that picture.

It was raining lightly when we arrive in Cozymel. We saw the damages driving through town on the way to the hotel. The landscaping at our hotel got damaged pretty bad. Some of the guests were covered in mud helping out with the clean-up.
Doug and John, blessed their heart, went for a shore dive in the rain. Kamala tooked care of business with the dive shop and front desk. I headed upstair to unpack and took another nap. The hotel was operating under back-up power so AC and some lights were not functioning. The hotel staff was constantly cleaning the lobby so we wouldn't slip and fall.

As we were eating dinner, the main power came back on so we lucked out again and have AC back before bedtime. The guys braved the flooding downtown and went on their T-shirt search. I was still sleepy and went to bed at 8PM needing the energy to keep-up with John on his quest to DIVE DIVE DIVE.

The next day, we did two boat dives in the morning, had lunch, another two boat dives, drinks, dinner, etc. Dennis apparently made it in earlier than we thought and actually saw us departing for our afternoon dive...Sorry, Dennis. We met Dennis and Eric that night at dinner. Eric caught a red-eye from San Diego and went through a couple of connections so he did travel longer than any of us. Good conversation and good company sets the tone for the rest of the week. The rain went away and the birds and bees came back. The bees like our drinks and went swimming in them...even in the Coca Cola Light. We had to rescue them from drowning just to have another one dive in. The rinse tanks by the dock were not functioning so we were rinsing by the pool. It's a nice shady area with lots of birds. There was this one yellow parakeet that came down about a foot away to visit everytime I'm there.

Sunday came and we had a surprise visitor...George tooked advantage of the last minute airfare specials to Cozy and came down for some R & R. He arrived as we were finishing up with lunch with the bees. I ran into Jim on the stairs as we were departing for the shore dive so we waited while he gather his gear to join us. We drifted down to Papa Hoggs and caught a taxi back. I discovered that if you stand in the middle of the street in full gear, taxis (even the ones going in opposite direction) will turn around and stop.

The rest of week went by too quickly as we were having fun diving and off-gassing. Rene, our dive master found so many neat things that we wouldn't see with other dive masters. We were very fortunate to have Kamala working it with the dive shop all week so we could dive with him. I like all the dives we did. Each was unique and special to me. Being the only one on Nitrox, I had an advantage and was reluctant on some dives to get out of the water. Some of us had more fun practicing our buoyancy catching rides with other divers and I'm just as guilty. As a rule of thumb, I'm looking over my back more frequently any time I'm diving with SD. As for kicking people, I'm apologizing in advance for kicking anyone who got too close (Sorry, Eric).



***This section is a report for the ladies of SD so all the guys can skip down***

Dennis is so graceful under water. He's tall (6'5") but move like a ballet dancer and have the heart of a romantic. His wife is truly lucky.

Doug is so sunny nature...friendly with both men and women. It's nice to see someone excited about a trip and enjoy to anticipation.

Eric is a cutie. He's moving to San Antonio next month so we need to get a group together down there to visit. Watching him airborn over the swimming pool with Willie was a treat.

George has a mischievious streak in him you can spot a mile away. His reflexes are pretty quick too. You have to be pretty agile mentally and physically to keep up with him.

Jerry (the Old Bull) can spot all the pretty women. He also has the patience to market SD to all of them too.

Jim is so open and uncensored. If I only have half his energy...

John (our Charlie) got influenced by Karl. I'm not sure what happened at Flower Garden but we couldn't keep up with him now. I'm glad we were able to DIVE DIVE DIVE.

************* Going back to the official trip report***********************

I couldn't have better company for surface intervals. We spent some time in the pool at the swim-up bar. Eric riding Willie will be hard to beat in my memory. The conversation I have with each person will always be special to me. The people on the island are still cleaning up after Emily and it'll be a little different when we come back and I hope to make it back soon. I'm wrapping this up and heading to the shower. :twist:

:lmao: everyone for making this trip so special,

Que :cool2:


#23 sun50

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 12:12 PM

Que.........
Not the shower AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#24 Guest_Sea Urchin_*

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 12:25 PM

Que.........
Not the shower AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since I was typing this in bed...I have to get up and shower for the day. Knew I would make somebody laugh.

#25 sfret

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 12:42 PM

Special "Hostess" Kudo's to Que. I landed at 2. Met Que in the stairwell at 2:30, and she held the group in the water so I could go on a shore dive. Wet at 3. That's a record. :lmao:

And, yes, she is VERY CLEAN. Almost Suran wrapped in the water.
"Can't we all just get along?" -Rodney King

#26 sfret

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 12:54 PM

Picture removed for server.... Never Mind !!!!

Edited by sfret, 02 August 2005 - 09:13 PM.

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#27 sun50

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 01:26 PM

One thing that went on that needs to be mentioned:

On our first day, Rene, our DM, proved to be very good at leading the group and finding all sorts of things. Rene was not supposed to be our DM the entire week, just that first day. He is Del Mar's top DM, and was promised to the "other", much larger group. Kamala worked liked crazy trying to convinve the bosses at Del Mar that Rene should stay with us for the week. She had to first convince Juanito(?) the shop manager, who then had to convince "el Jefe" the owner, to allow him to stay with us. This took a lot of time and effort on Kamala's part, but I think we all agree that the effort was very worthwhile. Rene is the best, and I hope we dive with him again on the next trip to COZ.
Thanks again Kamala for the supreme effort. :lmao:
Doug

#28 WreckWench

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 01:31 PM

Photo Gallery of all the fun:

Hey gang...you can post your pics in the gallery set up for this trip by clicking here!

Contact me directly at Kamala@SingleDivers.com for your private or group travel needs or 864-557-6079 AND don't miss SD's 2018-2021 Trips! ....here! Most are once in a lifetime opportunities...don't miss the chance to go!!
SD LEGACY/OLD/MANUAL Forms & Documents.... here !

Click here TO PAY for Merchandise, Membership, or Travel
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864-557-6079 tel/celfone/office or tollfree fax 888-480-0906

#29 WreckWench

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Posted 31 July 2005 - 01:35 PM

One thing that went on that needs to be mentioned:

On our first day, Rene, our DM, proved to be very good at leading the group and finding all sorts of things. Rene was not supposed to be our DM the entire week, just that first day. He is Del Mar's top DM, and was promised to the "other", much larger group. Kamala worked liked crazy trying to convinve the bosses at Del Mar that Rene should stay with us for the week. She had to first convince Juanito(?) the shop manager, who then had to convince "el Jefe" the owner, to allow him to stay with us. This took a lot of time and effort on Kamala's part, but I think we all agree that the effort was very worthwhile. Rene is the best, and I hope we dive with him again on the next rip to COZ.
Thanks again Kamala for the supreme effort. :lmao:
Doug

You are most welcome Doug...however I also had to convince Rene to stay with us (all the Spanish you heard) as well as the 'boss aka el hefe' to support and approve the decisions we got at the lower levels. :dazzler:

Of course it helped a lot that I told them we were bringing a big group in January to Cozumel and we'd love to stay and dive with them!

I guess they want us to dive with them in January! :twist:

Contact me directly at Kamala@SingleDivers.com for your private or group travel needs or 864-557-6079 AND don't miss SD's 2018-2021 Trips! ....here! Most are once in a lifetime opportunities...don't miss the chance to go!!
SD LEGACY/OLD/MANUAL Forms & Documents.... here !

Click here TO PAY for Merchandise, Membership, or Travel
"Imitation is the sincerest flattery." - Gandhi
"Imitation is proof that originality is rare." - ScubaHawk
SingleDivers.com...often imitated...never duplicated!

Kamala Shadduck c/o SingleDivers.com LLC
2234 North Federal Hwy, #1010 Boca Raton, FL 33431
formerly...
710 Dive Buddy Lane; Salem, SC 29676
864-557-6079 tel/celfone/office or tollfree fax 888-480-0906

#30 Scubaman

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Posted 02 August 2005 - 03:10 PM

:teeth:
Wow to read all the trip reports and try to add to them is very difficult. So many good things happened to the group and so many good dives. It is amazing how a group of pretty much different background people( from all over the country) can come together(meet on an island in the Carribean ocean near Mexico) for the purpose of diving( drifting over the oceans bottom) and find that they can dive together(all in the water at the same time) on the same reef and enjoy the dives (laughing till your mask floods) and the company of each other(in the water and on land), bonding as a group of focused(well most of the time) excellent divers.
To each and all of you I have to say thank you for an excellent time and good dive commaradre. I was impressed with your skills, your safety conciousness,dive etiquette, and the feeling like I had known you all for a life time.
As I drifted along the reef-Chaunkanaub--I got into my state of mine--I call it the Zen of diving--I reflected on the experiences of the week and each member of the group and how nature would have portrayed them in another animal form--

Que--the butterfly--moves with the group yet is her own separate being

Jerry-- the Barricuda--watches all and glides motionless with the current

Doug--the Owl--wise and ever watchful

John---the bear---strength energy and cunningness, ever mindful of his
surroundings
Eric---the tiger--watchful, fearless and able to leap distances in a bound

Jim---The eagle---takes charge of his postion yet watches the group

George---Dolphin--moves easy in the water or on land, with the intellegent glisen in
his eye

WW---The eagle ray---though you are not sure what the ray does you know it is in control of all in its relam, being the leader, looked to by all as such, and thankful that it is in our presnce. Kamala thank you--the trip was excellent and after thirty nine years of diving and many dive outtings, you have renewed my feeling of a promise given is a promise to be kept. All that you said would be was and more--

:) Thank You all

Scubaman-Z--Dennis
In life I have found no matter where you are headed, you will always be the first to know when you arrive.




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