Rapid Rick
"Just dive, baby"

#1, 3 May, afternoon dive, day after my birthday, Villa Blanca, vis
excellent sucked air down (SAC rate turned out to be .42 surface computed
feet per minute--SCFM, so not as bad as I thought...), current ripping
pretty good, blowing N. Seemed to pick up when deep. Dove w/John, Ken, Bob &
DM Alphonso. Nice dive, good 2 B back in the water again, saw huge black
grouper, & got close 2 big Spotted Eagle Rays at end of dive. Let the
nitrogen wars begin! Followed by conversation, pool, beer. Dive # 1119, max
82', avg 56' @ 40 minutes.

#2, 4 May Palancar Gardens, 1st morning dive, vis started good, then got
excellent at the end, reminded me of Southern Links on Okinawa, other divers
said that all the sea fans that used to be here were stripped bare by
Hurricane Wilma (a cat 5 storm which laid waste to Cozumel for ~ 3 days),
saw big/little lobsters, my first Splendid Toadfish, cool juvenile Hawksbill
turtle. DM was Jesus w/John as buddy. Dive # 1120, max 85', avg 57' @ 45
minutes.

#3, 4 May, Tormentos, 2nd morning dive, vis excellent, current blowing
pretty good, looked like a lot of sand dumped on the reef from the shallows
(Wilma), actually fairly decent shelling--got a few olives, small cowries,
saw big Barracuda, Horse-eye jacks, 2 Spotted Eagle Rays, and a Southern
Stingray (seen while dropping down). Same DM/buddy. Was kind of cool while
coming up and doing safety stop, a tiny juvenile Bar Jack was flitting
around behind us--I liked Tormentos more than Palancar Gardens. Surface Air
Consumption (SAC) rate was .37, so getting down to the normal range 4 me.
Actually showed medium tissue groups 100% saturated at the end of this
dive--the nitrogen wars have begun! Dive # 1121, max 66', avg 45' @ 47
minutes.

#4, 4 May, afternoon dive, Villa Blanca wall, vis awesome, wow, a really
nice dive this one, current blowing real good again--a riot of fish, saw big
crab in a sponge (on a hunch--most times you just swim by the barrel sponges
without looking inside), couple molted lobster shells, big silver grouper, 2
big black grouper, huge French Angels, the usual Queen Angels seen on every
dive--great dive! Boat: Renegade, which while smoky didn't break down like
it did a few days earlier, I'd heard. Dive # 1122, max 73', avg 48' @ 54
minutes, SAC 35.9 -- I'm gettin' back in the gruuve...

#5, 4 May, Las Palomas (sp?), night dive, yup, 4-dive day, current moving N
to S on this dive which I label THE LOBSTER DIVE! Biggest damn bug I've ever
seen--and I've seen hundreds of lobster! Huge sleeping grouper, rays, eels,
more huge lobster. DM Martin on small skiff Johny, met hippie-lookin'
non-drinker Ted who did his first night dive and was floored--wow, what a
way to start night diving! Mask fogging real bad (I hate breaking in new
masks...), but dive was really a great one--great way to end day #2 in Coz,
though kinda deep for a night dive, but no worries! Quick dinner, cigar, &
tequila by the pool and I was schwacked 4 the night. SAC @ 35.4--just goes
to show how relaxing night dives are. Dive # 1123, 61' max, 49' avg @ 48
minutes.

#6, 5 May, Horseshoe, 1st morning dive, DM Ricardo, Alphonso (real nice guy)
was on the boat also. This was one of the best dives I did on Coz--it earned
a gold star. Incredible pinnacles, Nurse Shark, lots of live coral in great
shape, light current, fabulous vis, got a pic of a lobster when I dropped
down, soon got "card full" message on camera--stuck in SHQ mode--dooh! SAC
was .33--man, drift diving is the heat! Dive # 1124, 89' max, 51' avg @ 47
minutes.

#7, 5 May, Delilah (as in my, my, my...), 2nd morning dive, lots of people
on boat wanted to do this spot, nice current, smaller group, fabulous dive,
coral outcroppings and bonnies, swim throughs, ledges, lots of cool fish,
nice vis & current. Talked to Maureen & son Forrest after dive--told me she
dove with the Sea Dragon @ Ko Luk N of Phuket--A+ rating as a
live-aboard--will have to scope it out next time I'm in Thailand. Once again
I was camera rookie, somehow got stuck in SHQ mode again and the card filled
up way too fast--WTF, over! Ended with 1400 psi. Dive # 1125, 66' max, 42'
avg @ 49 minutes, SAC .36.

#8, 5 May, Villa Blanca wall (seeing a trend here 4 afternoon dives?), OK
vis, strong current again, monstrous blue parrotfish, big green moray (many
folks couldn't believe the size of it, I've seen bigger), cool torpedo ray,
nice SHORT dive... Dive # 1126, 70' max, 50' avg @ 46 minutes, SAC .39.

#9, 6 May 1st morning dive, Santa Rosa Wall. This is a site many folks said
used to be the best dive in Coz, thus, many of them said it was kinda sad 2
C what Wilma did. DM was Victor the Horrible (good guy, but too preachy for
me--but, I guess you gotta keep on folks to keep their assess of the coral),
light current, vis great, literally TONS and ACRES of sand has been moved
off the flats and is now covering Santa Rosa wall. It will be a while B4 the
current blows that sand off the reefs, kinda sad, but mother nature's been
doing this for centuries so that's the natural way of things. Really nice
dive, though, great relief on the wall and vis made it even better, cruised
the flats after coming off the wall, looks like they took a pretty good hit
here also, Victor said 70% of coral gone--wow. Dive # 1127, 88' max, 54' avg
@ 50 minutes, SAC .34.

#10, 6 May, 2nd morning dive, Tormentos, current light, DM Victor, not as
good as earlier Tormentos dive, but still fun; lobster, turtle; computer
download says I went into deco @ 38 minutes...don't remember that... Met
Gary from Cincy who wanted 2 do Devil's Throat on Monday as part of Paradise
Diver's Experienced Diver Program (EDP). Looks like Gordon & Gil (from
Canada) & two of Gary's friends (Terry & Don) will be joining us--whooo
hooo--gotta earn that T-shirt! Dive # 1128, 60' max, 44' avg @ 51 minutes,
SAC .33.

#11, 6 May, afternoon dive, Villa Blanca wall (yup...again)--wow, what a
dive! Got off the flats and down the slope & saw big grouper @ a cleaning
station; while dropping down we started swimming N into the current
(WTF?)--I guess it was moving a different direction at depth than at the
surface--after 2 minutes of this futility (easier 4 me than most, as I'm
pretty streamlined, a strong swimmer, and have efficient finning technique,
IMHO...however, I really wasn't swimming too hard as I knew we'd be turning
around soon enough...) we twisted S with the current. I dropped to the back
of the pack, saw a little turtle sitting on the bottom munching on a sponge
w/a couple of big French Angles nipping at the scraps--fascinating! All
eventually peeled off & I watched it a while longer B4 joining the group
again, saw a big grouper headed up the slope behind me, then a Hawksbill
cruised off the flats and down the slope, also behind me--it passed me and I
followed it at 6 o'clock high for a couple minutes cooking along in the
current deep and passing the group above who didn't notice it until it was
ahead of them and heading deeper down the slope--kewl! Then saw a big
grouper @ a another cleaning station & watched it 4 a while. Then the
current shifted again, so we headed N, this time a little shallower this
time, up onto the flats 4 some shelling--found a sweet Carnelian and my
first ever dead Flamingo Tongue (Cyphoma gibbosum)--kewl, v2! Wow, awesome
dive! Dive # 1129, 75' max, 49' avg @ 52 minutes, SAC .39 (kicked into the
current quite a bit picking up shells and SAC rate proved it!)

#12, 7 May, 1st morning dive, Columbia Reef, vis good, buddied up w/Maureen,
as Forrest was doing advanced checkouts; real nice reef, kinda reminded me
of Horseshoe w/big pinnacles & swim throughs, saw a big Permit after
dropping down in the sand shallows, cool reef ledges under the pinnacles
with sand under them, when drifting during ascent saw a turtle cruising,
then a BIG Spotted Eagle Ray! Finned over and drifted right over it--great
way to end a real nice dive. Dive # 1130, 88' max, 51' avg @ 52 minutes, SAC
.37

#13, 7 May, 2nd morning dive, Punta Tunich, vis good, current flaming!
Maureen's tank popped an o-ring while shuffling to jump in, so minor delay
getting in water, then my mask immediately fogged--damn these new masks!
Then my tank developed an underwater o-ring leak @ depth (nothing major),
and went away on ascent, not really comfortable during this dive for some
reason...reflected by slight increase in SAC rate. Dive # 1131, 63' max, 44'
avg @ 43 minutes, SAC .4

#14, 7 May, afternoon dive, Villa Blanca wall--for the 5th time on this
trip, no worries, they've been great dives. Current blowing HARD, saw a
couple grouper + triggers, but nothing spectacular--still a nice dive, but
the evil mask fogging monster returned toward the end of the dive--Punta Sur
tomorrow--whoo hooo! Dive # 1132, 67' max, 46' avg @ 48 minutes, SAC .4

#15, 8 May, 1st morning dive, Devil's Throat. Ron, Gary, Terry, DM Jose,
boat was the blistering Cascabel ("Rattlesnake") with twin Yamaha 115s.
Screamed down to the Iberostar & picked up a couple from Ft Lauderdale with
5 foot swells rolling in--just had to time the sets before sidling up to the
dock! Knew it'd be a bit rough out there at the dive site, and it was, with
good 4-5' swells coming in (it was windy the night before, so this was the
remnants of that, I guess), backflipped off the boat and down, vis chunky
and well below average. 1st deep swim through @ 0900 and boy was it blue
exiting the swim through out to the open ocean. We were only around 80-90
feet, so this couldn't be Devil's Throat, could it? Swam over to other coral
outcroppings and did a couple more swim throughs, no current hardly at all.
Then went into one "cave-lookin'-swim through and this was the one, as DM
Jose pointed out that the white coral "cross" is now half gone--just a bar
now. Computer went into deco (16 min into the dive @ 107 ft, according 2 the
download) just B4 descent into the Devil's Throat @ 0915 (Jose said later
it's bigger now due to Wilma blowing sand out of the bottom of the throat).
Exited the 'Throat @ 122'. Then came another swim through--computer still in
deco--before starting to ascend--at last--into a monstrous school of Ocean
Triggerfish...as far as the eye could see--kewl. Ascent and decompression
obligation would have been fabulous with better vis, as there were some real
nice pinnacles that would have been cool to have scoped out--as it was, they
were semi-blobs in the distance, no issues during deco, plenty of air left
on surface, on the boat was glad to hear that I didn't have the only
computer 2 go into mandatory deco--my Cobra is notorious for being very
conservative, and I had been diving fairly heavy for the last few days.
According to the computer download, I had 3 tissue groups over 100%
saturated 24 minutes into the dive at 85 feet. All in all, kinda ho-hum
about Devil's Throat, I've done cooler deep dives (the 127' Shark Cave off
Bolo Point on Okinawa with White Tip Reef Sharks cruising around comes to
mind), but now I can buy the T-shirt (I confess I did...what a tourist!)
Besides, everybody needs to get 'Throated at least once... Dive # 1133, 123'
max, 66' avg @ 41 minutes, SAC .4

#16, 8 May, 2nd morning dive, Cedral Wall. Gold Star Dive! Vis great--dove
35% Nitrox (sucked tank down to 460 psi to purge nitrogen...and get my money's
worth for the $10 bottle), current flaming, saw a little nurse shark hanging
out under a ledge after dropping down, at the top of the slope. Lots of
fish, real cool wall & ledges above the wall on the sand flats. Found a huge
grouper under a ledge, then a huge lobster out in the open on top of some
coral near a hole, then another huge grouper under that same ledge, then a
semi-big 'cuda, then a medium nurse shark swam by and we followed it for a
while! Then a turtle with some a.shole holding onto it, then while we were
drifting during our stops, this same a.shole found another little turtle
eating and held IT down also! Dipwad needed his air turned off at depth (we
discussed that very topic on the boat, har, har). Despite the loser
molesting 2 turtles, this was one of the best dives here on Coz--awesome.
Dive # 1134, 78' max, 46' avg @ 60 minutes, SAC .42

#17, 8 May, night dive (skipped the afternoon dive, due to depth on 1st AM
dive), Paradise Reef--current almost nil--I've come to the conclusion that
night dives around here in Coz rock! Jose told an interesting story about
when he was a jeep diver & was invited by an experienced diver to spearfish
on a wreck on the other side of the island; they drove there, then waded out
to meet the boat. His buddy gave him his first computer do dive with, at
around 90' his buddy harvested 3 groupers and when it was time to come up
they saw a Hammerhead, so they swam after it. All the time he was really
worried about what his dive computer was telling him...when he got his
buddy's attention, he TOOK the computer from him, put it in his pocket, gave
the OK sign, and continued the dive--Jose admitted he was now really
worried. They did a long, slow ascent, but he, being a concerned newbie, was
quite concerned as he was sure he'd busted the tables. Saw his buddy later
at the cantina putting away some beers and letting everyone enjoy free
Grouper, who said, "you're still alive, aren't you?" I can relate to that,
fer sure... Anyway, Jose jumped in and current was moving S, so we moved the
boat N, where there was now hardly any current. Dove with Don, Gary, Terry,
& 1st-time night diver Brad. Saw 4-5 large reef crabs, 5-6 lobster (Spiny,
Spanish, a Blue, and the biggest damn slipper lobster I've ever seen!),
snake eel, 3 octopus, 4 spotted morays, including one that had just killed a
Squirrelfish and was feeding on it! Then, toward the end of the dive, Brad
found a sleeping "7 foot!" Nurse Shark (4' by "experienced diver"
estimation...), which was his first shark sighting on Coz. We ended up with
over an hour of bottom time--the plan was 40 minutes--gotta love Jose--just
way too good of a dive to end early. Dive # 1135, 47' max, 35' avg @ 63
minutes, SAC .31 (got back on boat with 1330 psi).

#18, 9 May, 1st morning dive, Columbia Deep. Vis OK, boat Tango (the faster
big one), buddied up with Irine (?) the motion camera lady--really amazing,
she's a tiny, older gal who's as graceful as an angelfish under water--also
with Gil & Gordon. Dropped down to huge coral pinnacles and white sand.
Coral is in real good shape here, but how much primo coral is buried under
the sand? Real cool under cuts under the pinnacles, lots of cool swim
throughs. Saw several Permit & was first 2 spot a big green moray & a big
grouper hanging out semi-deep at the start of the drop-off. Later saw a huge
spotted eagle ray off in the distance--all in all a very nice dive! Dive #
1136, 79' max, 56' avg @ 43 minutes, SAC .45 was most air consumption of the
entire trip, but still got back on boat with 1330 psi--2nd dive in a row
with the exact same amount of air on the surface--freaky (ok, THIS tank had
3310 when I started...)

#19, 9 May, 2nd morning dive, final dive on Coz, Cedral Pass. I thought we
were going to dive Cedral Wall and was pretty pumped up, as it was one of my
best dives I'D done so far. Got a nice rich 37% nitrox mix (according to the
analyzer on the boat, which differed a bit from the label on the tank...)
Vis was variable (good to excellent), current blowing pretty good. I guess
this site used 2 B called Grouper Alley--it was a valley w/coral ledges on
either side. From what Gill said, the valley has been filled in by sand and
most of the coral outcroppings covered, thanks to Wilma (she was such a
bitch!) Wow. Still a very nice dive scoping out what was not covered by the
sand, but considering how I was expecting Cedral Wall, was disappointed at
the beginning of the dive, then got over it. Saw some lobster, lots of
'cuda, 2-3 turtles and had fun just drifting in the current. Took REAL deep
breaths on the nitrox 37 bottle to help purge the nitrogen--didn't want any
joint pain on the plane flight back... Did notice a minor over pressure on
my Impulse 2nd stage that could be adjusted out--will have to get serviced
after my next dive trip in June to Boynton Beach (or after my July trip to
the Oriskany!) Great way to finish diving in Coz. Dive # 1137, 64' max, 41'
avg @ 55 minutes, SAC .37.

Final notes:

Water temps were a constant 81-82 degrees. I wore a 3/2 mil wetsuit with 10
(integrated) lbs in my ScubaPro Nighthawk BC, except for the final couple
dives, where I added my hooded vest and a couple extra pounds. My 1st stage
was my trusty USD SEA DIN with a yoke adapter, 2nd stage was my adjustable
USD Impulse, and safety second is my great breathing Air-2 hooked onto my
inflator hose. Fins were Aeros Velocity full-foots with neoprene socks
(perfect combo for travel/boat diving). Computer was my Suunto Cobra air
integrated with a quick disconnect. Also dove with my Citizen Aqualand
Ecodrive for time/max depth backup--not as good as a backup computer, but my
Cobra has not failed yet (over 600 dives), knock on wood. No gloves or
snorkel, but my BC dive knife wasn't noticed (if it was, they didn't say
anything--never deployed it, though...)

Kudos to Bay Adventures 4 a smooth transaction and decent price on airfare,
hotel & diving package ($1545 for 7 nights hotel, 5 mornings 2 tank boat, 4
afternoons single tank boat--extra dives were around $33, nitrox was $10).
Flew from Ft. Walton Beach, FL to Dallas and then down to Coz on a full 757.
Per a guy named Dan I met on the plane, bought a taxi ticket at the counter
B4 exiting the airport. They were shuttling folks into vans depending on
their hotels and I was the last 2B dropped--at the Hotel Cozumel. VERY NICE
hotel, huge pool (they moved the park dolphins here B4 Wilma arrived I
heard), nice bars, clean rooms, with a balcony overlooking the pool and lots
of places on the lanai to hang up dive gear. It was an all-inclusive plan
and food was plentiful and decent, though I'm not a big eater. Guacamole was
ace, fish spectacular. Great hotel--highly recommended, though next time I'll
probably try the Barracuda as I don't eat enough to get my money's worth
from the all inclusive plans. If momma comes with me, we'll probably stay at
the Vista Del Mar, as the downtown atmosphere will keep her occupied when I'm
soaking up nitrogen.

Dove with Dive Paradise and, though I've heard "bad things" about their
cattle boat operations--(what's wrong with cattle boats?) they run a very
good operation and I'd recommend them to anyone. The "cattle boats" give you
a chance to meet folks and help out those nervous types and beginners. I
rather enjoyed it. I enjoyed my first afternoon dive with 3 divers to the
whole boat more, but all in all, I'd dive with them again. The boats were
well set up for diving, plenty of room, lots of dive masters who were
friendly, efficient, and competent, and although I got kinda torqued a
couple of times when dives ended earlier than I thought they should (I think
I got on the boat only twice with under 1,000 psi), can't fault the guys for
erring on the side of safety, since most of the dives were at fairly decent
depths. Shoot, my dive computer was begging for mercy 3/4 into the trip, so
I won't fault them on that count. One of the camera-carrying divers (notice
I didn't say "photographer") was a bit careless around the coral/sponges,
but most had good technique. The idiot who grabbed the turtles was off
another boat, and even his buddy was giving him the shame finger. Let's face
it, idiots are everywhere, even on the fast boats. Oh, fast boats--glad we
only had a little rough sea while we were headed out to Punta Sur--the
"slam, slam, slam" thing (repeat endlessly) gets a little rough on these old
bones. The slow boats are just fine, as the longest boat ride was an hour.
More room and more shade. Fast boats = no shade and I burn easy. Oh, didn't
like the fact that I couldn't dive with gloves, but in Rome...

The day I was scheduled to leave, I left the hotel, checked bags and was
smoking a cigar in front of the terminal in less than 30 minutes. That was
the end of anything resembling travel efficiency. The plane we were to take
to Dallas landed with a mechanical problem. Apparently it'd been flying with
one working thrust reverser but, the other one stopped working when it got
to Coz, which is a grounding write-up. Kinda funny, when the Captain was up
on the engine with the mechanic looking to check the status of the
actuator...they couldn't find it--guess it fell down in the engine cowling
B4 it was located. Since the jet was hard broke, AA put us all on buses and
put us up at the Mexicana--a real nice place right next to the Vista Del Mar
right in downtown (oh, oh...) The next morning we were all herded back to
the airport where chaos was king. I guess the computers were down and they
were working flights manually, which looked like a pretty brutal process. I
was lucky 2B fairly close to the front of the line and they tried getting me
on a Continental flight to Houston and then FWB, which would have saved some
serious flying time. Tried to act cool for the 20 minutes or so standing at
the counter while the agent went who knows where with my passport... many
other folks in more serious angst (while their passports were journeying
around the airport...) Anyway, they didn't have time to get me on the
Continental flight (maybe they would have 20 minutes earlier!), and the
flight from Dallas to FWB was booked, so would I be interested in staying
another night in Coz on them? "Nawwwwww, why don't you get me to Dallas and
I'll take my chances there?" he said, knowingly. They said they'd put me up
4 the night in Dallas, so I was off. What was expected 2B a full flight was
unexpectedly half full when they closed the doors. Picture people from the
back of the plane rushing up to the door wondering where their travel
partners were? Apparently, they'd fixed the other plane and were going 2 put
the majority of the passengers on it, and keep the currently scheduled plane
(the 1 we were on) on schedule. Boy was I lucky. My first cuerda Mexicana de
la cabra (well, second actually, but we won't go there). Of course, once in
Dallas they found me a seat and I got to FWB a day late and had a horrible
day at work on Friday (I wanted to cut out and take a siesta SO bad!)