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SCUBA SIG of American Mensa | |
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SCUBA SIG Announcements Email List SCUBA SIG Discussion Email List
The Mensa SCUBA SIG organized an early winter dive trip to Cozumel, Mexico from December 3 to December 8, 2009. Eight divers met in Cozumel for 5 days of diving, dining, relaxation, and good conversation. As always with Mensa events, old friendships were refreshed and new friendships made.    The diving began the next morning in earnest. We met at the pier at 8:00 a.m., as we did each of the following 3 mornings, and boarded the boat excited and wondering about what underwater surprises lay in store for us that day.   Generally, the boat traveled about 20 to 30 minutes south to the dive site each morning. Upon arriving at the dive site each diver donned his/her equipment and entered the water by either taking a giant stride off the back or side of the boat or sometimes by simply sitting on the side of the boat and falling backwards into the water. Once in the water each diver descended to the planned depth where the group reformed and our daily odyssey began. The dive master guided us around the site all the while pointing out interesting creatures and steering us in, around, and through some of the unique underwater structures.   Most dives lasted 50 to 60 minutes after which we ascended slowly to the surface and returned to the boat. Once back aboard our boat we shared our experiences with one another while the boat moved to the next dive site. Generally speaking the interval between dives lasted 60 to 70 minutes, mostly for safety reasons. Then we repeated the previously described process for the second dive of the day. After the 2nd dive the boat returned to the pier and we made the short walk to our hotel across the street where we rested and refreshed ourselves before heading out for a lengthy, casual and very enjoyable mid- to late mid-day lunch. After lunch we often meandered around town or perhaps lazed around the pool or took a siesta in our room; some of us enjoyed a Pina Colada or two. Since lunch tended to end about 2:30 or so, dinners started later as well - beginning about 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Dinners were much like the lunches - lengthy, casual and very enjoyable. After dinner we often strolled around the streets of downtown or the town square before heading back to the hotel to prepare ourselves to be at the pier at 8:00 a.m. the following morning. The diving was wonderful. The seas were calm, although the 2nd day was a little choppy. We dove at several of the more well known sites including Palancar Gardens, Paradise Reef, Santa Rosa Wall, Tormentos, Cedral Wall, and Yucab, Punta Tunich and Chankanaab. The visibility was great and interesting life and underwater scenery abounded. We saw several turtles, toadfish, lobsters, and crabs, an eagle ray, octopus, and baby nurse shark, and lots of stingrays. Of course there was the normal assortment of underwater fish. Perhaps the highlight for those fortunate enough to see it was the elusive seahorse with its tail wrapped around the branch of the plant, probably watching us as intently as we were it.   We also saw a lionfish. Lionfish are strikingly beautiful creatures: Red and white zebra striped fish with venomous needle-like dorsal fins. Unfortunately, no one was excited to see a lionfish, not because it was venomous, but because lionfish are not indigenous to Cozumel, are voracious predators, have no natural enemies in the area, and can dramatically affect the local ecosystem. As I indicated earlier, the dining was superb. Some of the restaurants we visited were Casa Mission, Sabores, La Chosa, Pancho's Backyard, Ernestos, and Rockin Java (yes, they served Mexican food in spite of the name) and Guido's (they don't serve Mexican food but then again, pasta or pizza sounded really good by that time and, besides, they make a sangria you should not miss). If you go to Sabores for lunch be sure to order their Jamaica tea (pronounced 'ha mA ka").   I posted several pictures from the dive trip to a Picasa web album. The underwater pictures are courtesy of John S. one of SIG divers. Clicking on or pasting the following url in your browser will access the web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/michaelbohl/MensaCozumel2009ScubaSIGTrip# The SCUBA SIG visits Cozumel every December. If you SCUBA dive or learn to do so between now and next December please consider joining the Mensa Scuba SIG on its next Cozumel adventure, tentatively planned for December 2, 2010 to December 7, 2010. You won't be disappointed. Mike Bohl SCUBA SIG Dives Cozumel Mexico December 4-9, 2008
SCUBA SIG Dives Cozumel Mexico December 5-10, 2007 SCUBA SIG Trip to Cozumel Mexico December 6-11, 2006 SCUBA SIG Trip to Turks & Caicos Islands August 13-20, 2006 SCUBA SIG Dives Epcot August 10, 2006 SCUBA SIG Trip to Baja California (Mexico) August 20-25, 2005 |
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