Only one step remained in my quest to become a PADI certified scuba diver - the completion of my open water check-out dives. The final step in the certification process requires newly trained divers to perform in the open water, to the satisfaction of a dive instructor, the skills they learned and practiced in a swimming pool. I chose to do my check-out dives in one of the Caribbean's most popular diving destinations: Cozumel.
Named Cuzamil ("land of the swallows") by the Mayans who settled on the island thousands of years ago, the largest of Mexico's islands lies 12 miles off the coast of the Yucatan. Its waters are home to the Mesoamerica Reef - the largest reef in the western hemisphere, and divers come to Cozumel because of its famously clear water, a plethora of dive sites, and the chance to see everything from tiny Caribbean lobster to migrating whale sharks.
Prior to leaving for Cozumel in August, 2011, mom booked a walking / photography tour of the downtown area with Tati Biermas, an award-winning professional photographer who operates Cozumel Photo Tour. In addition to diving and the photography lesson scheduled with Tati, we hoped to visit the Mayan ruins at San Gervasio, meet new friends, and lounge on the beach under gently swaying palm trees. More than anything else, I wanted to dive with a turtle.
Our home for the week in Cozumel was the Fiesta Americana, an all-inclusive resort on the island's southwest coast. With two swimming pools, a small beach, plenty of food and drinks, a dive shop on site and a short taxi ride into the town of San Miguel, the Fiesta Americana offered everything we wanted. Staff members could not have been more friendly or helpful, and although the facilities were not always as wheelchair friendly as I had hoped they would be, human kindness more than made up for the architectural barriers we occasionally encountered.
While mom was going through a refresher course for experienced but uncertified divers, I performed the necessary skills to earn my PADI certification card. Like any self-respecting parrothead, we celebrated that night by having dinner and drinks at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Cafe. We did a boat dive the next day and saw stingray, enormous grouper, and stunning walls of coral. Diving in Cozumel was as magical as I hoped it would be, and when we went snorkeling on the day before departure and saw two turtles, a nurse shark, and the incomparable El Cielo - a patch of sandy bottom littered with sea stars - I knew I would someday return to the land of the swallows.
Named Cuzamil ("land of the swallows") by the Mayans who settled on the island thousands of years ago, the largest of Mexico's islands lies 12 miles off the coast of the Yucatan. Its waters are home to the Mesoamerica Reef - the largest reef in the western hemisphere, and divers come to Cozumel because of its famously clear water, a plethora of dive sites, and the chance to see everything from tiny Caribbean lobster to migrating whale sharks.
Prior to leaving for Cozumel in August, 2011, mom booked a walking / photography tour of the downtown area with Tati Biermas, an award-winning professional photographer who operates Cozumel Photo Tour. In addition to diving and the photography lesson scheduled with Tati, we hoped to visit the Mayan ruins at San Gervasio, meet new friends, and lounge on the beach under gently swaying palm trees. More than anything else, I wanted to dive with a turtle.
Our home for the week in Cozumel was the Fiesta Americana, an all-inclusive resort on the island's southwest coast. With two swimming pools, a small beach, plenty of food and drinks, a dive shop on site and a short taxi ride into the town of San Miguel, the Fiesta Americana offered everything we wanted. Staff members could not have been more friendly or helpful, and although the facilities were not always as wheelchair friendly as I had hoped they would be, human kindness more than made up for the architectural barriers we occasionally encountered.
While mom was going through a refresher course for experienced but uncertified divers, I performed the necessary skills to earn my PADI certification card. Like any self-respecting parrothead, we celebrated that night by having dinner and drinks at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Cafe. We did a boat dive the next day and saw stingray, enormous grouper, and stunning walls of coral. Diving in Cozumel was as magical as I hoped it would be, and when we went snorkeling on the day before departure and saw two turtles, a nurse shark, and the incomparable El Cielo - a patch of sandy bottom littered with sea stars - I knew I would someday return to the land of the swallows.
