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before i took the trip to Mexico, i tossed around the idea of doing some scuba diving while i was going to be there.
you see, i am a scuba addict and i have a little adventurous side to me.
i'm not a rebel, i'm not some crazy party animal or drinker, and i'm afraid of heights, but i do have a little side to me that needs to get out once in a while.
that side of me craves the underwater world, and the wonders beneath the sea.
i decided to research the scuba diving opportunities in the area of Playa del Carmen, and i quickly realized that if i chose to dive a local reef, then i was going to be disappointed.
i have been spoiled by the spectacular reefs in Roatan, and i knew that the over-populated and strained coastline along the Mayan RIviera would not offer the experience or photo worthy reef i so longingly crave.
i knew that i had the option to travel to Cozumel for the day, but i actually didn't have the time to do an all day trip, and because of flying and diving restrictions, i couldn't leave such a trip until Friday.
i guess i could have chosen to do the bull shark dive with a local dive shop, but my sense of adventure doesn't include free swimming with some of the world's most aggressive sharks!!
(please don't get me wrong, i love diving with sharks and dive with them all the time, but bull sharks are just ANGRY sharks and i decided that i would be prudent)
on a side note..... i would like to do a cage dive with great white sharks one day. sharks are wonderful and misunderstood creatures.
anywhoooo...... i found out that the Maya Riviera has some cool diving spots called 'Cenotes' , which are actually underground, freshwater rivers that are accessed by sinkholes. they are rivers that the Mayan's used way back when, for freshwater.
there was one problem to my little plan.
i don't like caves and small places, and i don't like diving in the dark.
unfortunately, diving the cenotes requires being in the pitch black most of the time, as well as swimming through a few small spaces.
yep, i wasn't too sure about all of this!!
i'm not a big fan of Mexico, the way that big hotels & tourism has essentially destroyed everything beautiful and natural about such a wonderful coastline. i knew that i would probably not travel to Mexico on my own accord, ever again (unless it was for another rockin' wedding of course), so i just needed to suck it up and dive a crazy dark cave and get over myself!
go me, being all brave and everything.
i packed up all my dive gear, lugged it all the way to Mexico, and signed up for a cenote dive!!
it was an awesome adventure.
my dive guide was Tomas, he drove Yoaz (a student from Isreal) and i to the dive site on Wednesday morning, and i sucked it up and did my best to NOT have an anxiety attack underwater.
i took a nice bright light, had my underwater camera with me, and leapt into this little pool of water that soon opened up to caverns and underwater beauty.
full of stalagmites and rock formations, these underground, water filled caverns were something to behold.
even in the darkest dark, and through little spaces, i was calm and cool.
i am a pretty experienced diver now, and i know my limitations, i am confident in my abilities, and i felt that my dive guide (Tomas) was well-trained enough to keep me safe.
Chac-Mool (named for a Mayan god or something) was the location for our 2 dives, and everything about it was right up my alley. from the wild dogs to the little farm and shady snack hut, everything about my cenote adventure was 'me'.
i know this was a crazy long post about my little cavern diving adventure, but i just had to share my insanity with you all.
i am a firm believer that everything i am, and everything i'm passionate about, makes me the photographer and the person that i am.
so, here are a few photos from my little diving adventure...
the table where we get ready. i love getting ready for diving!!
the entry hole into the cenote. i wasn't too sure about this, and i almost backed out at one point!
not a great photo, but you can see that we weren't the only ones in the caverns
a dive group in another entrance to the cenote
a dive group just floating around at the surface
cool stalagmites
this is my favourite photo of the day. i love the way the light shines in from above, and the colours are just so beautiful!
we surfaced in an air pocket, which was totally dark except for our dive lights and camera flashes. this is a tree that i'm floating beside.
my view when i surfaced from my last dive. what a great ending to a great adventure!
one of the wild dogs. just a little puppy!!! too cute!
the shady hut where we ate our lunch! i was skeptical.
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