It was a beautiful week in Mexico. Bottom Time SCUBA set up their first ever group trip down to the Hotel Catalonia, in Puerto Aventuras on the Yucatan Peninsula. Our resort package included the “Total Submersion”; 8 Open Water Dives, 1 Night Dive, and 2 Cenote Dives, hosted by Dive Aventuras.

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Slept well, woke just before 8, and took a quick shower before dashing out the door. I stopped by the breakfast buffet, and had some bread, fruit, and a quick coffee. We all met in the lobby at 8:30 where we were picked up by a van that took us to the dive shop. The paperwork went quick, and we were off to grab our gear and head to the boats for our briefing. After a quick 5 min trip, we arrived to our first destination. We  were all suited up and ready to go. Our guide showed us how to roll off, and in the water we went.

Bottom Time Crew

My groups first dive was to go towards completing our certification. There were skills that we practiced in the pool back home, that needed to be completed in the open water. Our plan was to see a bit of the bottom, and complete the required skills over our first 4 dives. When we got to the bottom of our first dive, our guide took us on a little tool around the coral. The water was warm and crystal clear. There was an array of tropical fish to look at, and we even came across a couple of sea turtles. With the excitement of breathing underwater, and the new perspective, time seemed to fly by. Before I knew it, we were knocking out underwater skills, and on our way back up to the surface. Our second dive came right after our first. We saw more coral and fish, and knocked out some more of those skills. I was much more comfortable the second time around. By the end of the day I felt, joy, excitement, and accomplishment. We wrapped things up by 12:30 and made it back to the hotel by 1.

The non-divers were by the pool, and already had chairs reserved for the rest.

Quick trip to the room.

Back down to the pool.

We rounded up and took a stroll by the snack bar, which was, “Right over there...”.

Our gatherings included pizza, burgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, fries, tacitos, and some fresh guacamole and  pico de gallo to go.

Seconds for me indeed.

Back out to the pool.

Had some drinks and “maxed” out.

Played a little bingo (won via my sister, got a tee shirt, I kept it).

Worked it over to the Volleyball court, and played the day away.

Off to dinner, then a night at the club, and that was a day well spent.

Day two was more of the same, so who am I to complain.

Up and out, and into the water. After my 2nd dive, I was certified! All skills complete, and there it you have it; I was hooked, with much more to come. Our day consisted of, again, pool, snacks, and volleyball, with a little Karaoke to spice things up. I sang “Do You Love Me”, and brought the house down.

The days keep getting better. Woke to the routine, and took dives 5 and 6. Now I was out without a leash. We all still dove as a group, but I felt a general sense of freedom under water. It was as though I actually knew what I was doing. You have to learn very important things to dive safely and successfully. The class and book work was fun and light. I had a good time taking the quiz’s and tests on diving, and the pool dives we did before our trip, put it all to work. By the time I got to the open water I felt as though I were ready. I was breathing more normally, and the air was lasting longer. I was a PADI certified Open Water Diver. Time for a night dive!

Pool, bingo, lot’s of snacks, volleyball.

Sunburn is official.

Night dive tonight!

Going under at night was like a trip back to day one. It was said that we were likely to see all sorts of animals that only come out at night, but on this dive there was no new life to speak of. I also had a smudge on the inside of my mask, so it kind of put a damper on things. My senses felt a little disoriented. I was just trying to get the flow going. My awareness was on overload, and the dive was over before I knew it. It was pretty cool though. Happy to make it through, and ready for the Cenote tomorrow!

Diving the Cenote was easily one of the coolest things I have ever done in my entire life. I put it right up there with skydiving. A Cenote is a fresh underwater cavern that runs underneath a plateau. The Yucatan Peninsula is a large plateau that lays on top of fresh water, and these Cenote are the paths that lead you under. The Mayan people held these unchartered  caverns in the most sacred respect, and once you go down to observe the beauty, you can see why. The spiritual presence is strong, and there were many points of the dives when I would have to just stop, breath easy, and take it all in.

I was honored to be there, and my inner respect, and bond with nature, history and, spirit were kicking in full throttle. The light shines through holes on the surface to create some truly unique and memorable views. Halocline is also very cool to experience. This occurs when fresh and salt water meet. It creates almost an oily effect on the water. It may distort your vision from time to time, but not enough to ruin any visual experience.

There were points of these dives when we arguably were more than 130 ft. from daylight, and that is classified as cave diving. Cave diving is extremely dangerous and requires a special certification. There were definitely a few points of the dive where I felt a little anxious, especially when I would shine my flashlight up, only to find a roof of solid rock. There was an internal ticker that went off inside of me at one point of the dive when I realized that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

It was so dark and still, I felt like I couldn’t stay in there anymore. I could have easily freaked myself out, but just at the right time instinct kicked in. This was not going to be the time or the place to have a little anxiety attack. I just relaxed, and breathed slowly and all calmed down. We couldn’t have popped our heads up for a photo opt any sooner. We ascended to an airspace in the cave where we were welcomed by fresh air, and beautiful stalactites. We shone our lights up from the water to the ceiling, and our guide took our victory shot. That photo opt was well worth the trip and hee-bee-gee-bee’s that came along with it.

After the Cenote, we went back to the shop. There was some business to take care of. I wasn’t fully satisfied with my 1st night dive. I had a smudge on my mask , and saw no life the night before. I knew that there was another group going on theirs that night. I wanted on board. I inquired at the shop about going out on the night dive with the second group. They said that I could trade my two dives scheduled for the next day with the night dive that was happening later on that evening. With my sunburn fresh, I opted out of the next days dives and went for the night dive. Good deal.


A night dive it was, and boy was there was stuff to see.

I think this time I was ready to go. I felt good coming off of the Cenote dives, and was excited to have a 2nd  chance to see some of the night life. The dive started with an octopus sighting right off the bat. I was hanging back with one of the guides, and got a better view of things this time. Turtles came, and we also caught an eel hiding in a rock. The lights were bringing out the best in the coral as well. So many colors can be seen at night that you can’t see during the day. Next came a rock lobster, then another turtle. This one came face to face with me. 2 members of our group surfaced because they were low on air. I was happy to be able to stick around for a few more minutes. Right before the last of us came up, I spotted a blue octopus, and flashed everyone down. We really got to see him moving swiftly over the top of the coral and along the sand. Pretty cool to say the least, and a great way to end the dive. We surfaced, and it was cold, and I was tired from all of this weeks excitement. I was looking forward to a day off for some quality reflection time. Back to the hotel we went, and made it back just in time to clean up, eat, and catch the evening performance in the resort theatre. They really put it on at the Hotel Catalonia.

Good night.

I woke up early to a friendly knock on my door. It was my mother.

She set this whole trip up.

We ate breakfast after seeing everyone off for their days dives. I got out by the pool early, and locked down for a day of nothing. I was in resort mode, and I ate and drank they day away. After a full day of fun in the sun, I packed it in early that night, and caught up on some well needed sleep.

It is our last day in Mexico, and the group headed off to the Mayan city of Tulum.

We took a bus down, and met up with our tour guide who gave us the quick run down on the city and it’s people.

The architecture was very impressive, and held up well over the years. The city in it’s true state must have been a site to see.

We learned that the Mayans didn’t settle there just because of the beautiful scenery, but that is what made it all for me. The limestone, and palm trees against the blue water established a character that was all unique, to say the least. The cliff that the city was set upon really tied it all together. People who knew better brought their swimsuits and swam on the beach at the bottom of the cliff. I will know better next time.

Our time there was brief, but memorable, and the gift shops set just outside of the gates allowed be to get my souvenirs before we headed home. Now it was time for us to head back to the hotel for 1 final day of doing absolutely nothing. Can’t wait.

You would think we all would go out with a bang, but our final evening played out kind of like the first. It was calm, we ate together as a group, and we took our last tool around the resort and breathed our last breaths of salt air...for now that is.