COZUMEL

Eleven USA divers went to Cozumel for the week of May  21- 28: Kathi and Steve McCutcheon, Marie York, Chary Lynn, Eunice Hamblen, Jewels Gumenik, Nancy Luellen, Jeff Lindemuth and Judy Tobin, Danny Michels  and yours truly, Ann Stambaugh. We stayed at Scuba Club Cozumel, formerly known as the Galapagos Inn, one of USA's favorites. Scuba Club Cozumel is an all inclusive resort. We were fed well and truly pampered by the staff . Cozumel lived up to its reputation. The diving was spectacular! We visited Palancar  Gardens, Paradise Reef, Deep Columbia, Torementos, Palancar Caves, Yucab Reef, Punta Sur Devil's Throat, Chanknab, Las Palmas, Santa Rosa Wall and Villa. Our divemaster was Nestor Sansores. The visibility was great and we experienced  spectacular walls and swim throughs and an abundance of sea life.

It was smooth travel to Cozumel. Jeff and Judy hooked  up with us on the second leg of the flight. We arrived at the resort in time  for a late lunch, a dive briefing, and an optional checkout dive off shore.

We did two dives each morning and had the afternoons to do as we pleased. We shopped on the square some afternoons and evenings  Marie took the prize for best negotiator. At night we had Happy Hour on the water’s edge, followed by dinner.

Some of us could not get enough diving, especially Danny  who from the first day requested (demanded) we dive Devil's Throat. The dive operators succumbed to our "request" and most of us did the acclaimed, advanced, dive Devils Throat, which is a tunnel which starts at  90 ft  and descends into the black at a 45 degree angle until it opens back  out at 127 ft. In spite of the depth and darkness of the tunnel, corals and sponges thrive due to the nutrient rich currents which run through it.

We had a few ailments during the week. Danny lost a day  of diving due to a backache, Nancy caught a cold, Eunice caught Danny's backache toward the end of the week, and I had a case of the "dropsies"  all week, first losing one weight pocket, then the other causing me to miss the Devils Throat dive. Don't worry, Danny recovered, Eunice and Nancy are fine, and I am back to using a weight belt.

Jeff and Judy celebrated their anniversary while in Cozumel. Marie and Kathi wanted to do something special, so they bought lots of little candles and carefully placed them lit at the foot of the door of the room in anticipation of Jeff and Judy's return from dinner. It was so beautiful  peaceful and romantic, and would have been perfect if only it all had been placed in front of Jeff and Judy's room instead of their neighbors. ;-) Still, it was beautiful and they loved it.

Friday was our extra day to do whatever adventure we wanted. Most of us chose to dive an extra day, since we were not due to fly  until Saturday afternoon. Chary and Eunice took the to ferry to the mainland and toured Tulum for the day.

We had several artists among us. Judy, Marie and I each  did a rendition of a sea grape tree that was in front of the resort. Eunice, Chary and Nancy were more into the performing arts back in their room, or so I hear.

On Friday night, the resort had a cookout/ party. Chary  and Jeff were our star athletes when they beat the pinata to ribbons.

On Saturday we said farewell to Cozumel, vowing to return. It was Memorial Day weekend, so we anticipated crowded airports and delays  We were fortunate overall, with only a delay on the second leg of the flight, getting us in late that night.

We had a great post-trip party hosted by Eunice in her lovely home. Thank you Eunice!

I was happy to hear that Scuba Club Cozumel was safe and in good shape after Hurricane Emily. They are back up and running. I can't  wait to visit them again!

Happy diving, Cozumelers! And thanks for being a part  of this fabulous trip!

Ann Stambaugh