Riviera Maya Trip Report #2: Ocean Diving Day and Night
Posted By Scuba Diver Girls Margo on June 29, 2010
Day Time Dives
We got up for our first day in Riviera Maya and what was on the schedule? Ocean DIVING! We are really excited because it had been a long time since we wore anything less than a 7mm wetsuit to dive. We packed our gear in our mesh transport backpack style bags provided by Aqualung and headed down the dirt road to Akumal Dive Shop!
The shop was about a 3 minute walk from our hotel but it was very hot and humid. We looked longingly at the crystal blue ocean wondering how long it would be before we were descending into the deep blue!
When we arrived at the shop, Luis, the Dive Master, had all the gear set up. Their rental gear looked like it was in good shape, but Steph and I informed them that we had brought our own. They quickly removed the rental BCDs from the tanks allowing us to get all set up. Luis tried to talk us into wearing one of their shorty wetsuits, but we decided to stick with our full 3mm that we brought along. The water temperature was 81F on our dives, however, we did get a bit chilled on our second dive so this was the right choice.
Deciding how much weight to use was a bit of a challenge. We normally dive with 8mm wetsuits and steal tanks in cold water and we wear 8-10 lbs. We finally decided to go with 8 lbs…well…that was the first dive…which is when we found out that we needed 10! We ended up stealing 2 lbs each from Luis the DM during that first dive.
Photo by Mike Stratton
Once everyone was ready we were waiting around for the dive briefing. Well we got so hot and that water looked so inviting, we just could not wait. So Steph and I ran over and jumped in…wow did that feel great! We got into our wetsuits as Gonzolo, the shop owner, told us some history about Akumal Dive Shop and gave us a briefing of the two sites we would visit. Both guides spoke English very well so there was no communication barrier at all. We split into two boats and carried our gear on our backs aboard. Of course Luis offered to carry our gear for us…which was very nice service.
Our two dives were the following sites:
- Lobster Condo
- The Nets, (las redes)
Once on the boat, the guys offered us water to drink and off we went. We all did backward rolls off the boat and into the water. We were surprised by the current at the surface as it was pretty strong but once we dropped down, the current seemed to disappear. We were so impressed with the visibility! Later we heard someone say it was not that great…and we laughed. Coming from San Diego where a good day is 15 feet, anything above 25 feet is spectacular!
Dive Video #1: Arrival at Hotel Akumal Caribe and first ocean dive
We were diving along beautiful coral and numerous fish. The lobsters were similar to what we have in California except their markings were much more decorative. We saw a large barracuda and what someone said was a remora…later we saw tons of these on the backs of sea turtles. The expectation to see sea turtles while diving was set but by the end of the second dive, no sea turtles! But we did find a motorcycle standing upright as if you could hop on and drive away…that made for some good SDG fun!
Dive Video #2: Second ocean dive
Luis did a nice job of keeping us all together and helping out when needed. He pointed out interesting things along the way. Overall the service and quality presented by the Akumal Dive Shop was very good. We did take a little longer than expected to get going for the first dive, however, once we did get moving, everything went like clockwork. We had to return to the shop in between dives for new tanks, which is different than what we expected, but it was actually pretty nice to have the shop to go back to for the surface interval. Great dive day!
Night Dive
Our third ocean dive was the same day but this time we headed out around 7:30pm to enjoy a night dive with Akumal Dive Center.
We all gathered at the center where our tanks were waiting for us. We decided to go with 3mm again and save our 5mm for the Cenotes dives the next day. We were greeted by our guide, Jose Esquiel Orozco or as everyone calls him, Chepo. He helped everyone set up their gear and Steph and I set up our own. This time we knew how much weight to use which was nice! Chepo then told us we would be diving the same dive site we had done earlier in that day called, The Nets, (las redes) but promised us it would be totally different at night!
Once again, we donned our gear and walked down to the boat. This time we were all together on one boat since not everyone in our group decided to do the night dive. By the time we pulled away the sun was set and the sky was getting dark. As they navigated through the buoys, they set glow sticks on them to help guide their way back through the buoys after the dive.
Once we got to the site, we all geared up and sat on the edge of the boat. We did backward rolls into the water. Again the current was strong so Steph and I held onto each other and encouraged the other divers to hold onto us until Chepo got in the water. We dropped down and it was absolutely magical! It was so amazing to be diving at night in great visibility! I was immediately entranced and looked over at Stephanie, who I could tell was sharing the exact same feeling!
Chepo was an amazing guide. He would call us over by tapping his tank and each time it was something extraordinary to see. We spent much of our time watching an octopus who was just hanging out in the open. I know Steph
anie wanted to pick him up and hug him but she restrained herself! The octopus turned this amazing color of blue…he looked like cotton candy!
We saw so much on this dive. Lobsters, octopus, eels, tuna, and tons of other types of fish. When we went to do our safety stop before ascending, we all turned off our flashlights and that was a mystical scene! The phosphorescence in the water created a beautiful green color with your movements in the water.
Then the unthinkable…all of the sudden we were surrounded by what I later found out was worms! They were everywhere and when you hit them with your hands they felt hard. It was so gross! When we finally submerged we were laughing so hard because Stephanie thought they were in her ears! We held our lights over our heads and the boat came to pick us up.
Dive Video #3: Night dive with Akumal Dive Center
This dive was most definitely the highlight of the three ocean dives. We were extremely pleased that it was added to the itinerary at the last minute. Chepo went on to guide us on our Cenotes dives the following day which is in a separate trip report. The Akumal Dive Center was impressive and Chepo should be requested if you dive with them!
That evening we ate at La Cueva del Pescador after our dive. We were lucky that the owner allowed the kitchen to stay open to wait for us because it normally closes at 9pm and we just arrived to order at 9:15pm. This place is owned by local fishermen and seafood is their specialty! Of course there are items other than seafood on the menu that looked equally delicious. They served us a Mexican style soup in a tomato broth with chicken which was fantastic with a little lime and hot sauce. For dinner we had the local catch which was pan seared in garlic…very tasty! The most interesting part of the meal was their desert. They had natural ice cream that was out of this world. Stephanie tried the coconut flavor and it actually was served in a half coconut shell, very creative and delicious.
We all slept well that night in great anticipation for our next days dives in the Cenotes!
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