Mexico Vacation 2010: Day 2

In February my wife and I took a week-long vacation to the Riviera Maya- the Caribbean Coast of Mexico. We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Akumal Resort about an hour south of Cancun. Through this next week or so I am blogging about the trip and our experiences.
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Off the coast of the Riviera Maya sits the second largest coral reef in the world. With that in mind, before we left home on this trip I had decided that I would ramp up the courage and do two things I have never done before. I told my friends I would try scuba diving and snorkeling. What I didn't tell them was that I have never been all that comfortable in the water. I didn't learn to swim until I graduated from high school. My mother was a fanatic about the fear of her sons drowning so we didn't get those lessons when young (and there was no pool in town until my junior year in high school.)

So here I am, in Akumal, Mexico with the thought of going underwater with a tank of oxygen on my back. Sea Hunt notwithstanding, it was not something I knew much about.

Well, as I was coming back from a short walk I stopped by the swimming pool near our room. They were doing the introduction to scuba. It was free- and it got you started on what you needed to know.

Why not!?

Yes, I did need a weight belt.

The first thing they told us was the three rules of learning the basics of scuba diving in the pool.
1) Don't stop breathing or hold your breath.
2) If you lose your mouthpiece, breathe out.
3) If you get scared - stand up! (They didn't say that you can't do that when you are out in the ocean.)

All the basics were there. We learned a few of the scuba tricks, how to sweep around for your mouthpiece if you lose it. After all it is attached to you. How to inflate and deflate the air vest you are wearing. How to signal you are okay. No, it's not thumbs up- that means I am low on air and need to go to the surface.

All in all it was interesting. Time enough then for a quick lunch and head over to the beach and make the final preparations. My wife noticed that I was somewhat hesitant. My inherent water fear was there. Could I really do it? What if...?

So the group of us headed out to the boat...

And problem #1: Rocks. Many rocks. Slippery rocks. I was unable to maintain my balance and eventually had to kind of swim/crawl/paddle to the boat. At least I got there safely. (Note to self- next time, remember water shoes.)

On the boat they got us all set-up. We put on our oxygen tanks and headed out a short distance from the shore. They have regular dive places just off the beach from the resort. They have lines and buoys there where the ocean is about 40' deep. That is the limit for dives by non-divers as an introduction.

They explain the process to us- just like Sea Hunt- you sit on the edge, hold your mask and mouthpiece in place and fall backward into the water.

And for me, problem # 2: I can't do it. No way! I am frozen in place in that wonderful looking pose right above here. They work and coax but I am unable to move. I finally convince them I can't do it so they agree that I can jump in forward. (They actually also gave me a push.) It was then I learned why they really like you to go in backward as I hit the water I also hit...

Problem # 3: My weight belt started to come loose. The belt is necessary. We float. And all that oxygen on our back (yes, even with all the weight) we float even more. Luckily the instructor helping us was right there and managed to get it back on me. I could then float/pull along the guide rope to the buoy and the rope leading us underwater. It wasn't easy. Every now and then I would feel a sense of panic rising up. It was only slight, but it was there. Down there in me somewhere I could hear my mother's voice even 50 years later.

I can't say I pushed the voice and panic away. I kind of just ignored it. Yes, it was there. Yes, I hear you, but I don't need to succumb. I would kind of lay back in a semi-float, take a deep, soothing breath from the mouthpiece. Inflate the flotation vest a little. Let it out, then. Pull a little more toward the buoy.

The surface of the sea is not calm like a swimming pool. It was a struggle with enough salt water in my mouth. But then it's time.

Holding the rope I go underwater. The sea calms down immediately. There below me is the rest of my group pulling their way down to the ocean floor. I could feel the relaxation flow over and through me. Calm in me.

I get to the bottom of the rope and the two instructors mime applause and I am awed by what I have done. We leave the rope behind and set off to explore for the next 35 minutes or so.

What? You think you're superman now?

I am swimming underwater. I use all the information we were given in the pool. I clear my ears. I clear the mask. I keep breathing steadily. I do a quick self-review and am surprised that there is no panic.

We had been told by another guest that the area right off the resort was not a great place to dive- it didn't have as much diversity as other places. But it was still incredible. The school of blue fish swimming by.

The fan-like shape of some of the coral.

Yellow and gray fish along with more blue and odd-shaped coral.

It was remarkably calm and, using my favorite word, awesome. The only sound was your bubbles. You swim without your arms- just the flippered feet. You rise and fall with your breath- after all when you breathe in you are adding buoyancy to your lungs. Your mask gets compressed because at that depth we were at a little more than 2 atmospheres- or twice the air pressure of the surface. It was truly remarkable.

Then it was over. Time to go up.

And my problem # 4: I discover I am exhausted. I manage to get over to the boat but it takes me three tries to get my tired body up on the deck at the back of the boat. Fortunately they had taken my air tank from me. I might still be floating there. I crash on the boat and struggle toward the seat along the side on legs of rubber.

And problem # 5 (actually, reprise of #1): those #$%*&& rocks. By the time I get to the shore I have several cuts and scrapes, one of which has only recently finally lost its scar tissue. I am wiped!!!! I get the stuff back to the scuba shop, grab a shuttle and head back to the room. The tub had a whirlpool- and you better believe I used it!

But was it worth it? You bet it was. That 35 minutes underwater was something I could never have envisioned myself ever doing. It ranks there with the first trip to the Boundary Waters Wilderness in 1993 and my 60 Miles for 60 Years bike ride in 2008.

The day was capped off with supper at one of the gourmet restaurants at the resort. The food was nothing short of marvelous. At one point I bit into a small baked tomato, still warm and oozy and the only way to describe it would be to remark that one can understand why foods like that can be considered an aphrodisiac. The taste was "erotic." No wonder we also gain weight so easily.

But the desserts were even more incredible.

But at day's end, writing and then crashing into sleep early- it was a challenging and tiring day. It will turn out to be only the first of such days in the vacation.

(Note: Underwater pictures and of me on the boat were taken by their staff photographer who dove along with us. As much as I would have liked to, my underwater camera would have been way too much of a distraction.)