Tuesday 11-14-17

We’ve seen more rain than we’d like this trip. And it’s not not just the summer shower type of rain. There have been periods of driving rain interspersed with periods of sun. This pattern has made us a little hesitant to fully commit to some of the outdoor activities we would’ve done otherwise. But since today is our last day here, we decide to go for it despite the weather forecast of intermittent rain. We got up and dressed in swimsuits and even applied some sunscreen, all the while watching the rain fall outside. We waited until the heaviest of the rain passed us and gathered up towels and backpacks and headed out before 8 a.m. under a gray sky and fat rain drops hitting us in the face.

Likewise, our 40 minute drive demanded the use of our windshield wipers most of the time and we could see only a few blue patches of sky. When we arrived the light rain continued. We forged ahead anyway. Neither of us voiced our concerns about the decision we were making, but we both knew the day may not turn out well. We bought our tickets and pushed through the turnstile into Xel-ha (pronounced shell-ha) natural water and ecotourism park without even knowing fully what that meant. We were taking the word of another tourist we had met, and of the many inviting billboards we had seen to advertise the place.

Whatever I expected, it was nothing compared to what we got. If Disney did a natural water park with their usual level of excellence, its likely it wouldn’t be as good as this. Sparkling clean with spectacular planning and a wonderful staff. It took only a few minutes for me to see that this would be a good day; rain or shine.

The property of the park covers 84 acres fronting the Caribbean Sea. But it is not a beach. It’s a giant natural inlet from the ocean. The natural harbor extends many acres into the surrounding jungle with a mostly rocky shoreline. It also has small “fingers” or what seem like small rivers extending into the jungle. There was a natural cave along one section of the inlet and several cenotes and grottos in the surrounding jungle. The park has cleverly wound paths throughout the jungle to all these spots and even turned one of the “fingers” into a tubing river, all without seeming to have disturbed the environment at all. There are also many acres of good snorkeling in crystal clear water boasting a variety of marine life, a large ropes type course (called Adventureland) is suspended over the water, and miles of exploration call to me on paths through the jungle (complete with signposts and restrooms that somehow seem like they grew there alongside the trees). They have built a tower (the only completely man-made attraction) that gives 360 degree views of the park from 130 ft in the air. You then descend via a 100 foot long water slide that wraps around the outside of the tower. Also included in your admission are both breakfast and lunch at the park’s restaurants, drinks, all snorkel equipment, towels, lockers, guided tours in the jungle, bike rentals and tubes for the “lazy river”area. The park is immaculate and every one of the many staff were friendly and helpful.

All this alone makes a fun day, but it was the absolute stunning beauty of the park that really got me. Only a few minutes after coming through the gate a flock of wild red macaws flew overhead, as if on cue, and the sun broke through the clouds and it turned out to be the best way possible to spend our last day. We did every activity we could and walked what felt like 10 miles through jungle paths. The day was almost too perfect to describe. Aching feet were the one minor problem by the end of the day. But even that was only a minor annoyance in an otherwise glorious day.

I now have to wonder why I haven’t heard of this place before? What’s more is that this company – Xcarat- has several other parks in the area with different activities and themes. The commonality is that every one is said to be built seamlessly into the surroundings just as this one is and the level of service is similar throughout the company. I’m becoming excited about learning more about Xcarat and returning to see all the parks. (No, they don’t have me on commission). Of course the timing of our visit (the day before we go home) lends itself to the contemplation of future trips. I

I firmly believe there are always adventures ahead – just waiting for me to find them. A first trip to any location reveals what you could do differently next time and what you’d like to do that you didn’t get to. I always like to consider my next trip, even if I don’t ever actually return to the area. Returning to a place you are familiar with can be fun in its own way (since you already know your favorite parts), but I don’t think I’ll ever tire of wanting to also go new places. The thrill (and sometimes disappointment) of a new discovery is always exciting.

So now I start the planning and anticipation phase of our next adventure….

 

Today’s blog is
The story and adventure with a few mishaps thrown in (glass half full)
OR
The story of mayhem with a few good moments thrown in (glass half empty)

Personally I seem to naturally gravitate toward optimism myself, which also gives me the ability to think today was hilarious and a great adventure (at least it’s funny now since we came out of it unharmed- well parts of it were really funny at the time as well). I think these funny things that happen to us are really the spice of life and it’s why I  like to see different places and do different things and tend to hesitate at doing the same thing over and over. It’s also why I like scuba diving, since no 2 dives are just alike and the ocean has a million ways to amaze you.

So on to the story. The plan for the day was to take the ferry to Cozumel and do some diving there. We didn’t leave as early as we normally would because the boat we were meeting wasn’t available until 11. So we took our time and rode the ferry to Cozumel to meet the divemaster. The problem was that we had never seen him but we had emailed a picture of us to him so we were confident he would find us. By 11:15 we were beginning to have serious doubts that he actually would find us. We decided we needed to find another dive boat, which are very plentiful in Cozumel. We talked to several people and scheduled ourselves on a dive boat at noon. The friendly divemaster ,Martin, found us and led us and 4 other people to a small and somewhat dilapidated looking boat. We have been on boats like this before and it all seemed like it was working out perfectly. Our companions for the afternoon included one 60ish year old lady from New Jersey who was there alone since her friends didn’t dive. The other 3 (a young married couple and their friend) were from some middle eastern country and didn’t speak any English but spoke Spanish well. That left Martin to give all instruction and communication in both Spanish and English (which he did amazingly well). Our first dive would be a “wall dive”which is where you dive along a coral wall-like formation that can drop to great depths beneath you. Theses dives are really beautiful in Cozumel. The dive site was not too far away but we quickly noticed that our boat was going excruciatingly slow. You know the speed a boat goes in those zones where it says “no wake”? That was about our top speed. But the trip followed the coast line and passed the port of several cruise ships. It’s was a beautiful ride on a sunny day, so we didn’t mind that it took us 45 minutes to go a short distance. We finally arrived at the site and after Martin outlined the dive plan in both languages, we all suited up and rolled in one by one. The spot we dropped in was probably 70 feet or so and we could easily see the bottom, so the visibility looked like it would be good and we were excited. We all began to descend and it wasn’t long before we noticed we were getting into some stronger current. This would be a drift dive and we expected some current. But we didn’t expect what we encountered next.

Within the next few minutes we became enveloped in a current like I’ve never experienced. It was difficult to even remain horizontal while swimming. The current was not only moving me along quickly, it was tossing me around like I was in a washing machine. My computer said we were at about 60 feet and a quick look around confirmed that everyone else was experiencing the same thing as I was. The lady who spoke no English looked terrified and was holding tightly to Martin around his waist while her husband was videoing himself with his GoPro ”playing“ in the current, literally he was flipping end over end and making a victory sign to his GoPro. The lady from New Jersey and Christian were a little ahead of the main part of the group. I was just ahead of the divemaster so I turned to face him and let the current take me backward while I kicked in the opposite direction. There was no hope of swimming against the current, but that did seem to slow me down a little. Christian swam to the bottom and held onto a rock and waited for us to get closer before he let go. Martin was trying to calm the lady who was holding him and everyone else just kept looking at him and each other. After several minutes of this I looked around to take another inventory of the group and Denise (from New Jersey) was nowhere to be seen. I kept looking but when the current had become swift the visibility had become proportionately worse. We were swept along like this for a little while. Even the fish around us were swimming in crazy patterns because of the current. I was feeling like we were in the jet stream with the turtles from “Finding Nemo”. I assumed that Martin was trying wait out the current, but when it didn’t get any better and Denise had not reappeared, he motioned for everyone to ascend about 25 minutes into the dive. Christian and I were the first to 20 feet and hovered for our 3 minute safety stop while Martin tried to get the other 3 divers together. The current was swift here but considerably better than it was deeper. At the end of our safety stop, Christian and I surfaced alone. The first thing I  noticed was that our boat was not here. I thought perhaps he was waiting where we should typically surface. We could faintly hear a cry for help although we could see nothing. It was Denise. We tried to determine which direction the screams were coming from and I started waving my arms madly while Christian whistled and called to her. It was only a few minutes before I  caught a glimpse of her and she swam toward us. She was not hurt but seemed pretty scared. The rest of the group finally surfaced and Martin was relieved to see Denise back.

The next question was the boat. It should’ve found us by now. Martin had inflated his orange portable buoy long before we even surfaced. We could see the shoreline in the distance (which was my greatest comfort) but we saw no boat anywhere around us. This was the first time I thought of GoPro-Ing this, that showed me both that I  had been genuinely nervous (and not thinking about the GoPro) both in the current and before we found Denise. Now, however, the desire to video indicated that I felt safe within site of the shoreline on this sunny day and I was beginning to find the humor in our situation.

When we saw a boat (not ours), Martin waved his orange marker high in the air and called to them. It came toward us and turned out to be a parasail boat. Martin spoke with the captain and had him radio our boat. After about 5 minutes of this exchange, Martin swam back toward us as the boat left. He assured us that our boat was on its way and we should just try to stay together until it came.

Without discussing what we should do, we all linked arms or held onto some part of the person next to us so we were a 7 diver amoeba. It occurred to me that there was probably no other situation in which a large, bearded middle eastern man who did not speak English could hold tightly to my wrist without me minding. In fact, I was trying not to laugh out loud as I could see the apprehension on some of my companions faces. I figured we could always swim to the beach resort within site before dark, so I wasn’t worried. We floated aimlessly in the sapphire water barely speaking, only occasionally changing our hold on each other to find a more comfortable position.

According to my dive computer we had been floating about 30 minutes when Martin spotted our boat creeping toward us. It was a full 5 minutes before it finally made it to us and we boarded. Everyone seemed to relax once aboard the boat. We still had a second dive to do and Martin assured it we would still be doing it. The boat started up and headed toward the second location. It was then that the engine started sputtering. We looked around at each other in disbelief. But yes, our boat was broken down. Captain Harry and Martin quickly pulled the cover off the engine and began examining it. They tried a few things and still the boat didn’t start. So Martin told us he would call the shop and have the other boat come pick us up and continue the dive. He made a phone call and had a very spirited conversation in Spanish. He ended the call and told us the other boat was busy. Ok……

So Harry and Martin went to work on the engine once more and maybe 10 minutes later they had a solution. Harry would hold his hand inside the engine to hold the offending part WHILE Martin drove the boat! We eventually reached the second site but really the dive was no longer my focus at this point. Nevertheless, the next dive was nice and definitely more sedate. The dive was longer and we didn’t lose anyone. And when we surfaced the boat was running and came directly toward us.

By this time we had been out for close to 5 hours which is an extremely long time for 2 dives that are relatively close. We settled back in the boat and started toward the dock. Somehow none of us were surprised when the engine went dead. Harry was able to get it started in just a couple of minutes. But for the duration of the trip the engine died at least 10 times, I lost count after that. It took a couple of minutes each time to restart and our overall speed decreased from a creep to a crawl. What should’ve been a 20 minute trip back took almost an hour.

After that long afternoon we found the closest restaurant and hungrily ordered dinner while we decompressed. It was an unbelievable day, not exactly in the way we were hoping but we sat and laughed at the events of the day over dinner. We watched the sun set over the Caribbean and decided it was time to catch the ferry back to Playa.

Utter exhaustion sent us straight home. Although the day didn’t turn out like we thought it would, it was an unforgettable adventure and makes me even more anxious to get back out there and see what else Mexico has in store for us.