Cozumel, 1999
Kim & Bill Utterback

After months of anticipation and researching Cozumel on the web, my wife and I left for Cozumel from Chicago at 6:00 AM in early July of 1999. We flew to Houston and then onto Cozumel via Continental Airlines. I had prepared myself for the worst after hearing horror stories about flying with Continental but everything turned out all right. We got our luggage at the Cozumel airport and were at the Fiesta Americana Hotel by 1:00 PM.

I talked my wife into finding "Dive With Martin" after we got a bite to eat at the hotel restaurant that is right on the ocean. Since we could see the cruise ships from the Fiesta Americana, I figured that we could walk to Martin's dive shop. The people at the hotel desk asked us if we were "used to walking that far in this weather." I assured them that we walk most every day in Iowa. Off we went in 90-degree weather. They did not ask us if we were used to walking on the road since there were no sidewalks…on the road against traffic…on the road with taxi drivers driving like maniacs…on a road with no shoulder…

After what seemed to be two hours, we finally ended up at Martin's shop. If any of you have had a chance to dive with him, you'll probably understand when I tell you that my wife took one look and said, "NO WAY AM I GOING TO DIVE WITH THIS GUY!" His shop looked like a hole in the wall. It had one door, one window, and nothing on the walls for sale. I was in the middle of introducing myself to Martin and Scott when my wife pulled me to the side to tell me about her decision. I thought all my planning was out the window. After hearing this, I apologized to Martin and began to make plans to leave the clothing that I brought for him to distribute with the needy in the area. Martin said it was no problem and that he would be willing to take me out and show me the conditions the people lived in which would get the clothing.

Luckily for me, my wife happened to begin talking to a cute young diver who was getting his DM from Scott and this guy assured her that he would dive with no one but Martin. She listened to others talk and listened to the instruction happening in the ocean in front of her. With a bit of hesitation, she agreed to dive with Martin. I felt like I was a ping pong ball at this point as I went back to Martin and got things set up for the coming week. Sometimes those good-looking hunks can come in handy! With a feeling of relief, we left and prepared for the next day.

We were at the dock of our hotel a little after 8 AM waiting the next morning when Martin picked us up. For those of you who don't know this, Martin includes the cost of any dive equipment you need in with the total cost of the dives. He brought what we needed and told us to keep it for the week. As I got my wet suit on, I could see the anxious look on my wife's face. She felt better when Martin explained that he had two six foot octopuses with him and he was used to sharing air. His boats were smaller than what we had used in the past so we were told we needed to roll off the side. That same look came over my wife's face again but Martin helped her get up unto the edge of the boat.

Our first dive was to Punta Sur where we maxed out at 110 feet. The visibility was +100 feet. We saw lot of big groupers about 4 feet. long. The three swim throughs were probably the highlight of the dive. After a shore interval of about an hour at a beach, we dove the Cedral Pass. At 60 feet, it was a pretty fast drift and full of large groupers. Martin wrestled out a couple nurse sharks that quickly swam away.

The next day found us starting out our diving at the "Tiles." The coral formations at 85 feet were fabulous and the swim throughs were again wonderful to experience. After another long shore interval, we dove at Cardonas. The grouper we saw at 60 feet. followed for the whole dive. The angelfish were 1 ½ to 2 feet in size. The ray that we came upon capped off a great morning of diving. Our visibility was still +100 feet.

A trip to "Devil's Throat" began our next day. The dive had swim throughs that helped to emphasize the dramatic difference in colors between the coral and the blue of the deep. At 120 feet, we came up through a long swim through and were met by another large ray. That was a super experience! The only thing more beautiful than the coral was my dive partner, my wife. The shore interval was filled with talk about our dive and it seemed to go quickly. During the decent on our second dive of the morning, we saw a turtle taking in some air on the surface so we ascended a few feet. As the turtle began to descend, it came over to within an arms reach of our group and amazed all of us with its mobility. Later, we saw more nurse sharks and a single lobster that I would have sworn to be two lobsters. I saw the head of that thing sticking out under a coral ledge and then noticed a tail stretching out beyond the back of the coral when I moved around to the side. Another diver with us told me that it was just one large lobster. There were five more lobsters under another coral formation. I didn't catch the name of our last dive that day. I was more concerned with staying out of the driving rain as we boated back to our motel. This dive turned out to be one of our favorite dives of the trip!

Our night dive to Chankanaab was an experience. My wife would call it the "dive from hell" but I thought it was great. She had other divers descending on her and bumping into her. They just didn't pay attention to what was happening. I was much slower in my movement and saw a king crab, a lobster, and a couple spotted eels along with a leopard's tail and sea cucumbers. I had seen leopard's tails and sea cucumbers in the Caymans but these were longer and thicker. There is a lot to be said for taking your time and not being in a hurry! There is also a lot to be said for using proper diving protocol!

The dives on our next day were to Santa Rosa. At 85 feet, the visibility was 50-75 feet. The swim throughs seem to be similar to the other ones we had experienced but the dramatic difference in colors between the coral and the blue of the deep continued to amaze me. The shore interval broke up our dive into a nice pleasurable morning as we finished off with a dive at "Tinish." The drift was a fairly good speed and we happen to see the same grouper that followed us on a previous dive. It was distinguishable by white scarring on its back and its friendly manner. The lobsters continued to be visible and someone saw a green eel in our group. Sometimes when you hang back to take your time you miss things that other see.

The final day of diving took us to Palancar Briggs. The coral formations were great and the visibility was +100 feet. One coral formation fanned out from the sand to about 30-40 feet above us. The sponges were everywhere! That shore interval was one that I wanted to savor, as I knew I wasn't coming back for a while. We stretched out under the shade of thatched roofs and watched the workers get ready for their day's activities. Tomentos was the location of our last dive. At 60 feet we were able to stay down for quite a while. Tomentos had a nice combination of sandy bottom, sponges, and coral formations. The lobsters, ray, large angelfish, and crabs that I saw reinforced my idea that I wanted to come back…sooner than I knew my bank account would allow!

I'd encourage everyone to consider diving with Martin. All the apprehensions that my wife experienced were reconciled. We were taken care of on our surface intervals with fresh pineapple, melon, and bottled water. Martin and the other DMs that accompanied us were really there to guide us and help us out. His shop appeared to be a hole in the wall but it really was a window to the world! We will dive with no one else in Cozumel but Martin from this point on.

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