The World of Diving – It’s a Small World After All

We landed in Cozumel on Saturday, and Sunday, we were in the water. I could have easily been diving all day, but I was out voted 3:1, so it was only a two-tank dive today. As expected, the waters were crystal clear, with great visibility and lots of great things to see.

We always take a surface interval in between dives to off-load the nitrogen build up. This surface interval was a bit different than most though. Most of the people who dive with our divemasters Julio and Ishi have been diving with them for years and years. We have been diving with them for 12 years. This time when we took our surface interval, we stopped in at private, beautiful villa owned by some other long time divers of Julio and Ishi’s . They invited us to their home and gave us the tour. What a BEAUTIUFL home it was too. They rent it out and it can sleep up to 13 people. We were honored to be invited in to take the tour, especially since we were all dripping wet and in our dive gear. the owners, Steve and Nancy are dives themselves, so they understand. the house was built with divers in mind.

But the most impressive part of this surface interval stop was that we too have dived with these divers, Steve and Nancy. I did not put 2 and 2 together until Nancy had commented and said “she remembers diving with me on my birthday”. That was a long time ago. The last time I actually dived (yes, it is dived not dove) on my actual birthday was 7 years ago. What a great memory she has. After she said that, it all started coming back to me, and I do remember diving with them as well. She said she remembered my energy, and that is what stood out to her the most. It just goes to show that the world of diving is a small world after all. If you dive enough, in enough places, you are bound to run into people you know and have dived with in the past at some point. That is one of the many things that makes diving so great. It is about forming those bonds and relationships.

I looked everywhere for the contact information they gave me for their place, but I can’t seem to find it. I will have to get it to you at another time. The villa is in a gated community with a private dock, a community pool, a huge gourmet kitchen, and it can sleep up to 13 people. Our first dive site for the day was Palancar Gardens, so the villa is somewhere close to the Palancar area, down in the southern part of the island. I believe the name of the villa is “Casa Dakota”, since both Steve and Nancy actually are from and live in South Dakota and are in radio up there, but again, I am not positive.

To all the divers out there, just keep diving. And to everyone, stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time. Once again, I will be signing off for a few days. I will have a houseful of company for the weekend, starting today. I will talk to you all again soon. 🙂