DAY 6: COZUMEL

Today will be our last port day and one that we all have been looking forward to. We are going to attempt diving with "Karl". It's all he's talked about and it all he wanted to do.

We knew we needed to get off the ship as soon as it docked so that we could get over to the dive shop. So, we set our alarms for 6:45am to give us enough time to shower and head to breakfast.

Indulge has been one of our favorites since getting on the ship and today would be no different. I swore I was going to eat light this morning, but my brain would not stop jabbering and I went all out for desserts. You have to believe me...I'm never doing this again...or would I? I regret nothing.

After breakfast we went back to room to get some pictures of us pulling in. Gosh the water is just so beautiful, and it looked like it was going to be a marvelous sun shiny day out. I could see the Punta Langosta port in the distance.

When the a/c is on in your room and you open up the balcony door and there's heat, your mirrors in the room will fog up. Sakari will take full advantage of this...

Yes, there's now an octopus on my mirror now. 😘

We would be in port today from 9:30-5:30pm and there would be 3 ships here with around 11,101 people. Sounds like a slow day for Cozumel if you ask me.

We were about 10 minutes late getting off the ship. I'm not sure what the holdup was. I have things to do! Down the handicapped elevators we went and dinged off the ship and onto the pier. Much better than having to tender over.

We stopped to have our Cozumel picture done and headed toward the port.

The scuba instructor said that we should be able to get out onto the street using the handicapped exit you could use by asking instead of going up the elevator, across the LONG shopping area to the other side of the street, elevator down and back to the street. She did tell us that she had sent a van to pick us up. How nice was that??? We didn't even have to plan that part.

However, once we got to that area, they told us we had to make the long haul up the elevator and across...just as I figured. Such a waste of time. They will do anything at these ports to try to get you to buy stuff. I get it...but still...it's so annoying. I have no use for any of this stuff that will sit in a box for years until I decide to donate it to the thrift store. No, I'm not a leather person either.

You can always count on Cozumel to have the people spray painted in gold that don't move...until they do and scare you. 😁All I can think about when I see them is wondering how bad their face hates them at night with all that spray paint on it. Eek!

According to Roberta (dive shop owner that I had been talking to for months prior to the cruise), we were looking for Taxi 256. I let her know that we had finally made it back to the street and she said they made the driver move, so he was circling back around to watch for him. That should be easy since all of the taxis look alike.

Well, except for these. No, this was not our ride, I'm sure of it.

We waited and waited and wasn't sure just how long this circle was, but it was taking a while. It was getting cloudy. Then it started to pour!!! We are running for cover under an umbrella at the restaurant we were standing at. And then we see the cab pull up. There was no place to park in front of us and he had to go down a little further. We took off running toward the cab and were completely soaked by the time we made it in the van. Ok, I'm pretty sure I've done my cardio for the day with that olympic sprint I just did. To our surprise, it was an ADA van!! "Karl" wasn't even going to have to transfer.

WE HAVE ARRIVED!!! FINALLY!!! It was around 10:20am and Roberta said that it hadn't even rained there. Go figure!

Roberts Scuba Shack is located right beside the Atlantis Submarines and close to International Cruise Port. We walked right past it last time we were here and heading to Sunset Sand Dollar for our last dive. Directly across the street from the dive shop is her dive hotel called Village Tan Kah. It is a cute little area with 10 rooms to rent, a pool in the middle, and gorgeous tropical gardens. Roberta is originally from Chicago I believe she said and she has been in Cozumel for something like 30 years or longer (?). Of course, they are ADA certified for divers with disabilities and host events for LifeWaters Adaptive Scuba Dive group who bring down disabled divers with spinal injuries to all go diving all at the same time. LifeWaters is a non-profit scuba diving training for disabled for people with spinal cord injuries, PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, amputees, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida and multiple traumas and other disabilities. They are partners with the VA with the main headquarters in St Louis, MO. They have affiliated dive training centers in AZ, TX, CO, FL, IL, AR and MN. How awesome is that?

We had prefilled our information prior to coming, so the only thing left to do was to pay the mandatory cash $12.50/pp fee to be able to dive (or snorkel) in the Marine Park. I'm not sure if this is new because I don't remember ever doing this before. When looking at the map, almost anywhere you go is the marine park. 🤷‍♀️

Oh, and we needed to show that Sakari and I really are certified divers. It still feels weird to say that. Never would I have ever thought I would say that in my lifetime and think back to when I first cruised and snorkeled. I never thought it would go past that point, but once I seen all the things underwater, I knew I was hooked. I mean who else decides to "try scuba" and proceeds to continue to do a Discover Scuba Dives 26 times over the next 9 years before deciding to get certified. 😂😁We are special I tell ya.

Roberta gave Sakari a dive computer to wear and I was using my Apple Watch for diving. I had prescribed to a 1-day day pass on it (which is only $4.99).

Then it was time to try to get "Karl" into his dive wetsuit. Oh Em Gee. It took an army and was harder than what it looked. You could tell Roberta is skilled in this as she had a plastic bag to put his feet in, which made the wetsuit go over his feet easier. Getting it up over his very small, thin booty was a different task. Time to hug the hubby. From the looks on "Karl's" face, he was enjoying this a little too much.

As they were finishing getting "Karl" ready for class, I headed across the street to a local pharmacy (Pharma Mart) to get pop. It was hot out and I needed something to quench my thirst. Thank goodness the dates were good at this place.

When I returned, you guessed it, they were still working on that wetsuit. Eventually it was time to head across the street to Village Tan Kah for their scuba class.

Roberta pulled up a chair to give the class and making sure that "Karl" understood all the instructions and not only that but how this was all going to work with him.

Now comes the fun part...getting into the pool. That meant more time trying to get the upper half of his wetsuit on and getting him on the side of the pool. "Karl" likes to think he can do more than he actually can. In PT he said her learned how to lower himself to the ground from his wheelchair and back up into it if he was to fall. He assured Roberta that "Yea, I can do that" while bobbing his head up and down. No, no he can't (or didn't). He's just so weak, thin and frail, with no upper body strength. I think he likes to think he can because he did it once in PT? I'm not sure. They would end up lifting him out of his chair and onto the side of the pool.

There was one thing I noticed this time is that without having that core support (remember he's paralyzed from above the nipple line and not like most paraplegic people that is from the waist down) it is very hard for him to sit up without back support. Watching him try to hold himself up and grab the regulator seemed to be a struggle. They ended up having to put his mask on for him.

When it was go time he was told to roll forward but that was a task as well and he was eventually lowered in slowly by the helper.

As he flailed around in the water face down, Roberta flipped him over and said he needed to practice flipping himself using his arms so that he is facing up when on the surface in the ocean. She had him practice this multiple times, with difficulty, as the hubby geared up for his class with him.

Sakari and I sat on the lounge steps at the other end of the pool until they went under for their skills. Of course, he did fine with those because he's done this around 7 times before during his Discover Scubas with us on vacation. That part was a walk in the park for him.

Once the skills were completed, it was time to get him back into the wheelchair and over to the boat. A boat pulled up with some divers that had just finished a dive and I guess that was going to be our boat as well. For some reason I had thought we were getting a specialized boat that you can roll a wheelchair onto for transfers. At least that was the impression I got when we were talking. But I guess not.

So they basically had to have multiple people lift him and his wheelchair onto the boat. Oh Em Gee. This was scary. I can only imagine how he felt and the worried look on Sakari's face said it all. It took a total of 5 people to safely get him onto the boat. Four people lifting and transferring and Roberta holding his head down to keep from hitting on the top of the boat cover as they lowered him down.

Once he made it onto the boat, they let us know that he would have to transfer from the wheelchair to a seat and ask if he was going to be able to hold himself up during the ride. Of course, he said "yes and if not, Sakari can hold me up". But they placed him beside a pole and he was able to hold on to that for support.

Before we had left the dock there was a guy that got off of the previous dive and Roberta had stopped him and asked that he come along, and he said he would. I thought maybe after that pool training, she thought she might need an extra hand for "Karl". Eventually I would learn that he does photography. When she told me he would be coming along to photograph us I told her we were equipped with enough equipment to do that ourselves. I mean we take 2 cameras and 2 GoPro's. I think we have it covered. She told him that we had our own equipment but he decided he was going to come along anyhow...to take pictures. I'm telling you this story for a reason. You will see soon!

And off we go...We left and was on the water at 12:25pm

I did want to mention, this time they gave me a pressure gauge that was in bars. Um, say what? They attempted to explain to me how to read it but I was having difficulty. I've never had or seen one of these, so this should be interesting.

There are a lot of dive sites in Cozumel. I was extremely worried about having the same experience we had when we stayed on the island and that was drift diving. I know you can't predict how "drifty" it will be but Roberta assured me that it would be fine and it was a great dive site to take "Karl" to (and me to be honest because I didn't want another freak out session like last time when we dove at the San Francisco Wall and Palancar Reef). We would be going to San Clemente which is known as a beginner shallow reef from 20-55 feet with a mild to moderate current and visibility 70-120 feet. Ok, hoping for the "mild" current is all I can say.

We had arrived. The captain pulled the boat into a shallower area but it was drifting I could tell already and he had to move it a few times.

First up was "Karl" since they had already positioned him on the back of the boat. Immediately, the extra person/photographer was in my way. I wanted a video of "Karl" going off the boat. He was standing right in the way despite me making a comment about not being able to see.

So why didn't I move you ask? Because as you can see in the picture there was no getting around him and he was a big guy. I tried standing and moving to the other side, but the waves thrashing the boat around almost took me out. Ok, I'm sitting back down. Instead, I had to hang off the side of the boat to get a video.

They dumped "Karl" overboard and Roberta helped him roll onto his back.

Next was Sakari and then daddy:

I was last to back roll and although the hubby took a video of it from the water, he still had the red lens on the GoPro, so I won't bother showing it.

"Karl" was already down there and getting help from Roberta as we were flipping off the boat and on the surface.

We headed down to meet up with them.

This minions set up was massive and massive would mean he and his equipment was in my (our) way ALL THE TIME!

Parrotfish

Parrotfish

Southern Stingray going by:

They ended up handing "Karl" some ADA dive gloves to help him swim. They are webbed gloves and hopefully it would help him move along.

As we came around the corner, we spotted a Nurse Shark and of course the minion spotted it and hurried over to get a picture. DUDE!! STOP IT. This is our dive. You know we have cameras and GoPro's and you are rushing to get over to take a picture and blocking us most of the time. Let us take our own pictures! It was so aggravating trying to get around him to get a picture!

Sakari was able to get some good close-up pictures of him. Then he decided his personal space was being invaded and moved along.

It was so colorful and beautiful down there. This was turning out to be a good experience.

I looked back to see that "Karl" was doing his own thing and Roberta had let go of him. HE'S SWIMMING AND DIVING ON HIS OWN!!!

Chromis fish hanging above the reef:

Sakari taking her close-up pictures:

I look over and the hubby is taking a picture of me so I returned the favor:

Then we seen a Grey Triggerfish coming our way. It came extremely close to the hubby and he managed to get some great shots/video. I'm honestly not sure we've seen a Grey one. We usually see the black ones, but these were everywhere.

French Angelfish:

"Karl" was still going strong on his own:

Smooth Spotted Trunkfish:

Plenty of fish everywhere and we seen a lot of Black Triggerfish as well on this dive.

Barracuda's are NOT scared of you and very curious. They make me nervous about how close they will come to you. They also like shiny objects.

Sakari must have been off finding more Southern Stingrays because I didn't see two of them together, and neither did the hubby according to his pictures/videos.

She didn't get too far into the dive before the camera started saying dead battery. Say what??? I charged them. I'm now wondering if the key card to the room got removed prior to this and it didn't fully charge. DARNIT! She always takes the most amazing pictures. She said once it was off she would have to wait awhile and then turn it back on and it would allow her to take 1 picture and then turn back off. Ugh!

Another Grey Triggerfish with a Blue Surgeonfish

She somehow managed to find a Flamingo Tongue Snail hidden underneath something that looked like a branch. The hubby seen it as well (but hard to tell in his video). I missed it. It would be the only one that was found today, and Cozumel usually has a lot of them.

That would be all of the pictures she was able to get today because she finally gave up on turning it back on every time it turned off. 😞

Her normal position when taking pictures for the viewing audience lol

White Spotted Filefish

Then off in the distance was another SHARK! Wow, two in one dive. Of course, guess who was in the way of getting a good video...yep, minion.

Smooth Trunkfish trying to hide:

French Angelfish

The dive instructor pointed at me to tell him my air left. Um...I starred at it in confusion and attempted to try to figure it out and gave a hand signal with a confusion sign after that. I honestly didn't know but did know where the red zone was...only because it was in...well, the color red.

Look who we found...our long-lost buddy Pedro San Miguel from Buccono's on our last vacation that followed us around everywhere.

He followed us around for awhile and then went on his way. It must be an imposter because Pedro would have never left us.

I was mesmerized by how bright this yellow rope sponge was. I'm not sure I've ever seen one quite this color. It was so pretty.

A group of Margate Fish

Parrotfish

Sakari was leading "Karl" along (of course minion was in the picture with his large equipment, so the hubby wasn't able to get a good picture until they were passing him and no longer holding hands).

Grey Triggerfish

A small group of Permits were swimming by. They are part of the Jack family.

You think you're hiding but we can see you Margates:

There's one thing I can say about this dive...the fish in Cozumel were NOSEY! They would come right up to you with no problem. The hubby managed to get a lot of close up pictures and videos from the fish coming right at him with no concerns.

We spotted a turtle going by in the distance:

Sea Cucumber

One of our instructors had his light pointing in an anemone. I could not see what he was looking at no matter how hard I tried. He eventually moved on and after the light was no longer on it, I could see it was a Coral Banded Shrimp inside of it.

Sakari was just floating around while "Karl" was doing a doggy paddle instead of moving his arms the way Roberta told him to. He's gonna be tired tonight!

Oh my gosh, the beautiful colors down here.

Honeycomb Cowfish:

DUDE! Here comes a Green Sea Turtle and it was coming right at us!

Then we came to an area with a bright orange coral and TONS of fish. There was Parrotfish, French Angelfish and a bunch of Queen Angelfish. Normally we are lucky if we see 1 Queen Angelfish on a dive but they were everywhere! There was even a Rock Beauty Angelfish as well. So beautiful.

Sometimes you just feel like you are being watched. More Margates hiding under the rocks.

Well our journey had come to an end...as much as I didn't want it to. It was time to surface. Roberta had already taken "Karl" up to get him on the boat. So, I didn't witness that and have no idea how they did it honestly. Maybe removed the tank and pulled him up? By the time we got up there, he was already on the boat.

When Roberta and I first started talking months ago, we had discussed doing a second dive. Once we were all on the boat, she ask if we would like to do that second dive. After looking at everyone, I decided we probably shouldn't for several reasons. I'm sure that "Karl" was tired, and I also know it took a long time getting him dressed and onto the boat. I figured it would take just as long once we returned. I really didn't want to be pier runner while pushing a wheelchair because we cut things too close. Had we not had to do all of this, we probably would have done a second dive. But we had a good time and everyone was excited about seeing multiple sharks and turtles on this dive. It was an amazing time.

By the time we made it back on the boat, I was actually in the red zone. I used more air this dive than I think I ever have. I was having major problems with bouncy this time. I don't think they put enough weight in my jacket and once they did, I was continuously sinking and having to use my BCD to add air and then deflate and then add. It was a nightmare at times. At one point I was floating up and the instructor had to pull me back down and my BCD was completely deflated. There was a bit of a current (nothing like the last time) and I felt that made me consume more air as well since sometimes I had to kick harder to go in the direction I was going in and breathing heavier.

We dove for 56 min (and I started my dive watch a little later than we actually went in the water so probably a little over an hour dive). The water temp was 84° average. Our lowest depth was 42' but average while on the reef was 28'.

"Karl" getting his wetsuit off by the ladies...nothing better than that right?

Here is a video of our day:

Continuing our day on the next page ------