One of the first things I wanted to do as I started my new adventure was to learn how to scuba dive. My bff Jacs was a willing partner and while we were on a cruise I signed us up for beginning scuba while we were in Cozumel.  This not only became the start of our love of scuba but also Cozumel.  We fell in love almost immediately with diving and decided to plan to go back to Seattle and take a tropical referral class (there was no way we were going to do our open water dives in the freezing waters of the Pacific Northwest when we knew the gloriously warm waters of Coz awaited us).  We finished our certification and hopped on a plane to the small island of Cozumel, located in the Mexican Caribbean across from Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan Peninsula. Three dives later we were certified and were on our way to finding out just how much we would love this activity.  Our hotel concierge introduced us to Hector and on our first day of our solo dive he picked us up in his van that was held together by duct tape about an hour late and we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into.  He drove us to a tiny marina where the boats are all shoved into small spaces and tied onto the rocks and we climbed onboard.  Not once did we seem to think that any of this should concern us when it came to the safety of our dive. When onboard it became clear that this was a team of guys who knew exactly what they were doing and we felt perfectly safe and at ease.  It was just the two of us and Roberto our divemaster and as we did our first roll off the boat we found ourselves in a paradise we could not have imagined in our wildest dreams.  The water was so clear you could see forever and it was so warm that to this day we have never worn a wet suit there.  We learned what it was like to experience true beauty and a serenity that is unmatched.  I liken it to relaxation yoga underwater.  All you hear is the sound of your own breathing and you see colors that take your breath away, fish that are so close you can reach out and touch them (although not the barracuda, don’t touch them hahaha), and coral so complex that to swim through them is magical. At the end of our first dive we were hooked.  I am still a new diver having only 29 dives in my book but I will document some of my favorites along with pictures in future blogs.  I will also tell you how I fell in love with Cozumel, it has become my home away from home.

Until next time…live your adventure!