Dive #142 - Rich Torkington's Dive Log

The Voyager of the Seas docked near our hotel
Videograph by Rich Torkington in Cozumel 2003

Dive Journal: We lounge around in the hotel room this afternoon watching the brand new Iraqi war play out, and wait for sunset in anticipation. We’ve got a night dive scheduled for tonight and it is Johnny’s first ever! The rest of us always seem to enjoy night dives and we’re looking forward to it tonight.

Around 5:30pm, we meet up with Julio and Santiago in the Shamu. Julio is from Argentina and is another divemaster staffer with Blue XT Sea. Christy has told me that he is working on his instructor certification and has a special interest in underwater videography.

The boat heads south again and we soon glide smoothly past the huge cruise boats anchored at the International Pier and at the Puerta Maya. One especially catches Linda’s eye, a Royal Caribbean giant called “Voyager of the Seas” (Ron says, “Disease of the Seas”). She vows to take a cruise soon. I really enjoy the evening ride at the waterline of these huge boats, looking up at tiny passengers (specks on the decks) waving at us.

We take our time suiting up and conversing with Julio while it’s slowly getting dark. Finally we hit the water and Johnny is treated to his first taste of night diving. Johnny and I buddy up and we stay close.

Early on we spy yet another toadfish, but I still don’t get a decent picture of it (no video possible with my setup at night). In the early evening darkness, we very soon see some great lobsters and crabs inching out from the reef. Most of them are quite large, and one lobster is simply enormous.

We also soon discover lots of plankton in the water and they swarm around our dive lights. There are tiny bluish fishes that also dart around the lights. We’re all soon “feeding” the corals with these plankton swarms – it is fascinating to watch.

There is also a wide assortment of worms and other interesting structures floating in the water. The biolumenscent creatures are abundant, especially visible with dive lights extinguished when an arm or fin is swished through the water. One of my favorites is a vertical string of pinpoint lights, maybe a dozen or so all lined up. Freaky. Like being in a night jungle full of eyes.

With all the interesting things to see, the dive is of course over too quickly. Janel is a night dive veteran and loves them and Johnny really enjoys the experience, too. The things he doesn’t like is the perceived need to cling together closer during the dive, which restricts his ability to freely explore. He says he was also a little nervous about our ascent through the dark waters without visual reference.

Back at the hotel, we accelerate our warming up with some time in the hot tub with a cold beer. Oh my – life can be good. It is here I notice a fairly intense itching and some swelling on my hand, and I figure I must have gotten stung by a jellyfish or something else with tentacles. It’s not really too bad so I ignore it.

Another day in paradise, and we enjoy a simple offering of chips and beer for dinner while we watch the day’s video.