Scuba in Mexico; A beginners guide to scuba

Scuba diving in Mexico is a very popular activity. With its many open or closed cenotes and the largest reef in North America, Mexico is the perfect spot to do some diving. I recently completed a 2-day course to get my PADI Scuba Diver certificate. My instructor’s name was Diego. Diego is Argentinian but speaks very good English. In my opinion, the best qualities for an instructor are someone with plenty of experience, has a lot of patience, willingness to slow down & repeat something, and simplifies the complicated terms of scuba diving. Diego easily had all the qualities.

If you want to schedule your own course or dives with Diego (highly recommended!) you can find him at Freeway Scuba Diving or @freewayscuba on Instagram.

There are many cenotes in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, which are limestone caves filled with freshwater. They are perfect for scuba, especially the large open cenotes. They vary in-depth, some being a whopping 100m deep, while others are a nice 3 to 4m. Diego took us to the Casa Cenote (formerly called Manatee Cenote). This is a very large open water cenote complex, the shallow parts 3 - 4m, and the back is a deeper 10m. The water is brackish, the saltwater coming from a tunnel that leads directly to the ocean. This is a very busy spot for people to learn to scuba, so make sure to go earlier (later in the day, the water becomes cloudy with all the sand kicked up from divers). First time in the water you practice your skills, such as clearing a partial/fully flooded mask, assisted ascent with your buddy, and so on. We took two dives here, and then a week later we dove in the reefs offshore of Tulum. Before diving, Diego explains all that we were going to do on a dive and demonstrates the skills beforehand.

The basic scuba unit consists of your BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), regulator, cylinder, and weight system. Also, you have your flippers and goggles. Your regulator has four outlets, two-second stage regulators to breath out of, one pressure gauge (the amount of pressure still inside your cylinder), and a low-pressure inflator. The low-pressure inflator is used to inflate your BCD with a press of a button. The weight system is either a weight belt or weights in integrated BCD pockets. The weight depends on the person, but to be correctly weighted, you float at eye level when your BCD is fully deflated. A cylinder is considered full at 3000 psi (200 bar).

For the PADI Scuba Diver certificate, you do not need to complete a final test, but you do have to go over quiz questions with your instructor. The PADI Scuba Diver certificate qualifies you to twelve meters. to complete it, you must log four divers, and practice the required skills. If you want to progress, the PADI Open Water Diver course allows you to dive to depths of eighteen meters. For this course, you do need to do a fifty-question test.

Pneumonic Devices for Scuba

Since there are many different procedures, scuba has many acronyms. Some basic ones are SORTED and STELAR. Both are for the Five-point descent or ascent process.

SORTED is for descending. S stands for Signal to your buddy, so they know what you are going to do; O stands for Orient, find where the boat (if you have a boat) is, your diving spot, and where the land is; R stands for Regulator in mouth, you put this in your mouth at this point; T stands for Time, you want to check the time so you can log it later or determine how long you are underwater; E is for Elevating BCD inflator because you can’t release air from your BCD without holding it above your head; D is for Deflate BCD and Descend.

S in STELAR means Signal to buddy, underwater you can’t communicate so signals are the only way to let your buddy know to ascent; T stands for Time, again do this to see what time and how long you have been underwater; E stands for Elevate BCD inflator, to release air in your BCD (*note*, never, ever inflate BCD when ascending); L stands for Look, make sure nothing is obscuring your ascent; A stands for Ascent, begin rising upwards kicking slowly; R stands for Rotate, so your vision is 360.

In scuba, we have a pre-dive safety check. This is just a procedure to make sure we have all the necessary equipment and they are functioning well. You always perform the pre-dive safety check with a buddy, insuring you both are ready to dive. Diego made up a sentence to help remember, Bruce Willis Ruins All Films. Bruce stands for BCD, make sure it is inflating and deflating correctly; Willis stands for Weight system, make sure you are properly weighted and can release your weights instantly; Ruins stands for Releases, adjust the four releases on your BCD, one on each side of the BCD connecting the shoulder strap to the rest of the BCD, one waist strap and one chest clip; All stands for Air, check that both second stage regulators are working and sufficient air is coming through; Films stand for Final check, put on goggles and mask, tightening them as needed.

My impressions of scuba diving

Scuba diving is an odd sensation as if you are floating. Underwater is a quiet world, filled with life. It is very calm and almost meditative. The oceans and various bodies of water offer much to explore. I really enjoy diving and everything to it. If you are comfortable with water, which I am, scuba is a wonderful step up from snorkeling or freediving. You can last an hour underwater, never having to come up.

Setting up equipment is a major part of scuba

Diego and I in front of his truck. This is after our first dive

Diving in Cozumel

After doing all that was needed I got a basic certification. We then left and took the car ferry to Cozumel. Cozumel is well known for diving. The water is crystal clear and flourishing with life. The dives range from shallow (12 - 15m) to 30m and deeper. Around the island, there a “Wall”. This is a huge drop that goes down 400m. It slowly descends, not a sudden drop, but the experience can be a bit overwhelming. Since I am not certified for 30m, I did not go anywhere near the Wall. The dive shop I used was recommended by Diego. It is called Bluedream Cozumel, and it is part of the Playa Azul resort.

The two dives I took were the Tormentos and Paradise reef. Both were drift dives, meaning you are dropped off at the beginning of the current, and slowly dragged along to the end. Paradise has been my favorite dive so far. The current is gentle and there are so much life and color. Halfway through the dive, the ground becomes barren, with just a seaweed bed. Then, it opens back up to the colorful coral.

Each dive was just under an hour. The divemaster, Francisco, was very knowledgeable and was very experienced. He was patient and allowed us to explore, as long as we were close enough to be able to easily reach him. At an extra $20 per person, Bluedream provided all the gear needed including the cylinders. Since I had just started scuba, I had no gear of my own. The gear they provided was of good quality. I absolutely loved diving here, with all the fish and coral.

I think diving in Mexico has been an incredible experience, and I look forward to coming back in the future. A few things I really liked about diving in Mexico, was that since so many people do it, you can find dive shops all over. Also, they have all sorts of dives, from cave dives to coral dives. One final thing is that Mexico has dives for everyone, beginners and masters alike.