Under the Sea. Cozumel Dive. 8/12

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If you have never been scuba diving, it is a definite for your bucket list! On our Carnival cruise last month, we went diving at Chankanaab Park in Cozumel. It was absolutely AMAZING! This was my second dive. Jeb and I did a dive in St. Lucia five years ago on our honeymoon. We didn't see as many fish or aquatic life this time as we did on that dive, but it was still a wonderful adventure! The above picture is of Jeb and I around one of the underwater statues at Chankanaab Park. Chanakanaab is a National Park in Cozumel, Mexico that has a gorgeous beach, scuba diving, snorkeling, water toys for rent, sea lion and dolphin shows, and beach restaurants and shops. 

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I was a little hesitant about diving because I am extremely claustrophobic. I do not like closed in spaces such as elevators or small rooms, and my anxiety about this has gotten much worse since LilliAnn was born. However, I knew that Kassidy, his three friends, and Jeb would be with me, and I also felt comfortable because I knew we weren't going on a very deep dive. The equipment is extremely heavy, and as I was walking from the dive shop down to the water, I almost talked myself out of going. I'm so glad that I kept walking into the water because this ended up being one of my favorite things of the entire trip!

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Since it had been five years and we didn't get very much instruction, I kind of felt lost when I first got into the water. Thankfully, Gilmer, our dive instructor, held my hand for the first couple of minutes until I got the hang of everything again. My ears started to pop and I remembered that I needed to equalize the pressure. I equalized, but apparently didn't equalize as often as I needed to, so unfortunately I got a bit of barotrauma to my right ear. There was pain and ringing in my ear for about two weeks after our trip, but thankfully it finally healed!

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After I was in the water, I wasn't thinking about my claustrophobia at all! There is so much to see in the ocean that you are in awe the entire dive! Here is a little sting ray that we spotted.

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The fish are everywhere and are just gorgeous! 

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The boys were quite the explorers! They would check out and touch every ocean wonder.

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Gilmer wanted us to get to do a bit of cave diving, so he took us in some small caves near the shore. I must admit, I got a little claustrophobic in the caves and had to come out once. I didn't much care for the cave diving. Because fresh water springs meet the warm salt water in the caves, it gets really blurry as you near the surface. The water in these places is extremely cold, so Gilmer kept trying to bring me back down to the ocean floor and closer to the caves so I would be able to see clearer and so the water would be warmer. 

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It's rare to spot a sea horse because they are so little! We found this little guy with his tail wrapped around a sea plant.

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Jeb is a fish! He LOVES LOVES LOVES the ocean and he LOVES scuba diving and snorkeling. He would stay in the ocean for hours upon hours! 

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I love all of the beautiful colors, like this purple piece of coral. Pictures just don't do it justice. In real life, everything under the ocean is so bright...it just glows!

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Kass would swim near the ocean floor and look for lobsters hiding in the holes of the coral. He found two of them! 

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Look at that amazing piece of brain coral!

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Scuba diving is something that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. It's like a whole new world under the ocean. It is so quiet, peaceful, and relaxing being able to float through the water and enjoy some of God's underwater creations!