I went with a dive club (Aqua Tutus) to Cozumel for a week of warm water diving. We left very early (1 AM) on 15 November 1999 and flew nonstop to Cancun Mexico then took a small local airline for a 20 minute ride to Cozumel. We arrived before noon which left the afternoon to: get checked in to the hotel, (The Barracuda Hotel is ideally located a short walk from San Miguel, the only town on the island.) unpack, and get dollars changed to Pesos. But we had missed a nights sleep so most of us hit the sack rather early after making a short test dive from the hotel.

We had pre-arranged with Dive Paradise for boat diving each day through Saturday. You should wait about 24 hours after diving before flying, so we went to a nature park (Chancanaab) and snorkeled.

My main reason for writing this is to note what I took that I did not need, and a couple items I did not bring that I would on another trip. Generally, it is easy to take too much. Most personal items such as T-shirts, and underwear can be bought where ever you travel. I would recommend bring all the underwear you need, because you just cannot get underwear that fits like the stuff you like anywhere but home.

I like to travel with virtually no carry on luggage to avoid the over crowded overhead bins and/or no foot room under the seat in front of you. But, on another trip, I will take a carry on bag to carry my Regulator and possibly mask; simply to take weight out of my main luggage where there is a 42 pound limit. (With everything in one bag my bag weighed 54 pounds and even without the shorty and lycra skin it would be a bit heavy.) But, remember the Airlines are getting pretty strict about the size of carry-on luggage, so keep it small.

For diving you need to take: your mask and snorkel; your regulator, BC and fins. You do not take tanks or weights. (Some people may want to take the belt, but old-fashioned lead weights are available from the dive operators.) For warm water diving I like full foot fins instead of booties and cold water fins. (I would take the rubber fin keepers, unless you have used your full foot fins enough to be sure you don't need them. They are sometimes hard to find in the dive shops.)

I took a shorty wet suit and a lycra skin and never used either. The water is plenty warm enough to need nothing for warmth. In most places gloves are not needed or allowed. (People with gloves usually do too much damage to the coral.)

It turns out that when the water is 80 F. or higher you loose more body heat from evaporation from a lycra skin or wet suit when you are on the boat than you loose from your skin in the water. There is much less evaporation from your skin than from a wet wet suit, especially if you want to take a bath towel to dry off with. Even if you take the wet suit off between dives it still gets cold and absorbs body heat when you put it back on for the next dive. (On this trip two different people confirmed that they were warmer when they dove without a wet suit than when they used one. A lady scientist who had trouble getting cold concluded that doing the first two dives with nothing then putting on a dry full length wet suit for the 3rd dive and immediately taking it off after the dive was best for her.)

On future trips I will not take anything more than a bathing suit for diving wear. Some people may like to take even less! Check out Nude Scuba and with pictures? (These links and almost anything you want to know about diving can be found at Diver Links).

I took 4 T-shirts and 3 pairs of pants (two short and one long). But, two T-shirts and one pair of shorts did all the work. I washed out one each night and wore the other the next day. Two would be more than enough for shirts, shorts and/or underwear. The only time I was out of a bathing suit was in the evenings when we walked to town to get something to eat. I recommend one pair of sneakers and a pair of sandals for wet wear.

I recommend travelers checks in $50 denominations. I took $400 and used about $250; but I bought no souvenirs or gifts, you have to judge this for yourself.

I am undecided about: Cameras, Radios, Cell phones, GPS and other equipment. The more you take the more you have to lug, guard, and defend, and take care of. But, be sure to take a Passport; and a C-card if you are diving.