I got kicked out... Scuba diving in Cozumel - The Devil's Throat

Hey I'm Sarah, this is Abbey, and welcome to a Sewell Unlimited. If you're new here, I'm a scuba instructor and I moved into my van in 2021 after losing my dive shop in Indonesia due to shutdowns. I've been on the road diving around the U.S., Canada, and Mexico for the last two years, teaching on YouTube along the way. You know what I'm about to say, I have diving expeditions coming up baby! So if you want to dive with me in Komodo, Baja, or Socorro, check out the details on my website, send me an email to grab the last spots. Let's go diving, vamonos! It's my last day in Playa, I'm heading to Cozumel, and this place is a giant freaking mess, so I need to clean up, pack up, and get on the ferry. It's gonna be great. Something like that. This is gonna be a pain in the butt. Way down below. It's beautiful. I'm invited to Cozumel to explore the option of doing a future dive expedition combo of Cozumel and cavern diving. When I lived in Playa del Carmen, the only time I would go over to Cozumel was to teach the rec specialty, so this felt like the perfect opportunity to put together a new kind of trip for my community. Unfortunately, things went sideways. I've literally only been here for a couple of hours, and I've completely moved in. I am a giant slob. If I don't have my home, like my little van where everything has its place, even in my little van, I'm kind of a slob. Yeah, let's just be real, I'm a slob. I met my hosts for the trip and pretty early on got an inclination that something wasn't gonna go right. My gut is usually spot on with people, but I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt, so I went diving. If you're new to drift diving, this is how it works. You get dropped in one place of the by the boat, drift with the current, and get picked up downstream. Drift dives can range from super mellow to a rip-roaring experience, and usually it depends on the phase of the moon. Diving during the full or new moon typically means stronger currents. The reef in Cozumel is truly beautiful. The structures are huge. There are tons of sponges and corals, along with all the common tropical fish of the Caribbean. You wouldn't realize it from your first drift dives in Cozumel, but there is also a thriving macro scene throughout the reef if you can slow down enough to see it. Most notably, the creature you want to be on the lookout for is the splendid toadfish, which is most commonly seen in Cozumel. It used to be considered endemic to the island, but has been spotted on nearby reefs as far as Cancun and Honduras. It's a goofy looking little thing with yellow accents, but my favorite thing is its little barbell beard. Splendid toadfish are found in recreational limits, usually between 10 and 25 meters. They're small ambush predators growing to about 12 to 16 inches long. Gotta love the mix of metric and imperial here, huh? I'm all over the place, what can I say? They're also known for their mating call, which is a buzzing, croaking sound loud enough for divers to hear underwater. Getting back to my experience in Cozumel, I will just say this. I am pretty laid back when it comes to people being flirtatious with me out in the wild when I feel safe, but when I'm traveling alone and feel vulnerable in any way, I have a zero tolerance policy and I will shut it down, which is how I got kicked out of my Airbnb. I was told I was mentally unstable for not wanting the advances of a much older man. The whole situation was unnecessary. I urge all of us to pause before letting inside thoughts become public knowledge. Put yourself in the other person's shoes. If there is any possibility that it could be inappropriate, keep it to yourself. I won't say any more about this experience here, but I shared the details about what happened with my Patreon members. I want that to be a safe space for myself and everyone in the community. Luckily, I had friends from my last Baja dive expedition visiting the island, so I took my luggage to their hotel for one last day of diving and I finally got to do one of the iconic dive sites of Cozumel, the Devil's Throat. The Devil's Throat is an epic chimney-like swim through that takes you on a journey through the reef down to about 32 meters. The path is generally pretty open and has plenty of light peeking through several exit points. There is one tight-ish section at the deepest portion of the swim through. Divers typically take nitrox on this dive, so the key safety consideration is taking the right blend of nitrox and maintaining your depth awareness. I recommend having an alarm on your computer to let you know if you reach your limits because as you experience the swim through, it can be easy to forget your gauges, especially if you are susceptible to gas narcosis at this depth. The dive is iconic and fun, plus there is a lot of life all around these giant boulders of sponges and coral. 2024 is the year of revisiting some places of my past and tying a little bow on the healing I've done over the past four years. Moving to Mexico almost 10 years ago was the beginning of my bottom with drinking, and although I didn't get sober until I was in Indonesia several years later, it was a pivotal moment in my life proving that changing my geography wasn't fixing my relationship to booze. This is also why I'm so excited to take a group of divers to Komodo in June. I haven't been back since leaving my business and it will be beautiful to visit the place that violently pushed me toward becoming the person I am today. For that, I am so thankful. Again, if you want to join me on this trip, check out the details on my website and send an email to grab the last spots. Speaking of expeditions, after seeing footage from the last month or so of my videos, would you be interested in a cavern Cozumel dive expedition? Tell me in the comments. Otherwise, stay safe out there, friends. K love you, bye!