This year we dove the C-53 Felipe Xicotenantl wreck in Cozumel.

This was Anya's and my first wreck dive ever. And was it ever fun!

The C-53 is a 184 ft long Mexican Navy Minesweeper. Sunk in June of 2000, it is just starting to get a good amount of coral growth on the hull of the ship. Since the vessel was sunk intentionally for divers, sections of its hull were removed to allow for easier entry into the wreck, and guide lines were installed to show the safest route through the dive. The wreck sits on a sandy bottom at about 80 feet with the main deck only about 60 feet from the surface - you can actually make out the general shape of the wreck from the boat since the water in Cozumel is so clear. With a mask and snorkel, you can view the wreck plainly from the surface (which I did after I used all of my air and waited for the rest of the group to get back on our dive boat.

Part of our group did the full tour of the wreck, following the guide lines and exploring multiple decks of the ship from the inside. Their path took them from the stern of the ship along the various decks and eventually emerging from an opening near the bow. I think they then re-entered from one of the side openings and explored further, but I lost track of them.

Anya and I chose to explore the outside of the ship. We circled the entire wreck, stopping to inspect the propellers (which were the hang-outs for some fairly large and extremely toothy dog snappers). We then followed our dive master Markos on a quick swim-thru of the second deck at mid-ship. At that point in the ship was a fairly large school of silverside sardines (these are actually common in the pet trade as frozen foods). These little fish (which you can see the edge of the school protruding from the opening we entered the boat from) would flee and return around you as you swam through the ship. As I did my swim-thru, I stopped about halfway through, and noticed that the density of the fish both in-front and behind me actually blocked the visibility to the entrance and exit. It was very fun to swim through the group of them.

This was really a fun dive, and it was a great experience to get a wreck dive under our belts. We had a visit from another sea turtle on this dive - in fact we had sea turtles on every dive I think - but I didn't get any good photos of this one. However, this happened to be one of the dives that the resort's videographer came with us, and she got a sequence of the boat from a unique angle with the turtle doing a fantastic swim-by at the exact right moment - I might strip out a still or two from the DVD, but we'll see.

Stop by again soon, as I'll be sharing some wildlife photos including one of a sea turtle we saw that was - no lie - the size of a small car!

- Bill