A we prepared for their last day in the water diving, I watched Tim and Julia get ready. Tim and his daughter, Julia, had been diving on and off all week, and was not looking forward to returning to their home state of Pennsylvania. They had seen the Tortugas reef, the shipwreck, and even snorkelled with whale sharks, but today they would be taking on one of Playa’s most challenging dives….Los Arcos or “the Arches”.
Los Arcos was known to be a deep dive going down to about 115 feet with two swim-thru tunnels or archways. I had seen my two divers all week diving like fish, so I knew they were ready for this. There are 2 things Los Arcos is know for: GREAT scenery and fast currents. As the boat moved over the reef, and I slammed my face in the water to check the current’s speed. “Whoa!” It was going to be a helluva ride! I motioned for Tim and Julia to sit up on the edge of the boat for entry. Once they were in place, I quickly donned my equipment and sat opposite my new diving buddies.
” All right, here we go…3-2-1…GO!!!” And with that, I bobbed up to see the boat pull away and there sat Tim and Julia. I looked down to the 100 foot level and could see our wall. “OK, lets get the party started!”, I exclaimed while hold up a thumbs-down sign. We all let out the air from our buoyancy jackets and begin to sink feet first. About 20 feet down I went belly-flat and drifted with the stream of the current. I rolled over to see with divers drifting comfortably down to depth. At the top of the wall, in 85 feet, and motioned for all to level off. Tim and Julia responded accordingly by adding air to their jackets to slow them from sinking further down. Weightlessness achieved!
We cruised the wall for about ten minutes. The visiblity was spectacular! About 125 feet in every direction. As the wall of Los Arcos snaked along, we took cover out of the current when possible to get a good look at the reef. As Tim swam over to check his daughter’s air supple, I quickly surveyed our position on the wall. The first arch was just ahead. Tim flashed fingers to me indicating their air supple. He was met with another “thumbs down” hand sign. And with that, I exhaled deeply and let myself sink towards the bottom.
We cruised over the bottom at 115 feet depth. The large pinnacle, which houses the two arches, was covered up in fish schooling around the large rock. Imagine staring up at a large rock formation with fish flying around it. Amazing sight! The current kept pushing us toward the rock formation. Just as it looked as though I was going to run right into it, I pivoted 90 degrees to the right and bolted through a rock tunnel. As I entered, I saw a massive grouper almost blocking the entry to the swim-thru. I knew the divers behind me were in for a surprise. As I made it through the tunnel, I turned to check the progress of Tim and Julia. Julia was the first through. She exited the tunnel with her hands held up wide apart and eyes buggng out of her mask. I knew she had seen the big fish! Once Tim had made it out, I motioned for them to look back over their left shoulder up the back side of the pinnacle. Their view was filled with 50 or 60 very large fishorsed-eyed jacks mixed with broadside jacks swimming nose into the current just inches away from the rock.
I checked our air and time again and led them to the second arch, the largest arch. Once we passed through the arch we drifted up to shallower water preparing to off-gas on our safety stop. Once at the 15 foot safety stop level, we adjusted our jackets again and hung there, weightless, staring at each other. I could already read through their masks what their first words would be once we broke the surface….”What a GREAT dive!!!” Once on the surface, I turned to the father/daughter couple and said, ” Now that’s what diving is all about!”