Sometime in the 1990’s, The “Estrella del Mar”, a wooden dive boat, chugged along the shore line of Cozumel. It was on its’ way north.  On its’ way back from a successful day of diving on Cozumel’s Palancar Reefs. The ocean was clear and the bottom could be seen.  The passengers were speculating on just how much depth there was under the keel.  The areas of darkness, were the coral patches that punctuated the otherwise sandy bottom.

The scuppers, on that boat, were generously sized and there was little resistance for the blue fin that had been carelessly abandoned on the deck by its’ owner. Fortunately, there was a witness, when the fin went over the side and the captain was alerted.
There was a group on board. The boat had been chartered by an independent operator who owned a smaller boat but needed to accommodate a greater number of divers than the six that fit his boat.

As the boat arrived back over the spot where the fin was lost, the dive operator motioned to his own captain, who was on board to lend a hand with the chores. The man had already secured his own mask and fins and was prepared to enter the water. Then he was gone!

The owner of the blue fin apologized for his carelessness and then inquired, of the dive operator, as to the depth. “Maybe 30 feet” was the reply “I’m not really sure, maybe even 40 feet!” “And he can hold his breath and find that fin?” was the query from the  owner of the fin. The dive operator answered ; “IF he can’t get that fin, he doesn’t deserve to work on this island!” Just as that conversation ended the free diver surfaced with the blue fin.

The man who had retrieved the fin was not a dive guide, in fact that particular boat captain had no desire to ever be a dive guide. The same would have been expected from him, however, if he had been only a deck hand, which is the lowest station of the pecking order for those who serve on the water.

There is an unwritten code that governs the professionals who work on Cozumel’s dive boats. At least, your author, “YA” if you prefer, believes that there is such a standard. A standard that is observed by the Mexican Dive Professionals. Don’t think that you will get them to admit it or discuss it. Once in a while a morsel of information, like the statement made above by the owner operator, slips out and provides us with a clue.  This owner operator also happens to be one of the better examples of the brand; he is a “first rate” dive guide.  His remarks provide insight into the work ethic that defines almost everyone in this “World Class SCUBA Destination”. The standard to work in the dive business on the island is very high indeed and can be used as a benchmark to judge dive operators and dive guides worldwide. There are gringos who work on the island and though they may be treated with courtesy they are not Mexicans and usually do not embrace the same values or present the same image underwater as the native guides. The foreigners who work for a couple of the all inclusive resorts ,on the south end of the island, are a good example of the kind of substandard skill sets that you do not see among the tipos and because of this they, the Europeans, stand out like a sore thumb. The standard that the Mexican Dive Guides hold themselves to is somewhat higher.
Also noteable on the subject of standards  are the Cozumeleños , the people who are native to the island. Any speculation about the unwritten rules would not be complete without, at least, mentioning that there is chauvinism among the Mexicans as well as a fair amount of national pride. To foreigners all Mexicans may look the same but those who have migrated from other parts of the country will never enjoy equal status with those who are island born and raised.  The “City Mexicans” may meet the same standards to work on the island, but the rules and privileges are different for them. This is another unwritten rule. It exists....but you will find few people who are comfortable speaking about it.

So what is so special about these divemasters that lead their clients along some of the most spectacular coral reefs in the world, sometimes,  in what can be challenging currents? Who are these guides who go with the flow but look so much better underwater than most of the instructors , not to mention, most of the divers who visit their work place? Why would YA offer them up as a benchmark to be compared to dive guides anywhere on the planet?

They know the reef, of course, and they can find and point out lots of stuff but that’s not what sets them apart. They can be creative at entertaining their guests with tricks and stunts and jokes both on the boat and underwater, but that’s not it either. What makes them special is that most of them can free-dive to a depth that most SCUBA divers could not even imagine and most of them rank on the extreme high end of “good on gas”, when they dive with tanks, and the the latter is because most of them have perfected buoyancy control skills to a level that is unheard of among the general diving population and even the tech & technical wannabe populations. They have mastered the important things FIRST! They have mastered the things that most divers just pass by on the way to bigger bragging rights. The basics skills that most divers neglect their way to EGO.

  "MOST COZUMEL PROFESSIONALS DEVELOP FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS FIRST!"
( They keep the proverbial horse in front of the cart! )

You may be able to “talk the talk” or tech talk them to death. You’ll probably dazzle them with your expensive, state of the art,  equipment! They may have more holes in their wetsuits than you have pockets in your trousers. They may even wear more thermal protection than you do and shiver more than you do because they dive often and heat loss even in tropical oceans can be a cumulative matter. Some of you will probably think that, you are getting away with little or no neoprene, because you are from a northern climate i.e. some sort of macho northeast wreck diver. Maybe it's that extra layer of baby fat or maybe you haven't stayed long enough for the cold to catch up? Your guess is as good as YA's....but if you think, even for a nano second, that you are a better “all around” diver than they are or if you went there to impress them with your  knowledge or prowess as a diver, you had better be at the top of your game and you had better be in the top one half of one percent of all divers, where buoyancy skills are concerned, because that is where many or most of them rank. If you already know what this looks like you will recognize it , at once, but if you are like most divers it will evade you completely and you will continue to believe that you have the skills to equal them on their playground. Think about it....you can search the general diving population and if you are lucky you may find one half of one percent of all divers who have the type of buoyancy control ability that we are talking about. On Cozumel, you can find that same level of ability in upwards of 75% of the native professionals.

The life expectancy of a wet suit worn by a typical Cozumel Divemaster is less than a year. Some of their other equipment doesn’t last much longer. They learn about dive tables and carry computers and follow the rules but the danger, of DCS,  is something that can’t be seen and some of them are barely a generation away from Mayan roots and can boast of having grandparents or, at least, great grandparents who speak Yucatec rather than Spanish. So, sometimes, that which can’t be seen becomes that which can be felt. It can and  has happened! It is possible that you  know more theory about diving than they do. Mistakes with decompression have happened. YA even has friends that it has happend to but YA can't recall being witness to any mistakes concerning fundamental motor skills. SO....You might be able to take a conversation about diving or a question about diving to a place or a level that is beyond their scope...BUT....most of you will never equal their buoyancy talent or their air consumption rate. You probably think that this is because you will never equal the number of dives they do, in fact, they probably think that too. YA doesn’t agree with that school of thought. YA doesn’t think that it takes that many dives to be that good at buoyancy control and to have superior gas consumption. What it takes is a commitment to those values. What it means to the dive guides who work Cozumel is that if you don’t concentrate on those fundamental values, from the very beginning, you do not work on that island as a dive guide. What it means is, if you want to be part of the dive business on that island,  you will be judged and measured by those values. So the unwritten code, the pride of the craft is vested in those exceptional qualities that are found in such abundance among the dive guides of Cozumel and hardly ever found in abundance anywhere else. Buoyancy Skills and Good Gas Consumption are the hallmarks of their profession and most of them would never dream of bringing disgrace upon all of them by being less than that. Nowhere is that written and if it is spoken, YA has never heard it, but still he believes that it is the code and the badge of honor for most Mexicans who work the boats there.


So what is the point? Could you learn anything about buoyancy or air consumption by just watching these divers? The short answer is YES!....OF COURSE!
Almost everything that YA knows....that you don’t know....was learned in exactly that way. Do not expect them to teach you those things because they will never do that. In fact many of them look back at their clients and can’t imagine that they even have an interest in learning better buoyancy. Many of them believe that most divers come to the island to teach them rather than to learn from them so they concentrate their efforts into pointing out stuff and bringing their divers home alive.

Yes YA learned by watching them and that is the foundation of YA’s message. YA did fundamentals the way that the dive guides of Cozumel do them; FIRST. The workshops that YA conducts recreate the learning experience that was his many years ago. This is the foundation of the BuoyancyQuest pledge. A commitment to buoyancy is the most important step toward great buoyancy. An opportunity to return to first base. A second chance to get it right,; to build a proper foundation to support all of your future ambitions.. That is like the unwritten commitment of the dive guides of Cozumel but if you think YA is full of **it, or that YA can’t deliver on his rhetoric___you can do it your way.  Or on your next visit to the island__ take time to observe the native guides.

The Cozumel Dive Guides can’t and won’t hide their skills from you. You probably won’t get them to admit that there is a code....but who cares about that....
BECAUSE: you can still learn a lot from watching and imitating them.
BECAUSE: seeing is believing and seeing GOOD BUOYANCY through your faceplate has no equal.
BECAUSE: the professional guides of Cozumel excel at skills in a sea of  divers who do not!