One of the pleasures of being on a warm (30*C) ocean are the opportunities to explore the underwater world. It had been a long long time since I last went SCUBA diving and I found my ancient training and certification from Cape Town was not accepted in the wider world. I decided to take the up to date PADI dive certification and first completed the theory portion online in Canada. I quickly realized how much has changed in the equipment and techniques so I was happy to be brought up to date. Once we moved Mazu from the marina in Ixtapa out to Zihuatenejo Bay, I was able to dingy over to Playa las Gatas where Carlo Scuba is situated. Here I met the dive master Jess who guided me through the in-water training in a very relaxed but professional way. On the 3rd day of diving, before we went out with the boat to a solitary rock dive site outside the bay, we became aware of the fact that, quite unusually, some humpback whales had entered the bay. It looked like 2 adults and 1 calf. Needless to say, it was worth going out to their vicinity for a look. When we got closer, the four of us entered the water with just snorkelling gear and slowly swam to where the whales had been.
Now and again we glimpsed them surfacing briefly and then descending for many minutes. The visibility was poor so we knew the chances of seeing them underwater was slim. All of a sudden, a vague shape appeared from the depths and one adult with a calf hovering over it's parent's back. They were around 30ft away and in the next 30 seconds were amongst the most thrilling encounters I've ever experienced. The pair made a curve towards us and we were treated to a close up view. So much so, that I, being the closest, realized that the whale's pectoral fin on the left side of it's body was going to pass over me! I floated as high as I could on the surface and watched spellbound as the fin passed just beneath me. It had the proverbial clusters of barnacles clinging to its sleek skin. A second or two later the tail swept by me and it disappeared. For a while, none of us could really believe what had just happened! We got back into the dive boat and were just so excited. A non diver on the boat had had her phone with her and got a few shots of what happened. One of the divers had his GoPro with him and managed to get some brief underwater footage of the encounter.
The two dives out of the bay after this were great and so I got recertified with amazing, everlasting memories.