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OT: Vacations

Wayward DP said:
yeah I did a dive trip to Utila.

diving was a huge letdown though. I've almost just categorically ruled out the Caribbean Sea as basically as my worst dives were there.

didn't make it to Roatan. did visit Cayos Cochinos.

but I can relate to trudging through super sketchy areas to go diving. perhaps it has desensitized me somewhat. my experience in Borneo was quite something in that regard.
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Go snorkeling in Tulum Mexico. Xel-Ha was incredible snorkeling. I've heard they've built up the area too now.
 
Fuck, I love snorkeling. Last time I did it was actually in Cabo, but other than it being a great workout, not a great experience. Waters were very choppy, very strong tides as the day went, got there early and it was relatively cold and gray out there, oh, and the guides that took us closed the day by telling us a sweet story about how a family went snorkeling at that same spot a few years back and one of the kids tried to get back ashore, but was having trouble, so the grandfather tried to grab him but the tide was so strong that the waters swallowed them both up. #hallmark
 
You're right there man. Tulum isn't that far. It's so beautiful under the water surface.
 
MindzEye said:
It takes seeing extreme poverty to really grasp it. What we see as extreme poverty in the Canadian context and what it is, are worlds apart.
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back in undergrad I spent the better part of three months volunteering in Ecuador at ecological stations.

first station was on the coast. took a 10+ hour bus ride from Quito to literally the end of the road. had ipod, cash, and camera stolen on the bus. arrive to the town at the end of the road. no municipal services. no running water. sporadic electricity. then, we take a 'taxi' (a pick-up truck where you pay to stand/sit in the bed) to drive us on the dirt road out to the ecological station.

at our station, we collected rainwater in tanks. there was a pump you had to activate to fill the tanks if you wanted to use the water. fortunately we had pretty reliable (but not completely reliable) electricity. drinking water had to be boiled. and hot water just didn't exist.

'garbage removal' was throw your trash out the window.

gives you some perspective.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
Fuck, I love snorkeling. Last time I did it was actually in Cabo, but other than it being a great workout, not a great experience. Waters were very choppy, very strong tides as the day went, got there early and it was relatively cold and gray out there, oh, and the guides that took us closed the day by telling us a sweet story about how a family went snorkeling at that same spot a few years back and one of the kids tried to get back ashore, but was having trouble, so the grandfather tried to grab him but the tide was so strong that the waters swallowed them both up. #hallmark
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snorkelling is a poor man's (not in the literal sense) scuba diving. anytime I snorkel I end up just diving down anyhow...
 
Wayward DP said:
snorkelling is a poor man's (not in the literal sense) scuba diving. anytime I snorkel I end up just diving down anyhow...
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Eh, it's sort of like ice hockey versus street hockey for me. I have no interest in getting ice equipment, driving a distance usually late at night, to go and play ice anymore. I haven't even been on skates in forever. But street hockey, grab a stick, gloves and shin pads, and boom, you're ready to go, and it's a whole other level of fun in a lot of ways.

So to go and get scuba lessons, deal with the gear, etc., meh. I'd rather just put the snorkeling mask on and get out there, swim like a fish, get a workout.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
Eh, it's sort of like ice hockey versus street hockey for me. I have no interest in getting ice equipment, driving a distance usually late at night, to go and play ice anymore. I haven't even been on skates in forever. But street hockey, grab a stick, gloves and shin pads, and boom, you're ready to go, and it's a whole other level of fun in a lot of ways.

So to go and get scuba lessons, deal with the gear, etc., meh. I'd rather just put the snorkeling mask on and get out there, swim like a fish, get a workout.
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this is not a fair comparison though if you've never gone diving.

and logistically as a tourist they are equally easy. for both, I show up on the boat with swimming trunks and pay for them to arrange the rest.

I don't own any of my own scuba gear, I just rent. my brother has some of his own gear which just means an extra checked bag when travelling.
 
Fair enough. Never done scuba before, but I have so much fun swimming with the fins and a snorkel, that I can't really expect that trudging around with the heavy scuba gear would be as interesting for me.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
Fair enough. Never done scuba before, but I have so much fun swimming with the fins and a snorkel, that I can't really expect that trudging around with the heavy scuba gear would be as interesting for me.
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Totally different experiences. Diving allows you to be a part of and experience the marine environment completely differently than snorkelling for me. Highly recommend trying it out. Much more intimate with the marine life.

And its actually a decent workout too surprisingly. Fun physical/mental challenge.
 
Wayward DP said:
Totally different experiences. Diving allows you to be a part of and experience the marine environment completely differently than snorkelling for me. Highly recommend trying it out. Much more intimate with the marine life.

And its actually a decent workout too surprisingly. Fun physical/mental challenge.
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True, I was thinking that when responding, that they're not really the same experience.

Similar in a lot of ways to street vs. roller vs. ice, which we always talk about, and most of us think street is the most fun.
 
Scuba diving has always seemed like it’d be fun, but as I’ve always been completely incapable of equalizing the pressure in my ears underwater, unfortunately I don’t think I’ll ever be getting to try it.
 
Bunch of wimps in here scared of the sun. 🤪

Major thing I can’t stand about this city is the shit weather we have majority of the year.

Bring on the heat!
 
MindzEye said:
You mean the million degree ball of concentrated cancer in the sky?

That sun?
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I'm sorry dude but reading this stuff is cracking me up. Like what did you think? Brutal sun in the subtropics.

Before pandemic used to f off out of here in July and August. Problem is September is a real bitch, many tourists don't know that.
 
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