Going to Cancun/Cozumel for my first dive since I became received my open water dive certificate last weekend. I am excited to see a whole new world but also anxious and nervous as it is a new environment for me. I feel confident in my diving skills as I have a dive buddy who, hopefully :), will keep me safe but I also feel I had a good dive instructor who knew what he was talking about ( I think this makes a world of difference). So, you might be asking what am I scared of, and it is simple, seeing an animal which the movie industry has made me believe loves the taste of human blood. I know this not to be true but how do you stay calm the first time you see these huge fish? Any words of advice?

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madlobster - 8/20/2009 12:17 PM Having that experience once in the Bahamas it didn’t come off as a scary time but rather an all senses alert, everything was peaked but not panicked. I loved it, we happend to be going through where Stuart Cove Divers sets up for thier shark feed tour and the crew from there was just starting to set up the gear to bring down the food and thier divers, there was 4-6 sharks there. Check out my pics for a shot or two. Just stay relaxed but focused, you’ll be with others and you"ll be ok. Hope this helps.   ~Bruce

Oleger - 8/10/2009 1:28 PM Cozumel is a great place to dive. I have been there 12 times. Unfortunately, not lately. All the dives are good. Try to get a dive in the day you arrive with your good dive buddy. You can go in front of the La Ceiba hotel just north of town. This allows you to easily get a shallow shore dive under your belt before the big dive the next day on the boat. First dives, as in any resort, are deep and may be intimidating without some experience in the environment. Secondly, I am about to spoil you on your first trip. If you can spend a night in Cancun, even on your way home, go snorkeling up the coast with whale sharks. For years it was my dream to do this, and I ended up finding it right here. Your hotel can set you up with a guide boat. Unlike the most famous spots for whale sharks, this place puts you on one 99% of the time. Australia, Thailand, and Honduras maybe 20% of the time. Have a great time. I know you will. Gerry

Jorakae - 8/10/2009 9:00 AM They were a bit attracted to us as you will see because the instructor had a bait cannister hanging off of him.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ8ZOxpqodQ Other than that, appreciate the opportunity to see a shark in the wild. Not many people do. And if you are really still nervous about it, make sure not to hang any dead or dying fish on you while you dive. :)

Jorakae - 8/10/2009 8:59 AM Looking down in to the water, I decided to find a gap and pray that I didn’t end up landing on one or in front of one. Fortunately I did neither.  When we got to the bottom for the feeding it was somewhat intimidating to have all these sharks swimming around you. Sharks of all sizes. I found that they didn’t really have any interest in me and only an interest in the fish that we had brought down to feed them. This was more comforting but I certainly wasn’t reaching out to touch one.  Overall after several shark feeding dives and swimming with them on other dives, my comfort grew. I’m still not reaching out to touch one, but I’m no longer so hesitant to be the last man off the boat.  I don’t have my video of my shark feeding posted yet due to the fact that I still haven’t edited it, but here is one of me in French Polynesia in a later dive with sharks just cruising the reef. They were a bit attracted to us as you will see because the instructor had a

LatitudeAdjustment - 8/10/2009 8:59 AM Well Cozumel is a great place to start, great viz and on every dive will be a guide, just be sure to tell him you are newly certified and he’ll watch out for you. The only sharks you’ll probably see in Coz are nurse sharks, these are bottom feeders and not interested in taste testing you. As far as being bitten it’s the little damsel fish guarding their alge farm that will attack you, if they were a few feet long we wouldn’t be diving! As you get more dives you’ll learn that sharks are like dogs, just keep an eye on them but not to worry, we are not on their menu.

Jorakae - 8/10/2009 8:58 AM 1. It is pretty rare to see a shark unless you are in an area where they practice feeding them. Chances are you won’t see one.  2. If you do see a shark, relax, get your camera out, and take a photo!  3. Watch the shark. Generally he will just swim around and if you aren’t feeding him, he will not really want hang out and chat. The likelihood that he will hang around for long is slim. I’ve seen sharks before and most of the time they were hiding under rocks and sleeping. However, I remember the first time that I went out on a shark feeding trip. When we got to the site the sharks were swimming on the surface waiting for us. Not one or two or three, but tens of sharks! This made me a bit apprehensive. I watched as diver after diver went overboard seemingly without a care in the world.  Not wanting to be the only diver on the boat, I put on my gear and stepped to the stern of the boat watching all the sharks circling around the boat. Looki