Sometimes we like to post an interesting story about Seagate and its people. This is one of them.
Meet Paty O., the manager of our Ensenada operations. She is in charge of the production at the factory, the farming, and exports to our San Diego warehouse. Paty has been with us for over 9 years. During the last few years, she has been focusing on physical activities including swimming and of course maintaining a healthy diet, to help with her achy back and to get in better conditioning. During the past year of COVID, she and her husband Alex have been taking scuba classes that involved a lot of diving off the coast of Ensenada, in cold, murky water, known for its difficult currents. We congratulate her efforts that led to her open-water certification.
Rather than take a quiet vacation this month at a warm beach, Paty and part of her class went to Yucatan and went diving in cenotes. This are freshwater sinkholes that form below ground as the limestone rock disintegrates, leaving caves that fill up with water. For a beginner, it can be a little tricky swimming through narrow openings between the large caverns … and not getting disoriented and lost. Fortunately Paty was accompanied by her dive instructor and a local guide. (She only got stuck one time.)
Since there is no connection to the sea, there are no currents. However, the water can be quite chilly and beautiful. As the divers move deeper and away from the opening, it does get much darker, requiring dive lamps. The photo above shows part of her group, back-lit by the natural light coming down from the cenote’s entrance.
Sometimes the lightening can be very spectacular, with the rays spreading out in the underwater cavern. There are no fish to be found in these cenotes, just rock formations and lighting. However, you can very easily reach depths greater than 90 feet. A lot of care must be taken if you start exploring the small fissures along the sides so that your tank does not get you trapped in the narrow tunnels. After 18 dives with no accidents, it was a very successful and unusual vacation. We are very proud of Paty for all the work that she had to do to learn this new skill and her bravery at taking on this new adventure.
We have written many articles about diving, both to show you an interesting world that very few people get to experience, and to encourage you to seek new adventures even when the world around you seems a little crazy.