An Underwater Lense

---

Time to explore a completely new area today - Isla Mujeres AND under the water. We grabbed a cab to drive over to Puerto Juarez to catch a ferry across to the Island. We snacked on sandwiches and granola bars for breakfast while waiting in line. The ferry took about 20 minutes to get to Isla Mujeres and Alex, of course, slept the whole time. We arrived around 7:50 just enough time to walk to the dive shop we were going with. However when we got there it was closed with a sign on the door stating they were out diving and wouldn't be back until 5:30pm. Eeek! My Emil had both 8 and 9 on the information so I was under the impression that 8 was the show up time and 9 the departure. Now I wasn't so sure. We headed over to watch the ocean then stopped back at 8:30, still nothing. A quick walk to a nearby hotel to use the bathroom ( in the dark the Island apparently lost power) then back to the shop. Just as we were planning on walking away again Shyla showed up. She mentioned that we were early - yeah no kidding. She sent us off to explore some more as they got the shop and equipment ready - taking longer than usual due to the power outage. We grabbed a couple more sandwiches and glass of lemonade from a Chocolate Coffee Shop that were amazing! Eventually everything was pulled together and we headed to the boat. Alex realized he forgot his booties in his backpack so headed back to the shop. As he returned I noticed our lack of masks, so back he went. Luckily the lack of power had prevented the boat driver from fueling up so we had time while he was doing that. Meanwhile , I ingested some Dramamine.

Finally 10am we pushed off. One of the other divers had a go-pro and offered to take our picture and send it to us later. We kindly accepted. This man, Jeremy, is from Canada and on his way to his Advanced Diver Certification. He had been here in June and fell in love with diving. He came back, friends in tow this holidays to do more. Our first stop being MUSA the underwater museum I stalled starting in 2009 after a hurricane wiped out the reef there. These statues dropped down into the water were creating a new one. It is in its adolescent years now just spawning coral, fauna, and attracting fish. All the statues were interesting to see. We even spotted a turtle. About 45 minutes down and then we has to return up due to our air limits. At the surface we took turns jumping onto the boat. Alex was last and didn't look to well. I asked if he was OK and his answer was to puke over the side of the boat. I tried to look the other way so I wouldn't follow suit. At least he felt much better afterwards. Then we were off to the next spot Manchones Reef. I chatted a little with the other passenger Elle who was friends with our other dive instructor Kai from college. They went to school in Dubai. She flew here from London, a 12+ hour flight.

As we approached our next stop my Dramamine began wearing off so they quickly got me I'm the water. Since Elle and Dave (Jermeys friend) had to finish their advanced diver course, Shyla brought a hula hoops to the ocean bottom with us where we messed around diving through until the others got there. A couple quick activities for their certification then we were off to explore the reef. There were so many fish! It was an incredible sight and WAY better than what those people at the aquarium saw. There were a bunch of other dive groups there too. One looked to be people recently taught to drive and had many people to the number of guides. One of their people freaked out and surfaced leaving one of the guides with too many people since the other had to chase them down. It didn't feel like we were down there nearly long enough. In no time we were surfacing, getting on the boat, and heading back. Though by this time it was 1:30.

Back at the marina Kai was sharing her knowledge of sea birds.they have one they call dive ducks because it sinks itself to 40 ft to fish. It then hangs on trees to dry it's feathers. Back on land we lugged our gear back to the shop picked up our bags and tried to see if there were any more openings for us to dive again. Shyla didn't but said she'd check with a couple other shops she would recommend. She said to steer clear of the ones in Cancun because they take groups of 20ish people which in her opinion is poor practice and the guides don't we've known who they have.

Starving from our adventure we found a restaurant with waterproof chairs for a yummy lunch. We made sure to save room for the gelato we passed by too. Full bellies we returned to Cancun for a hot shower. Alex ate some leftovers and me a PB&J to tide us over to dinner while we relaxed ( I may have taken a long nap). For dinner we went back to Ty Coz to share a sandwich then grabbed Aloe at the store for my burnt face.

Back at the apartment Alex wasn't feeling so great. We started a long night of sitting on the toilet. It was a tough day for him! At least there were no plans for the next day keeping us flexible to relax until he recovers.

---