Our Great Adventure: Isla Cozumal / Playa Maroma Day 359 12/09/2015

We needed to make our way to the marina at La Calete towards the south of the island for our scuba diving trip. Breakfast was served in our room, a pretty dismal affair compared to some of the wonderful breakfasts we've had as of late but to be honest we were both a bit apprehensive and neither felt very hungry. We packed our bags and left them at the hotel before getting a taxi to the harbour. We were a bit early and couldn't find anyone from the diving company we'd booked with so wandered around the adjacent harbour before heading back and finding our instructor for the day, called Miguel. We filled out the obligatory forms and then heading off in the boat towards the reefs on the far south tip of the island. On the way Miguel went through the equipment, how to equalise the pressure in our heads when we dove, the various hand signs and the exercises we'd do once in the water. Diane had done one dive before. a long time ago, and it was a new experience for Simon. We anchored on a sandy ocean floor about 2 meters deep, got kitted out in our gear included a belt with weights and air tank and sat on the edge of the boat (the gear was so heavy that Diane had to be helped onto the side of the boat). On the count of 3 we all tipped in backwards off the boat into the water. It's an amazingly efficient way to get in the water when you have so much weight strapped to your body but both of us were rather anxious as we tipped over. We then dropped slowly to the ocean floor to do our exercises. Diane had to do the second one twice, knowing that she'd rushed getting the regulator back in her mouth (who wouldn't when you were under water with no air to breathe?). After successfully completing the exercises we got back on the boat, Diane having to have the weights and tank removed beforehand, and set off to the reef for our first dive. The water was crystal clear as we sailed along. We reached the site for our first dive, tipped over the side of the boat again and started to slowly go down to the reef at c30ft. Simon's cold had still been lingering and he had real difficulty in equalising with resulting pain from the pressure in his sinuses. But he persevered, resting, descending, ascending, resting and final felt OK to go down. The reef was lovely, mainly yellows and browns and with lots of fish. At one point we saw a sea turtle and then a shark swimming low over the sand. Miguel was great in pointing out the various sea creatures and fish. We finally surfaced very slowly near to the boat. Simon must have burst a few capillaries in his nose as he had quite a bit of blood in his mask. We sailed to a jetty where we moored to rest between dives to let the nitrogen escape from our bodies and ate lots of fruit and cakes. After about 45 minutes we set off again this time heading for Francesca reef, part of the Planancar reef. Over the side we went again and dropped down slowly to the reef about 40ft below, Simon again struggling to equalise and nearly going back up due to the pain. However with help from Miguel who helped him descend ultra slow we got down to near the coral floor. The reef here was lovely, again mainly yellows, orange and brown with interesting shapes and little caverns, and the fish were in abundance and a huge variety. We saw a turtle, stingrays, barracuda, lobster, crab, parrot fish, angle fish and so many other species. The current was very strong here so all we needed to do was float along through the fish and enjoy the sites. Unfortunately it took it's toll on Simon and by the time we surfaced he'd got horrible sinus pain and Diane had a blocked ear. Clearly diving with the aftermath of colds is not the best of ideas but we were running out of time and it had been wonderful to see the reef and the sea life. Back in the harbour we got a taxi to the hotel, changed and walked the short distance to the ferry terminal. We stopped for lunch in Playa del Carmen before getting a taxi to our next, and last destination at Playa Maroma. Back in December we'd decided to have the last few days of our adventure chilling out somewhere luxurious and special. We originally planned to go to Cuba but, after a bit of research, realised that hurricane season wasn't the best time to visit and opted for Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsular. We got the taxi to drop us off at the sister hotel of where we were staying near the highway and got a lift to Kin Sol Soleil where we were staying for our last 4 nights. The rooms look out over the ocean and it has a small, private beach area overlooking a paradise view of the ocean. A perfect setting for chilling out. After cocktails on our terrace we had dinner in the restaurant that looks out over the swimming pool to the ocean. A perfect setting to reminisce, reflect and most of all relax!.