Scuba diving in Cozumel on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve morning was a beautiful 85 degrees and sunny. I figured why not spend Christmas Eve scuba diving so I went out in the morning in with Aqua Safari. First dive was Palancar Caves. A beautiful dive with numerous swim-thrus. Max depth was around 90ft. Palancar Caves is easily one of my favorite dive sites in Cozumel. Total dive time approximately 1 hr and 2 minutes. Water temperature was a warm 82f.
Spend my surface interval getting some quality sun and working on my ailing sun burn. I also decided that it was smarter to pack a lunch rather than try to survive on free fruit included with the dive. I could have practically sold my sandwich to anyone on the dive boat for any asking price. The second dive was at Paso de Cedral. A great dive with a variety of different marine life. Depth was about 62ft. My dive time end up being around an hour and 14 minutes because I went into deco. (Shh...dont tell anyone). Towards the end of the dive I saw Jose (the divemaster) catching another lion fish and I descended again to watch and see if I could assist. I grabbed Jose's dive flag so he would have an extra hand while he corralled the lionfish using a poker and half of a cut off plastic water jug.
After diving I hit up my usual spots Kelley's and Woody's for some cervezas and later spent Christmas Eve sitting on a beach reading a book. That's my idea of a white Christmas; A white sandy beach and none of this snow business.
In the evening I went to Rock n' Java Cafe for Christmas Eve dinner with some local friends. Dinner was about 180 pesos and included turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables and desert. It wasn't bad at all but a little cold. Overall, Rock n' Java does great food. I was a bit taco, torta and fajita'd out so any different food was a welcomed change. My friend Mark had invited me to go to his friend's party at her condo at Rescidencias Reef so I took a taxi to the other side of the island for 130 pesos. Not a bad little party though I had arrived a bit late and lots of people had already left for the night. Beautiful condo with a great ocean view. Good beer and wonderful free food. Klara and Chad from Wet Wendy's brought along their famous homemade tequila and generously provided the margaritas. Both great people; I really love their little bar.
It's funny I think almost all the expats on the island know everyone or at least know of each other. For an island of 90,000 people Cozumel certainly feels a lot smaller. If you spend any significant amount of time here you will find yourself running into the same people and getting to know a lot of locals.
