It was a cloudy October day and I was Joansing to blow some bubbles and soak up some sun and knock back a few cervasias. This was a last minute, gotta get wet trip! For quick getaways you cant beat the price and convince of my home away from home....Cozumel! The Jewel of the Yucatan!! When your looking for great scuba diving and warm people you can't beat it. From my home in Arizona its just a quick trip to the airport in the morning and your in the water by afternoon! There are always last minute deals on the net.

So my brother-inlaw, Mark and I threw our dive gear and a couple of pairs of shorts in our bags and escaped to our Mexican wonderland. We were interested in seeing just how much damage was done to the town and the underwater world we love so much. On our always exciting, albeit short, ride from the Aroporto to our resort we started seeing first hand just how bad the storm was. The town was under 4+ feet of water at one point during the Hurricane. It was good to see how much work had been done in such a short time. Just like coming home.

The drive at our 1st class digs at one of my favorite Resorts and Dive operators, Fiesta Americana and Dive House, This would be a 1st for Mark as he had never stayed at an All Inclusive resort before and lets just say he was more than a little skeptical! You mean ALL meals and ALL drinks are included. If he said it once he said it ten times. By day two he was hooked! Not having to take your wallet out every time we left our room to go to the pool or on a dive became second nature real quick! He got so used to it we almost forgot to take Denaro when we went into our foray into town.

SCUBA and more SCUBA is what Cozumel is all about. And I am pleased to say the reefs, abundant sea life, large critters and variety never let me down!! Yes Wilma did rearrange some things, mainly sand. Some of the Planicar caves were smaller than usual and some you couldnt swim through before were now wide open. Mostly the ones on the wall side were affected and the dunes closer to shore had been built up substantially. There were piles of coral branches in odd locations and the beaches were littered with Conch shells... everywhere!

Probably the most notable and talked about, by the dive masters and boat hands, was the large number of juvenile turtles. No one is quite sure but it was rumored that they might have been blown there from the storm as it slowed between the Yucatan Mainland and Cozumel for more than a day. They were a welcome sight for us. Several times we sat just mere feet from one on the bottom as it munched on sponge. They were not afraid of us and several times they swam a good distance with our group. Like they belonged with us.

Other notables were several Nurse Sharks, Spotted Eagle Rays, lots of Baracudas a HUGE Green Moray out swimming by the wall, and the fish seemed larger than we normally see. Every day of our 5 dive days we saw at least one very large Grouper and several pairs of exceptionally large Angles and Parrots. Oh and by the way when you encounter a Very Large Barracuda I found out the scary way dont flash your dive light at him to point him out to your dive buddy. They are attracted to flashy shinny objects DHAAA. Lets just say it was defiantly a long 2 minute, VERY LARGE TOOTHY FISH to mask Stare Down. I must admit in hindsight it was not very smart on my part. And yes my brother in law said I look TERRIFIED! Eyes as big as saucers!!

The sunsets were great as ever, the food was endless, the beer cold...and yes Mark got used to not tipping nor paying for meals! Ill be dreaming of the Jewel until next time!! Bubbles up and be safe! Scuba Brad