hi, still alive, survived diving alone in cozumel! and cancun was pretty fun by the way (photos on facebook). so more about diving. cozumel, one of the top 5 diving spots in the world, was insanely awesome to dive in! okay i honestly don't think the top 5 rating is warranted, but it's a really good dive spot.

marine life is pretty good, corals are healthy and huge, and the reef is awesome! but not many sharks. although i saw my first octopus and toadfish there. the diving there's mostly drift diving, so it's a shame i wasn't able to explore all the nooks and crannies that abounded in the hugeass reefs (maybe if i did i'd have thought it'd be more awesome, because everytime i looked under a rock there was something, cute fish, lobster, crab, octopus...you get the idea). but current was quite tiring to fight against so i just chilled and went with the flow. plus the fact that diving alone you kinda wanna keep the dive guide in sight...

now on to the highlight.... the visibility. first dive i went down to 20m straight, and thought i was still at 8m cos of the sunlight and the clarity of the water. until i saw my dive comp. looking around, i saw rays and turtles swimming around in the distance! i.e. the vis was easily 30m. sadly though, while this was the vis for the entire trip (which made for damn happy photo taking), the only sharks i saw were nurse sharks. oh wells. it was pretty cool nonetheless.

lastly, the people i met while diving. interesting couples who keep coming here (as well as various parts of the carribbean, like the caymans) so conversation was fun. plus we met up for food and drinks afterwards, and they were kind enough to buy me lunch/dinner, so life was good.

quote of the trip: "i want to become a dive instructor, so i can teach my granddaughter how to dive and love the sea" (isn't that just so sweet)