This morning I planned to dive. Tim was new to diving; after a sales pitch from me he decided to come check it out; and do a beginners course the following day. On arrival I was disappointed to be the only diver, so was given a resounding no! As we walked away to plan an alternative day; a dumpy mexican guy chased us shouting hey!

Brian from New York a Fed Ex driver also wanted to dive today. Moments later we were on a small open fishing clipper winding through a big and windy sea.

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Pleasingly I got my buoyancy pefect and fell back into diving with simplicity. Our first dive spot was off the coast of Isla Mujeres. Both Brian and I having learnt in Australia our expectations were high. Enjoyable as always it was if anything slightly lacking in marine life and color on a fragmented reef.

For the 2nd dive we had the option of 2 spots. Both were problematic as the strong winds and a big sea resulted in strong underwater currents. We opted for the promise of the most marine life and headed further out to sea. This dive was far superior if slightly out of control. The current forced us to break convention and grab stones on the sea bed; hanging with the fish as the sea controlled every movement and sound. To my delight we found a big turtle and swam with it for as long as we could.

On our return I decided to walk an hour back downtown. At the hostel we had new arrivals Atoro from Mexico and Ev from Perth.
Immediately myself and Atoro clicked. Our histories unfolded rapidly and the offer of a guided tour of his home of Mexico City was already on the table. In return I offered London. It turned out Atoro had worked on a cruise liner for 4years. In this time he had seen most of the world. In particular he loved England!

Ev was from Indian background, having lived in London he sounded English. He was coming to the end of a world tour. The perspective of my short trip became clear.