Wandering the roads and sidewalks of Cozumel, we notice how friendly the people of Cozumel are. Sure, the sales people want you to come into their shops and spend money, and the maître ‘ds want you to dine in their restaurants. But the old gent sitting in his front yard doesn’t want anything except a “good afternoon” and maybe a bit of conversation.
The people of Cozumel know that tourism is their business and without tourists, where would they be, what would they be doing? Tourists have been coming to this Caribbean island for decades. Memo Lopez, one of the owners of the Mi Casa en Cozumel, says that there used to be farming of pineapple, peppers and other vegetables on the island but there is no longer any farming. Tourism has taken over the island completely.
It’s our first dive day. R, B, Murray and I all have different sized butterflies fluttering around inside. Our first dive is laden with issues. Foggy masks, falling weight belts, trouble descending, regulators that won’t stay in mouths, hard to deal with currents. Once we get all those out of the way, the second dive is relaxing and enjoyable.
Along with friendly people, Cozumel has friendly sealife. The fish are used to people and they must know we are not a threat. They check us out as much as we check them out. We have a couple of humungous groupers swim by. I get very close to a French Angelfish. Murray has a close encounter with a Damsel Fish.
We are all adjusting to life on the island and are enjoying the wonderful people and sealife Cozumel is showing us.