I looked up as I could hear Danny, our dive guide, excitedly tapping the side of his tank with his metal stick.
As he motioned for us to get closer with one hand, I saw his other hand grab the back of the BCD of the guy in front & yank him backwards.
As I swam closer I saw the huge tail fin as my husband frantically signaled ‘shark’ to anyone looking in his direction.
As I pulled level I saw the massive body & head of the 3 metre nurse shark laying under the rock.
The guy diving with us had got a bit too close and as we hovered, taking in the mass of the giant fish before us, just minding his own business, none of us wanted to get any closer!
Minutes later we were at 5 metres doing the 3 minute safety stop when the story of the female financier killed by a shark while on the safety stop in Costa Rica came to mind.
‘It’s a bloody nurse shark Jo’, I said to myself. ‘Get a grip’.
Clearly I’m still here to tell the tale! 😂
All in all a super eventful week scuba diving in Cancun.
Diving with Scuba Diving Cancun and the lovely Danny & Captain Antonio we’d started our adventures at;
The MUSA Underwater Museum
With the goal of saving nearby local coral reefs damaged by tourism, director of the Cancun National Marine Park – Jaime Gonzalez Canto, wanted to create a man-made area of ph-neutral concrete structures, with some well placed corals, to draw tourists away, from the more popular local reefs.
Unfortunately artificial coral gardens take years to flourish, so after some lengthy research he found artist & sculptor Jason Decaires Taylor, already experimenting with underwater sculptures in the Caribbean.
They teamed up to create what is now called MUSA and in 2010 opened the ocean doors to an initial installation of almost 500 statues!
How Best to Experience The Museum
The main collection is called Silent Evolution and includes some 450 statues which over the last decade have become a haven for corals and marine life.
There is also a submerged Volkswagen beetle now covered in plants and underwater life and other scenes and collections created by a variety of artists.
There are a total of three sites, two for scuba diving as the statues are between 8 – 10m and one for snorkelers, with statues sitting at 2 – 4m.
There’s also a glass bottom boat tour if you don’t fancy venturing into the water at all.
As one of my top 10 bucket list items, I was thrilled to find myself having my pic taken with the iconic car!
It’s truly one for your bucket list. The statues are amazing and it feels surreal & strangely spiritual swimming around and between them.
We then headed to Manchones reef which was filled with life including; turtles, barracudas, sting rays, sharks, schools of (yellowish), puffer fish and more.
Two days later we again boarded the trusty Lemon Divers boat as Danny gave his spirited safety talk & showed us his unique hand signal for ‘big f’ing shark’!
A beautiful drift dive was waiting for us at Grampine, meaning we could relax and take in all the fields of coral and life around us.
Arriving at a lively feeding station with thousands of fish enjoying the coral, my mind flitted to the Will Smith movie ‘A Sharks Tale’ and I imagined the fish scurrying to school or work! (I have a vivid imagination).
I didn’t think I could top it but the second dive at Santa Romedio brought even more life and in Danny’s unique underwater sign language, a ‘f’ing big shark’!
The chap with us, Trey from Texas, said he didn’t think anything could beat Cozumel but he ascended each dive with cries of ‘oh my f’ing God, that was amazing!’
And as someone who has had the great privilege of diving in the Similans in Thailand, El Nido in the Philippines, Bali, Borneo and many other places around the world, I have to agree with him. The dives were fabulous, made even more so by the sheer lack of tour boats or tourists around us. We had both the museum and the reef to ourselves!
Plus Danny was a top drawer dive guide and navigated us expertly through the beautiful underwater world. Highly recommended!
Find more details on Danny & Scuba Diving Cancun here.
Sun, Sand & a Tropical Storm
Aside from diving, we’ve been enjoying the sun, the sand and the surf here at Westin Lagunamar as we’ve caught the very tail end of a tropical storm & the waves are ferocious!
Thankfully happy hour takes place poolside! 🍻🥳😂
On Friday my hubby & I had date night at The Parilla Grill and tasted some authentic Mayan cuisine in the form of marinated chicken fajitas and Pastor Tacos – marinated minced pork and pineapple. It was, in the language of the locals, ‘delicioso’!
We then decided to explore some ancient Mayan ruins next to the hotel on our walk home & got front row seats to the beach party Fire Show!
All in all a great second week here in Cancun Mexico!
This coming week, my sister joins us for 10 days as of Monday and it’s my birthday on Friday, so another fun week ahead I’m sure!
The only downside is I’m struggling for time to work, although here’s where I’m at writing this very post!
