Chris and I just got back from visiting a beautiful island called Isla Mujeres in Mexico, just east of Cancun.  We had the opportunity of spending a week here for Chris’s cousin’s wedding.  Erik and Valency were married on the beach in the most beautiful setting imaginable.

                                                          Picturesque beachside wedding

Because we are not the kind of people that like to sit on the beach and drink all day, I decided to get SCUBA certified for this trip.  I had always been rather intimidated by the idea of being 50 feet under water in another creature’s world, but to be able to be a part of this whole new world was too appealing to let fear get in the way.
I got certified in February for SCUBA, yes, in Las Vegas.  Where was the open water course?  In Lake Mead (of course) at a balmy 55 degrees F.  The coolest thing we saw during the certification was a catfish (whom I thought may have been dead until he scurried across the murky bottom), with visibility maxing at 10 feet.  Most of the time I had to stay within 2 feet of my buddy, otherwise he’d disappear.  It couldn’t have been more different in the waters of Isla Mujeres- about 100 feet of visibility  filled with amazing creatures!

   
                                                      Preparing for SCUBA adventures

The wedding was beautiful, and I couldn’t be happier to see Erik and Valency unite and be a part of this lovely family.

                          Chris’s cousin Erik and his beautiful wife Valency on their wedding day

         
                                    The beautiful bride and handsome groom on their big day!

A typical day for Chris and I was ridiculously relaxing and wonderful.  Picture palm trees and white sandy beaches with aquamarine water just outside your hotel window.  It was ridiculous.  We would wake up early, go have some lovely fruit and an omelette for breakfast downstairs, then walk 5 minutes to our SCUBA spot.

                    Squaloadventure SCUBA (Squalo derived from the French word for shark- yikes!)

We found the best divemaster and an overall great crew.  We would dive until about 1:00pm, then hit up our favorite local spot for happy hour, consisting of veggie tacos, 2 Indio beers, chips and salsa for 8 bucks.

Then we’d mosey back to our hotel room and take a long nap,
then sit on our porch overlooking the Caribbean sea.  Later we’d join family for dinner, then late night salsa dancing with the locals.  I couldn’t imagine a more relaxing vacation.

                                                            Dive planning at its finest

On one of our 6 dives, Chris pointed out a 6 ft long nurse shark snoozing under a cave.  We were a mere 10 feet away from him!  He looked at us for a second (I about passed out) then he casually swam away.  We also swam with huge sea turtles (tortugas) and saw many crab, lobster, puffer fish, and barracuda, among many other beautiful fish!
 

                                                 
                                                                      Yay SCUBA!

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and I feel so lucky to be a part of such a wonderful family.
A big thank you to Erik and Val for picking the best destination for a wedding ever!
Love you guys!
Heather

       
                                                                            Cheers!