The next day the children and their parents built a sandman on the beach, complete with carrot nose, banana mouth, plum buttons and sporting a palm frond hat. That night, their father, Adam built a bonfire on the beach for us all to sit around marvelling at the myriad stars in the sky.  It was a fitting end to our Christmas celebrations.

Our two weeks in Puerto Morelos passed quickly. Yes, we started out with heavy rain, but it cleared enough for us to swim and walk the beach every day. We stayed a few Km out of town this year, a 30 minute walk on the beach or what should have been an easy 15 minute bike ride. Unfortunately the road to town was full of huge pot holes and flooded with record December rains. The road is unlit, so riding after dark is not recommended. Our evening meal is in our room after dark. We have compromised by having our mid-day meal in town several days and preparing snacks for supper. Snacks still go with wine.

We found a great place to snorkel, just 50 meters down the beach from our hotel, beside a pier belonging to UNAM, a University of Mexico branch studying fishing, the ocean and inland waters. Large schools of fish considered the pier their haven and were not disturbed by Ray and I swimming amongst them. Besides colourful butterfly and angel fish feeding on small corals, we saw a small Caribbean lobster peeking out from an abandoned concrete block. One day Ray followed a large turtle feeding on the bottom and I disturbed a Sting Ray that gracefully glided away from me. The lion fish, looking like a striped porcupine swam gracefully around the other fish, looking for lunch. Warning signs at all the dive shops warn everyone not to come near the poisonous spines of this fierce predator, an unwelcome guest from more tropical waters. The dive shops have the proper equipment to capture and kill this menace.