We stayed at the Catalonia Riviera Maya hotel, adjacent to Puerto Aventuras and about an hour south of Cancun on the Yucatan peninsula. The hotel has access to a lagoon which is connected to the open sea (photos on my panoramic page) . This shallow lagoon is protected from sea conditions and therefore calm, but frustratingly the water was never clear enough for good photography.  However, it was possible to investigate more static sea life such as sea hares, tubeworms, lobsters crabs and shrimps, (and  even small barracuda which appeared to be breeding there and were happy to pose for the camera). Going into macro mode and getting close to the subject minimised the problems with water clarity. Ignoring photographic problems, there was fascinating snorkelling to be had, including near the junction of bay and lagoon where feeding by tourists attracted large numbers of snappers and rudderfish, and even angelfish which were very camera-shy.

When the sea was calm enough for snorkelling the bay was found to be full of life, from octopus and squid to large rays and barracuda, moray eels and sea fans, and the water was clear. We were delighted to see a scribbled cowfish and smooth trunkfish, and several large permits which foraged unconcernedly around the legs of bathers. There was the normal complement of grunts, snappers, butterflyfish, tangs, wrasses etc. Corals were not impressive apart from several large grooved brain ones and I spotted one elkhorn, but a bit further out into the deep there were large numbers of coloured sea fans, waving in synchronism with the sea.

We visited the nearby 'ecological parks' of Xcaret and Xel-ha, both of which have protected (calm) snorkelling. The highlight in Xcaret was accompanying a friendly turtle that smiled for my camcorder. Xel-ha has a floating bridge near the mouth of its large inlet, where staff feed the fish from buckets. Despite being a relatively experienced snorkeller, I felt slightly nervous, being rudely pushed out of the way by large jacks and very large groupers determined not to miss the titbits thrown to them. An experience not recommended for the faint-hearted but great fun for the mildly insane. Further up the inlet in Xel-ha huge shoals of snappers, grunts and blue tangs reluctantly opened to allow snorkellers a passage through.

My wife gives the diver's point of view - fabulous! She visited 3 local dive sites, and 2 at Cozumel, and a submerged shrimp boat. They were varied and colourful, and she saw many fascinating sights including 22 turtles on Turtle Reef, a nurse shark off Cozumel and man-sized barrel sponges in reds and purples.

Despite much development taking place, the area around the hotel abounded in wildlife, including birds, butterflies, lizards and iguanas.

All photos taken with the Sony DCR-HC90 camcorder in stills mode.