sleep on the beach

Scuba diving 20 miles north of Cuba. Took a dive boat from Marathon Florida with Capt Skippy Winter to the island of Caysal. We anchored just off the island and swam ashore mid-afternoon. We explored the small figure-eight shaped island. It only had one coral block building and two palm trees. At one end of the island there was an empty lighthouse. It was getting towards dusk and the fins we could see were sharks cruising for dinner. After a decision NOT to swim back out to the boat I watched the sunset and waited for night to fall. The stars were incredible …. until you’re out in the middle of nowhere with no lights around you … you can’t imagine how many stars you can see. I curled up and went to sleep. Around two in the morning I felt something climbing on me … SAND CRABS. Well, that sure woke me up … I found an old door that had washed up on the beach and 4 coconuts to go under it. Now I was high enough the little sand crabs couldn’t reach me … then it started to rain. Daylight couldn’t get there quick enough for me. A long swim back to the boat and a warm breakfast was a great reward.