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Cozumel Island
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Cozumel Trip Report Stayed at Sun Village - San Miguel (the old La Meson) on el Centro. The regular sized Cozumeleño room, complete with hard mattress. It was an Air/Hotel pkg. Were it not for the Holiday festivities Fri, Sat & Sun nites & the throbbing, syncopated bass from Fat Tuesday's & the Disco upstairs' decibel competition, it would have been quite servicable. As it was, I cut back my dive schedule due to sleep deprivation & the desire to avoid the problems that it could cause while diving. I was able to get a few good sunset photos: Will I stay there again? Not!! I prefer the tranquillity, atmosphere & price of Alicia's B & B. $35/nt double; $20/nt single. Breakfast & Comraderie included. The Cozumeleños are most definitely in the Holiday spirit. El Centro is all decorated up. The Mini-golf is a cool, lush haven from the midday city heat. Play a round of putt-putt, with a walkie-talkie for ordering drinks, on a course that meanders thru jungle foliage. A nice, shady respite. And of course, there's Otro Lado. Went over on Saturday 12-9 & I'd be willing to bet that this is as flat as you'll ever see it. The D2D EDG'ers would have loved to been diving in this. For more photos of Topside stuff Click Here I'll get to the food & diving tomorrow. Peace-chas Part 2 - Dining ( long + imgs ) Sunday nite: Prima's Crab stuffed Jumbo Shrimp au gratin were superb, as usual. My obligatory first nite dinner dish. $25 per person with drinks. Monday morning & evening: Grabbed a coffee & Banana nut muffin from 'Rock 'n' Java' Caribbean Cafe. The coffee didn't sit so well, see the dive report. As a result. I had a dinner of baked goods from the Zermatt Panadería, corner of Calle 4 norte & Avenida 5 norte. Accompanied by a 2000 vintage Pepto Bismol Pink Rosé. Tuesday morning: Finished off a cheese danish & the pound cake for breakfast. Re-hydrated with water & had the on board lunch of tuna fish, banana, orange & cookie, followed by more water & feeling much improved. Tuesday nite: After a visit with Alicia & Chuco, walked back into town & finally got around to finding out why the locals are so enamored with the French Quarter. Mike Slaughter & his son Mike, are true Southern Gentlemen & their chefs appear to be well schooled. Had the Crab Meat au Gratin, truly a gastronomical delight. Shredded Crab meat, heavy cream & Tony Cacheries' Cajun Seasoning mixed together, smothered in Parmesan (various other cheeses added when available) & topped with a sprinkle of diced sweet red peppers. Accompanied by Iced Tea, a nice local White Zinfandel (complimentary, pick up a coupon at the Mini Golf) & water. $16 + tip Wednesday morning: Coco's, on the ground floor of the Hotel el Marques, Ave 5 @ the south end of el Centro, roughly across from Prima's. Good American style breakfast for about $5 + tip. Once again, lunch on the boat, cheese, hard-boiled egg, crackers & fruit. Wednesday afternoon: Had my amigo Mario, at the Barracuda's Rest., el Dorado, cook up some Chicken Enchiladas for an early dinner. Spicy & filling. $5 + tip Thursday, Friday & Saturday morning: Enough experimentation. Back to a tried & true favorite; 'Rock 'n' Java's Caribbean Deluxe breakfast. 2 eggs, potatoes, ham, bacon or sausage & pancakes, whole grain french toast or half of a Belgian waffle. $5 + tip Thursday nite: After the Chatter's meeting @ the Mini Golf, went back to the French Quarter for the Lobster. Not quite melt-in-your-mouth, yet delicious. Not stringy with a nice texture & flavor. Iced Tea, White Zin. $18 + tip Friday nite: Had heard some good things about Casa Denis, so I figured I'd give it a try. It's just east of Calle 5 sur on Ave 1 sur, right off el Centro. For an appetizer, I had the Crema de Aquacate sopa, a cream of Avocado soup. It was deeeelicious. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the Tacos Cochinitos Yucateca, Roast Pork Tacos - Yucatan style. It's not that they didn't taste good, they were just too dry. Maybe tryin' to sell más cervezas. Next time I'll try something else. Saturday nite: The Island's best kept secret - Manati. Housed in one of the few wooden structures on the island, Manati is a very small establishment. Currently 5 tables with seating for 16-18 diners. When I had my apt. on Calle 8 norte & Ave 5 norte, I was only a block away from, quite possibly, the best restaurant on Cozumel at the corner of Calle 8 & Ave 10. I used to walk past it nightly on my trips to the Maz Supermarket on 8 & 30. From the outside, it looked like a gift shop & I never bothered to stop in. Didn't know what I was missing. Leo Rojos, owner, waiter & chef, has since remodeled & it now looks like an eatery. He is in the process of finishing a palapa roofed deck in the back & I told him that he was probably gonna need it. This night his entreés were Château Briând Steak, Tortilla wrapped Chicken Breast, Spinach Lasagna, Grouper & Salmon. The menu varies nightly, depending on Leo's whim. I started with the oriental salad. This was jicama, celery, onions, mushrooms, carrots & sweet peppers sauteéd in soy sauce & sesame oil and liberally sprinkled with sesame seeds. Very good! I chose the Steak & it was excellent, this was the melt-in-your-mouth meal I had been craving. Done with a Black Pepper Sauce, green beans, herbed potatoes & a wedge of cheesecake. The presentation was so well done, I had to take a picture first. My-oh-my!! This man can cook. My dinner companion, Susan had the Spinach Lasagna & it too was extraordinary. A Northern Italian style lasagna, without the rich tomato sauce of Southern cuisine, it was light on the palate & very tasty. Both dinners & drinks; $25. For both, not each. He is an extremely gracious and attentive host & we were left wanting for nothing. I highly recommend the Manati. I had told Mike at the French Quarter, that should I attain Nirvana on Cozumel, the cafeteria would be a cross between the Quarter & Prima. Wouldn't be complete without a healthy dose of Manatis. Hours are 6 pm - 10 pm daily. Sunday morning: Alicia & Chuco had invited me over to the B & B for one of Chuco's breakfasts. In addition to the daily Guacamole Supremo de Chuco & the fruit platter, Chuco had fried up some papas pancakes with some red sauce. Mash 'em up, slather 'em on a tortilla with some guacamole & wolf 'em down. Mmm-mm, good! And so the trip ends. I've got airline fajitas to not look forward to on the flight home. At least the home cooking is good. Peace-chas the diving will be along shortly.....;) Part 3 : The Diving / the Eagle rays have landed..( long + imgs ) I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about the diving conditions on a
dive by dive basis, only the facts, ma'am. Currents were the familiar .5 - 2
knot or so generally south - north currents for which Cozumel is so well known.
Friday afternoon on Las Palmas, there was a slight north - south current. A few
minor down-wellings here & there, no problems, though. Water temps were in
the 79º F- 82º F range (27º C - 28º C). Air temps - 75º F - 82º F (26º C
- 28º C). Vis ranged from 60' - 100'+, sometimes on the same dive. It was
cloudy & rainy with strong northerly winds Monday - Wednesday, heavy sea
conditions ( for Cozumel ) of up to 3 1/2 ft. On Wednesday, the Harbor Master
restricted fast boats, only the big "cattle boats" could leave the
Caleta. Thursday the weather changed and the rest of the week was Cozumel at
it's best; warm without being hot & seas of less than one foot. Great Diving
only got better. |
