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Cozumel Trip Report
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Posted by Christine on 04/03/03

1 Day Trip Report

Yeah, I know boo hiss us cruisers...

Anyway, I did alot of research on this board and many other sites including purchasing the Cozumel Map (which was a great investment just for the research phase alone!).  

My plan was to rent a car, hit Dzul Ha, then Playa Corona, then Playa Palancar (because they have boats to take you out to the reef right there and do one hour trips.  That was all based on being there all day.

When I received my tickets I found out that we weren't arriving at Coz until 12:30 IN THE AFTERNOON and had to depart by 7:30PM!! (NCL Majesty, small ship therefore it moves slow compared to the bigger ships.)

So, after talking to my husband he was afraid of returning the car in time and wanted to drink so we nixed the car rental and just took a cab.  We headed straight to Dzul Ha.  Getting a cab was easy, and discussed the fair (7$USD) before we got in.  The driver was nice and we arrived there in less than 10 min.  Everyone there was very freindly expect the snorkel and locker rental guy; he looked annoyed with all us tourists.  Rented a locker for 2$ and a life jacket.  We had brought all our own snorkel gear for better quality gear and so we didn't have to pay a rental fee over and over at each site.  Well this ended up being for naught because we loved this place so much we stayted the entire time.  So much for planning.

I must say I was disappointed with the snorkeling.  Granted for a shore entry site there is alot of coral and fish close by, but nothing like I've seen in Hawaii. Very little colorful coral. But a decent variety of fish. After everything I read I was expecting more.  That said we only snorkeled for 45 min (I don't know about you but my face starts to hurt cuz of the gear and my lips start to swell from the salt; great visual huh - HA!) and came in and goofed off for the rest of the day.  The had hammocks and that little pool was beatiful.  It was not very crowded when we got there (the advice from someone on this board about getting there and snorkeling before the 'organized tour' from the boat even arrived was dead on!) but eventually a few tours arrived but none of them spent time on the beach area and therefore didn't affect us.

We were going to leave around 2 ish and try to see Playa Corona (I had decided that getting to Playa Planacar would take took long) and we waited for a cab for over 15 minutes and decided to give up and just eat there.  Well, that was a great decision because the food was great.  I had Chicken Quesdilla, which came with chopped tomato and onion and a small quac and my husband had Steak Fajitas, which didn't come with anything but the tortialls (kinda disappointing).  He is a big guy and could barely finish them and said there were good.  My CQ was great!  We had all that plus two beers and one margarita for $28 USD.  Good deal, plus the margarita was wonderful!! Might I add that we watched for cabs as we ate and it was a full 45 minutes before one going further down the island even drove by.  There were plenty full ones heading back to town frequently.  

When we finally left around 4 ish we noticed many more cabs in the area driving both directgions and took a cab to the end of the shopping district (I think Calle 8?) and that cost I think $8USD.  We shopped our way back to the ship shopping at a place Frommer's website recommended as one of the cheapest (they was directly at the end) and from what I saw on our way back they were the best prices.  There was a cool shop/eatery that sold tequila and they had a tasting bar.  That was neat! Their prices were a little better on booze than the store I mentioned above, but we didn't buy cuz I didn't want to lug the stuff back.

We hit some open market area right on "the strip" and there were people doing painting and braiding, etc.  I bought 2 hand painted tiles from  a guy who oil painted with his finger and fingernails only.  He offered a "happy hour special" of 2 for 10$USD and I wasn't going to bargain with him anyway, his work was outstanding.  I was concerned that they were wet and he wrapped them in such a way that there were no problems when I opend them at home.  I wish I had bought more, they are so beautiful!

We had decided before we even left we should probably go and stay for longer in the future and after our little taste of Coz that may very well be our next trip.  Loved the old Mexico feel the place has. (Been to Cun, nice but very commercial.)

Sorry for being so long winded... can you imagine the report when we go for a week???

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