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Cozumel Island
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Cozumel Trip Report Elcoztrip2//16-23 Here is a summary of our first trip to Coz. After reading all of the other reports here for the last 4 months, I hope I can be as thorough as some of you guys.Day 1 -2/16 Left Bemidji at midnite on Thurs. to catch our flight from Mpls. Jan had parent-teacher conferences until 9:00 that night so we couldn't get going any earlier. Checked in at Sun Country and had no problem with our birth certificates. Were told however that this is the last year that they will suffice for ID's. After that you'll need a passport. Trip down was uneventful with a short layover in Dallas. We all got the green light in customs picked up or luggage, met our travel rep and piled in to the suburban. Weater is sunny and probably 85. The El Cozumeleno is a beautiful place. The lady who checked us in was very patient and gave us a choice of two rooms, even volunteering to show us both of them. One was in the older section and was HUGE! It looked out over the smaller of the two pools and the beach. (Pretty much all the rooms look out over the beach.) We chose the other room in the newer section, which was smaller, but still larger than you get in the US. It looked out over the newer pool and had a private balcony (the older one did too.) Figured we had a better view of the activities from this one. The room had a large dressing area and a family size shower. All marble, very nice. We were pretty beat from the midnite-run, so we headed down to the pool and pretty much hung out the rest of the day. They had a caribbean night buffett that night with dancers and some family type games. Entertainment good, food so-so. Crashed pretty early. Day 2 - 2/17 Decided to hang around the hotel and enjoy a needed day of relaxation. The boys (11 and 12) loved the pool which is humongous. It has a waterfall, bridges, an island, the swim-up bar of course, and various depths ranging from 1'-4'. The beach there is very nice as well. They had built a huge (300'??) concrete pier on the North edge of the property and it keeps their water very calm and clear. Note to anyone staying North of El Coz, ie- El Paradisus. For much of the week the water North of the pier was very brown. Not suitable at all for swimming. Not a lot of reef, but for beginners like us, it was great. There is also a man-made island that breaks the waves. It's not really attractive, imagine a cross between Ayres rock and a dead whale, but lots of kids enjoyed playing on it. Breakfast is served buffett style and is consistently the best meal of the day. Custom omelettes/eggs, plus a variety of cicken and beef brunch-type dishes. There are 3 or 4 bars that provide ample opportuity to get more than enough drinks. Make sure you find Arturo. He is a work-horse bartender and always pleasant. He deserves to be tipped amply, all-inclusive or not. Went to La Mission for supper. Excellent service and food. They have 4 different size lobsters from which you can choose, ranging from $17 -$50. A strolling trio serenaded us and the host offered a fine selection of Cuban cigars after the meal. The atmosphere, quality of the food, and the service capped a marvelous first full day. Retired to our rooms fairly early again. Tomorrow Tulum and Xel-ha. Elcoztrip2/16-23,days3&4 2/18 Day 3Slept every night with the door open and awoke to the sounds of the waves. Another bright and beautiful day. Got up early to catch the ferry to Playa Del Carmen, then met our tour guide for the trip to Xel-ha and Tulum. Our guide David gave us a great description of the local history and geography of the area on the way to Xel-ha. He was very thorough, but then again, he had the time , because you stop at just about every resort on the way to pick up more people. The 36 mile drive took about 1-1/2 hours. Xel-ha was I think our favorite place. We got the all-inclusive and did our best to make it a bargain. The food is good (caribbean restaurant - shrimp and fish platters), the drinks are cold and the environment is beautiful. It's hard to believe such a natural place exists. I especially liked the snorkeling. Being a non-swimmer I felt very comfortable with the calm water. Also, since it's a mix of fresh and salt water, the water wasn't as salty as the ocean, something else I appreciated. We saw tons of fish including a 4' barracuda, lots of parrot fish and my son saw some kind of ray. We decided we were having so much fun, we decided to skip the tulum part and stay an extra 2 hours. That was no problem since the bus was coming back anyway. About 20 minutes before we were to meet our bus, the boys came running up and said,"you guys gotta see this place we found!" I told them this had better be good...and it was. They led us across the lagoon on the floating bridge, through a path past this pond (cenote?) to a place they called "The Crack" (I'm not sure if that's what it was really called). It was a slit in a rock formation with a stream running through it. There was an overhang on one side and a rope swing where you could swing out and drop about 8' into the water. It was very cool. I'm sure the boys could have spent hours there. On the ferry back from Playa it was very rough and there were lots of seasick people, including one of ours. Xel-ha deserves a full day, I think. Also, the next time I think we'll just get a taxi in Playa and skip the 3 hour tour of hotels on the Mayan Riviera. Got back to Elcoz about 8:30 and had the buffett. Nothing very memorable, but we were pretty much too tired to care. 2/19 day 4 Another beautiful morning. Decided to alternate busy days with relaxing ones, so today was a hang-out day. I think about 20% of the people at Elcoz are from Minnesota, and another 20% from Texas. Not sure why, but we ran into people from Cloquet,Eveleth, Virginia, White Bear Lake, Duluth. Yah, sure you betcha we felt right at home. Jan and I decided to try Carlos and Charlies that night...first time. Tamer than what I was expecting (but stay tuned for day 7's report). Lots of people cutting loose and a hilarious little girl selling shots who would give you the shot, shake your head, twist your ears, rub your boobs, and then goose you, all the while blowing a whistle. I'm trying my best to apply for that position. By the way, the boys obviously weren't with us at C&C's. We felt totally safe leaving them at Elcoz being that the're 11&12. In fact, if you're wondering, I think the whole environment around Elcoz is very safe. I always felt like the kids could be doing there own thing safely. Next day will be Chankanaab. Elcoztrip2/16-23,day5-6 Day 5 Lodging Reviews
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