|
|
 Rentals |
 Car Rentals |
 Adventure Tours |
 Jeep Tours |
 Scuba Tours |
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
Back
to Home Site Index *Discussion Boards Travelers Info
Cozumel Island
Island Guides
Mayan Ruins
Ecological Parks |
Cozumel Trip Report Awoke and headed for the airport at what appears to be the "magic
hour" 4:30am. It's amazing how awake you can be when you know Cozumel
awaits! Trip report June 14-21 Part 2 Up at 6:00 am. Don't forget to bring your travel alarm
clock:) (www.seasportsscuba.com has a packing list). The Villablanca
is not very reliable with wake-up calls. Luckily, we were pumped for
diving and literally just woke up every morning. Down to the Hog Town Cafe
by 6:45 for breakfast. Trip Report June 14-21 Part 3 Up and at ‘em for breakfast at the Café. This will be Ron, Robin, and Tiffany’s last boat dive. Enrique is our DM, and Tio is the captain. I really want to do Santa Rosa, and so does Ron. As we were heading south, Tio spotted a mother dolphin and her calf on the surface. He maneuvers the boat close enough for us to get a good view of her training her baby. We finally decide to do Santa Rosa, and it is GREAT! The current is light and the reef is full of life. Candy is still spotting spotted morays, but she’s on the hunt for turtles. We ventured deeper along the wall on this dive (85 fsw, 41 minutes). Again, almost every type of marine life is present. Candy’s computer goes into the yellow on this dive. We spend the SI in the boat, and decide to do Tormentos for our next dive. The chub at Tormentos swim all around our heads, almost as if they are attracted to our bubbles. This was a very nice dive (61 fsw, 51 minutes), and candy’s computer went back into the yellow. At about 40 fsw, toward the end of the dive, my computer went into deco mode. It tells me to get to a 10-foot safety stop as soon as possible. Enrique is in the process of deploying the yellow marker (he did this as we ascended for our safety stops), so I signal Candy to begin our ascent. The computer comes out of deco immediately, and we finish the stop and the dive. Good to know our computers are helping us.We clean up and head into town again. We decide on lunch at the Sonora Grill.  This is a very nice place. Candy had the fried shrimp (with fries), and I had the shrimp brochette. The brochette is not prepared the way I expected. It was a series of grilled shrimp and vegetables all lined up, like a kabob, but without the skewer. Each grilled shrimp had an accompanying grilled piece of tomato, green pepper, on white onion. It looked great and tasted great. The menu advertised HUGE iced teas. They were very expensive, but they were huge. Candy was impressed by the fact they actually had a lot of ice in them, not just one or two cubes. Across the street, on a small, unused portion of land, we spotted a large iguana eating. The waiter he lives there, and a smaller one lives in a field across the street. He even climbed up a set of concrete stairs to sun himself. We also watched four teenaged tourists on mopeds acting stupid. One of them had a serious case of road rash, and the others were just acting nervous and jumpy. This dude walks up to them, has a brief conversation, and then walks off into an alley. The teens pool some money together, and one of them meets the guy in the alley. The guy hands him a baggie, the kid gives him the money, then the kid stuffs the baggie in his shorts and returns to his friends. They ride of laughing. Hope they stayed out of jail. After a nice, long meal, we went sightseeing in San Miguel, again. On our first trip to Cozumel in December, candy and I left our wedding rings at home. We came across a small pink cart in the square and bought a couple of hematite rings for 10 pesos each. We have worn them ever since, until Candy let our daughter play with hers, and she shattered it on our tile floor. Her goal was to buy another one (with several replacements) on this trip. We stopped by the cart Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, but it was all closed up. None of the neighboring vendors knew what was up. In desperation, we go into the Plaza. They have the rings…for 125 pesos! Candy was pretty ticked, and we never shopped there again. We spent the afternoon strolling and chatting with the locals.   That evening, we had dinner at Manati’s.  This is a GREAT place. Leo, the owner, was out recovering from an operation, but his friends acted as cook and waiter. The cook spoke excellent English, but the waiter nervously spoke the only two English words I think he knew, which were “no English”. This little place has two tables upstairs, and four or five downstairs. There was a group of four upstairs, so we opted to sit downstairs.  Manati’s is a very quiet and cozy place away from the crowds. The interior is wonderfully decorated (complete with shotgun), and the menus are short and simple. Candy had the spaghetti, and I had the lasagna. The waiter talked me into trying the oriental salad. It was all unbelievably delicious. Both the waiter and cook personally came over to ask us specifics about our opinion of the dishes. NOTE TO ACHU: walk the two blocks already; it’s worth it! We finished the meal with chocolate cake and coffee. We will definitely return to Manati’s.  We spent the rest of the evening soaking up San Miguel. 
Trip Report June 14-21 Part 3...again At the end of our last report, we were feeling better. By the next morning (Monday), we are both at 110%. This is a good thing since today is the day Ron and Robin have set up a videographer. Also, tonight is our night dive. Enrique is our DM and Tio is our captain. The videographer is Bob, owner of Michelle’s dive shop. Coincidentally, he is also the Bob trying to start up a small eatery poolside at the Villablanca, our hotel. We decide to dive La Francesa (62 fsw, 40 minutes). Lots of fish, crabs, lobsters, everything. Candy pointed out a spotted moray for me (they are my favorite). Bob spots a turtle and gets great video of it. He helps Candy with her buoyancy at the beginning of the dive and is watching us all very closely. You can see the wheels turning in his mind. We finish the dive and do our SI at a pier. We lament the fact that NONE of us saw the turtle. Bob thinks Candy and I are over weighted, and he thought Tiffany was, as well. I can’t remember about Ron and Robin. He tells me we need to take a buoyancy clinic with him. I ask him how much that will cost me. He says nothing. He asks me how much weight Candy has in her belt pouches, and I tell him 12 pounds. He says that’s way too much for her, especially given her size (5’2” – 105 lbs.). He removes 8 lbs. and hands them to Enrique, who laughs and says no way. Bob tells him 4 lbs.; maybe 6 lbs. max. Enrique just laughs and walks off. Candy gears up and goes in with him carrying 4 lbs. A few minutes later, Bob comes up and takes 2 lbs. back down. Just like that, he cuts her weight in half. He tells us we are relying too much on our weights, and not disciplining our breathing. Using his advice, I trim from 18 lbs. to 14 lbs. right then and there, ending the trip using 12 lbs. (I’m 6’2” – 230 lbs.). I should also add that both Candy and I were diving with 3 mil full wetsuits. For our second dive, we return to Chankanaab (47 fsw, 50 minutes). Again, the reef is literally teeming with life. You name it; we saw it. This dive was memorable for the beauty of the queen triggers and the boldness of the gray angels (one gave my mask a slap, guess I got too close). Sorry, no u/w camera, yet. Back to the pier, then the cleaning of the gear ritual. We taxi into town for lunch at Casa Denis.  Robin is right; the pico (or salsa) is DAMN hot. Our lips were numbed on contact. This is from two Texans who eat jalapenos on everything. The menu was cool, relating the family’s history. When I walked back to the restrooms, I saw an open area out back where family members and friends were eating. Candy played it safe with a burger and fries, and I had the shrimp fajitas. The food was OK, but we didn’t order anything extravagant. They have a watermelon drink that is awesome when you’ve been walking out in the sun. You gotta try it! Before we left, an elderly man, a young man, and a very young girl strolled up pulling a xylophone. The old guy started playing and singing, and he really had a good set of pipes. He had a little tip jar, and it was well worth a few bucks. Candy and I had seen on the board that Angela at the Hacienda San Miguel (achu) had a hard time getting Avon products, so we brought her some skin-so-soft w/mosquito repellent. Smells a hell of a lot better than Off. The Hacienda is very nice, and Angela was nice enough to give us a short tour. Our visit was brief since we wanted to sightsee,  call home, and be back at the hotel by 4:00 to view and buy the dive video. We call home from the Calling Station on Meglar (look for the giant green phone).  It costs $1.25 per minute and has great AC (actually, the best AC is at Mail Box Etc., because of the computers). Back at the Villablanca,  Bob showed us our video (very cool), and whipped up some awesome banana-strawberry smoothies and nachos, on the house. He also talked to us more about our breathing. Bob turned out to be one of the nicest and most helpful people on the island. A while later, we were on the pier ready to do our night dive. Enrique was the DM and Jaliman (sp) was the captain. We are joined by Mike (Okiemike on the board)  and a young lady named Julie. We all decide to do Paradise reef. The current is flying north to south. We back roll in and start clicking along at 4 knots. Candy and I both dive with 4-C cell primaries, and 2-AA backups with fluorescent cones hooked to our tanks. Everything worked great. The dive was GREAT. While were all tumbling around, we see Julie calmly floating a couple of feet off the reef, not bothering to turn on her light. She told us later she was mentally sending us instructions. Didn’t work. Enrique quickly found an octopus, and the octo did his best to turn white as a half dozen lights homed in on him. The octo moved over some dark sponges, and it was so cool to see him immediately change from white to mottled. We saw two more octos and several huge rock crabs. The crabs were very active. Candy said seeing all the dive lights reminded her of the spaceship scene from ET. It was kinda like being in a sci-fi movie. After we ended this awesome dive (41 fsw, 41 minutes), Candy said she wasn’t scared, just embarrassed at our ineptness. After we got in the boat, I looked up and saw a beautiful star-filled sky. The Big Dipper was huge, and it’s weird to see the North Star so low on the horizon. As the boat headed in, we came across about a dozen divers that had lost their boat (several groups dove and crisscrossed each other). Their DM said everyone was present and OK, and told us the name of their boat. Our captain quickly found him and directed him to his group after seriously ranking on him (in Spanish, of course). Candy’s new hope is to someday dive like Julie. We got back to the hotel, cleaned up, and headed for dinner at La Veranda.  This place is NICE. Very romantic, open air dining. The waiters were in tuxes and the other guests were in long pants and dresses. We felt a little dressed down, but who cares? We weren’t really hungry after the nachos, so we split the Shrimp Veranda. This is a dish prepared at your table. The waiters speak very little English, so I really got a chance to use my Spanish. After dinner, a younger waiter asked if we wanted dessert. Candy was craving chocolate, but none was on the menu. We decided on the banana flambé. I started my Spanish, and learned the waiter was not a Cozumel native. He had been on the island several years, however. He is single, does not dive, but is popular with his friends because he can cook. He has an uncle in Houston, who he has visited once. He said he couldn’t believe all the pretty girls in Texas. We talked about life in the US vs. Coz and he could not believe our minimum wage or other salaries. He had tried to get a working visa to enter the US, but was denied. He told us he may just cross the Rio one day, and come to Houston. We told him our Border Patrol Officers are patient, but jumpy. If he tries, I hope he makes it. We gave him our e-mail address in case he ever gets to Houston. After dinner, we enjoyed san Miguel at night. Nice breezes, quiet streets, especially along Avenida 10 and 15. Back to the hotel after a really great day.
Trip Report June 14-21 Final Report The next day was our last full day. Another great breakfast at the Café, then off to the pier Since Candy was too sick to dive Sunday, today was her “make-up” dive. I went ahead and paid for the extra day for me. The Tacketts were done boat diving, so Candy and I were on the boat with two other divers. These divers were more experienced than us, but we were ready to go. One of the divers, Doug, was from Dallas (lot of folks from Dallas in Cozumel). He was ready to go with his camera, as was the other diver. Enrique and Tio are with us again. Candy’s single goal is to see a turtle. We decide to do our first dive at Colombia Deep (106 fsw, 36 minutes). Before he can get down 15 feet, the camera of the other diver (not Doug) has his camera o-ring fail completely. Serious bummer. Once we all get underway, we really have our skills tested by many long, twisting swim-thrus. All them are narrow and change depth, a lot of fun! We got to drop straight down 15 feet (75 feet to 90 feet) into a coral head and then enter horizontal swim-thrus inside the coral. For beginning divers, it was a real challenge. Doug, Candy, and I are checking out the reef at just below 100 feet when we here Enrique banging on his tank. We look around to see what he’s banging about (maybe a turtle?), but he is banging at US. He signals us to come up to 85 feet with him (guess he remembered I’m an airhog). We level to around 85 feet, and when my tank gets to 500, I signal Enrique that Candy and I are heading to our safety stop. He nods and we drift slightly ahead of the group (mild current). The visibility has slowly worsened to about 75 feet. We hear Enrique banging on his tank again, but we can barely make him out below, much less anything he’s pointing at. About 5 minutes later everybody heads up. When we get on the boat, they tell us they saw a TURTLE. Being an airhog stinks! Doug said he got a lot of good pics and would mail copies to us (he works in the photo business). Candy said she was OK, and that she still loved me. Enrique wants to go to Punta Tunich. Lots of turtles, he promises Candy. It was an excellent dive (76 fsw, 42 minutes). Enrique pointed out a very-well-camouflaged red seahorse. It was about 4-5 inches long and completely hidden in the marine plants and sponges. Not 3 minutes later, he was banging his tank again. This seahorse was big, at least 6 inches, and not so camouflaged. It had a black body with yellow stripes. Unbelievable. Doug thinks he got a good pic. By this time, nurse sharks were becoming the norm (we had seen them on almost every dive). After about twenty minutes, Enrique is banging again. The turtle is about 40 feet ahead and to our left. Enrique motions for Candy to swim after it, and she takes off. No way we can catch up to the turtle. The coral bottom is different than the other dives. It is rolling with so much animal and plant life it seems like a meadow or garden. Not five minutes later, Enrique literally swims over a turtle nestled in some large cave-like sponges. As the turtle swims out of the sponges, it is surrounded. Enrique is in front of the turtle, Doug is hovering over it, and Candy and the other dude have it cut off from the sides. Enrique motions Candy to touch the turtle. She swims in, and as it turns around, she gets to rub her hand along its shell. The turtles u-turn has it heading right for me. I curl into a ball, quit breathing, and try to be invisible. It gets about 4 feet from my mask. It has a very pretty face, (for a turtle), and u-turns again. Now I get to rub its shell. I could have grabbed the shell and gone for a ride, but the turtle was smaller than me and I thought I remembered reading somewhere that it was easy to distress a turtle. (Having had that confirmed, I sure am glad I didn’t!) Of course, when it u-turned, it saw 4 other divers. The turtle made a gentle bank to the right and took off. I remember Candy reaching out and kicking like hell, but the turtle is much better equipped to swim against the current. When we got back on the boat, Tio pointed out another turtle on the surface. Candy got to see three turtles, and touch one. She was talking non-stop all the way to the pier. This was a GREAT dive. We cleaned up and headed into town. Today is shopping day. First, we had lunch at Los Gavilanes.  This is a really nice place with a great view of everyday San Miguel. We saw one of the Hog’s captains driving into town in his Jetta. Inside is nicely decorated  and has a complimentary cat.  This cat is not as cute as the kitten at the Hog’s Café (see Trip Report June 14-21 Part 2 posted on 7/03/01) Candy, yet again, had the fried shrimp – she wasn’t taking any chances after IT attacked – and I had the shrimp brochette. This brochette was more traditional, butterfly shrimp stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon. All of the food was great! After lunch, we did our customary gift shopping. We can’t spend much, so we were ecstatic to see our pink cart open for business.  Travel note: anyone planning to purchase things like rings, bead and/or shell necklaces, anklets, etc. really should check this cart out. Definitely the lowest prices AND all items are labeled with a price. We purchased several things and found out the owner is only able to stay open 4 days a week. Another store in the square had just opened that week, and he had excellent prices PLUS he was taking 20% off all purchases as well. We can’t remember the name, but it’s the store with a sliding door for an entrance, facing the square, and near Dairy Queen corner. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around San Miguel soaking everything in. It’s amazing how you just want to savor every moment when you’re leaving the next day!  I guess I must have really been missing my daughter (she’s 3). I found myself telling the Moms in the square how cute their babies were. One lady pulled out a camera for a picture. I thought she wanted me to take a picture of her and her daughter together. INSTEAD, she wanted to take a picture of US with her little girl! Of course, a 2 year old did NOT want to be given to total strangers! We politely declined. We were still stuffed from lunch, but were overheating in the sun. We stopped in at Las Palmas for a mango virgin daiquiri. The drink was great, but the restaurant was too crowded! We really enjoyed the places where we were one of the only customers! Once back to the hotel, we stopped off and talked to Bob. (side note – we agree – he IS really nice! – comment from board) Of course, we wanted to see the video again, so he turned on the TV. A Canadian couple came in for some of Bob’s newly famous margaritas. The couple was on a 12-week backpack/bus trip along the Mayan trail. It was interesting talking with them about their journey! Wow! Definitely a once in a lifetime adventure! They said Mexico was by far the most policed country they had been to. It reminded me of DM Raul. He told me he was drafted for a year and spent every Saturday running and drilling. We stayed until bedtime and then reluctantly went up to pack. These seven days have been great, but we were missing the kids!!!! Up bright and early Thursday, our last breakfast at the Café, and off to the airport. The line was so long behind us! Same as Houston – get there early and nothing is open! Finally when a small shop did open (about 15 minutes before we left) she was so overpriced! ($2.75 for a soft drink, $2.25 for a candy bar, $3 something for water) we chose to wait until we got on the plane, but MANY passengers couldn’t wait I guess. I’m sure that lady made at least a thousand dollars before we boarded! We arrived at Houston and home without incident. FINAL NOTES: Talk to everyone. Speak as much Spanish as you can. Most of the people are wonderful and eager to share. They love to talk about their families more than diving and eating. Candy said she noticed a complete change in the taxi drivers when I spoke to them in Spanish. Many of the tourists seem guarded, so we tried to be the opposite. In many of the places we ate, we were the only customers, and the waiters would talk to us during our meal. We learned a lot about them and the island this way. Get off the boardwalk (Meglar). The shops, restaurants, and homes just 2 blocks in are radically different. Also, the North calles seem quieter, especially at night. Manati’s and its surrounding neighborhood is a good example. Tip. Tip the maid, tip the singers, tip the kid who bags your groceries; tip anyone who performs a service. We were amazed that the prices for food, shoes, etc. was roughly the same as what we pay in TX, but the income level is so low. Build this into your travel budget. Also, bring a lot of singles and fives for this purpose. For those of you budgeting for a trip to Cozumel, we spent about $2200 for our entire trip (two adults). This includes air (FunJet charter), hotel and diving package (Villablanca & Papa Hog’s), extra dives (2 night dives, one 2-tank dive), souvenirs, and all our meals (we ate as much as we wanted whenever we wanted, cost no object), taxis (three dollars from our hotel to the square), tips, everything. If you’ve read our reports, you know we tried a lot of restaurants. We ate breakfast at the Hogtown Café each morning. The other twelve meals were spread out over eleven restaurants. Almost all were great. The ones we highly recommend: Manati’s – great location and ambience, even better food and service; quiet and romantic Los Gavilanes – great seafood, fun view, hungry cat La Veranda – dressy (for Coz), but fun; very nice open eating area; cool food; romantic Sonora Grill – cool view of iguanas; large ICED teas; fun view; good food Santiago’s Grill – great seafood; VERY good platter El Capi Navigante – average place; interesting seafood platter DIVING – We loved ALL the dives! Our favorites were: Colombia Deep – deep swim-thrus with radical depth changes Punta Tunich – turtles and seahorses Santa Rosa – teeming with life; fun to look into an “abyss” Paradise at night – our 1st night dive; too cool; octos and rock crabs Villablanca twilight shore dive – lots of spotted morays, spotted stingrays We’ve enjoyed reliving our vacation through these reports, and hope to return to Cozumel soon.
Lodging Reviews
Email us to have your review listed or removed. Thanks! Don't know where to begin? Contact us for a referral. We have lots of great ideas. Say you saw it on Travel Notes! Copyright 1998-2001. Travel Notes, Canada. Disclaimer. A division of Web Presence, Internet Advertising Solutions.
|
