Greetings - This post is a bit overdue as I returned from Coz on 9/1/01,
things had been busy on my return & then the world turned a little darker.
I have been back on this site "lurking" the last couple of days and
think it's a good time to post a report. I flew out of Portland, Or on 8/24
to Houston & then to Coz, Arrived late, No rental cars after 8pm so did
the shuttle to our villa. We rented a villa for this, our first trip to the
island through Travel
notes/At Home in Cozumel, Were met at the airport by the villa
"manager" Christina, who gave info on where to drop us to the
driver. Let me say that I used this site as a guide on where to stay, I
traveled with my wife & 20 yr old daughter and 14 year old son, another
Son was scheduled to go but working in Alaska for the summer he was not able
to get out in time ( Kudos to Hobbit Travel who were able to "save"
his ticket up till a week before departure with no cost to me ;7) so the villa
financially was a good selection. The villa was right next to El
Cozumeleno so after unloading luggage, checking out the beautiful villa, pool,
beach, we grabed a cab into San Miguel, being hungry we went to C&C's I
thought this would be an interesting introduction to Mexico for the kids, we
had a good meal, fun time, mas Rita's. In the morning, waited for Avis
to deliver car, didnt happen, taxi to Airport rented car. To all of you who
have little experience in foriegn country car rental, BUY the insurance, yes
Visa says it will cover you, Yes you checked and your Auto Insurance will
cover you, BUT WHEN?? if you are in a wreck you will sit in jail until things
get sorted out, if you are relying on outside sources your vacation may end up
being spent at the gray bar hotel. Picked up jeep, & off to Dzul Ha for
some great snorkeling, also tryed to call Christy?? who I hooked up with on
this site to set up dive trips, no luck contacting her. Phone service seems so
so at best. The beach at Dzul Ha was empty kids rented fins and off they went,
we relaxed under the palapa snorkeled, relaxed, lots of fish, good place to
hang out. Dinner that night at Ponchos Backyard, Very nice place, good food, I
had the Mahi- Mahi Excelent. In town stopped at Deep Blue, talked with Matt,
one of the owners, about dive trips for the next week, set up a resort course
for the next morning as my 14 yr old is not certfied. The course was with
Luis, very thorough with only two students, they did a long beach dive, ( I
left my gear at the villa, so sat and watched). So now it is afternoon and
finally my wait is over. I have been looking forward to this trip as I needed
a great dive trip, Have done Cabo ( diving So-so) & Maui (diving good)the
last year but really needed a great dive.I started diving in 92 in the
Red Sea out of Jeddah, have done Thailand, Micronesia, and continue to compare
all dives to the Red Sea. I also hate wearing a wet suit, so this was what I
have been waiting for. That afternoon we were on the Pegasus with Capitan
Chono,we were diving with a group of 4 from Colorado & the other resort
course student a gal from France. San Fransisco Wall was our first stop,
My daughter just was certified so her first Real dive & my son both did
great, Luis the D.M. for our group was very attentive and safety conscious,
not really a drawback but.. only did 60' as resort divers are limited to
depth( my son stayed about 50'), but a beautiful dive, I was a little suprised
that everyone ( even my son who ski's in 65 degree water alll summer) wore wet
suits, except me of course. Water was 84 degrees F at 60'. 2nd dive was Yucab,
another beautiful wall. A great day. I did learn a great after dive treat from
our new freinds from Colorado, they brought along a gallon zip lock bag full
of hard candy ( jolly ranchers ) and passed them around after each dive,
a real nice salt buster, I will do this treat from now on. Please forgive me
for not having all of the Resteraunts names that we ate at but I will say we
never had a bad Meal,French Quarter was excellent, Mike the owner very
attentive, and a pretty good wine list. Day 2 dives started at Santa Rosa with
G.M. Vladamir as Luis was off doing a cert class, another great wall dive,
with Las Palmas following that. We again were diving with our new freinds from
Colorado, Gabriel was their G.M. and we dove as a group, both DM's pointed out
lots of micro & hidden wonders, Gabriel found the biggest sea horse I have
ever seen, 5-6", a huge Moray living with a lobster, so much to see, at
the end of the dive Gabriel spotted three Black tip Reef sharks, they seem to
be hanging around as they have been mentioned a few times. Day 3 Palancar
Gardens & Tormentos both excelent, My son not feeling well so decided to
not go, sorry that he could not make it, but,, now we can go deep. Day 4
Horsesoe, Really one of my favorites, wonderful caverns, colors just awe
inspireing, 2nd was El Cedral, again beautiful. Day 5 was our last scheduled
dive day, Decided to do a morning and an afternoon, started with Horsesoe, by
my request, but a different side of Horseshoe again so beautiful, second was
Las Palmas. I must add here, The afternoon dives were so much better, Mornings
seemed to be very busy with lots of boats, we ended up moving and waiting to
avoid other groups. Afternoon was La Francesa, Great Coral, A hawksbill turtle
as we came down,3 nurse sharks, a great dive, 2nd was Punta Tunich,Current was
a little faster and agood dive. I compromised Barracuda, and Devils Throat
until next time as Matt thought they would be a little much for my Daughter, I
appreciated his safety first attitude rather than just putting us in the water
wherever we wanted to go. The whole staff at Deep Blue was this way, my only
complaint on them was they never offerd to keep and wash my gear, maybe this
was because I had a car, and was going to a villa, not really a big deal, but
it may make a difference to someone else. My big dilema was tipping, how much
to who, my bag was heavy! I carry 20 lbs of Soft integrated weights in it, I
decided to tip the Capitan $20 and D.M. $20-$30 a day, figured they would
trickle down to the cargo handelers, is this appropriate? Would like to know,
as next trip is in the planning stages. The people of Coz were beyond
expectation, San Miguel was a cool town real nice not to be bombarded with
street hawkers as in other places, the stores were aggresive as it was a quiet
time following the tropical storm scare, but easily managed. I really enjoyed
the looks on there faces as I bartered with them, as I said I spent a few
years in the middle east, buying carpets was my favorite past time after
diving, so learned to barter with "camel traders" If you are looking
to buy, best to get 5 + blocks off of the plaza area, and do it over
acouple of days, they will recognise you are not off of a "boat",
and you wil get a better price. Day 6 was my wifes request, Chankanaab Park
with reservations to swim with the Dolphins, my son & I had little
interest so the girls went, expensive but well worth it, they spent about 55
minutes actually in the water with the Dolphins, a real poitive experience
with alot of emphasis on conservtion, after , lunch at the park, the
resteraunt was quite good, and snorkeled the rest of the day, a great beach,
and great snorkeling, not to crowded at all.
Well time to end this, sorry it was so long, I loved YOUR island it is what I
have been looking for in the western hemisphere, I will return often. I will
also be Lurking in this site, I am starting to get to know the regulars, I
dont post much but will be on the fringe. To all of you
via con dios
savur
