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Cozumel Island
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Cozumel Trip Report I hope this trip report doesn’t bore anyone, but I must say first thing that this is one of the best vacations I have been on in my entire life. It’s risky to vacation with 8 different people with 8 totally different personalities, but we did it and the vacation was as smooth as silk in my opinion. Friday night and Saturday: Headed to Detroit Metro for a 5 am flight on Saturday morning. We intended to get there plenty early leaving time for potty breaks and other stops. A typical 3-hour drive took 5 hours due to bad weather. Saw many ditch parties on the way and were very glad this was one party we weren’t invited to. Check in went smooth and before we knew it we were on the plane. Sat on the runway for close to an hour to be de-iced. I don’t think anyone had a problem with this. Finally got to Cancun. Breezed thru customs, found our Apple rep and were on a plane to Cozumel, finally. We landed in Coz and took a wild ride in a suburban to the El Cozumeleno, our home for the week. Wow, and I thought Cedar Point was exciting. The Apple people were great. They met us pretty much at the door of the plane and the hotel. Got to the El Coz and since it was only 10:30 or so, no rooms were ready. We had requested four rooms right next to each other. We all dug out our swimsuits, put on our wristbands and headed to the pool and bar. About 2 pm we got our rooms. Four ground level rooms in the new section right in a row. This was awesome. We were happy. My husband and I had been to Coz before but this was the first trip for the other six. We are by no means “materialistic” people. To give you an indication, when we returned to Michigan, we were all very excited to eat at McDonalds. How simple is that. Anyway, everyone was in awe at the rooms and the hotel itself. The pool, the swim up bar, the other bars, and the staff. All very friendly and Jose the bellboy rocks. We all got cleaned up and headed to the buffet for dinner. Food was good. Filling and we ate. And ate. Early to bed since we were going on 30 some hours without any sleep. Sunday: We decided as a group that Sunday we would honor the Sabbath and do nothing. We met for breakfast and then proceeded to the pool to lie around and soak up some much needed sun. The sun was intense and I loved every minute of it. We took up perch on the island in the pool and made numerous trips to the swim up bar. I dare say husbands are great for retrieving drinks. We decided Sunday night we would go into town for dinner and, mass, and the Fiesta. We ate at Prima. WOW. What a meal. This was by far and away the best meal I had the entire time in Coz. The crab augratin stuffed shrimp with garlic pasta was to die for. After dinner we found the church and headed in for mass. We are a group of 8 Catholics. Some cradle Catholics, some new, and some in the process of becoming Catholic. Mass was full and difficult to follow. We managed though. It was hot. After mass we found a computer and phone place across the street and called home and checked our email. We then headed into the Fiesta. Watched the Fiesta for a little bit but it was hard to see due the large numbers of people in the square. We watched for a bit, then shopped. Visited Carlos and Charlie’s, as everyone has to do at least once. Wild time. Back to the El Coz for some Karaoke. Boy can our group sing. I do have to admit I was exhausted and went to bed, but my hubby filled me in on the fun and excitement I missed. I’m not really a party pooper, just pooped out. Monday: Decided we’d go to Chankanaab today due to the low volume of Cruise ships in town. Again, my husband and I had been there before, but none of the other six. They absolutely loved it. We saw all sorts of fish. The snorkeling was great. Had lunch there, the fajitas rocked this world. Spent the entire day there and had a blast. We saw numerous barracuda and tons of beautiful fish. Still 8 of us, and still getting along great. Tuesday: Today we were off for Playa del Carman. In my opinion only, this was a waste of a day. The only thing I liked about Playa was the beach was pretty. We walked thru the town to shop and the storeowners were just about dragging us into their shops. It didn’t help that I think this was the hottest day of the entire trip. We didn’t start off well either when one of the couples in our group lost their ATM card in the ATM in Coz. Everything eventually turned out for them and no money was taken from their account. I didn’t care for the ferry ride due to the fact that I am not a boat person and can’t handle the swaying. We ate lunch at Senior Frogs and had a couple of drinks. We decided to head back early and drink for free and eat for free at our resort while lying around the pool. We ate dinner at the hotel and ran into a lady from our small hometown. It truly is a small world. Wednesday: We had reserved two jeeps for today to take our cruise around the island. I’d have to say this was one of my favorite days. We got the jeeps thru National with no problems. We headed to the Chedraui to get a Styrofoam cooler and some beers. We drove to the other side of the island and it was absolutely beautiful. We stopped along the way at one of the bars; forgive me I can’t remember the name, but the one that is supposed to have the best guacamole. It was pretty good, but we wondered why we were stopping there when we had our own beer. Drove up the road a little further and found a place to pull over where the beach was all sand and made ourselves at home. It really upset and disturbed me as to the large amounts of garbage people leave on the beach. Why can’t you pick up what you bring? We spent a good part of the afternoon lying in the sun and body surfing in the ocean. The waves were perfect. We always went in the water in groups. We managed to drink our case of beer, which isn’t much when shared by 5 or 6 people. We were forced to drink the beer quickly because it got warm fast in the heat. After we left the beach we went to the ruins. I thought this was neat. I really like the iguanas running all over, but a couple in our group thought they were disgusting. Back to El Coz to clean up. Being that today was Valentines Day, my husband and I had decided to eat in town. He had surprised me earlier in the day with a card he had our 13-month-old son sign before we left for Coz. You know this brought big tears to my eyes. It was so sweet. We went with another couple into town for dinner. Forgive me again, I can’t remember the name of the restaurant and I don’t have my map. The food was good, but nothing compared to Prima. Shopped and walked around town after dinner. Thursday: Today we went scuba diving for the first time ever. My husband has wanted to go for quite some time now, so we finally went. Four of us decided we would go. We took the lesson right in the pool at the El Coz with Frido. He was very friendly and very helpful. I didn’t really care for it at first, it’s a weird sensation, but soon I got more comfortable. He told us to meet him at the Papa Hogs pier at 1:00 and that we did. We dove to 30 feet and he took lots of pics of the fish and us. We say numerous fish, eels, a snake, and some rays. It was a neat dive. My husband wants to get certified and I might go along with him, not sure yet. I would say all four of us had a great time diving. Back to El Coz for a nap. During my nap I hear loud laughing coming down the hall. Well, while 3 of us were napping or reading the other 5 sat at the swim up bar and drank for about 4 hours. They weren’t feeling any pain. We had made reservations for dinner at the hotel restaurant. All but one of us made it to dinner. Not too bad for a complete day of drinking. Friday: We decided today we’d just hang. We spent the day in the sun doing absolutely nothing and loved every minute of it. We did take a half hour or so and snorkel in front of the hotel. We got to see a lobster. It was neat looking. Went into town for our last dinner as a group. Went to Lobster Cove. Kind of pricey, but very good. Only one in the group ordered the lobster. A couple had shrimp and the rest steak. We had the chance to reminisce on the week and what we did that was most fun. We had made a pact that everyone would come home with a nickname, so we took the time to distribute the names. Since I am emailing this to the whole group, I’ll include the names and how they were derived. My nickname is Julie McCoy evidentially from “The Love Boat” because I was the “trip leader and organizer”. I guess there are worse names. My husband Paul was nicknamed Gopher. Once again from “The Love Boat”. Now we move on to Chris and Amy. Chris’ nickname turned out to be Betty, as in Betty Ford. He got this nickname from drinking his dinner on Thursday and being remotely close to fallen down drunk. His wife Amy earned the nickname “Shady” because she could only stand to be in the sun for about an hour. Next are Tom and Charlotte. Tom received his nickname of “Cash” because he lost the ATM card in the ATM. His wife Charlotte’s nickname was “Lovey” from Gilligans Island. It kind of goes with the Cash if you really think about it. Our last, but not least couple is Mike and Erin. You could probably count the number of words Mike said the entire week on both hands, thus earning him the nickname “Chatty Cathy”. His wife Erin who is a nurse and had to perform an ear wash out on Chris was nicknamed “Stat”. We sat and laughed for a while at our nicknames, then moved on into town for a last big of shopping. Back to El Coz for one last sleep. Saturday: Up early to be to the airport by 6 am. I don’t know what the people at the airport were thinking, but they had a lot of people to check in in a short fashion. We finally got checked in and took off for Cancun about 7:15. In Cancun, an airline rep approached us and needed to check our baggage claim numbers due to the fact that 15 pieces of luggage were sitting on the floor in the Cozumel airport. My husband and I were the only ones that got our complete luggage. Cash and Lovey only got one bag, and the other two couples got zero. I guess it pays to be the trip leader. Smooth flight from Cancun to Detroit. Once again we breezed thru customs in Detroit and off to the parking lot. Much to no ones surprise, the battery in our Suburban was deader than dead, so we got the jump truck to give us a jump. Fired her up and headed north, hit a McDonalds and the rest is history. I think I can speak for all 8 when I say we had a fabulous time. Let’s do it again some day. Lodging Reviews
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