Martha
Contributor
Arrived in Cozumel Wed. afternoon w/ all our luggage. Took the shuttle to the Occidental Grand. Very nice hotel. Went into town to check in with Christi. It was very nice meeting her after reading so much about her and her shop on this board. Unfortunately her boat, "Shamu", was out of the water while we were there, getting routine maintenance done (painting, etc...), so we were unable to meet Mago. Next time...
6/9-Boat picked us up ~ 8:30 or so. Javier was our DM. Wayne and Kelly from OH were also on the boat. Super nice people! First dive was Palancar Gardens. Great dive! Saw a turtle, large grouper, a huge parrotfish, lots of different fish. Great swim throughs. It's great to be back in Cozumel! 2nd dive-Dalila Reef. Saw a spotted eagle ray, yellow stingray, baby turtle, lobster, the list goes on and on...Surfaced to "the perfect storm" as my husband says (very rough water and heavy rain). Luckily, staying at the Occidental Grand, we didn't have far to travel, unfortunately the others on the boat weren't so lucky and said that it was a rough ride back to their hotel.
6/10-Port was closed early (don't know why, it was worse the previous day) Anyway, went out around 10:00 or so. Pedro was our DM. First dive was Santa Rosa Wall. Beautiful dive! Lots of fish and coral formations! 2nd dive-Cedral Wall. Saw turtles, groupers, and lots of other fish. 3rd dive (Night dive)-Paradise Reef (Javier DM). Met the boat at Fiesta Americana. Excellent dive. Saw a huge green moray, several octopus, the biggest crabs I have ever seen, lobsters and squid. Great dive! Christi was so nice, she picked us up after the dive and drove us back to our hotel in her new truck. Her new truck is VERY nice!
6/11-Boat picked us up at 8:15. First dive, Palancar Breaks. (Pedro DM).This was one of my favorite dives. I loved the swim throughs & coral formations. Saw 2 spotted eagle rays & many turtles. Pedro said it was 7, although nobody but him saw the "7th" one. Lots of fish. Pedro found a nudibranch. Boy, does he have good eyes. Those are tiny! 2nd dive-Paso del Cedral. Lots of fish and Pedro found a Flamingo Tongue Cowrie. Very cool!
6/12-Boat picked us up at 8:15. Javier DM. First dive-Palancar Caves. I also loved this dive. The caves and swim throughs were awesome. There weren't as many fish, but it had very nice coral formations. Beautiful dive!
2nd dive-last dive for this trip
The end of Palancar Reef. Javier said the name, but I didn't get what he said. We saw 3 spotted eagle rays, tons of fish, and a huge crab. I didn't get to see a seahorse this time, but Javier said that next time I come, he'll find me one. I'm going to hold him to that, so I hope he was serious!
After diving, we took the ferry across to Playa del Carmen. It was a fun little adventure. We ate surf and turf at Limones. I highly recommend it. It was delicious!
As for the Occidental Grand. We enjoyed our stay there. The buffets had tons of different kinds of food, so you could always find something to eat. My husband and I both thought the food was good, with the exception of the specialty restaurant, "Sonora Grill". The salad there was great, but the steak and ribs weren't so hot. The other specailty restaurant, "Los Olivos" was excellent. The only other negative about the hotel was the pillows (too much loft). I found one I could use, but my husband didn't sleep very good the whole time. He said next time he's bringing his own pillow. Our next trip, we're going to take Christi's advice and stay closer to town, so we can dive some of the other sites that were too far from our hotel to go to this time around. All in all, it was our best vacation yet and we were sad to have it come to an end. We loved diving with Blue XT~Sea. Pedro and Javier were both wonderful. Christi runs an awesome dive shop!!! Thanks Christi for a great dive trip!
6/9-Boat picked us up ~ 8:30 or so. Javier was our DM. Wayne and Kelly from OH were also on the boat. Super nice people! First dive was Palancar Gardens. Great dive! Saw a turtle, large grouper, a huge parrotfish, lots of different fish. Great swim throughs. It's great to be back in Cozumel! 2nd dive-Dalila Reef. Saw a spotted eagle ray, yellow stingray, baby turtle, lobster, the list goes on and on...Surfaced to "the perfect storm" as my husband says (very rough water and heavy rain). Luckily, staying at the Occidental Grand, we didn't have far to travel, unfortunately the others on the boat weren't so lucky and said that it was a rough ride back to their hotel.
6/10-Port was closed early (don't know why, it was worse the previous day) Anyway, went out around 10:00 or so. Pedro was our DM. First dive was Santa Rosa Wall. Beautiful dive! Lots of fish and coral formations! 2nd dive-Cedral Wall. Saw turtles, groupers, and lots of other fish. 3rd dive (Night dive)-Paradise Reef (Javier DM). Met the boat at Fiesta Americana. Excellent dive. Saw a huge green moray, several octopus, the biggest crabs I have ever seen, lobsters and squid. Great dive! Christi was so nice, she picked us up after the dive and drove us back to our hotel in her new truck. Her new truck is VERY nice!
6/11-Boat picked us up at 8:15. First dive, Palancar Breaks. (Pedro DM).This was one of my favorite dives. I loved the swim throughs & coral formations. Saw 2 spotted eagle rays & many turtles. Pedro said it was 7, although nobody but him saw the "7th" one. Lots of fish. Pedro found a nudibranch. Boy, does he have good eyes. Those are tiny! 2nd dive-Paso del Cedral. Lots of fish and Pedro found a Flamingo Tongue Cowrie. Very cool!
6/12-Boat picked us up at 8:15. Javier DM. First dive-Palancar Caves. I also loved this dive. The caves and swim throughs were awesome. There weren't as many fish, but it had very nice coral formations. Beautiful dive!
2nd dive-last dive for this trip
The end of Palancar Reef. Javier said the name, but I didn't get what he said. We saw 3 spotted eagle rays, tons of fish, and a huge crab. I didn't get to see a seahorse this time, but Javier said that next time I come, he'll find me one. I'm going to hold him to that, so I hope he was serious!After diving, we took the ferry across to Playa del Carmen. It was a fun little adventure. We ate surf and turf at Limones. I highly recommend it. It was delicious!
As for the Occidental Grand. We enjoyed our stay there. The buffets had tons of different kinds of food, so you could always find something to eat. My husband and I both thought the food was good, with the exception of the specialty restaurant, "Sonora Grill". The salad there was great, but the steak and ribs weren't so hot. The other specailty restaurant, "Los Olivos" was excellent. The only other negative about the hotel was the pillows (too much loft). I found one I could use, but my husband didn't sleep very good the whole time. He said next time he's bringing his own pillow. Our next trip, we're going to take Christi's advice and stay closer to town, so we can dive some of the other sites that were too far from our hotel to go to this time around. All in all, it was our best vacation yet and we were sad to have it come to an end. We loved diving with Blue XT~Sea. Pedro and Javier were both wonderful. Christi runs an awesome dive shop!!! Thanks Christi for a great dive trip!
Yes, its worth it once you get over your initial fears...
