Kat
Contributor
The flight out:
Had a family of 5 in the row in front of me. 3 small children, under 6. Mom & Dad sitting across from them let them scream, yell, jump up & down on their seats and run up & down the aisles. When the flight attendant spoke to the parents about the children the father became very nasty. A few rows up from that was a boy who threw up during take off & landing and any time we hit a little turbulance. I couldn't wait to get off that plane!
1st Hotel :
Booked 3 days at the Villablanca. Which included a nice package deal w/ Dive Paradise. I didn't like the room at all. It was dark & damp and had a fairly large ant problem - hands down the worst hotel room I have ever stayed in. Yes, you get what you pay for. I had been looking for a cheap dive hotel. But we felt it was below par, even for that. They did have a rinse tank, but no where to hang any gear. There was a restaurant, really a snack shop, but we never ate there. We ate at Tempations, above Dive Paradise, everyday. The staff was so nice. The food was fast & good. My boyfriend wished the portions had been bigger.
The Diving:
Day 1 we dove Big Horseshoe. On the way to the dive site there was a dolphin jumping the waves from the boats wake. Not much to see during the dive, just some asorted fish. Our 2nd dive was at Yucab Reef. We saw lobsters, and the usual cast of aquatic life, we did see a small ray.
Day 2 we dove Palancar Caves. It was pouring rain & I was looking forward to warming up, under the water. Saw the dolphin again - he was really close to the boat. As soon as we descended there was a huge turtle, at the reef. Our 2nd dive was Tormentos Reef. There is supposed to be a shark that hangs out here but he was a no-show. After lunch we did our 3rd dive at Villablanca wall. When we surfaced the seas were really rough. The crew told us it was too rough to drop us at our pier & we were going to the harbor. When we docked I told the crew we were doing a night dive in 45 min. No problem. Take a cab back to the shop. We did & when we arrived at the shop we were told we would have to take a cab to the harbor. I was really steamed & let the guy at the counter know that this was total BS. He was an @ss & said if I didn't like it tough, don't dive. A real nice guy from the 3rd dive, who lived on the island, had his car parked at the dive shop. Even though he wasn't going on the night dive, he gave us a ride back to the harbor. The night dive was great - always my favorite. We dove Paradise Reef saw 2 huge, huge crabs, tons of lobsters, a squid, eels, barracudas and 2 octopus - that were so cool. We docked in the harbor again. The crew loaded up their truck & left their 5 divers. They were laughing & yelled out "5 Mexican minutes before cab comes." Now we are standing in the deserted harbor w/ all our gear. Waiting for a cab. That really sucked.
Day 3 we dove Columbia. Beautiful as always. Did some swim throughs & saw a few turtles. The 2nd dive was Dalila(sp?) We saw turtles, green eel, barracuda, great big grouper & 2 sharks. A great dive! Our 3rd dive was the C-53 Wreck. It was great! It's a WW II Destroyer - mine sweeper. It been placed there & is standing straight up. A fairly easy penatration, they've made it beginner friendly. However the current is very strong. Another great dive.
I thought our DM, on our 2 tank morning dives was great. But I would not use Dive Paradise again.
The Other Side of the Island/ Next 4 days:
I booked our jeep on line w/ Avis & got a great deal. Went to the International Pier @ 4PM to p/u the car, but Avis was closed. Finally got someone to come from the airport & 2 hours later, we are on our way.
Headed south (the long way) around the island, finally arrived at our hotel. Ventanas al Mar (Windows to the Sea) www.cozumel-hotels.net/ventanas-al-mar I loved this hotel! It is so secluded, romantic & beautiful. The owner, Ricardo is fantastic. He goes out of his way to make sure everything is perfect. Breakfast is included and right next door is Coconuts for lunch & dinner. Coconuts had already closed by the time we were unpacked & settled in our room. We headed into San Miguel & ate at Especias @ Calle 5 south & 10th Ave. I had the special - shrimp wrapped in bacon, excellent. The next day we did the lighthouse tour, Punta Sur, on the south end of the island. Ate lunch at Paradise Cafe (I call it Bob Marleys) the shrimp quesadillas were very yummy.
We stopped at El Mirador to see the little coral bridge. We decided to go see the other lighthouse at Punta Molas. This is the dirt road that the car rental companies don't want you to go on. This road is twisting, rocky, dusty and narrow. On the way north, we passed 5 tours on the way back. A very tight squeeze. At one point we had to backup about about 500 ft. to find an area wide enough f/ 2 way traffic. We drove over an hour & made it to the Castillo Real ruin. It took us over an hour to go 10 km. & we were only halfway to the lighthouse. We decided to head back because we would be driving back in the dark if we made it to the light house. We'll try again, on our next trip.
Some of the other places we ate were Coconuts. Manati on Calle 8 & 10th. Kelleys on 10th-just N. of Rosado Salas. La Veranda on Calle 4-between 5th & 10th. And of course...the famous Ernesto's Fajita Factory.
On Friday we went to El Cedral village & church. Saw the 1 ruin, the church has some interesting history, involving the cross. We spent the afternoon boogie boarding at Sir Iguanas - the waves were really big, it was tons of fun.
For a little excitement...The gardener at our hotel found a bag of drugs on the beach & we had the army show up in their Humve w/ a M60 mounted on it. They were on the beach w/ their M16 - searching for more drugs. It was something you don't see everyday.
Oh man, it was a great week. I wish I was still there.
Had a family of 5 in the row in front of me. 3 small children, under 6. Mom & Dad sitting across from them let them scream, yell, jump up & down on their seats and run up & down the aisles. When the flight attendant spoke to the parents about the children the father became very nasty. A few rows up from that was a boy who threw up during take off & landing and any time we hit a little turbulance. I couldn't wait to get off that plane!
1st Hotel :
Booked 3 days at the Villablanca. Which included a nice package deal w/ Dive Paradise. I didn't like the room at all. It was dark & damp and had a fairly large ant problem - hands down the worst hotel room I have ever stayed in. Yes, you get what you pay for. I had been looking for a cheap dive hotel. But we felt it was below par, even for that. They did have a rinse tank, but no where to hang any gear. There was a restaurant, really a snack shop, but we never ate there. We ate at Tempations, above Dive Paradise, everyday. The staff was so nice. The food was fast & good. My boyfriend wished the portions had been bigger.
The Diving:
Day 1 we dove Big Horseshoe. On the way to the dive site there was a dolphin jumping the waves from the boats wake. Not much to see during the dive, just some asorted fish. Our 2nd dive was at Yucab Reef. We saw lobsters, and the usual cast of aquatic life, we did see a small ray.
Day 2 we dove Palancar Caves. It was pouring rain & I was looking forward to warming up, under the water. Saw the dolphin again - he was really close to the boat. As soon as we descended there was a huge turtle, at the reef. Our 2nd dive was Tormentos Reef. There is supposed to be a shark that hangs out here but he was a no-show. After lunch we did our 3rd dive at Villablanca wall. When we surfaced the seas were really rough. The crew told us it was too rough to drop us at our pier & we were going to the harbor. When we docked I told the crew we were doing a night dive in 45 min. No problem. Take a cab back to the shop. We did & when we arrived at the shop we were told we would have to take a cab to the harbor. I was really steamed & let the guy at the counter know that this was total BS. He was an @ss & said if I didn't like it tough, don't dive. A real nice guy from the 3rd dive, who lived on the island, had his car parked at the dive shop. Even though he wasn't going on the night dive, he gave us a ride back to the harbor. The night dive was great - always my favorite. We dove Paradise Reef saw 2 huge, huge crabs, tons of lobsters, a squid, eels, barracudas and 2 octopus - that were so cool. We docked in the harbor again. The crew loaded up their truck & left their 5 divers. They were laughing & yelled out "5 Mexican minutes before cab comes." Now we are standing in the deserted harbor w/ all our gear. Waiting for a cab. That really sucked.
Day 3 we dove Columbia. Beautiful as always. Did some swim throughs & saw a few turtles. The 2nd dive was Dalila(sp?) We saw turtles, green eel, barracuda, great big grouper & 2 sharks. A great dive! Our 3rd dive was the C-53 Wreck. It was great! It's a WW II Destroyer - mine sweeper. It been placed there & is standing straight up. A fairly easy penatration, they've made it beginner friendly. However the current is very strong. Another great dive.
I thought our DM, on our 2 tank morning dives was great. But I would not use Dive Paradise again.
The Other Side of the Island/ Next 4 days:
I booked our jeep on line w/ Avis & got a great deal. Went to the International Pier @ 4PM to p/u the car, but Avis was closed. Finally got someone to come from the airport & 2 hours later, we are on our way.
Headed south (the long way) around the island, finally arrived at our hotel. Ventanas al Mar (Windows to the Sea) www.cozumel-hotels.net/ventanas-al-mar I loved this hotel! It is so secluded, romantic & beautiful. The owner, Ricardo is fantastic. He goes out of his way to make sure everything is perfect. Breakfast is included and right next door is Coconuts for lunch & dinner. Coconuts had already closed by the time we were unpacked & settled in our room. We headed into San Miguel & ate at Especias @ Calle 5 south & 10th Ave. I had the special - shrimp wrapped in bacon, excellent. The next day we did the lighthouse tour, Punta Sur, on the south end of the island. Ate lunch at Paradise Cafe (I call it Bob Marleys) the shrimp quesadillas were very yummy.
We stopped at El Mirador to see the little coral bridge. We decided to go see the other lighthouse at Punta Molas. This is the dirt road that the car rental companies don't want you to go on. This road is twisting, rocky, dusty and narrow. On the way north, we passed 5 tours on the way back. A very tight squeeze. At one point we had to backup about about 500 ft. to find an area wide enough f/ 2 way traffic. We drove over an hour & made it to the Castillo Real ruin. It took us over an hour to go 10 km. & we were only halfway to the lighthouse. We decided to head back because we would be driving back in the dark if we made it to the light house. We'll try again, on our next trip.
Some of the other places we ate were Coconuts. Manati on Calle 8 & 10th. Kelleys on 10th-just N. of Rosado Salas. La Veranda on Calle 4-between 5th & 10th. And of course...the famous Ernesto's Fajita Factory.
On Friday we went to El Cedral village & church. Saw the 1 ruin, the church has some interesting history, involving the cross. We spent the afternoon boogie boarding at Sir Iguanas - the waves were really big, it was tons of fun.
For a little excitement...The gardener at our hotel found a bag of drugs on the beach & we had the army show up in their Humve w/ a M60 mounted on it. They were on the beach w/ their M16 - searching for more drugs. It was something you don't see everyday.
Oh man, it was a great week. I wish I was still there.
