scubasherry
Contributor
Cozumel: Jan 29th to Feb 6th
Sunday: Arrived at Cancun airport at 1:20 without a hitch. We were hoping to get out the doors by 2 pm, flag a taxi and make the 3 pm ferry but no such luck. Our plane got held up out on the runway and Nate hit the dreaded “RED” button. So after some confusion we made it to the Riviara bus area. I thought we were at the wrong one because it said ADO. We payed our $7 and they put our luggage in the bus. About 5 min later a man comes pushing a janitor type lg. waste can with cleaners and a mop. He goes in…. he comes back out…. They unload everyone’s luggage and the bus leaves. Now I am worried we are not going to make the 5pm ferry.
The trip on the bus was relaxing. The scenery along the highway really didn’t look much different than in previous years. The scattered felled trees being mostly the only sign of hurricane damage. Playa was busy. Tons of people out shopping, playing on the beach and chillin at the bars. We bought our Ferry tickets for $10 a person and went to wait by the pier. It really is no big deal to have to wait for the ferry. We were sad to see that Senor Frogs was not rebuilt, was hopping to grab a beer while we waited.
Our first view of Cozumel was through the tinted dirty windows of the ferry. The sun set while we were in the ferry so we missed that also. 2 years in the planning and finally our feet touch ground somewhere we have only read about and worried about (during the hurricanes) well, it just left me kinda speechless. I loved it right away. Rich and Maria picked us up and off we went. The B&B was awesome. We felt like we had arrived at home instantly. Everything we could have dreamed of and better. The fridge in our room was stocked with beer, water, juice and a bottle of wine. We all went for dinner that night at Jorges Tacos on 30 Avenida between 17 and 19 Loved it absolutely loved it. In fact we ate there 3 times during our vacation. I loved the taco pastor and the quesadilla’s and the Tortoca (?fried cheese on the outside) I always orderd the Jamaica to drink.
Monday: We had an easy breakfast of oatmeal and toast as this was going to be our first day of diving. We dove with Albatross Charters. Our boat left from the marina Puerto de Abrigo and we had to be to the ferry pier at 10 to pick up our friends David and Lisa who are coming from Playa. It was nice that we were able to pick them up by boat right at the ferry pier. The weather was mostly sunny and the water was like glass. Our first dive was at Palancar Gardens. Planned depth of 80 with swim through’s. I was nervous I didn’t want to do swim through’s and I didn’t want to do an 80 ft. dive for my first dive. I wanted a shallow novice dive site. I was underweight. I didn’t sink and Rita tried to get me down by pulling on me from behind. She attached an extra weight to my tank strap but at that point I panicked.
So this is the report from Nates dive log. 97 feet, 35 min. Hit 80 feet before he knew it. (after the dive was disappointed because only 3 more feet and would have had 100 ft.) Saw a very large eagle ray, tons of fish, beautiful coral, Gigantic lobster. Nice swim throughs. Wow! Great dive!
Javier (boat captain) said I should snorkel to help with my breathing so I snorkeled above the dviers for both dives that day.
Second dive, Paradise – 40 feet, 41 min. Nice shallow dive with curious fish, huge crabs, lobster and another eagle ray, this one was feeding. A strong current caught Nate and Lisa and they couldn’t keep by their own buddy’s so he grabed hold of her and they went up to do their safety stop together. They ended up surfacing about 200 feet away from the others.
This night our dinner was from Chedraui, hot dogs, cheese puffs and Manzana Lift. My new favorite soda pop! We just relaxed and watched a movie. All the traveling and stress really wiped us out.
Tuesday: Today we pick up David, Lisa, Sandy, Paul and Gloria at the ferry pier. Although Peggy and Fabian our dive masters try to talk me into it I just can’t do the first dive. It’s too deep. I have this stupid fear that I must get over. I choose to sit this first dive. But I will do the next….. Gloria, a non diver and I snorkel.
First Dive: San Francisco wall 80 feet, 36 min. Coral was not as nice as on the other dives. Nate took the camera this time but the shutter would not open.
Second dive: Chankanab 46 feet, 42 min. Peggy is my buddy. I am nervous but she takes a buoy with rope so I can better gauge myself and she holds my hand and keeps good eye contact with me. The coral was amazing. The fish were plentiful and I was in awe of everything. And I got to see an eagle ray. To my surprise I got my buoyancy down really good. Peggy was my umbilical cord. And she made me feel safe and confident so much so that I went and buddied up with my husband and enjoyed the last 15 min of the dive with him. Hurray!!! A notch of confidence!
Casa Denis was the choice for dinner tonight. We celebrate with beer (Sol of course) and have a great dinner. Guacamole, tortilla soup, empananda, and chimichongas.
Wed: We went with Adrian (Especias Restaurant) by boat from the Bahia Ciega Pier and up the north coast of Cozumel to see Monte Cristo lagoon and the mangroves, further up the coast we visited a remote mayan ruin on an island in a lagoon and then the final destination Punta Molas lighthouse. We had lunch in the boat and we snorkeled near the shipwreck. The fish and coral were amazing. There is so much beauty in remote places. We saw huge brain coral and 5 barracuda. On our way back we got to see Kite boarders doing their stuff, Adrian also owns a kite shop called Pakal Kites. It was a really awesome day. One we will never forget. On the way home we stop at Especias new location and Adrian takes us in for a preview during the construction. It is going to be a really nice restaurant. I wish it had been open while we were there.
That night we had an easy dinner to keep our tummies under control for diving the next day. We went to Tio Jose’s Café and Grill on Avenida 11 between 65 and 70. Wonderful pasta dishes, and garlic bread. The guacamole was rich and creamy with what I thought to be Parmesan cheese on top. Delicious!! They also have lots of variety to choose from on the menu.
Then we went over to the Coffee Bean for desert. This place is kinda like a coffee shop you would find in the states. The desert collection was quite impressive and the carrot cake was scrumptious.
Thursday: Colder today. Really choppy waves. We pick up David, Lisa and Sandy. (Paul had problems with his ears the first dive on Tuesday so he didn’t return) Our first dive is Santa Rosa planned depth was 80 with swim through’s - Sandy and I do not want to do the swim through so Rita takes the group and Fabian stays up with Sandy and I on top of the coral. I was ok. I didn’t think this was nearly as pretty as Chankanab. I peered over the edge into the abyss. Wow! A different group of divers were gliding along the wall. It was really cool. About ½ way through the dive the rest of the group magically appeared and I buddied up with Nate to look around the shallow part of the reef. No problems. Fabian was great helping me to be comfortable. I always felt he was watching me to make sure I was ok.
Second Dive: Las Palmas, 45 feet I only made it 16min. Fabian was to lead the dive and Rita was my buddy. It was time for pictures as this was our last dive for the week. Rita took the cameras and was taking pictures. I didn’t feel very good. I went to Nate and told him “not so good.” We leveled off and I felt pressure like I was going to be crushed or something. Fabian saw that I was not doing well and immediately came to me. We ascended a few feet and leveled off. He tried to point things out to me but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I just didn’t want to be underwater. No fish or coral could take my mind off that. I closed my eyes and just breathed. Like yoga, I had to concentrate. But Fabian wanted me to keep eye contact with him. So we just kept slowly going up and 16 min later I am safe at the surface except for the big waves knocking me around. Fabian goes back down and I back on the boat with Javier. Not 5 min later Fabian and Lisa surface. Her regulator and gauges started to go haywire on her so she went to David and grabbed his safe second. Got it upside down and wasn’t getting much air. Nate tried with everything to get her to flip it but she wouldn’t take it out of her mouth. Fabian got down there and somehow got her to take his. Then he brought her up. So God bless Fabian, he was our rescue diver for the day. Poor guy, he was supposed to lead the dive.
After we all got back on land we went to LaChoza to celebrate David and Lisa’s anniversary. I loved all the food there. We all sampled off each other. My favorite was the tropical fish with mustard sauce. But everything was good.
We went for late night snacks at Jorges taco place. Can’t get enough of the taco pastor.
Sunday: Arrived at Cancun airport at 1:20 without a hitch. We were hoping to get out the doors by 2 pm, flag a taxi and make the 3 pm ferry but no such luck. Our plane got held up out on the runway and Nate hit the dreaded “RED” button. So after some confusion we made it to the Riviara bus area. I thought we were at the wrong one because it said ADO. We payed our $7 and they put our luggage in the bus. About 5 min later a man comes pushing a janitor type lg. waste can with cleaners and a mop. He goes in…. he comes back out…. They unload everyone’s luggage and the bus leaves. Now I am worried we are not going to make the 5pm ferry.
The trip on the bus was relaxing. The scenery along the highway really didn’t look much different than in previous years. The scattered felled trees being mostly the only sign of hurricane damage. Playa was busy. Tons of people out shopping, playing on the beach and chillin at the bars. We bought our Ferry tickets for $10 a person and went to wait by the pier. It really is no big deal to have to wait for the ferry. We were sad to see that Senor Frogs was not rebuilt, was hopping to grab a beer while we waited.
Our first view of Cozumel was through the tinted dirty windows of the ferry. The sun set while we were in the ferry so we missed that also. 2 years in the planning and finally our feet touch ground somewhere we have only read about and worried about (during the hurricanes) well, it just left me kinda speechless. I loved it right away. Rich and Maria picked us up and off we went. The B&B was awesome. We felt like we had arrived at home instantly. Everything we could have dreamed of and better. The fridge in our room was stocked with beer, water, juice and a bottle of wine. We all went for dinner that night at Jorges Tacos on 30 Avenida between 17 and 19 Loved it absolutely loved it. In fact we ate there 3 times during our vacation. I loved the taco pastor and the quesadilla’s and the Tortoca (?fried cheese on the outside) I always orderd the Jamaica to drink.
Monday: We had an easy breakfast of oatmeal and toast as this was going to be our first day of diving. We dove with Albatross Charters. Our boat left from the marina Puerto de Abrigo and we had to be to the ferry pier at 10 to pick up our friends David and Lisa who are coming from Playa. It was nice that we were able to pick them up by boat right at the ferry pier. The weather was mostly sunny and the water was like glass. Our first dive was at Palancar Gardens. Planned depth of 80 with swim through’s. I was nervous I didn’t want to do swim through’s and I didn’t want to do an 80 ft. dive for my first dive. I wanted a shallow novice dive site. I was underweight. I didn’t sink and Rita tried to get me down by pulling on me from behind. She attached an extra weight to my tank strap but at that point I panicked.
So this is the report from Nates dive log. 97 feet, 35 min. Hit 80 feet before he knew it. (after the dive was disappointed because only 3 more feet and would have had 100 ft.) Saw a very large eagle ray, tons of fish, beautiful coral, Gigantic lobster. Nice swim throughs. Wow! Great dive!
Javier (boat captain) said I should snorkel to help with my breathing so I snorkeled above the dviers for both dives that day.
Second dive, Paradise – 40 feet, 41 min. Nice shallow dive with curious fish, huge crabs, lobster and another eagle ray, this one was feeding. A strong current caught Nate and Lisa and they couldn’t keep by their own buddy’s so he grabed hold of her and they went up to do their safety stop together. They ended up surfacing about 200 feet away from the others.
This night our dinner was from Chedraui, hot dogs, cheese puffs and Manzana Lift. My new favorite soda pop! We just relaxed and watched a movie. All the traveling and stress really wiped us out.
Tuesday: Today we pick up David, Lisa, Sandy, Paul and Gloria at the ferry pier. Although Peggy and Fabian our dive masters try to talk me into it I just can’t do the first dive. It’s too deep. I have this stupid fear that I must get over. I choose to sit this first dive. But I will do the next….. Gloria, a non diver and I snorkel.
First Dive: San Francisco wall 80 feet, 36 min. Coral was not as nice as on the other dives. Nate took the camera this time but the shutter would not open.
Second dive: Chankanab 46 feet, 42 min. Peggy is my buddy. I am nervous but she takes a buoy with rope so I can better gauge myself and she holds my hand and keeps good eye contact with me. The coral was amazing. The fish were plentiful and I was in awe of everything. And I got to see an eagle ray. To my surprise I got my buoyancy down really good. Peggy was my umbilical cord. And she made me feel safe and confident so much so that I went and buddied up with my husband and enjoyed the last 15 min of the dive with him. Hurray!!! A notch of confidence!
Casa Denis was the choice for dinner tonight. We celebrate with beer (Sol of course) and have a great dinner. Guacamole, tortilla soup, empananda, and chimichongas.
Wed: We went with Adrian (Especias Restaurant) by boat from the Bahia Ciega Pier and up the north coast of Cozumel to see Monte Cristo lagoon and the mangroves, further up the coast we visited a remote mayan ruin on an island in a lagoon and then the final destination Punta Molas lighthouse. We had lunch in the boat and we snorkeled near the shipwreck. The fish and coral were amazing. There is so much beauty in remote places. We saw huge brain coral and 5 barracuda. On our way back we got to see Kite boarders doing their stuff, Adrian also owns a kite shop called Pakal Kites. It was a really awesome day. One we will never forget. On the way home we stop at Especias new location and Adrian takes us in for a preview during the construction. It is going to be a really nice restaurant. I wish it had been open while we were there.
That night we had an easy dinner to keep our tummies under control for diving the next day. We went to Tio Jose’s Café and Grill on Avenida 11 between 65 and 70. Wonderful pasta dishes, and garlic bread. The guacamole was rich and creamy with what I thought to be Parmesan cheese on top. Delicious!! They also have lots of variety to choose from on the menu.
Then we went over to the Coffee Bean for desert. This place is kinda like a coffee shop you would find in the states. The desert collection was quite impressive and the carrot cake was scrumptious.
Thursday: Colder today. Really choppy waves. We pick up David, Lisa and Sandy. (Paul had problems with his ears the first dive on Tuesday so he didn’t return) Our first dive is Santa Rosa planned depth was 80 with swim through’s - Sandy and I do not want to do the swim through so Rita takes the group and Fabian stays up with Sandy and I on top of the coral. I was ok. I didn’t think this was nearly as pretty as Chankanab. I peered over the edge into the abyss. Wow! A different group of divers were gliding along the wall. It was really cool. About ½ way through the dive the rest of the group magically appeared and I buddied up with Nate to look around the shallow part of the reef. No problems. Fabian was great helping me to be comfortable. I always felt he was watching me to make sure I was ok.
Second Dive: Las Palmas, 45 feet I only made it 16min. Fabian was to lead the dive and Rita was my buddy. It was time for pictures as this was our last dive for the week. Rita took the cameras and was taking pictures. I didn’t feel very good. I went to Nate and told him “not so good.” We leveled off and I felt pressure like I was going to be crushed or something. Fabian saw that I was not doing well and immediately came to me. We ascended a few feet and leveled off. He tried to point things out to me but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I just didn’t want to be underwater. No fish or coral could take my mind off that. I closed my eyes and just breathed. Like yoga, I had to concentrate. But Fabian wanted me to keep eye contact with him. So we just kept slowly going up and 16 min later I am safe at the surface except for the big waves knocking me around. Fabian goes back down and I back on the boat with Javier. Not 5 min later Fabian and Lisa surface. Her regulator and gauges started to go haywire on her so she went to David and grabbed his safe second. Got it upside down and wasn’t getting much air. Nate tried with everything to get her to flip it but she wouldn’t take it out of her mouth. Fabian got down there and somehow got her to take his. Then he brought her up. So God bless Fabian, he was our rescue diver for the day. Poor guy, he was supposed to lead the dive.
After we all got back on land we went to LaChoza to celebrate David and Lisa’s anniversary. I loved all the food there. We all sampled off each other. My favorite was the tropical fish with mustard sauce. But everything was good.
We went for late night snacks at Jorges taco place. Can’t get enough of the taco pastor.
