On-island trip report

[H2ODoc]

How about a daily (?) trip report while on vacation.....?

So great to be back. It's been two years since our last trip and this is about our 6th time to Cozumel. Our 1st time to Coz (2007), our kids were little and stayed home with grandma. Now, they are all diving with us, and that's such a treat. And expensive!

Arrived Saturday direct flight from Denver. No drama flight, so that's great. Went to the dive shop, Casa Denis, Mega, then the condo.

First dive with Aldora was good, but we were shaking the cobwebs off, and not quite "coordinated". Palancar Horseshoe (?) was great as usual. Second dive was really special. Yucab. Turtles, barracuda, big eagle rays, the other usual suspects.... until my daughter points frantically out away from the wall.... what the...???? Dolphins! 7 of them. Swimming slowly up current. They were 20-30' from me and huge. I was hoping they'd come over an investigate, but they just kept going their way. Two of them appeared to be getting frisky. But I'm no biologist. As fate would have it, my son's GoPro battery died after the 1st dive, so no pics. You are going to have to trust me! Arturo was our dive master, and great. Excellent english, nice pre-plan, etc.

Dinner was at La Choza. Not many restaurants were open on Jan 1st, by the way. We always enjoy time at LaChoza. The food is great, and lots of local families enjoying dinner. Service is excellent, that "salsa" is very good, lime soup was excellent, and I had a Pollo Relleno Negro dish that was quite tasty.

That's it for now, gotta catch a dive boat in 45 min....

 

[drrich2]

How about a daily (?) trip report while on vacation.....?

They're called live trip reports on the forum www.CruiseCritic.com, where they're quite popular.

Congratulations on the dolphins. That is a special thing.

Are you aiming for 2 dives/day or 3?

Richard.

 

[L13]

Turtles, barracuda, big eagle rays, the other usual suspects.... until my daughter points frantically out away from the wall.... what the...???? Dolphins! 7 of them. Swimming slowly up current. They were 20-30' from me and huge. I was hoping they'd come over an investigate, but they just kept going their way. Two of them appeared to be getting frisky. But I'm no biologist.

Awsome!!!

 

[Cozdreamer]

Oh....love hearing news from the island as it is happening!!! Thank you for sharing before you just HAD to catch that dive boat! HA! Enjoy the dives with family! I am green with envy to hear you saw dolphins in the wild on your dive! What a blessing. I am also now hungry for La Choza....it's been too long!
I appreciate you posting. Enjoy the island.

 

[H2ODoc]

Palancar gardens this morning with divemaster "D" from Aldora. The boat captain found the starting point (how are they so good at that?) and he and D had a conversation. "Green water" was the consensus. We dove it anyway. Vis might have been slightly reduced... 60'? But it was interesting. Swim throughs, nothing out of the ordinary, be very peaceful.

My China-made dive light turns on for 1 second, then won't turn on until I'm on the surface again. Darnit.

Walked on the beach for the surface interval, then we headed to Cedral. I enjoyed watching my kids and seeing how each has their own dive style. My daughter (21) is the super-chill, always calm, cool, and collected. And she sees ALL the cool stuff. She should be a dive master.

Saw a Moray out swimming and investigating various holes in the coral. Saw 3 or 4 nurse sharks sleeping. I started getting "LOW DIVE TIME", so I started hovering 10' above everyone to avoid deco. Steel tanks are GREAT. 75 minute dives. With a 100 cf tank, I surface with 1000 psi, and my wife comes up with 700. Not too shabby!

Back to the condo for a Corona with lime, alternate swimming in the ocean/pool. Chat up some neighbors (everyone is friendly, of course). Shredded chicken with onions, cilantro, lime, salsa tacos for pool-side lunch.

Dinner was going to be Cocina Economica Los Chilangos, but they close at 5. Maybe we'll go see Matteo at O'hana for some peanut butter tequila shots and deep dish pizza. Or..... who knows?

 

[H2ODoc]

Y'all deserve some pictures:

Direct from Denver.....

Casa Denis - really great Carne Asada tacos

Casa Denis Fajitas. Also excellent.

Morning parade of cruise ships

Lime soup at LaChoza. Loved it!

Dive pictures later. My son is using his GoPro. No other cameras....

 

[FLturtle]

Enjoying your live reports. Super jealous of your dolphin sighting. Maybe they will hang around until I get there next week. Have a great time!

 

[dflaher]

Great writeups, H20Doc! Keep 'em coming. Jealous of everything so far but especially dolphins and La Choza.

At which condo you staying?

 

[Cozdreamer]

loving the daily updates! Thanks also for sharing those pics....Gosh I miss seeing the welcoming water as your airplane lands!!! Keep enjoying!

 

[H2ODoc]

@FLturtle I hope those dolphin stick around for you.

@dflaher Miramar condos - just North of the northern marina. Really nice place. Cool dive platform, 8' into the ocean!

Sunset on the balcony:

Just got back from Punta Sur Cerveceria. Server was a nice kid helping us with our Spanish. Service was slow, but darnit, that lionfish pizza was great. IPA was pretty good. Habeñero margaritas were good. Empenadas and ceviche were pretty good, too. Nice place.

Picked up a huge bag of pastries from the Panderia around the corner from Punta Sur Cerveceria. $83 pesos / $4.25 for about 8 or 10 various cookies, etc. Really fun to pick out an assortment.