Report From The Island- 2/1/06

[TheRedHead]

Does anyone know if the French Quarter will reopen? It was my particular favorite.

 

[ggunn]

I had dinner there about a week and a half ago I believe on a Thursday night. The food was good and the restaurant clean. I was there from about 7:00 to 8:00 PM and I was the only customer in the restaurant. It seemed a shame for such a nice place but I guess it is a well kept secret. I did have a good conversation with the waiter however and will defiantly go back on my next trip.

Defiantly? Gotta love that spiel chucker, eh? ;^)

I love the Sonora Grill, and I always eat there at least once on every visit. The fact that you were the lone customer may have more to do with the general lack of visitors to the island than with its being a secret, though.

 

[kuip]

This is the deal I got. We are alone on the boat. Our DM stays 20 to 30 feet away and only bugs us when he sees something. We decide when we leave in the AM. It,s all our call and it,s cheap. Yesterday, we showed up, our gear was on the boat dry and set up. Two minutes later we left. Tomorrrow we will show up at our time, the boat and gear will be ready to take us where we want and we will have it to our selves.

What kind of deal could anybody ask for thats better than this...Stop your whinning and get down here and dive! These people are awsome!!!!!!
Diving with Sea Urchin divers BTW

STOP!! I will be down there feb. 22 - 3/1. How is Jorge? Tell Pancho to corral up all the Eagle Rays and release them when I dive down there I see the Makumba has a new paint job. I use a picture of Makumba as my screen saver.

 

[Skinsfan1311]

I had dinner there about a week and a half ago I believe on a Thursday night. The food was good and the restaurant clean. I was there from about 7:00 to 8:00 PM and I was the only customer in the restaurant. It seemed a shame for such a nice place but I guess it is a well kept secret. I did have a good conversation with the waiter however and will defiantly go back on my next trip.

MMMMmmmmmm! Try "La Choza" (sp?) All the locals know where it is and the food is awesome. I had a nearly 2lb lobster tail there, some excellent tortilla soup and chips and some type of con quesa that was to die for. The frozen strawberry margaritas were very good....can't wait to go back!

 

[Christi]

Does anyone know if the French Quarter will reopen? It was my particular favorite.

Grand opening for French Quarter is this Sunday for th ebig Superbowl party!

 

[Wildcard]

STOP!! I will be down there feb. 22 - 3/1. How is Jorge? Tell Pancho to corral up all the Eagle Rays and release them when I dive down there I see the Makumba has a new paint job. I use a picture of Makumba as my screen saver.

Ya can´t even tell it sank. Those guys are so awsome. Im told we are only the second group to dive with them since the storm. They sure need the business. Can´t say enough good things about them. Top notch!

 

[jawfish]

GREAT post! I am never surprised by what a small world it is, but this board helps it feel cozy! Imagine having a guy in the same hotel, from the boards that was reading it and had your charger! Wow!

Thanks for the info and details!

 

[Divedoggie]

Jeff, Dude...I'm jonesing here....where is today's report?

 

[TheRedHead]

Grand opening for French Quarter is this Sunday for th ebig Superbowl party!

Thanks Christi!

 

[Moodiejeff]

Jeff, Dude...I'm jonesing here....where is today's report?

Hey! Can't a guy get some sleep around here! :14:

To finish where I left off...

La Cocay (Thurs. night): It's the night before Mia's B-Day so Christi and I use it as a pretense to go to La Cocay for dinner. We invite the whole crew, Christi, Mago, Pedro & Javier. Dinner and apps were exceptionally good, better than last time.

To keep this short I completely took Mia by Surprise and asked her to marry me. And as a surprise to me, she said YES!



I'll elaborate on the story at another time but I owe a HUGE debt to Christi (& Mago) for their help in getting this done! Christi even brought the cake - an impossible (?) cake, Chocolate with a layer of Flan on top. Yummy!

Friday: We awake to Mia's birthday... to celebrate, Christi wanted to take us to a "super secret & special" site but with the south westerly winds it would have been rough. So we decide to hit Barracuda & San Juan up north. As I said, it's Mia's B-day, I just proposed to her (w/a Dolphin engagement ring, and no, it's not tacky looking!), we are the only customers but Christi and her whole crew are diving with us, we're heading to a site we've never been and what do we come across on our way to the site? A Pod Of Dolphins!!! Mago kept manuevering the boat so they would ride the bow wave while Mia kneeled at the front of the boat (squealing & giggling with delight). We played with them like that for what seemed like 30 minutes. Then someone suggested that Mia get her mask & snorkel... she got in the water as the Dolphins swam under and around her! Happy Birthday!!! To top that off, at our surface interval it seemed like there were dozens of Butterflies circling us (she's a girly-girl so she loves that stuff). It's going to be hard to top this B-day for her.

I know you don't want to read this sentimental stuff, so, on the diving:

Barracuda: Was warned that the currents could be pretty bad, jumped in and... nothing, no current! Yes! Had a long, leisurely drift along the untouched and mighty pristine looking wall. Turtles, Green Moray, enormous Groupers, HUGE schools of fish. Just an incredible dive... and as a bonus, the water seemed a few degrees warmer! I got a nice pic of some juvenile drums, I can't believe they are in focus.



San Juan: Here's where there was a current... easily 2 knots. Photography was reduced to "fly-by mode". Where we dropped in was really nice but farther North the finger corals took a real beating. It was a rubble pile for a long way, yet it had it's own strange beauty. Lots of life poking through, I wish I could have gotten a good pic to better demonstrate. We drifted all the way to Barracuda and did a part of that again. Saw some large Puffers, Baby Turtle, large Groupers, etc.

Debbie, Valerie & their friend ended up coming down (I reported earlier that they cancelled) so we had an afternoon trip. It was nice to see them again as we dove with Debbie & Valerie last Feb. too.

Chankanab Bolones: Beautiful site, no current, went slooow and explored every nook and cranny. Several Eagle Rays, Turtles and a Gi-normous Barracuda (4 feet maybe? It was BIG) under an overhang.

Las Palmas: No current here either, leisurely drift. Turtles, Scorpionfish, etc. By this dive I was getting cold in my 3mm. Was really sucking down my air!

4 dives later today including a night dive!

Food on Friday was El Foco for Lunch & Guido's for dinner. Both were excellent. I think I was asleep by 10 last night. Man, was I tired!