Queen Triggerfish
Contributor
This is quite overdue, but because I took notes as I went, I thought this is better late than never. Consider yourself warned: I can be pretty wordy and detailed!.
The point of this trip was for my boyfriend to do a Discovery Dive, and a number of you gave me opinions and helped me out when I posted about that mission last November or December. We went for just a few nights before Christmas.
We stayed at Casa Mexicana and it was lovely. It was my first time staying there. I picked it for the location (I want to be within walking distance to nearly everything in town), for the "creature comforts" for my boyfriend (including free wifi, decent sized room), and for the view. The location was even better than I remembered (from walking by it). I'm more used to staying a bit further south, and while I don't mind walking, it was nice to be back at the hotel at the end of the night earlier. It also would have been good if I wanted to shop a lot; we could have split up and met back in the room easily enough.
The view was gorgeous. We had a room on the top floor. The only downside regarding the view was that the little wall between balconies was only 3 feet or so, so wasn't very private. Not a huge deal, but would be a nice perk. I read in another thread about Scuba Club Cozumel that there are mixed reviews about hearing tanks bang in the morning. We could hear the loading of tanks from our room in the morning (the Aldora pier, I think), and I personally LOVED it. It wasn't very loud, but was a delightful way to wake up on a scuba trip.
The breakfast buffet was awesome and well timed for each morning. They had a nice selection. I usually had a made-to-order omelet. The lovely woman making them seemed to appreciate my rough attempt to order in Spanish, and helped me each day. She was sweet.
The only downside about the hotel was the pool. My last couple stays have been at Hotel Cozumel, which has a massive pool. Casa Mexicana had a very small and shallow pool situated between the lobby and a sun balcony overlooking the street. It would be okay if you just wanted a quick dip, or to lounge while sipping a cocktail, but not good for swimming (definitely not if you were bringing your kids). I did know about this ahead of time, but afternoon pool time is not on my boyfriend's list of things to do, so I didn't mind. (If I was there with a few girlfriends, it'd be different because we love lounging by or in the pool in the afternoon.)
(Oh my gosh, I know I'm wordy, but all I've written about so far is the HOTEL! You were warned.)
Christi was wonderful to organize our dives. We emailed multiple times prior to the trip, and she understood my purpose of hoping my boyfriend would love diving. I never got to meet her, but look forward to it next time. She arranged my boyfriend's Discover Dive at the Takila becah with John Youngman. We met him there, but he drove us back in his truck which was nice. John was great - friendly but safety conscious. My boyfriend did really well. He claimed that he was "panicking" the first couple breaths underwater, but I've seen panic and it wasn't that. : ) He was comfortable within about 60 seconds. He practiced his skills with John while I tooled around closeby doing a fish survey for REEF. Once we began our little swimming tour of the coral heads, after a couple minutes, John and I paused to look at a nudibranch, and when we looked up about 15 seconds later, my boyfriend was swimming away from us as happy as could be. I know that's not safe, but it made John and I both chuckle: 'okay, so I guess he's comfortable!' Because the Discover Dive went well, we were able to sign up for a Blue XTSea boat dive for two days from then, escorted by John and with a max depth of 30 or 40 (I forget). I was given the option of going with the group, but opted to stay with John and my boyfriend. We had two WONDERFUL dives, which included tons of fish, an Eagle Ray, two nurse sharks, and a couple turtles - so it was a good, "see how cool diving is?" experience for me to share!
Here's where we ate or had a drink, most were return visits for me:
* Thirsty Cougar - jalapeno cucumber margarita, queso fundido and chips. Great margarita and people-watching.
* Casa Denis - I had avocado cream soup and a watermelon margarita, my bf had chicken fajitas, we passed on the full mariachi band, but requested and tipped for Feliz Navidad from a single musician with a guitar. He obviously had one or two cocktails prior, but was fun and enthusiastic.
* Ernesto's Fajitas - took a cab there because I had my dive gear. I hadn't been there in a few trips, but it was as good as I remember. We went for lunch and it would have been hard to get a table if we weren't willing to sit in the sun. There were lots of cruise shippers there, but the service was speedy.
* Kondessa - first time there. Beautiful place. I had guac with pumpkin seeds, tomatillo, cactus and something else; tortilla soup; and half a pitcher of sangria. The menu was creative, and the outdoor courtyard setting was lovely. There was an American guy on the other side who was obviously hammered and he flipped out on the wait staff. He was belligerent and obnoxious complaining that the food wasn't worth the $100 of his bill (I'm guessing there was a lot of alcohol on that bill). The servers handled it so well, and I was terribly embarrassed for our country or for tourists in general. His buddy didn't do anything, which surprised me. Really, I can't get over how well the staff handled it, but it was an unfortunate incident for everyone.
* Wet Wendy's - peanut butter/banana margarita, friendly staff, nice live music, and fun Christmas lights
* Coconuts on far side of island, and beach next to it (El Piscador?) - Diet Coke, chips, quesadilla and relaxing
* La choza - chicken in black sauce
* Blue Angel - chicken chimichanga. We walked there for lunch and it was further than I remembered. I'd probably catch a cab next time, unless it was later in the day and wasn't so hot/sunny.
* Paradise Beach Club - my first time doing one of these beach clubs. We did it on the afternoon of our tour of the island. It was fine. I wouldn't ever do it in lieu of diving, but was a nice place for the two of us to grab a drink and relax. Unfortunately they didn't have water in the pool (wait - that might have been at another place we checked? Not sure, but if they have a pool, there wasn't water in it. If they don't have a pool, then it was somewhere else.) I would have liked a pool since Casa Mexicana's was so little.
* Plaza Leza (name? it's that place RIGHT in the town square) - great place to go the night of the big Christmas pageant and show. The people watching and sounds were lovely and festive. I liked seeing all the cute little girls in their recital outfits.
* Margaritaville - lunch on our last day. Cliche I know, but I really, really like jumping and playing on all those inflatables in the water, and it was a fun thing to do before flying back to winter in MN. Unless another place in town makes a swim area like that, I would go back.
A bunch of other unrelated stuff: I loved all the Christmas decorations and festivities in town. We went to Mega the first afternoon to stock up on snacks, and I had to buy shoes. For some reason, I completely forgot to pack shoes/sandals, etc.! All I had was the Nikes I wore on the plane - oops. Unsurprisingly, they don't sell size 9 for women in Mexico, so I bought a pair of men's flip flops. We rented down an old, broken down jeep (as expected) from LessPay. I don't need a radio, clock, windows or roof in Cozumel. We did San Gervasio ruins. I brought bug spray because I remember desperately needing it last time. I didn't remember how long and bumpy the road to get there was. I mean, it's REALLY bumpy, and I'm used to MN potholes. It actually might be a deterrent for me next time. It was fairly crowded, but a neat thing to do since our trip wasn't all about diving. I met Karen with Dive Choice Mexico because we brought down a bunch of toys for their toy drive. It was neat to participate in that, and I had fun shopping for toys to bring. I did all my souvenir shopping at Cinco Soles and that other big store (might be related to Cinco Soles?) that's on a corner on the main drag. I really, really don't like being yapped at my shop keepers, but realize it must be a successful technique for them. But I opt to go to the places where I can just shop and not have to talk. Perhaps rude of me, but I'm like that at home when shopping too.
All in all it was a wonderful trip, and I'm glad my boyfriend enjoyed diving enough that he'd do it again. I have a trip planned for September, but I'm desperate to get to CZM (or elsewhere) before then, so might start perusing online ...
The point of this trip was for my boyfriend to do a Discovery Dive, and a number of you gave me opinions and helped me out when I posted about that mission last November or December. We went for just a few nights before Christmas.
We stayed at Casa Mexicana and it was lovely. It was my first time staying there. I picked it for the location (I want to be within walking distance to nearly everything in town), for the "creature comforts" for my boyfriend (including free wifi, decent sized room), and for the view. The location was even better than I remembered (from walking by it). I'm more used to staying a bit further south, and while I don't mind walking, it was nice to be back at the hotel at the end of the night earlier. It also would have been good if I wanted to shop a lot; we could have split up and met back in the room easily enough.
The view was gorgeous. We had a room on the top floor. The only downside regarding the view was that the little wall between balconies was only 3 feet or so, so wasn't very private. Not a huge deal, but would be a nice perk. I read in another thread about Scuba Club Cozumel that there are mixed reviews about hearing tanks bang in the morning. We could hear the loading of tanks from our room in the morning (the Aldora pier, I think), and I personally LOVED it. It wasn't very loud, but was a delightful way to wake up on a scuba trip.
The breakfast buffet was awesome and well timed for each morning. They had a nice selection. I usually had a made-to-order omelet. The lovely woman making them seemed to appreciate my rough attempt to order in Spanish, and helped me each day. She was sweet.
The only downside about the hotel was the pool. My last couple stays have been at Hotel Cozumel, which has a massive pool. Casa Mexicana had a very small and shallow pool situated between the lobby and a sun balcony overlooking the street. It would be okay if you just wanted a quick dip, or to lounge while sipping a cocktail, but not good for swimming (definitely not if you were bringing your kids). I did know about this ahead of time, but afternoon pool time is not on my boyfriend's list of things to do, so I didn't mind. (If I was there with a few girlfriends, it'd be different because we love lounging by or in the pool in the afternoon.)
(Oh my gosh, I know I'm wordy, but all I've written about so far is the HOTEL! You were warned.)
Christi was wonderful to organize our dives. We emailed multiple times prior to the trip, and she understood my purpose of hoping my boyfriend would love diving. I never got to meet her, but look forward to it next time. She arranged my boyfriend's Discover Dive at the Takila becah with John Youngman. We met him there, but he drove us back in his truck which was nice. John was great - friendly but safety conscious. My boyfriend did really well. He claimed that he was "panicking" the first couple breaths underwater, but I've seen panic and it wasn't that. : ) He was comfortable within about 60 seconds. He practiced his skills with John while I tooled around closeby doing a fish survey for REEF. Once we began our little swimming tour of the coral heads, after a couple minutes, John and I paused to look at a nudibranch, and when we looked up about 15 seconds later, my boyfriend was swimming away from us as happy as could be. I know that's not safe, but it made John and I both chuckle: 'okay, so I guess he's comfortable!' Because the Discover Dive went well, we were able to sign up for a Blue XTSea boat dive for two days from then, escorted by John and with a max depth of 30 or 40 (I forget). I was given the option of going with the group, but opted to stay with John and my boyfriend. We had two WONDERFUL dives, which included tons of fish, an Eagle Ray, two nurse sharks, and a couple turtles - so it was a good, "see how cool diving is?" experience for me to share!
Here's where we ate or had a drink, most were return visits for me:
* Thirsty Cougar - jalapeno cucumber margarita, queso fundido and chips. Great margarita and people-watching.
* Casa Denis - I had avocado cream soup and a watermelon margarita, my bf had chicken fajitas, we passed on the full mariachi band, but requested and tipped for Feliz Navidad from a single musician with a guitar. He obviously had one or two cocktails prior, but was fun and enthusiastic.
* Ernesto's Fajitas - took a cab there because I had my dive gear. I hadn't been there in a few trips, but it was as good as I remember. We went for lunch and it would have been hard to get a table if we weren't willing to sit in the sun. There were lots of cruise shippers there, but the service was speedy.
* Kondessa - first time there. Beautiful place. I had guac with pumpkin seeds, tomatillo, cactus and something else; tortilla soup; and half a pitcher of sangria. The menu was creative, and the outdoor courtyard setting was lovely. There was an American guy on the other side who was obviously hammered and he flipped out on the wait staff. He was belligerent and obnoxious complaining that the food wasn't worth the $100 of his bill (I'm guessing there was a lot of alcohol on that bill). The servers handled it so well, and I was terribly embarrassed for our country or for tourists in general. His buddy didn't do anything, which surprised me. Really, I can't get over how well the staff handled it, but it was an unfortunate incident for everyone.
* Wet Wendy's - peanut butter/banana margarita, friendly staff, nice live music, and fun Christmas lights
* Coconuts on far side of island, and beach next to it (El Piscador?) - Diet Coke, chips, quesadilla and relaxing
* La choza - chicken in black sauce
* Blue Angel - chicken chimichanga. We walked there for lunch and it was further than I remembered. I'd probably catch a cab next time, unless it was later in the day and wasn't so hot/sunny.
* Paradise Beach Club - my first time doing one of these beach clubs. We did it on the afternoon of our tour of the island. It was fine. I wouldn't ever do it in lieu of diving, but was a nice place for the two of us to grab a drink and relax. Unfortunately they didn't have water in the pool (wait - that might have been at another place we checked? Not sure, but if they have a pool, there wasn't water in it. If they don't have a pool, then it was somewhere else.) I would have liked a pool since Casa Mexicana's was so little.
* Plaza Leza (name? it's that place RIGHT in the town square) - great place to go the night of the big Christmas pageant and show. The people watching and sounds were lovely and festive. I liked seeing all the cute little girls in their recital outfits.
* Margaritaville - lunch on our last day. Cliche I know, but I really, really like jumping and playing on all those inflatables in the water, and it was a fun thing to do before flying back to winter in MN. Unless another place in town makes a swim area like that, I would go back.
A bunch of other unrelated stuff: I loved all the Christmas decorations and festivities in town. We went to Mega the first afternoon to stock up on snacks, and I had to buy shoes. For some reason, I completely forgot to pack shoes/sandals, etc.! All I had was the Nikes I wore on the plane - oops. Unsurprisingly, they don't sell size 9 for women in Mexico, so I bought a pair of men's flip flops. We rented down an old, broken down jeep (as expected) from LessPay. I don't need a radio, clock, windows or roof in Cozumel.
We did San Gervasio ruins. I brought bug spray because I remember desperately needing it last time. I didn't remember how long and bumpy the road to get there was. I mean, it's REALLY bumpy, and I'm used to MN potholes. It actually might be a deterrent for me next time. It was fairly crowded, but a neat thing to do since our trip wasn't all about diving. I met Karen with Dive Choice Mexico because we brought down a bunch of toys for their toy drive. It was neat to participate in that, and I had fun shopping for toys to bring. I did all my souvenir shopping at Cinco Soles and that other big store (might be related to Cinco Soles?) that's on a corner on the main drag. I really, really don't like being yapped at my shop keepers, but realize it must be a successful technique for them. But I opt to go to the places where I can just shop and not have to talk. Perhaps rude of me, but I'm like that at home when shopping too.All in all it was a wonderful trip, and I'm glad my boyfriend enjoyed diving enough that he'd do it again. I have a trip planned for September, but I'm desperate to get to CZM (or elsewhere) before then, so might start perusing online ...
