Day 1-Wednesday
We arrived to our hotel at about noon. They greeted us with a refreshing drink and a nice swan towel statue on our bed. They were very accommodating even though we were 3 hours early for check in. Our first stop was the pool, where we remained for the afternoon. For the evening we went to Tony RomeÃÔ for some Flame-Throwers (margaritas with a fitting name) and chatted with Tony for over an hour. On to Casa Dennis for dinner, I had the Pork Tacos, and Colleen had the Enchiladas Suizas. We had shrimp ceviche for an appetizer, everything was delicious! Total was 160 pesos with 2 beers included.
Day 2- Thursday
We rented a Å®exican Ferrari from Isis, a yellow convertible bug, then on to the East side. Stopped at Meszcalitos for a few beers and looked at their ÅÇamily photo albums. Ate at the Rasta Bar, where we had delicious shrimp/conch mixed ceviche and quesadillas. We then ate at Especias with a large group from TA. Adrian was a great host and everything was wonderful. I had the bacon wrapped shrimp, which was the best shrimp dish I have ever eaten. Colleen had the Indian shrimp. Both meals were wonderful. Adrian treated us to shots of Don Julio when dinner was over. Special thanks to Deb for putting this together, it was great getting to put faces with so many names.
Day 3- Friday
First day of Diving with Blue XT Sea, first dive was at Columbia Deep 100 feet 53 minutes. The second dive was at Dalila 64 feet for 63 minutes, great dive. Lunch was at the hotel and lounged around all afternoon. Dinner was at Las Oatates on Avenue 15. It is a very out of the way, hole-in-the-wall type of place but dynamite!!!!! I had steak tacos, Colleen got Las Gringas- pork tacos with onions, cheese and pineapple. With two beers and an order of some of the freshest guacamole ever tasted, we paid less than $150 pesos. We walked to square and got a bag of churros to split from a street vendor for 20 pesos. Then, we wandered around trying to find Wet WendyÃÔ (on 5th just north of the square). We stumbled upon it while we were walking. Brian got a beer, Colleen tried their margaritas, delicious, made with fresh lime juice squeezed right in front of you!
Day 4- Saturday
First dive today was at Cedral Wall, 123 feet for 53 minutes, spectacular wall dive with very little current. After a nice surface interval at Paradise Beach onto Punta Tunich, a mild current made it easy to see many Splendid Toadfish, Barracuda and Drumfish. We relaxed at the hotel for lunch. Dinner was at TonyÃÔ (on 5th south of the square). It sounds weird to say we came to Coz and had Ribs but, they were great! They were very meaty and fell off the bone. Chatted with Tony for a while and then wandered around the back streets for a couple of hours to burn off dinner.
Day 5-Sunday
Island Drive to Playa Bonita on the east side for a little sun and wading. Snack/lunch ceviche and beers at Coconuts and ran into Pedronewmarket (Peter) and CozIcan/Rotarian David. Drove the West coast and in to town for the evening. Dinner at Mosaicas on the square, wood oven roasted pizza $80 pesos, margaritas and 60 peso buckets of beer. We again ran into Pedro, David and Patricia in the square and had drinks with them. Fire dancers set up right in front of us at the end of the night. We finished the night talking with Adrian at Casa Denis with a beer and a shot of Tequila.
Day 6- Monday
Palancar Caves was the first stop for diving today, 90 feet for 64 minutes. Surface interval was at Playa Palancar the north to San Francisco reef for the second dive. Nice long 71 minute dive with a max depth at 63 feet, the highlight of the dive was the Eagle ray we saw while descending along with some small colorful shrimp Arturo found. Afternoon was spent at the hotel to relax and have a few drinks. Wet WendyÃÔ for a light dinner. I had the beef tacos, Colleen had the shrimp tacos, good chips and salsa and of course a couple of Margaritas and a few shots of Tequila. Naturally, we forgot what the total cost. As it seemed most nights, we ran in to somebody we knew and this time it was Talia and Dan (T&D squared), so they joined us for a few drinks.
Day 7- Tuesday
We started the day diving at Palancar Horseshoe today, 89 feet for 66 minutes. Many swim troughs highlighted this dive along with 4 or 5 larger turtles. After a nice long surface interval at Playa Palancar again, we went on to La Francesa, max depth of 68 feet. The dive was so long, 77 minutes, that we finished the dive on Dalila, we saw some small sea slugs and half dollar sized sand rays. We went to Las Tres Marias for lunch Ave 65 just south of the naval station. I had the carne asada es tacos $55 pesos, Colleen had the fajitas (big enough for 2) 80 pesos. Great restaurant, eat inside due to street noise, great salsas and taco toppings, one of the best meals we had on the island. We went back to the hotel for more relaxing for the rest of the afternoon. Dinner was at a little empa?da place on ave 5 a couple blacks north of the square called Del Sur, it was excellent, we tried 8 different types, muy bien. Stopped at Wet WendyÃÔ for a Margarita to go, that way we would stay hydrated on our walk back to the hotel.
Day 8- Wednesday
Santa Rosa wall was our first dive today 85 feet for 67 minutes, just a great wall dive with great looking corals and sponges. The second dive today was at Tormentos at a max depth of 65 feet for 63 minutes, this was the first dive of the week with some current, on our way to our safety stop we saw an enormous lobster running on the sand. Lunch was at the hotel along with a couple of drinks, to relax after diving. We stopped at the Mega to pick up some cervezas to take over to Talia and DanÃÔ condo at the Codumel. Had drinks with them and watched the sunset on their patio. El Foco was our stop for dinner. We split the El Foco special, 70 pesos (beef and Chorizo tacos) and the Sopes 50 pesos. The beef Sopes were absolutely fantastic. After dinner we walked with Talia and Dan to the No Name bar at the Barracuda Hotel where Chad from Wet WendyÃÔ had his Jazz band playing, had a few drinks there too.
Day 9- Thursday
Final day of diving on this trip started at Punta Tunich Wall, 101 feet for 66 minutes with a nice mild current making this an excellent dive. The second dive started at the C-53 wreck and on to Bolones, max depth was 71 feet for 56 minutes. This dive had a swirling current so we could not make it all the way into Chankanaab as we had planned, but we were able to see 6 Splendid Toadfish and a number of spotted eels. Most of the afternoon spent relaxing and having a few drinks at the hotel, with a little post dive nap. Went to town for a later dinner and found a few places had closed early, by this time we needed to eat so we stopped at El Foco for the beef Sopes again.
Day 10- Friday Breakfast at the hotel then out for an Island Cruise. First stop was at Playa Palancar where we ran into the Blue Xt boat. A couple of cokes and a little dip in the very flat water and we were off to the east side again. We stopped at Playa San Martin by the lifeguard tower for a swim. They told us the current was coming straight in that day so it was a great day for swimming. San Martin is a beautiful long stretch of white sand beach and soft bottom in the water. After finishing the east side tour we stopped at Parrilla Mission on Ave 35, I think. 1 order of shrimp fajitas and 1 order of beef fajitas total with 2 cokes, 200 pesos, and the food was decent we thought, nothing spectacular. We returned the rental car to Isis and went back to the hotel for a little more snorkeling, a few corals and sponges were starting to grow along the shoreline. For dinner we make our way back to town and said our goodbyes to a few people, Tony and Chad, we missed Adrian at Especias, he must have closed a little early.
Day 11- Going home. Breakfast was at the hotel and an hour or two at the pool then on to the airport. Due to the Swine flu they took our temperatures before we could check in for our flights and had us fill out a health questionnaire, a few people were wearing masks in the airport terminal. We ran into Deb (DS2) while she was waiting on her flight.
Highly recommended restaurants or dishes- Las Tres Marias carne asada es tacos, Rasta bar mixed Ceviche, El Foco beef Sopes, Tony RomeÃÔ beef ribs, Especias cheese and bacon shrimp, Del Sur any Empa?das, Wet WendyÃÔ $5 jumbo frozen Lime Margarita or the $7 Giant Peach Margarita.
Hotel Cozumel- Very basic hotel that we would classify as a 2 ½ star at best hotel. Nice pool, too much Chlorine in it, I turned a little green, but a peaceful setting none the less. The food was mostly terrible, except for made to order items, I.E. omelets/eggs, hamburgers, and fajitas, and the fruit was fresh and good. The service was sporadic, some days it was very good, other days it was non existent. The hotel served our need as a base of operation within walking distance to town, and it was clean and quiet. Their entertainment staff was very good, not pushy at all and was very helpful telling us places on the island to check out.
BlueXT Sea Diving Great people and a great operation. First two dives were on the Shamu with Pedro as the DM and Mago the captain the first day and Adan the captain the second day. 3rd thru 6th days of diving were on the Bandita II with Arturo as the DM and Adan as the captain. Everybody really went out of there way to provide high quality service and dive experience. As a newer diver (22 dives when I arrived) I learned a lot from the 2 DMÃÔ and some of the other divers, and I was able to really increase my dive times and buoyancy. Not only did the DMÃÔ do a great job of pointing out small critters and hard to find things, they told you were to look to increase your chances of spotting hard to find animals. I will be diving with them next time I am down there, hopefully in Sept/Oct.
This was the first trip we have ever been on that no part of us was ready to leave, we truly felt at home on Cozumel. The people on the island both local and ex-pat were so friendly and welcoming and quick to offer any assistance should the need arise. We canÃÕ wait to be able to book another trip to where we now feel is our home away from home. The only bad part of our entire trip was boarding the plane to leave.
We arrived to our hotel at about noon. They greeted us with a refreshing drink and a nice swan towel statue on our bed. They were very accommodating even though we were 3 hours early for check in. Our first stop was the pool, where we remained for the afternoon. For the evening we went to Tony RomeÃÔ for some Flame-Throwers (margaritas with a fitting name) and chatted with Tony for over an hour. On to Casa Dennis for dinner, I had the Pork Tacos, and Colleen had the Enchiladas Suizas. We had shrimp ceviche for an appetizer, everything was delicious! Total was 160 pesos with 2 beers included.
Day 2- Thursday
We rented a Å®exican Ferrari from Isis, a yellow convertible bug, then on to the East side. Stopped at Meszcalitos for a few beers and looked at their ÅÇamily photo albums. Ate at the Rasta Bar, where we had delicious shrimp/conch mixed ceviche and quesadillas. We then ate at Especias with a large group from TA. Adrian was a great host and everything was wonderful. I had the bacon wrapped shrimp, which was the best shrimp dish I have ever eaten. Colleen had the Indian shrimp. Both meals were wonderful. Adrian treated us to shots of Don Julio when dinner was over. Special thanks to Deb for putting this together, it was great getting to put faces with so many names.
Day 3- Friday
First day of Diving with Blue XT Sea, first dive was at Columbia Deep 100 feet 53 minutes. The second dive was at Dalila 64 feet for 63 minutes, great dive. Lunch was at the hotel and lounged around all afternoon. Dinner was at Las Oatates on Avenue 15. It is a very out of the way, hole-in-the-wall type of place but dynamite!!!!! I had steak tacos, Colleen got Las Gringas- pork tacos with onions, cheese and pineapple. With two beers and an order of some of the freshest guacamole ever tasted, we paid less than $150 pesos. We walked to square and got a bag of churros to split from a street vendor for 20 pesos. Then, we wandered around trying to find Wet WendyÃÔ (on 5th just north of the square). We stumbled upon it while we were walking. Brian got a beer, Colleen tried their margaritas, delicious, made with fresh lime juice squeezed right in front of you!
Day 4- Saturday
First dive today was at Cedral Wall, 123 feet for 53 minutes, spectacular wall dive with very little current. After a nice surface interval at Paradise Beach onto Punta Tunich, a mild current made it easy to see many Splendid Toadfish, Barracuda and Drumfish. We relaxed at the hotel for lunch. Dinner was at TonyÃÔ (on 5th south of the square). It sounds weird to say we came to Coz and had Ribs but, they were great! They were very meaty and fell off the bone. Chatted with Tony for a while and then wandered around the back streets for a couple of hours to burn off dinner.
Day 5-Sunday
Island Drive to Playa Bonita on the east side for a little sun and wading. Snack/lunch ceviche and beers at Coconuts and ran into Pedronewmarket (Peter) and CozIcan/Rotarian David. Drove the West coast and in to town for the evening. Dinner at Mosaicas on the square, wood oven roasted pizza $80 pesos, margaritas and 60 peso buckets of beer. We again ran into Pedro, David and Patricia in the square and had drinks with them. Fire dancers set up right in front of us at the end of the night. We finished the night talking with Adrian at Casa Denis with a beer and a shot of Tequila.
Day 6- Monday
Palancar Caves was the first stop for diving today, 90 feet for 64 minutes. Surface interval was at Playa Palancar the north to San Francisco reef for the second dive. Nice long 71 minute dive with a max depth at 63 feet, the highlight of the dive was the Eagle ray we saw while descending along with some small colorful shrimp Arturo found. Afternoon was spent at the hotel to relax and have a few drinks. Wet WendyÃÔ for a light dinner. I had the beef tacos, Colleen had the shrimp tacos, good chips and salsa and of course a couple of Margaritas and a few shots of Tequila. Naturally, we forgot what the total cost. As it seemed most nights, we ran in to somebody we knew and this time it was Talia and Dan (T&D squared), so they joined us for a few drinks.
Day 7- Tuesday
We started the day diving at Palancar Horseshoe today, 89 feet for 66 minutes. Many swim troughs highlighted this dive along with 4 or 5 larger turtles. After a nice long surface interval at Playa Palancar again, we went on to La Francesa, max depth of 68 feet. The dive was so long, 77 minutes, that we finished the dive on Dalila, we saw some small sea slugs and half dollar sized sand rays. We went to Las Tres Marias for lunch Ave 65 just south of the naval station. I had the carne asada es tacos $55 pesos, Colleen had the fajitas (big enough for 2) 80 pesos. Great restaurant, eat inside due to street noise, great salsas and taco toppings, one of the best meals we had on the island. We went back to the hotel for more relaxing for the rest of the afternoon. Dinner was at a little empa?da place on ave 5 a couple blacks north of the square called Del Sur, it was excellent, we tried 8 different types, muy bien. Stopped at Wet WendyÃÔ for a Margarita to go, that way we would stay hydrated on our walk back to the hotel.
Day 8- Wednesday
Santa Rosa wall was our first dive today 85 feet for 67 minutes, just a great wall dive with great looking corals and sponges. The second dive today was at Tormentos at a max depth of 65 feet for 63 minutes, this was the first dive of the week with some current, on our way to our safety stop we saw an enormous lobster running on the sand. Lunch was at the hotel along with a couple of drinks, to relax after diving. We stopped at the Mega to pick up some cervezas to take over to Talia and DanÃÔ condo at the Codumel. Had drinks with them and watched the sunset on their patio. El Foco was our stop for dinner. We split the El Foco special, 70 pesos (beef and Chorizo tacos) and the Sopes 50 pesos. The beef Sopes were absolutely fantastic. After dinner we walked with Talia and Dan to the No Name bar at the Barracuda Hotel where Chad from Wet WendyÃÔ had his Jazz band playing, had a few drinks there too.
Day 9- Thursday
Final day of diving on this trip started at Punta Tunich Wall, 101 feet for 66 minutes with a nice mild current making this an excellent dive. The second dive started at the C-53 wreck and on to Bolones, max depth was 71 feet for 56 minutes. This dive had a swirling current so we could not make it all the way into Chankanaab as we had planned, but we were able to see 6 Splendid Toadfish and a number of spotted eels. Most of the afternoon spent relaxing and having a few drinks at the hotel, with a little post dive nap. Went to town for a later dinner and found a few places had closed early, by this time we needed to eat so we stopped at El Foco for the beef Sopes again.
Day 10- Friday Breakfast at the hotel then out for an Island Cruise. First stop was at Playa Palancar where we ran into the Blue Xt boat. A couple of cokes and a little dip in the very flat water and we were off to the east side again. We stopped at Playa San Martin by the lifeguard tower for a swim. They told us the current was coming straight in that day so it was a great day for swimming. San Martin is a beautiful long stretch of white sand beach and soft bottom in the water. After finishing the east side tour we stopped at Parrilla Mission on Ave 35, I think. 1 order of shrimp fajitas and 1 order of beef fajitas total with 2 cokes, 200 pesos, and the food was decent we thought, nothing spectacular. We returned the rental car to Isis and went back to the hotel for a little more snorkeling, a few corals and sponges were starting to grow along the shoreline. For dinner we make our way back to town and said our goodbyes to a few people, Tony and Chad, we missed Adrian at Especias, he must have closed a little early.
Day 11- Going home. Breakfast was at the hotel and an hour or two at the pool then on to the airport. Due to the Swine flu they took our temperatures before we could check in for our flights and had us fill out a health questionnaire, a few people were wearing masks in the airport terminal. We ran into Deb (DS2) while she was waiting on her flight.
Highly recommended restaurants or dishes- Las Tres Marias carne asada es tacos, Rasta bar mixed Ceviche, El Foco beef Sopes, Tony RomeÃÔ beef ribs, Especias cheese and bacon shrimp, Del Sur any Empa?das, Wet WendyÃÔ $5 jumbo frozen Lime Margarita or the $7 Giant Peach Margarita.
Hotel Cozumel- Very basic hotel that we would classify as a 2 ½ star at best hotel. Nice pool, too much Chlorine in it, I turned a little green, but a peaceful setting none the less. The food was mostly terrible, except for made to order items, I.E. omelets/eggs, hamburgers, and fajitas, and the fruit was fresh and good. The service was sporadic, some days it was very good, other days it was non existent. The hotel served our need as a base of operation within walking distance to town, and it was clean and quiet. Their entertainment staff was very good, not pushy at all and was very helpful telling us places on the island to check out.
BlueXT Sea Diving Great people and a great operation. First two dives were on the Shamu with Pedro as the DM and Mago the captain the first day and Adan the captain the second day. 3rd thru 6th days of diving were on the Bandita II with Arturo as the DM and Adan as the captain. Everybody really went out of there way to provide high quality service and dive experience. As a newer diver (22 dives when I arrived) I learned a lot from the 2 DMÃÔ and some of the other divers, and I was able to really increase my dive times and buoyancy. Not only did the DMÃÔ do a great job of pointing out small critters and hard to find things, they told you were to look to increase your chances of spotting hard to find animals. I will be diving with them next time I am down there, hopefully in Sept/Oct.
This was the first trip we have ever been on that no part of us was ready to leave, we truly felt at home on Cozumel. The people on the island both local and ex-pat were so friendly and welcoming and quick to offer any assistance should the need arise. We canÃÕ wait to be able to book another trip to where we now feel is our home away from home. The only bad part of our entire trip was boarding the plane to leave.
Glad you had a great time Brian!!!!
