sharky60
Contributor
Sunday May 8th Ok, heres were things went down hill, we overslept for church and didnt make it, so we got in the rental car which we got for doing the time-share thing for $5 for the day. You ask for a $5 car, you get one. VW convertible, the floor pedals were loose and the seatbelts didnt work, we should have taken it back and gotten something else.
We went to the Museum for breakfast, this is another one of our favorite places to go, always a good meal and service. It was pretty busy because of Mothers Day so we had a short wait. I had the tropical omelet and Lore had the croissant sandwich.
After breakfast we drove around town for a little while and were headed back to the hotel to regroup and get ready to drive around the island and have lunch at Coconuts. It didnt turn out that way. At an intersection just coming out of the residential area I didnt see a car coming because of other cars and trucks parked along the road too close to the corner and we had an accident.
We hit a local and his wife, they were in a small pickup and lucky for all of us it was a relatively slow moving accident. No one was hurt badly, the other couple checked out at the hospital, my wife has a fractured rib, which we didnt get diagnosed until we got home, the local doctor down there only could detect a bruised rib and my left knee is bummed up pretty good.
So, I spent all afternoon at the police station being detained and working everything out.
If this happens to you call the American Consulate, Ann Harris, she will lay everything out for you and just by calling her, things at the police station and with the insurance guy went much smoother. Everyone at the station was very nice and we eventually paid the towing and the fine and were let go. After paying for towing and fine and the deductible for the insurance on the cars the final bill was a total $1000, my friend Holly said I did good.
The good Lord sent an angel by the name of Gary, a local who could speak perfect English; he just showed up at the accident and helped us with everything throughout the day. I dont know where he came from but he was defiantly a Godsend. Thank you my friend where ever you are.
After this we needed a good meal and some wine, so diner was at another one of our favorites Prima Pasta. They were out of the seafood lasagna so the wife opted for shrimp & scallops over pasta in a cream sauce and I had blackened grouper, yum, yum.
Monday, May 9th - Woke up and could stand on my left leg but couldnt walk. Hobbled to the bathtub and ran as hot water as I could stand and soaked for 20 min. I was able to walk at this point. My wifes chest was hurting pretty bad, so needless to say we canceled diving for the day.
We made our way downtown, by cab, settled with the car rental folks. Walked around town for a while and limbered up the knee. Went to Guidos for lunch, really good salad of carrot, cucumber, beets, olives, radish, jicama & lettuce with a light vinaigrette dressing, garlic bread & some of the best pizza Ive had a long time and a half of pitcher of homemade sangria. Found a new favorite!!!
Went back to the hotel and vegged at the pool for the afternoon and happy hour, ordered up room service for diner.
Tuesday May 10th Both feeling somewhat better, Lore felt pretty bad early on but felt better as the day wore on. We decided to not let this ruin the vacation and try and afternoon dive. Shes quite a trooper, I know she was suffering but wanted to give it a go anyway.
First dive- Los Tormentos Lore got in the water without her equipment and the DM Jorge helped her put it on in the water. Once we got down we werent too bad, I was actually the most comfortable Id been since the accident. She had some occasional pain but also felt better with the water surrounding her. Saw several grouper, small spotted moray eel, hadnt seen too many on this trip, 2 barracuda, 2 big gray angels, actually the most angels wed seen on the trip yet. Another seahorse and lots of jaw fish poking in and out of their holes. Encountered a large school of the dreaded thimble jellyfish at the surface, I was the last out of the water and noticed I was actually in a large school of plankton, several types of jellies and other tiny critters all around, pretty cool actually.
Second dive Chankanab shallow. As the name says a shallow dive just off Chankanab Park, large crab, a VERY large lobster crossing the sand from one hole to the next, he actually came right up to me as I was trying to take his picture. Gray, French and Queen angels, found a white spiral egg sack of some sort and some nice clusters of tube fans. I think it was on this dive I saw a type of sea cucumber called a lions tong; Ill include it in the pics.
Diner at the French Quarter, Ok, we may have found a new all time favorite restaurant, Mike the owner met us at the door, introduced himself and made us feel right at home, like a good ol boy from Louisiana should. The service as great and the food was wonderful. We started off with a really fresh salad and complementary hushpuppies, I love hushpuppies!!! Lore had the seafood platter, a big plate of deep fried everything! Shrimp several ways, some of the best catfish ever, (and I grew up next to the Mississippi River), and I cant even remember what all was on that thing! I had the Wahoo marinated in a lemon butter sauce, served with soy and wasabi sauce, just great!
For dessert we had the Island Passion Chocolate Cake, Oh My!!! So rich and smooth, I dont even have the words!
Wednesday, May 11th breakfast at the hotel and afternoon dive.
First dive, back to Santa Rosa Wall, no problem, love this dive saw a couple of turtles, lots of arrow crabs, grouper and got a pretty good pic of a peppermint crab.
Second dive, San Francisco Reef, pretty good current moving us along. Found a good sized nurse shark 6+ in a small cave crawled up there with her and got a couple of good pics. Yes, Im nuts. Found a group of sea carpets all buched together, saw the biggest parrotfish Ive ever seen, it had to be at least 3 long. Another scorpion fish, lots of anemones and real pretty drum.
Diner at Ernestos, Lore had the famous seafood burrito, huge and packed with seafood morsels, I had the Plato Mexico.
Thursday, May 12 Our last full day on the island. We headed out for a morning dive, still hurting some but getting better by the day. Lore still putting her equipment on in the water, this is working pretty good for her. The winds were up some and the water was choppier than it had been most of the week.
First dive, Palancar Horseshoe, the best part of this dive is the end of it, you actually have a very long shallow safety stop hovering over some really nice coral heads. The current was moving us along pretty good again, Id love to do this dive with a very mild current there is a lot to see if you can stop and take your time. Found a large crab, a couple of turtles, lots of filefish and triggers.
Second and last dive of the trip, La Francesca. Shallow dive lots of coral and sponges, again the current moving us along. Got a good pic of a juvenile filefish trying to act like a plant. French and Gray angles and several kinds of butterflies. Another dive that would be really cool with low current conditions to poke around.
Headed down to Playa Corona for afternoon sun and light lunch of guacamole, quesodillas and margaritas.
Couldnt leave the island with out going back to the French Quarter for another diner, once again service and food were fantastic. Thanks again to Mike and his staff.
Friday, May 13th they make us go home!! We checked out of the hotel and checked our bags early at the airport and took a cab back to town to Guidos for salad, pizza and sangria again before we had to head back to the airport for a 3:00p flight back to the big D.
In spite of the accident it was really a great trip, we ran into Gordon (ggunn), Herman and I finally got to meet Christi from Blue XT Sea, all recognized me from my ScubaBoard photo. Only met Christi and Herman in passing, but got to talk to Gordon for a while on 2 occasions at the photo shop, really nice guy, hope to go to Austin some time and see him play in one of the bands hes in.
As usual my pal Holly and her husband Armando at Island Photo were the best, I cant wait to get back to see them again. When there, please go see them and use their services.
Well, Ive rambled on long enough, hope I havent put yall to sleep. Be looking for my post letting everyone know Ive updated my photo gallery with the latest, Im still sorting through the 200+ images so give me a little time.
We went to the Museum for breakfast, this is another one of our favorite places to go, always a good meal and service. It was pretty busy because of Mothers Day so we had a short wait. I had the tropical omelet and Lore had the croissant sandwich.
After breakfast we drove around town for a little while and were headed back to the hotel to regroup and get ready to drive around the island and have lunch at Coconuts. It didnt turn out that way. At an intersection just coming out of the residential area I didnt see a car coming because of other cars and trucks parked along the road too close to the corner and we had an accident.
We hit a local and his wife, they were in a small pickup and lucky for all of us it was a relatively slow moving accident. No one was hurt badly, the other couple checked out at the hospital, my wife has a fractured rib, which we didnt get diagnosed until we got home, the local doctor down there only could detect a bruised rib and my left knee is bummed up pretty good.
So, I spent all afternoon at the police station being detained and working everything out.
If this happens to you call the American Consulate, Ann Harris, she will lay everything out for you and just by calling her, things at the police station and with the insurance guy went much smoother. Everyone at the station was very nice and we eventually paid the towing and the fine and were let go. After paying for towing and fine and the deductible for the insurance on the cars the final bill was a total $1000, my friend Holly said I did good.
The good Lord sent an angel by the name of Gary, a local who could speak perfect English; he just showed up at the accident and helped us with everything throughout the day. I dont know where he came from but he was defiantly a Godsend. Thank you my friend where ever you are.
After this we needed a good meal and some wine, so diner was at another one of our favorites Prima Pasta. They were out of the seafood lasagna so the wife opted for shrimp & scallops over pasta in a cream sauce and I had blackened grouper, yum, yum.
Monday, May 9th - Woke up and could stand on my left leg but couldnt walk. Hobbled to the bathtub and ran as hot water as I could stand and soaked for 20 min. I was able to walk at this point. My wifes chest was hurting pretty bad, so needless to say we canceled diving for the day.
We made our way downtown, by cab, settled with the car rental folks. Walked around town for a while and limbered up the knee. Went to Guidos for lunch, really good salad of carrot, cucumber, beets, olives, radish, jicama & lettuce with a light vinaigrette dressing, garlic bread & some of the best pizza Ive had a long time and a half of pitcher of homemade sangria. Found a new favorite!!!
Went back to the hotel and vegged at the pool for the afternoon and happy hour, ordered up room service for diner.
Tuesday May 10th Both feeling somewhat better, Lore felt pretty bad early on but felt better as the day wore on. We decided to not let this ruin the vacation and try and afternoon dive. Shes quite a trooper, I know she was suffering but wanted to give it a go anyway.
First dive- Los Tormentos Lore got in the water without her equipment and the DM Jorge helped her put it on in the water. Once we got down we werent too bad, I was actually the most comfortable Id been since the accident. She had some occasional pain but also felt better with the water surrounding her. Saw several grouper, small spotted moray eel, hadnt seen too many on this trip, 2 barracuda, 2 big gray angels, actually the most angels wed seen on the trip yet. Another seahorse and lots of jaw fish poking in and out of their holes. Encountered a large school of the dreaded thimble jellyfish at the surface, I was the last out of the water and noticed I was actually in a large school of plankton, several types of jellies and other tiny critters all around, pretty cool actually.
Second dive Chankanab shallow. As the name says a shallow dive just off Chankanab Park, large crab, a VERY large lobster crossing the sand from one hole to the next, he actually came right up to me as I was trying to take his picture. Gray, French and Queen angels, found a white spiral egg sack of some sort and some nice clusters of tube fans. I think it was on this dive I saw a type of sea cucumber called a lions tong; Ill include it in the pics.
Diner at the French Quarter, Ok, we may have found a new all time favorite restaurant, Mike the owner met us at the door, introduced himself and made us feel right at home, like a good ol boy from Louisiana should. The service as great and the food was wonderful. We started off with a really fresh salad and complementary hushpuppies, I love hushpuppies!!! Lore had the seafood platter, a big plate of deep fried everything! Shrimp several ways, some of the best catfish ever, (and I grew up next to the Mississippi River), and I cant even remember what all was on that thing! I had the Wahoo marinated in a lemon butter sauce, served with soy and wasabi sauce, just great!
For dessert we had the Island Passion Chocolate Cake, Oh My!!! So rich and smooth, I dont even have the words!
Wednesday, May 11th breakfast at the hotel and afternoon dive.
First dive, back to Santa Rosa Wall, no problem, love this dive saw a couple of turtles, lots of arrow crabs, grouper and got a pretty good pic of a peppermint crab.
Second dive, San Francisco Reef, pretty good current moving us along. Found a good sized nurse shark 6+ in a small cave crawled up there with her and got a couple of good pics. Yes, Im nuts. Found a group of sea carpets all buched together, saw the biggest parrotfish Ive ever seen, it had to be at least 3 long. Another scorpion fish, lots of anemones and real pretty drum.
Diner at Ernestos, Lore had the famous seafood burrito, huge and packed with seafood morsels, I had the Plato Mexico.
Thursday, May 12 Our last full day on the island. We headed out for a morning dive, still hurting some but getting better by the day. Lore still putting her equipment on in the water, this is working pretty good for her. The winds were up some and the water was choppier than it had been most of the week.
First dive, Palancar Horseshoe, the best part of this dive is the end of it, you actually have a very long shallow safety stop hovering over some really nice coral heads. The current was moving us along pretty good again, Id love to do this dive with a very mild current there is a lot to see if you can stop and take your time. Found a large crab, a couple of turtles, lots of filefish and triggers.
Second and last dive of the trip, La Francesca. Shallow dive lots of coral and sponges, again the current moving us along. Got a good pic of a juvenile filefish trying to act like a plant. French and Gray angles and several kinds of butterflies. Another dive that would be really cool with low current conditions to poke around.
Headed down to Playa Corona for afternoon sun and light lunch of guacamole, quesodillas and margaritas.
Couldnt leave the island with out going back to the French Quarter for another diner, once again service and food were fantastic. Thanks again to Mike and his staff.
Friday, May 13th they make us go home!! We checked out of the hotel and checked our bags early at the airport and took a cab back to town to Guidos for salad, pizza and sangria again before we had to head back to the airport for a 3:00p flight back to the big D.
In spite of the accident it was really a great trip, we ran into Gordon (ggunn), Herman and I finally got to meet Christi from Blue XT Sea, all recognized me from my ScubaBoard photo. Only met Christi and Herman in passing, but got to talk to Gordon for a while on 2 occasions at the photo shop, really nice guy, hope to go to Austin some time and see him play in one of the bands hes in.
As usual my pal Holly and her husband Armando at Island Photo were the best, I cant wait to get back to see them again. When there, please go see them and use their services.
Well, Ive rambled on long enough, hope I havent put yall to sleep. Be looking for my post letting everyone know Ive updated my photo gallery with the latest, Im still sorting through the 200+ images so give me a little time.
