cxg31s
Guest
Coz Trip Report
Nov 24-Dec 1
Being one of the last people alive to not have her own website, Im sorry I cant include pictures with this report. Well....and I havent gotten them developed yet. *grin* So, well have to make do with a narrative broken down by category instead of a monotonous day-by-day account. You all know the kind Im talking about: Day 1 Morning-time: Woke up at 5am, got up and dressed in my blue bathing suit with the red stripe. Then I brushed my teeth, following up with a BIG drink of water, the bottled kind, not out of the tap. Then I sat on the balcony of Yada Yada hotel and contemplated the beautiful blue water for an hour as I tried to decide where to go for breakfast. Rock-n-Java maybe? Or Jeannies Waffle House...I just couldnt decide...Then I....wait a minute, whats that? Oh no, dont aim that shotgun at me--AUGH! *kaBLAM*
AIRLINE
I was nervous about the new airline Funjet is using--Ryan Air. All the websites and several people were posting new luggage weight limitations of 44 lbs total for checked luggage, and I had heard that some people had to pay fees for excess luggage that was over the limit. I am happy to report that Ryan Air doesnt seem to be enforcing these supposed weight restrictions. I didnt weigh my suitcases but I know with all my dive gear and things I was bringing for friends on the island that my luggage was probably close to 90 lbs. Thank goodness for inline skate wheels!
The planes were your standard 737s with no leg room and uncomfortable seats. My favorite features were the armchair radios accessible only by headphones, of which there were none, and the broken lavatory, leaving 2 bathrooms to service over 100 people who chose THOSE 2 hours to take a big dump. But they did have these cool monitors that popped down once we took off and we could track where the plane was, how long we had left, our speed and altitude, etc. Repetitive after the first cycle, but it was great for tracking how much time I still had to try to get the feeling back in my cramped legs before I tried to stand up.
Now Im going to rant for a moment...about kids. Yes, it was Thanksgiving week and many families were travelling, so the Great Gods of Bad Luck seated me next to, behind and in front of every single screaming child on that plane. They found it really fun to run up and down the aisles, throw their toys on the floor, at people and over the tops of seats, roll around in the aisle, trip the flight attendants and prevent them from doing their jobs, and scream at the top of their lungs. Ok, so I like kids in general, and dont care if people want to take them on vacation, but parents PLEASE make your kids behave on the plane! Be considerate of the fact that other people might not find your children as adorable as you do, and are not on the plane to provide entertainment for YOUR kids. I just cant believe parents let their kids act that way and even the flight attendants were sick of it. Quite frankly, I wouldnt have blamed the flight attendants a bit if they had collected them all and stuffed them in the overhead bins until the flight was over! Hmmm...thats an idea.....oh sorry, I digress, moving on....
FOOD
I ate many good meals at a few of my usual haunts, and tried a few new places this time. There were still several I didnt get to but that gives me yet another reason to return, like I need one!
Breakfast: On dive days, I got pan dulce from Chedraui--the early departures didnt allow for a leisurely breakfast, but it was just as well because I wanted to get on the boat! I had breakfast at Tonys a few times, eggs, bacon and hotcakes--delicious as always. Its amazing how many friends drop by at various points in the morning. I just love his coffee--he puts a little cinnamon in the coffee grounds before brewing. YUM! We also stopped in at Rock-n-Java one morning, which is always good even though the prices went up (grrrrr). I had the Cowboy breakfast, which was scrambled eggs, bacon and gravy on top of biscuits with home fried potatoes (Im a southern girl) and a side order of fruit--all quite tasty.
Lunch: We had lunch at a little fruteria on Salas--dont remember the name--but they had wonderful cheap tacos and fresh fruit smoothies. There are quite a few of these places in town now. We tried Sabores on Sallys recommendation and it was a great one. Nice place--the dining area was the living room of the house and I think there was outside seating out back. Good food--the comida casera at 40 pesos was quite a deal. With that, you get soup or salad, main course and tortillas, and dessert was either included or an extra charge--I didnt order dessert so Im not sure. I had some kind of breaded fish, steamed veggies, beans and rice--a little bland, but still tasty. Christi introduced me to Camilos--which is now my new favorite lunch place. The tacos were 10 pesos apiece and stuffed full--several varieties of seafood. In 2 visits, I had the breaded fish, breaded shrimp, Mexican shrimp and the smoked marlin tacos--all VERY good, and I also had the smoked marlin salad tostada--YUM. My only caution: dont blorp a bunch of the habanero mayonnaise on your tacos without tasting it first--yeowch! They also have other kinds of tostadas, sandwiches, seafood salads and main courses--all seafood. I got hooked on the wonderful cheap tacos, but I hope this place survives so I can get back and work my way through the rest of the menu!
Dinner: Tony of Tony Rome's Sandcastles outdid himself at Thanksgiving--it just didnt seem like Thanksgiving until I saw that huge plate of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce (with the can marks still in it--ahhhh home) VERY good mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole and yams. And of course his wonderful key lime pie for dessert--fantastic as always. I ate there a few other nights too. I enjoyed my usual chicken parmesan and tried his homemade spaghetti bolognaise, which was great for my carb fix! Against my own rule, I made a return trip to Prima to have dinner with the Rodales gang. Nothing against Prima--their food is pretty good, but most of their meals are way overpriced, in my opinion. It was a good meal--I had the lobster ravioli, which wasnt too unreasonable at 90 pesos, and it was just enough food to fill me up, so I may actually go back there again on a future visit. If you stick to the pasta dishes, you can have a decent dinner that doesnt cost a fortune. We also returned to Las Arracheras/Johnny Bravos, which I had visited in Aug. We went on Sat night and I was sick with a cold and running a fever, so I dont know if it was because I wasnt feeling well or if the food just wasnt as good, but I didnt enjoy that meal very much. The meat on the Plato Bravo (flank steak with avocado slices, cheese quesadillas, tortillas, bean soup) wasnt as tasty as it was in Aug and his prices have also gone up.
THE DIVING
After meeting and talking with Christi (sometimes for 4 hours at a time, right Christi? hee hee) and reading many positive reports about Blue XTSea, I decided to give her a shot and I was NOT disappointed. What a great experience--all I can say is WOW! Ok, Ill say more than that....She had originally rented an extra boat since it was Thanksgiving week so she was going to divide up the divers according to experience level. She had 4 last-minute cancellations so she had to cancel the extra boat and we all went on Shamu. There were varying experience levels but when this happens, Christi will either send an extra DM or dive herself. In our case...she ended up diving with us because she and I wanted to dive together, and that worked out GREAT! Diving with Christi was diving with a friend, When the others ran out of air, she and I would stay down and comb the reefs. She and I have the same dive style, so we spent most dives just thoroughly exploring a few coral heads rather than racing to see how much reef we could cover. She has an eagle eye for the macro stuff and pointed out many things that I never would have seen otherwise. On Thanksgiving day, the 2 other divers scheduled cancelled their dives and I was the only diver. Christi tried to get herself and me on Liquid Blues boat, but they were full, so we took her boat out with just the 2 of us and Mago (her captain) and had a blast! I felt guilty about her wasting gas for just me, but it was SO cool! It was just 2 friends going out diving, rather than dive operator/customer, and that made it so much fun! It also allowed us to do 2 dives that we wouldnt have gotten to do otherwise (with less experienced divers on the boat), so Im glad those other divers cancelled! whahahaha
Dive info:
Cedral/Part of Santa Rosa
Max depth: 73 ft Max time: 69 min
Santa Rosa Wall
Max depth: 125 ft Max time: 64 min
Chankanaab Shallows
Max depth: 47 ft Max time: 75 min
Chun Chacaab
Max depth: 96 ft Max time: 60 min
Tormentos
Max depth: 56 ft Max time: 81 min
Palancar Gardens
Max depth: 79 ft Max time: 56 min
San Francisco wall
Max depth: 52 ft Max time: 60 min
Unusual critters of note included: Several free-swimming nurse sharks, ranging from 5-10 feet, eagle ray, 3-foot porcupinefish (looked like a relic from the dinosaur age), baby pipefish, teeny juvenile spotted drum (less than 1), 2 baby nudibranches, baby arrow crab, tiger grouper, Atlantic spadefish, almaco jack, a hawkbill turtle as big as the loggerhead that haunts the south side and another smaller hawkbill, baby sailfin blenny (the pencil eater), baby bristleworm, adult bristleworm, scrawled filefish, spotted scorpionfish, the biggest great barracuda Ive ever seen plus some regular-sized normal barracuda....all in addition to the usual array of tropical fishies: blue tang, angels of all types, spotted filefish, parrots, grouper, morays, lobsters, gobies, grunts, snappers, jacks, trunkfish, squirrelfish....You know, it would be easier to list what I DIDNT see. No splendid toadfish or seahorses this time though, although Christi found a pipehorse that I didnt get to see because of ear problems.
Water temp was a consistent 82 degrees but we eventually got chilled with our long bottom times--not that Im complaining about long bottom times! The norté started blowing in Friday afternoon, so the port was closed on Saturday which was just as well since I was sick. Sunday they opened the port about 9am, but the 2 other divers scheduled cancelled, so since I hadnt been feeling well anyway and it was my last day, I cancelled too. It was cool and really windy that day, and Christi said they closed the port again that afternoon, so it was just as well that I didnt dive. Bad weather aside, I had 7 fantastic dives and made a great friend in Christi, so it was a great week all around!
NEW FRIENDS
Well Christi is definitely at the top of this category--she was so much fun to hang out with and really went out of her way to show me a great time and make me feel at home. I miss you, girl! I ran into many other friends I met in Aug, too--it was great seeing them again! I also met many other people from various message boards that I have talked to but never met in person. Ahh the power of the internet--bringing people together. And I cant forget to mention the unforgettable characters from Rodales--talking and dining with these folks was a true pleasure, especially Jonathan (also posts on this board) and the famous Doc Vikingo (medical moderator on this board). Doc, it was great to finally meet you after reading your posts for the past 5 years. I really enjoyed talking with you and sharing your cheesecake--I hope we end up at the same place again someday!
IN SUMMARY
Cozumel is feeling more and more like home with every visit and with every new friend I meet. I am truly blessed for the people who have come into my life through the magic of this little island. I always say that leaving Cozumel to come back to Dallas is like LEAVING home, rather than GOING home. I cant wait to come back and see you all at Carnival and hopefully meet all the people I havent met yet! 72 more days....the countdown begins anew!
Angie D
Nov 24-Dec 1
Being one of the last people alive to not have her own website, Im sorry I cant include pictures with this report. Well....and I havent gotten them developed yet. *grin* So, well have to make do with a narrative broken down by category instead of a monotonous day-by-day account. You all know the kind Im talking about: Day 1 Morning-time: Woke up at 5am, got up and dressed in my blue bathing suit with the red stripe. Then I brushed my teeth, following up with a BIG drink of water, the bottled kind, not out of the tap. Then I sat on the balcony of Yada Yada hotel and contemplated the beautiful blue water for an hour as I tried to decide where to go for breakfast. Rock-n-Java maybe? Or Jeannies Waffle House...I just couldnt decide...Then I....wait a minute, whats that? Oh no, dont aim that shotgun at me--AUGH! *kaBLAM*
AIRLINE
I was nervous about the new airline Funjet is using--Ryan Air. All the websites and several people were posting new luggage weight limitations of 44 lbs total for checked luggage, and I had heard that some people had to pay fees for excess luggage that was over the limit. I am happy to report that Ryan Air doesnt seem to be enforcing these supposed weight restrictions. I didnt weigh my suitcases but I know with all my dive gear and things I was bringing for friends on the island that my luggage was probably close to 90 lbs. Thank goodness for inline skate wheels!
The planes were your standard 737s with no leg room and uncomfortable seats. My favorite features were the armchair radios accessible only by headphones, of which there were none, and the broken lavatory, leaving 2 bathrooms to service over 100 people who chose THOSE 2 hours to take a big dump. But they did have these cool monitors that popped down once we took off and we could track where the plane was, how long we had left, our speed and altitude, etc. Repetitive after the first cycle, but it was great for tracking how much time I still had to try to get the feeling back in my cramped legs before I tried to stand up.
Now Im going to rant for a moment...about kids. Yes, it was Thanksgiving week and many families were travelling, so the Great Gods of Bad Luck seated me next to, behind and in front of every single screaming child on that plane. They found it really fun to run up and down the aisles, throw their toys on the floor, at people and over the tops of seats, roll around in the aisle, trip the flight attendants and prevent them from doing their jobs, and scream at the top of their lungs. Ok, so I like kids in general, and dont care if people want to take them on vacation, but parents PLEASE make your kids behave on the plane! Be considerate of the fact that other people might not find your children as adorable as you do, and are not on the plane to provide entertainment for YOUR kids. I just cant believe parents let their kids act that way and even the flight attendants were sick of it. Quite frankly, I wouldnt have blamed the flight attendants a bit if they had collected them all and stuffed them in the overhead bins until the flight was over! Hmmm...thats an idea.....oh sorry, I digress, moving on....
FOOD
I ate many good meals at a few of my usual haunts, and tried a few new places this time. There were still several I didnt get to but that gives me yet another reason to return, like I need one!
Breakfast: On dive days, I got pan dulce from Chedraui--the early departures didnt allow for a leisurely breakfast, but it was just as well because I wanted to get on the boat! I had breakfast at Tonys a few times, eggs, bacon and hotcakes--delicious as always. Its amazing how many friends drop by at various points in the morning. I just love his coffee--he puts a little cinnamon in the coffee grounds before brewing. YUM! We also stopped in at Rock-n-Java one morning, which is always good even though the prices went up (grrrrr). I had the Cowboy breakfast, which was scrambled eggs, bacon and gravy on top of biscuits with home fried potatoes (Im a southern girl) and a side order of fruit--all quite tasty.
Lunch: We had lunch at a little fruteria on Salas--dont remember the name--but they had wonderful cheap tacos and fresh fruit smoothies. There are quite a few of these places in town now. We tried Sabores on Sallys recommendation and it was a great one. Nice place--the dining area was the living room of the house and I think there was outside seating out back. Good food--the comida casera at 40 pesos was quite a deal. With that, you get soup or salad, main course and tortillas, and dessert was either included or an extra charge--I didnt order dessert so Im not sure. I had some kind of breaded fish, steamed veggies, beans and rice--a little bland, but still tasty. Christi introduced me to Camilos--which is now my new favorite lunch place. The tacos were 10 pesos apiece and stuffed full--several varieties of seafood. In 2 visits, I had the breaded fish, breaded shrimp, Mexican shrimp and the smoked marlin tacos--all VERY good, and I also had the smoked marlin salad tostada--YUM. My only caution: dont blorp a bunch of the habanero mayonnaise on your tacos without tasting it first--yeowch! They also have other kinds of tostadas, sandwiches, seafood salads and main courses--all seafood. I got hooked on the wonderful cheap tacos, but I hope this place survives so I can get back and work my way through the rest of the menu!
Dinner: Tony of Tony Rome's Sandcastles outdid himself at Thanksgiving--it just didnt seem like Thanksgiving until I saw that huge plate of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce (with the can marks still in it--ahhhh home) VERY good mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole and yams. And of course his wonderful key lime pie for dessert--fantastic as always. I ate there a few other nights too. I enjoyed my usual chicken parmesan and tried his homemade spaghetti bolognaise, which was great for my carb fix! Against my own rule, I made a return trip to Prima to have dinner with the Rodales gang. Nothing against Prima--their food is pretty good, but most of their meals are way overpriced, in my opinion. It was a good meal--I had the lobster ravioli, which wasnt too unreasonable at 90 pesos, and it was just enough food to fill me up, so I may actually go back there again on a future visit. If you stick to the pasta dishes, you can have a decent dinner that doesnt cost a fortune. We also returned to Las Arracheras/Johnny Bravos, which I had visited in Aug. We went on Sat night and I was sick with a cold and running a fever, so I dont know if it was because I wasnt feeling well or if the food just wasnt as good, but I didnt enjoy that meal very much. The meat on the Plato Bravo (flank steak with avocado slices, cheese quesadillas, tortillas, bean soup) wasnt as tasty as it was in Aug and his prices have also gone up.
THE DIVING
After meeting and talking with Christi (sometimes for 4 hours at a time, right Christi? hee hee) and reading many positive reports about Blue XTSea, I decided to give her a shot and I was NOT disappointed. What a great experience--all I can say is WOW! Ok, Ill say more than that....She had originally rented an extra boat since it was Thanksgiving week so she was going to divide up the divers according to experience level. She had 4 last-minute cancellations so she had to cancel the extra boat and we all went on Shamu. There were varying experience levels but when this happens, Christi will either send an extra DM or dive herself. In our case...she ended up diving with us because she and I wanted to dive together, and that worked out GREAT! Diving with Christi was diving with a friend, When the others ran out of air, she and I would stay down and comb the reefs. She and I have the same dive style, so we spent most dives just thoroughly exploring a few coral heads rather than racing to see how much reef we could cover. She has an eagle eye for the macro stuff and pointed out many things that I never would have seen otherwise. On Thanksgiving day, the 2 other divers scheduled cancelled their dives and I was the only diver. Christi tried to get herself and me on Liquid Blues boat, but they were full, so we took her boat out with just the 2 of us and Mago (her captain) and had a blast! I felt guilty about her wasting gas for just me, but it was SO cool! It was just 2 friends going out diving, rather than dive operator/customer, and that made it so much fun! It also allowed us to do 2 dives that we wouldnt have gotten to do otherwise (with less experienced divers on the boat), so Im glad those other divers cancelled! whahahaha
Dive info:
Cedral/Part of Santa Rosa
Max depth: 73 ft Max time: 69 min
Santa Rosa Wall
Max depth: 125 ft Max time: 64 min
Chankanaab Shallows
Max depth: 47 ft Max time: 75 min
Chun Chacaab
Max depth: 96 ft Max time: 60 min
Tormentos
Max depth: 56 ft Max time: 81 min
Palancar Gardens
Max depth: 79 ft Max time: 56 min
San Francisco wall
Max depth: 52 ft Max time: 60 min
Unusual critters of note included: Several free-swimming nurse sharks, ranging from 5-10 feet, eagle ray, 3-foot porcupinefish (looked like a relic from the dinosaur age), baby pipefish, teeny juvenile spotted drum (less than 1), 2 baby nudibranches, baby arrow crab, tiger grouper, Atlantic spadefish, almaco jack, a hawkbill turtle as big as the loggerhead that haunts the south side and another smaller hawkbill, baby sailfin blenny (the pencil eater), baby bristleworm, adult bristleworm, scrawled filefish, spotted scorpionfish, the biggest great barracuda Ive ever seen plus some regular-sized normal barracuda....all in addition to the usual array of tropical fishies: blue tang, angels of all types, spotted filefish, parrots, grouper, morays, lobsters, gobies, grunts, snappers, jacks, trunkfish, squirrelfish....You know, it would be easier to list what I DIDNT see. No splendid toadfish or seahorses this time though, although Christi found a pipehorse that I didnt get to see because of ear problems.
Water temp was a consistent 82 degrees but we eventually got chilled with our long bottom times--not that Im complaining about long bottom times! The norté started blowing in Friday afternoon, so the port was closed on Saturday which was just as well since I was sick. Sunday they opened the port about 9am, but the 2 other divers scheduled cancelled, so since I hadnt been feeling well anyway and it was my last day, I cancelled too. It was cool and really windy that day, and Christi said they closed the port again that afternoon, so it was just as well that I didnt dive. Bad weather aside, I had 7 fantastic dives and made a great friend in Christi, so it was a great week all around!
NEW FRIENDS
Well Christi is definitely at the top of this category--she was so much fun to hang out with and really went out of her way to show me a great time and make me feel at home. I miss you, girl! I ran into many other friends I met in Aug, too--it was great seeing them again! I also met many other people from various message boards that I have talked to but never met in person. Ahh the power of the internet--bringing people together. And I cant forget to mention the unforgettable characters from Rodales--talking and dining with these folks was a true pleasure, especially Jonathan (also posts on this board) and the famous Doc Vikingo (medical moderator on this board). Doc, it was great to finally meet you after reading your posts for the past 5 years. I really enjoyed talking with you and sharing your cheesecake--I hope we end up at the same place again someday!
IN SUMMARY
Cozumel is feeling more and more like home with every visit and with every new friend I meet. I am truly blessed for the people who have come into my life through the magic of this little island. I always say that leaving Cozumel to come back to Dallas is like LEAVING home, rather than GOING home. I cant wait to come back and see you all at Carnival and hopefully meet all the people I havent met yet! 72 more days....the countdown begins anew!
Angie D
