Crowell
Guest
I haven't stopped by for a while, but I haven't forgotten about you guys.
Lots has been going on lately.
First off,
Sarah and I got married in Pensacola, FL on November 12 as planned. Due to Ivan and the almost total destruction of Pensacola Beach we didn't have the wedding we wanted to have, so we rescheduled that as a renewal of vows at our first anniversary next year, and just had a small private ceremony at the courthouse this year, followed by everyone who came down anyway going to McGuires for the rest of the afternoon and several Irish Wakes
We caught the Blue Angels show Saturday, and then Sunday the 14th we headed to New Orleans for our cruise down to Montego Bay, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.
It was a lot of fun. We didn't get in the water in Ma`Bay or Jamaica at all, and stayed close to the tour-group, just in case, so nothing much to report from Jamaica.
Grand Cayman we didn't dive because it was such a short stop and we figured with the ferry ride it was just too much of a hassle. We did go snorkeling along the reef and over to Stingray City for a while to feed the rays, and that was truly an incredible experience. The stingrays would swim right up to you, brush against you, and would eat squid right out of your hand. It was nice. Grand Cayman was hit hard with Hurricane Ivan as well, so the place was still a disaster area and a lot of the island wasn't open yet. It will take GC a long time to recover as well, and they don't have the luxury of just trucking in more supplies for repairs like NW Florida / SW Alabama. I was hoping to find a good turtle soup restaurant in Grand Cayman, but there still wasn't a lot open, and we didn't have time to do much sight-seeing.
Cozumel was simply fantastic. We didn't want to book our excursion on the cruise as Carnival seems to have about an 80% markup on their excursions vs. the same thing booked in town, so we just found a dive company and booked locally with "Aquaworld", down near "Casa Del Mar" or something like that. Sarah's dove with CDM before, and we tried them first, but they weren't sure if they could get us back before the boat left, so we went with Aquaworld instead. It was simply incredible.
We dove Palancar and Tormentos reefs at 90' and 60' respectively, and saw all sorts of neat things. The water was just indescribable. I have no words for how clean and clear it was. Simply incredible. We saw lots of stuff and fish along the reef, including a big white grouper that was probably around 38" or so actual size. We swam through some tunnels in the coral, and saw a big sponge about 6 to 8 feet or so in size, that looked to me like a great big clamshell ... and lots of smaller purple and colored fish that I have no idea what they were.
In tormentos it was more of the same, although Sarah said the water was even clearer. I'll have to admit that my eyesight must not be as good as hers, because the water at both looked fantastic to me. At one point in Tormentos we saw a turtle swimming above the reef at around 50' or so, and we tried to follow him for a while, but he was swimming upstream and the current was just too much in that area so we gave up on him and continued down the reef.
Overall, we both had a really good time and it was a great trip. The food was good on the boat, and the cruise in general was very nice - except for the coming back to work part.
Lots has been going on lately.
First off,
Sarah and I got married in Pensacola, FL on November 12 as planned. Due to Ivan and the almost total destruction of Pensacola Beach we didn't have the wedding we wanted to have, so we rescheduled that as a renewal of vows at our first anniversary next year, and just had a small private ceremony at the courthouse this year, followed by everyone who came down anyway going to McGuires for the rest of the afternoon and several Irish Wakes
We caught the Blue Angels show Saturday, and then Sunday the 14th we headed to New Orleans for our cruise down to Montego Bay, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.
It was a lot of fun. We didn't get in the water in Ma`Bay or Jamaica at all, and stayed close to the tour-group, just in case, so nothing much to report from Jamaica.
Grand Cayman we didn't dive because it was such a short stop and we figured with the ferry ride it was just too much of a hassle. We did go snorkeling along the reef and over to Stingray City for a while to feed the rays, and that was truly an incredible experience. The stingrays would swim right up to you, brush against you, and would eat squid right out of your hand. It was nice. Grand Cayman was hit hard with Hurricane Ivan as well, so the place was still a disaster area and a lot of the island wasn't open yet. It will take GC a long time to recover as well, and they don't have the luxury of just trucking in more supplies for repairs like NW Florida / SW Alabama. I was hoping to find a good turtle soup restaurant in Grand Cayman, but there still wasn't a lot open, and we didn't have time to do much sight-seeing.
Cozumel was simply fantastic. We didn't want to book our excursion on the cruise as Carnival seems to have about an 80% markup on their excursions vs. the same thing booked in town, so we just found a dive company and booked locally with "Aquaworld", down near "Casa Del Mar" or something like that. Sarah's dove with CDM before, and we tried them first, but they weren't sure if they could get us back before the boat left, so we went with Aquaworld instead. It was simply incredible.
We dove Palancar and Tormentos reefs at 90' and 60' respectively, and saw all sorts of neat things. The water was just indescribable. I have no words for how clean and clear it was. Simply incredible. We saw lots of stuff and fish along the reef, including a big white grouper that was probably around 38" or so actual size. We swam through some tunnels in the coral, and saw a big sponge about 6 to 8 feet or so in size, that looked to me like a great big clamshell ... and lots of smaller purple and colored fish that I have no idea what they were.
In tormentos it was more of the same, although Sarah said the water was even clearer. I'll have to admit that my eyesight must not be as good as hers, because the water at both looked fantastic to me. At one point in Tormentos we saw a turtle swimming above the reef at around 50' or so, and we tried to follow him for a while, but he was swimming upstream and the current was just too much in that area so we gave up on him and continued down the reef.
Overall, we both had a really good time and it was a great trip. The food was good on the boat, and the cruise in general was very nice - except for the coming back to work part.
