Hemlon
Contributor
As many of you know, we spent a few days in Cozumel. Our summer vacation had been booked a couple of months ago and we were eager to go!
We arrived on Thursday and after we checked into our hotel, the Coral Princess, we took a taxi south into town. We shopped for a few hours and had a couple of cold beers. After we were tired, we went back to hotel for a fast sunset snorkel tour outside of our hotel.
On Friday, we went on our two-tank dive trip with Blue XT Sea. Pedro was our divemaster and he was incredible! There were two other divers in our group. They were both underwater photographers so they suggested that we go go to Columbia Shallows because it boasts minimal currents with lots to see. We were not disappointed! Since we stayed so shallow (31 ft) we were able to have 52 minutes of bottom time! While under, we saw a few beautiful queen angel fish, two HUGE lobsters, a 3-ft diameter crab, a spotted eel, 2 sting rays and an adorable balloonfish!
After a short surface interval, we started our 2nd dive. We went to Paradise Reef where we briefly looked for seahorses in the sea grass. Unfortunately, we didn't see any.
After searching, we headed to the reef where we saw several grunts and sergeant majors. We watched several playful gobys. The highlight of the dive were the feather dusters. We dropped sand on them and watched them swiftly pull back into hiding!
I cannot say enough good things about Christi and her dive op, Blue XT Sea. Christi will spend a lot of time before you ever arrive. She makes sure that all of your questions are answered and that you feel good about your upcoming trip.
If you are trying to choose between Blue XT Sea and another dive op, choose Blue XT Sea!!
We were famished after diving so we went to Casa Denis' for a fajita plate. We drank cold Dos XX Lager while we watched an afternoon rain shower. Then we went back to the hotel for much-needed rest and showers.
For dinner on Friday night, we went to Sonora Grill where we had what might have been the BEST ceviche that I have ever had. I had a hot bowl of sopa de lima (lime soup) which was incredible. After dinner, our waiter asked us if we would like to order bananas flambé. We ordered it and were dazzled by the show! The waiter brought a rolling cart to our table which had several kinds of alcohol, bananas, and juices. After lighting the Sterno and heating the pan, he started cooking! It was quite a sight to see!
After we were almost too full to move, we walked a few blocks through town to get back to the main square in town. The city was alive with motion! There were scooters everywhere. Some of the scooters held entire families!
On Saturday, we took a taxi south to Paradise Beach. After snorkeling for an hour, we layed on the beach and did some serious people watching. Oh yeah, and we drank lots of cold beer!
We spent most of Sunday at our hotel. We were both pretty tired from playing so hard and we decided to take it easy. I did a solo, one-tank shore dive and saw an octopus, 2 sting rays, a lobster and a few honeycomb cowfish. It was nice and relaxed and the depth was only 15 ft.
We snorkeled a couple of more times before heading into town for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Las Palmeras.
It rained on Monday but cleared up just as we were boarding our plane to fly home.
What an incredible trip!
We arrived on Thursday and after we checked into our hotel, the Coral Princess, we took a taxi south into town. We shopped for a few hours and had a couple of cold beers. After we were tired, we went back to hotel for a fast sunset snorkel tour outside of our hotel.
On Friday, we went on our two-tank dive trip with Blue XT Sea. Pedro was our divemaster and he was incredible! There were two other divers in our group. They were both underwater photographers so they suggested that we go go to Columbia Shallows because it boasts minimal currents with lots to see. We were not disappointed! Since we stayed so shallow (31 ft) we were able to have 52 minutes of bottom time! While under, we saw a few beautiful queen angel fish, two HUGE lobsters, a 3-ft diameter crab, a spotted eel, 2 sting rays and an adorable balloonfish!
After a short surface interval, we started our 2nd dive. We went to Paradise Reef where we briefly looked for seahorses in the sea grass. Unfortunately, we didn't see any.
After searching, we headed to the reef where we saw several grunts and sergeant majors. We watched several playful gobys. The highlight of the dive were the feather dusters. We dropped sand on them and watched them swiftly pull back into hiding!
I cannot say enough good things about Christi and her dive op, Blue XT Sea. Christi will spend a lot of time before you ever arrive. She makes sure that all of your questions are answered and that you feel good about your upcoming trip.
If you are trying to choose between Blue XT Sea and another dive op, choose Blue XT Sea!!
We were famished after diving so we went to Casa Denis' for a fajita plate. We drank cold Dos XX Lager while we watched an afternoon rain shower. Then we went back to the hotel for much-needed rest and showers.
For dinner on Friday night, we went to Sonora Grill where we had what might have been the BEST ceviche that I have ever had. I had a hot bowl of sopa de lima (lime soup) which was incredible. After dinner, our waiter asked us if we would like to order bananas flambé. We ordered it and were dazzled by the show! The waiter brought a rolling cart to our table which had several kinds of alcohol, bananas, and juices. After lighting the Sterno and heating the pan, he started cooking! It was quite a sight to see!
After we were almost too full to move, we walked a few blocks through town to get back to the main square in town. The city was alive with motion! There were scooters everywhere. Some of the scooters held entire families!
On Saturday, we took a taxi south to Paradise Beach. After snorkeling for an hour, we layed on the beach and did some serious people watching. Oh yeah, and we drank lots of cold beer!
We spent most of Sunday at our hotel. We were both pretty tired from playing so hard and we decided to take it easy. I did a solo, one-tank shore dive and saw an octopus, 2 sting rays, a lobster and a few honeycomb cowfish. It was nice and relaxed and the depth was only 15 ft.
We snorkeled a couple of more times before heading into town for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Las Palmeras.
It rained on Monday but cleared up just as we were boarding our plane to fly home.
What an incredible trip!
