I have been taking my family to Mexico and the Caribbean for numerous years, but had not taken a vacation in a couple of years so I finally decided it was time for another one. My oldest son just graduated from high-school so I used this as an excuse for us all to get away! On this trip I also included my wife's sister as well as her sister's granddaughter(21)
This trip we decided to go to Cozumel. We had visited the island once before, but only for a single day during a weeklong stay on the mainland, and had fallen in love with the island. We are members of Palace Resorts, so after hearing that they had just opened a new resort on Cozumel(Cozumel Palace) we chose that location. We were not the least bit disappointed....
Day 1...
I booked all 6 flights at the same time through World Vacation Travel so that we could arrive on the island as soon as possible. We had to arrive at the Memphis, TN airport at 4:00am for a 6:00am flight which meant we had to leave my house around 3:30am which meant that we needed to get up around 2:30am and which, unfortunately, meant that I basically got little or rather NO sleep the night before the trip. Everyone was so excited about our trip and I had accumulated volumes of information about the island and the beaches and the activities via the internet so nobody really got too much sleep that night.
We arrive at the airport, and not surprisingly, everyone is fully awake and eager to start our vacation in spite of our lack of sleep. Our flight to Cozumel went through Dallas, TX and we arrived there around 8:00am. We had just enough time to eat some breakfast at the MacDonalds in the airport before they announced our boarding for the final leg into Cozumel. The flight into Cozumel was uneventful, except for the fact that for some reason my NEW dvr camcorder decided to die on me just as we were descending onto the island and I was beginning to film the marvelous reef from the air. I was really wanting some film from this trip, but will have to settle for photos I guess.
We breezed through customs, except for my oldest son, who must have resembled some drug-smuggling gringo on their most wanted posters as he was subjected to everything except a body cavity search!!!
Once he has fully re-dressed we exit customs and are confronted by our pre-arranged transportation to the Cozumel Resort. The ride to the resort is a short one and we are promptly sitting in the lobby of the resort being handed a glass of champagne in one hand and a wet towel in the other to place around our necks. We get our room assignments and our bags are delivered to our rooms as we head directly to the restaurant for lunch.
The resort is absolutely gorgeous as are all of the Palace Resorts, but this one is much smaller than it's counterparts on the mainland. The resort sits on the water but has no sandy beach as the shoreline is all ironshore. The fish of the day is grouper and it was delicious. I would eat a lot of fish over the next 8 days. We spent the remainder of our first day unpacking, familiarizing ourself with the resort and snorkeling right off the pool deck. The snorkeling at the resort is not the best on the island as there is no coral present there, but nevertheless I was able to see a moray eel, two barracuda, filefish and numerous types of smaller fish along the ironshore right there at the resort. It was also a nice way to get re-accustomed to snorkeling and our snorkel gear we had brought along. Each night the resort cooks steaks and various seafood outside at the pool or you can choose from a Mexican, Japanese or Italian restaurant for dinner. Oh yeah, they also have 24 hour room service available too. A nice touch we thought. We opted for the steaks at the pool and it was very good. Each night there is a different show event outside near the pool to enjoy with your dinner and this night it was the Fire Show. Pretty awsome production. Watching the show as the sun set in the ocean behind the show was quite picturesque and everyone was taking pictures or filiming the event on video.
Day 2...
Everyone has already adapted to 'island time' on a Caribbean island. Except for me. I'm up at the crack of dawn...AS USUAL.... Everyone seems to have developed their own set of schedules and plans. My goal today is to rent a jeep for the week and to do some snorkeling and visit the eastern or 'wild' side of the island. My oldest son(Richard 17) wants to accompany me while my youngest son(Ryan 15) has decided that the infinity pool and the volleyball pool are just the ticket. My wife, her sister and our niece have no plans at all other than to just relax at the resort and visit the pool and maybe do some shopping.
The resort wants to rent me a new jeep for $80 per day. Hardly.... I might have been born at night, but not last night. I had already seen numerous vendors on the island, via the internet, that would do the same thing for around $50-$55 per day, INCLUDING INSURANCE. When I informed the resort that I would take my business elsewhere they promptly rented me one for $55 per day. The breakfast buffet at Cozumel Palace is something to behold. Virtually anything imaginable is offered and it is all wonderful. So after breakfast Richard and I embark on our first venture on Cozumel. My goal this first day is to visit Dzul-Ha for some snorkeling and then stop at several other spots around the island to do some snorkeling on our way to the eastern shore. I have been an avid, almost maniacal, snorkeler for years and have gotten Richard to fall in love with the sport as well.
Dzul-Ha was a disappointment for us. On our last visit, prior to hurricane Wilma, we snorkeled there and it was magical. We discovered that Wilma had definately left her mark on Dzul-Ha as all of the beautiful trees are now gone as well as the arch that was over the road. Even the beautiful villa across the road is now up for sale(I noticed that on the internet before we arrived). And under the water we discovered that most of the brain coral that we experienced on our first trip there was now gone along with most of the accompanying fish. We had eaten a snack there on our last visit so we ordered some quesadillas and drinks and took one snorkeling trip with the current. The current is slow and leisurely and not a problem at all, but we saw only a fraction of the coral and fish that used to inhabit this destination. If you aren't really bothered that there isn't much coral and fish then Dzul-Ha is still a wonderful place to visit though, as simply swimming in the clear Caribbean waters is rejuvenating in and of itself. We still enjoyed our visit there and so did all the other folks we encountered during our stop.
Due to the condition of Dzul-Ha it became rather apparent that after you leave the touristy resort area of the island you begin to see the real affects of hurricane Wilma. Chankanaab Park was never quite as good for snorkeling as Dzul-Ha, in my opinion, so we didn't even stop there on this trip. The hurricane really tore up the island and the coastal road was destroyed in several places. New asphalt shows the destroyed sections of the road and saltwater damage is evident to all of the foilage around the eastern part of the island.
We eventually stopped at Palancar Beach and were preparing to snorkel when I discovered a dive operation there as well. I had investigated getting certified to dive before taking this trip, but around home that required almost $500 of my money and 4 Saturdays of my time and then I would have to schedule and pay for another trip for the open-water checkout dive. So I had decided against getting certified. Besides I really enjoy snorkeling and that is FREE!!!! I started talking to the staff at the dive operation and discovered that they only charge $350 to get certified there. And they said that the course would only take 3 days(about 4 hours per day) AND that during the 3 days of the certification course that I would get to take 7 dives. 7 DIVES??? AND O-W CERTIFIED FOR ONLY $350????
I hadn't planned on that and therefore hadn't budgeted for that expense, but told them that they had a really good deal and would pass that info on to anyone I met back at the resort. The dive master then said that I could get certified in a swimming pool back home or get certified on Palancar Reef in the Caribbean AND get 7 dives under my belt for less money than back in the states. I stood there and stared at that gorgeous water for a few seconds and then handed the man the money. I was told to return the next day at 9:00am to begin and that I'd be done by 1:00pm each day.
My son and I then continued on our trip around the island and we stopped at Coconuts Bar to eat lunch. I don't drink and don't approve of my children drinking either, but for some reason decided to try some beer. I asked the bartender what was his favorite mexican beer and he said 'SOL'. So we ordered some Sol's and some fish tacos from Cocunuts Bar and sat there on the bluff and ate the best tacos of our life. If any of you ever visit the island and go to Coconuts Bar then you must try those tacos. They use grouper(every fish-of-the-day everywhere on the island appears to be grouper) and Richard and I fell in love with them. Squeeze the lime on them!!!!
We then returned to the resort in the late afternoon to discover everyone else at the pool or in the pool. We tried the Italian restaurant this night and everyone really enjoyed their meal. A live band in the lobby bar was great and somehow the show evolved into an interactive audience participation event. Not really karaoke, but really entertaining with different groups within the lobby performing various lines from all the songs in a truly impromptu fashion. This activity continued until the wee hours of the morning...
Day 3,4,5....
I started my certification and by either dumb luck or by design Palancar Reef Divers gave me my own dive master for the course. So I got a one-on-one course which allowed me to progress at my pace instead of someone elses pace. The instructor/dive master Miguel, kept telling me that I was a quick learner, but really I attribute it to the fact that I'd been snorkeling and free-diving for years. Each day included either 2 or 3 one hour training dives and then at the end of each class I got one more tank and me and my dive master took one more 'just for fun' dive off of their boat on either Palancar Reef or Columbia Reef or San Francisco Reef.
My dive master kept me out of the current until my last dive on San Francisco reef. I really can't describe how wonderful and beautiful the entire experience was. We encountered moray eels, lobsters, seahorses, manta rays, squids, one huge freakin crab that even the dive master couldn't identify, barracuda and too many reef fish to count or identify. I am absolutely hooked and in love with this new sport and only regret waiting so long in life to have this experience.
At the end of my third day of training we took one more 'just for fun' tank and dove the San Francisco reef as a drift dive. And for those who have never been diving I simply can't do justice trying to describe what it is like to hang weightless, upside down as I drifted with the current along the face of a wall covered with corals, sponges and fans with fish darting everywhere. Its as if you are completely motionless and the world is moving along in front of you. I drifted along in various positions just to experience that event. Above me the wall is alive with moving fans and fish while below me the wall descends into a cobalt blue infinity. WOW!!!!!
I must warn all you non-divers that this diving thing is truly addicting....
Each day around 1:00pm I returned to the resort to find some of my party in or around the swimming pool and some of my party out shopping. Both of my boys really wanted to spend an evening at Carlos and Charlies and Senior Frogs. So one evening we accompanied them there to make sure that they could gain entrance to the bars(as they were both underage). Their 21 year old neice went along too to watch over them for me and my wife and to make sure that they didn't do anything too stupid. Each night the show out at poolside was good. There was the Mexican Regional Dance show and there was also the Mayan Story show.
On our fourth night there, the resort hosted it's weekly 'Casino Night'. Various games of chance were assembled and everyone acquired Monopoly money at the games for a couple of hours. When the games ended then the real show began as various gifts of booze and merchandise could be 'purchased' by the highest bid via the monopoly money. You might think that in a place where you get all the free top-shelf booze you want, that nobody would be interested in purchasing booze, but these people went bezerk trying to outbid each other for the booze and other gifts.
It was a lot of fun as my group of non-drinkers kept trying to outbid everyone for the booze while at the same time telling them that we were keeping the evil spirits from ruining their lives. We collected quite a lot of the various bottles of booze by the end of the night and then at the end of the bidding we gave it all away to the other guests...We made a lot of friends that night!
Day 6...
I booked a 2 tank dive with Aqua Safari from our resort, now that I'm a certified diver. Another individual we met at the resort, during Casino night went along with me as my dive-buddy and to kind of help mentor me on my first solo diving experience away from my dive master. It was an equally incredible event. The dive master on the boat announced to everyone that I was the 'dive newbie' on the boat and for everyone to look out for me, which totally embarrassed me. I'm 50 years old and not used to being 'new' to anything. But we all had a good laugh and it was good to know that someone was watching to make sure that I didn't do something wrong. All too soon the dive master signaled me that it was time to return to the surface. It was then that I discovered that he was out of air, but I wasn't. He accused me of sucking air from somone's octopus!!! Everyone had a good laugh at that.
I took the remainder of that day to spend some time shopping with my wife. Who up until that time had done all of her shopping with her sister. We purchased her a ring and some clothing and then returned to the resort for the evening. That night we ate at the Japenese restaurant which was one of our favorite restaurants at the resort and then watched the karaoke contest in the lobby.
Day 7...
Finally a day of rest for me. Just pool time and watching the World Cup on the flat screens around the lobby. I returned the keys for the Jeep to the lobby staff and then my wife and I took a taxi to do some last minute shopping for friends and co-workers, etc... We also visited the Chedruai shopping store across the street from the resort. Very interesting....She also faithfully followed me into every dive shop I could find in Cozumel.
I found another dive operation that offers the open water certification course for only $300!!! But I can't imagine a better certification experience than the one I encountered. Though it does show that if you shop around, then you can really get some decent deals on the island.
Anyone that goes shopping on the island is aware of all the shop personnel constantly calling out to you to visit their store and buy their products. One lady got my attention and we stopped to look at her ball caps for sale. I wanted one with a diver emblem on it and after finding one suitable for me she said that the hat was $15. That was way too high as the same hats were available at the resort for $10. I told her that I could buy the same thing back at our resort for $10 and told her I'd pay $9 at her store. She proceeded to give me a sad story about how she hand makes her hats herself, etc...etc...etc...She said her bottom price was $10. I then offered her $5 for the hat and she countered with $8!. I said sold and just grinned at her and handed her $8 bucks. See? You CAN get some deals....
Day 8...
We are all depressed at the thought of having to leave. We have all been pampered by the staff at the resort. Eaten anything we wanted. And been enchanted by the Caribbean waters for 7 days and the prospect of returning to the real world is a truly sad thought. I have been exposed and now totally addicted to the world of scuba diving. I'm really surprised at just how much different the diving experience is to the snorkeling experience. For the remainder of my life I truly intend to reinforce the pleasures of diving.
We all deliver our luggage to the lobby and and all just mill about the lobby and bar waiting on our departure, as a condemned man awaits the executioner, with much dread. The time for departure appears and the lobby staff, with as much respect and pampering as we received on our reception, assist us in departing the resort. Our return flight to Dallas Tx was uneventful, except for the fact that the pilot had to detour around a huge supercell storm, which unfortunately made us miss our connection to Memphis, Tn. But after only an hour and a half delay we caught the next flight to Memphis and the reality of returning to our everyday lives.
Summary....
For anyone thinking about visiting Cozumel, I can only say 'Don't hesitate'. There were always at least 3 or 4 cruise ships in port on every day except Sunday, when all of them disappear over the horizon. The result of that is massive crowds of tourists visiting the shopping district and throngs of heads and vests floating around the snorkeling areas. I can see why many of the locals don't like the cruiseship business due to the mass overcrowding of the shopping areas, but it's a double-edged knife as there are just as many residents who rely on those same masses for their tourist dollars.
We learned to avoid the shopping district during the daytime when most of the cruiseships were offloading. We learned to avoid the best known snorkeling areas when you could see boatload after boatload of yellow vested cruise ship passengers heading to the reefs. The major diving reefs of Palancar Reef, Columbia Reef, San Francisco Reef and Punta Sur always seem to be crowded with dive boats, BUT on only one diving experience did we encounter another dive group, so you still feel as if you are the only ones on the reef at any given time.
You will definately not see any real hurricane damage in the main tourist area. But, when touring the rest of the island the reminders of Wilma are everywhere, as they should be and probably will be for some time to come. Everyone on the island, tourists and locals alike, were very friendly and polite and it makes for one truly enjoyable way to spend a short period of your life. Or perhaps and even longer period.
