Cozumel Baby!

Katherine and I embarked on our annual dive trip from Friday May 23 thru Saturday May 30. This year we decided to hit Cozumel Mexico which is renowned for it's wonderful diving. We got a super deal on everything from the flight to the accommodations. I wish we would have taken some pics of the place where we stayed, but we just totally forgot. Lucky for us the internet exists and you can just check out the link right here. The Coral Reef Inn was a really neat little hotel a few blocks from the beach. It's kind of a bed and breakfast in the way it's set up, but the kitchen is for guest use....in other words, grandma ain't cookin' up pancakes and grits here, but there is an open air kitchen on the 3rd deck veranda.

As this was a diving vacation (is there any other kind?) we dove from Saturday thru Wednesday which left Thursday and Friday to explore the island. We met up with another couple from East Texas named Charlie and Donna. They were a lot of fun to hang out and dive with! The diving was definitely great as advertised. The reefs are still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Wilma, but the marine life is still bountiful to say the least. We saw 5 sharks, 2 turtles, several sting rays, some ridiculously monstrous lobsters, big groupers, octopus, squid, and lots of other fun sea life and creatures. The current on some of the dives was pretty strong so that made for a challenging workout routine if you decided to stop or go the other direction.

We've decided that Cozumel is the king of guacamole and ice cream.....oh man...Da Lindo's Ice Cream...In general, we ate pretty well over there. There are some great restaurants on the island.

So, as previously mentioned Thursday and Friday were reserved for non-diving activities. On Thursday, we joined a group of people on a Trimaran charter. As soon as we departed it started to rain (par for the course for a Katherine and Zach vacation!). It rained pretty heavy as we traveled to a little cove on the North End of the island, but it finally cleared up before we got there. Once we anchored in the cove we donned our mask and snorkels and went for a little snorkel over a few coral heads. We hung out on a secluded beach for a while until lunch was served back on the boat. It was truly impressive what these guys cooked up on that little grill on the boat. We had some killer guacamole (see above), fajitas, chicken wings, fresh fish, and all the expected condiments. After lunch, we got to go on "spinnaker rides". This is kind of like para-sailing, except that the boat is anchored and we are basically just catching the wind like a kite. Katherine had fun with it, but when I got on "the wind died down"....yeah, right....I think we all know it had more to do with the fact that the sail simply wasn't suited for somebody of my "stature" :)

On Friday, we rented a little car so we could head out on our own. There is basically only 1 road around the island so the only opportunity to get lost was in town! We stopped off in El Cedral which was a tiny village with some Mayan ruins. Then we went to have lunch on the East Side of the island at a place called "Coconuts". That was a fun little place with some pretty good food. We backtracked a little bit to the South side of the island to "Punta Sur". We visited the Punta Sur lighthouse and scaled the stairs to the very top (you know, where the big beacon is). That was pretty cool with incredible vistas in every direction. The East Side is a lot more "wild" in that it is undeveloped for the most part. The surf is much rougher and not very friendly for swimmers, boaters or divers, but it sure is nice to look at. There were some beautiful beaches and views to enjoy.

Here we are!


Katherine on the Trimaran


The Spinnaker Ride


Miraculously, we survived this Shark attack.....close one!


Grey Angelfish


Golden Tailed Moray Eel


A Trunkfish


A "qulited" filefish...(we made up the "quilted" part in the name)


Katherine reading the underwater map


Yellow Tailed Stingray


Katherine having fun at the wheel!


Zach pretending to take charge in a storm!


One of the beautiful scenes from the East side


A Geiser on the East Side (as seen in the movie "Fool's Gold". Watch it if you don't know what I'm talking about)