When we rented our Jeeps, we had them for 24 hours. We decided that we would do afternoon dives on Saturday since we still had the Jeeps first thing Saturday morning. Now there are 2 ways that Deb books these trips. One is through Funjet while the other is through the hotel. This was through Funjet so we had to take our own group photo. When hubby and I got down there Saturday morning someone thought it would be fun to do it upstairs with the vines. We tried one area and had the Concierge help with the photos, but we were too spread out. So we moved areas and moved in closer together. I had the lady at the front desk help and we went again. This was much better.
This was our jeep we rode around in. Everyone piled in their jeeps and we headed down to the square. Earlier in the week we found the Cozumel letters and thought that could be a fun area to take a group photo.
Deb accidentally got the locations mixed up. We waited at the Cozumel sign while they were at a different one a few blocks down. Eventually we all met up, especially since not many had working cell phones down there.
While we were out driving around on Friday, we stopped at a restaurant called Coconuts Bar & Grill. This place had one heck of a sense of humor and one heck of a view!
From what they tell me, typically all running around town/the island is done the last day, but our last day was Sunday. We were afraid some of the places we wanted to visit might be closed so we rented Jeeps on Friday afternoon and cruised the island (after getting back from diving, grabbing a bite to eat, and showering). I’m not sure about everyone else, but I had a blast doing that. Karen, Jared, Hubby, and I were in one vehicle, Deb, Grady, and Doug in another, and Dan, Carlene, and Rachele in the third. We had the top off our jeep and it was amazing.
Before we got home from Cozumel I made sure to grab everyone’s pictures, especially those underwater since I didn’t take many myself; I focused on diving and getting that under control. Ocean diving is different, way different, than fresh water diving. Anyway there were 394 photos I had to go through for Friday’s dives. And I believe I actually took a few of these… Go me, right?
On our ride out to our dive sites, underneath the boat deck it gets a little warm. I wouldn’t want a boat without one though because it was great during the real heat of the day to get away from the sun. In the morning though, it was nice to sit out and get the air and water hitting you in the face!
One day Grady used the ladder (behind him) as a drying rack, the next day he let it “air dry.”
Toward the end of the week it was just easier to tell them to be at the dock by 8:30, which meant that they’d be there by 7:45. I guess that just means that we were out early to get back early. On Thursday we made 2 morning dives and an afternoon dive. But this… this was a “fun” day of dives…. Let me explain……
Deb and I showed up in similar colors and I happened to be in her favorite color so that meant, Picture time!
Wednesday night a few of us decided not to do a night dive, so we decided to venture in to Cozumel, especially since hubby and I had never been before. It was hubby, Jared, Karen, Deb, and me. Hubby and I said we weren’t sure where to eat so we told Jared, pick somewhere. In the lobby of the hotel we decided to go to La Mission. We had the concierge get a cab for us and we headed off to town. It really wasn’t that far but our cab ride was $7. Not bad!
They started us off with Chips and Pico style salsa. It isn’t salsa like we’re used to in the states, it is more like pico that we’re used to. The chips were also thicker than we have back home. They weren’t bad but they weren’t my favorite. I prefer a thinner tortilla chip.
Cozumel is known as a diving destination because of the blue waters and the visibility that seems endless. Seriously, you jump off the boat and 100 feet looks about 10 feet down. And before you know it, there are places you are 100 feet down.
On top of being a SCUBA diving destination, it is also a cruise ship destination. They told me that Wednesday’s are usually busy days in the Cruise ship ports and you could see as many as 6. They also warned to steer clear of town during the day. But This particular Wednesday there were 2 ships in port and that was it. There was also a cruise ship that made headline news with a lady near Houston, Texas, and apparently that cruise ship was in port here at Cozumel either Wednesday or Thursday. How weird is that? I really don’t know all the details, just heard bits and pieces of it.
Anyway back to our dive trip. We kept laughing because I swear these two are twins from another mother… not just brothers. A couple different times they showed up dressed similar if not exactly like each other and I just so happened to document one of the times.
So if you’ve been around me or this blog any time at all, you know I love pictures. So take this as a warning… this will be picture heavy. As in 31 photos for one day. This is just Tuesday…. Enjoy!
I’ve never been on a dive trip with Deb and Grady before, but from the rumors/stories I’ve heard, when Grady says to be at the docks at 8am, that means the boat leaves the dock at 8am. Prior to heading down there, we said that this was a vacation for all of us and we didn’t want to have to be up early every morning. Grady & Deb use Cozumel Marine World to do their dive trips. Those guys know them well… Grady told them to be at the dock at 9am. I guess they didn’t believe him. Truth be told, our group was mostly at the dock by 8-8:15am because we got up and had breakfast and then didn’t dottle. Remember the boat was told to be there at 9, they showed up at 8:30am, 30 minutes early the first day.
First thing Monday morning we were headed on our way to Cozumel México. To say we were excited would be an understatement statement. Hubby, Karen, and I neither one slept much the night before. Hubby was excited, I couldn’t get comfortable, Karen was kept awake by the snoring, and Jared said he didn’t sleep much either. Maybe we should have just turned on the tv and had a camp out. lol.
So when you’re going on a destination Scuba diving trip, it is best to take your own BC, your own regulator, your own mask, your own fins, your own dive computer, and your own wet suit. And that’s all fine and dandy but…… you have to do a checked bag to get that all there too. Currently with American Airlines, 50 pounds is $25. If you’re over 50 lbs…. it jumps to $100. That’s definitely a reason not to go over. You’d be better off putting in 2 checked bags because a second bag takes the price up to $40. We had our weights down to 49.something lbs. Yup, we were pushing that limit but we made it! Whew! Then we each had a carry on and a backpack (personal item).
Now when you’re traveling with all your dive gear, make sure you carry on your regulator, your mask, and your dive computer. Also if you take an underwater camera, carry that on too. Hubby’s BC is heavier than mine, and that is without weights in it. So he had to put some of his stuff in my bag to make sure we were both under weight. We both took a 1 1/2 mil wetsuit. That was totally enough for diving in the ocean… down there anyway. In fact I dove without a wet suit once and so did he. I just had a long sleeved rash guard on with my swimsuit.
Anyway…. back to traveling down there. Checking in was easy. Note: carrying on regulators/dive computers/etc sometimes causes bag searches. Hubby’s got searched. Deb said hers usually does but they got by without being checked.
Hubby and I have TSA Pre-check so we went right through. You don’t have to pull out laptops, you don’t have to take your shoes off, you don’t have to take jackets off… stuff like that. Then we went and waited on our crew to come through. Once they got through, Doug found a Starbucks so I ran and got some too. Yup, because of that I was one of the first through but then everyone wound up waiting on me. haha. That wasn’t too big of a deal though because we have to be there 2 hours before anyway. We had time to kill.
So I’m working on going through the couple thousand of photos taken between me and 10 other people in Cozumel. There are so many great photos and so much great stuff to put out there, but boy, going through and deciding how I really want to proceed is a bit tedious. So I decided to start with one of the restaurants we ate at the second night we were in Cozumel.
Deb and Grady told us WE HAD to eat at Rolandi’s Pizzaria. At first we laughed and said, but we can get pizza at home… Okay, I must concur, this was a great place to eat! Totally worth it!
Grady had us start out with their garlic bread. Now this was a lot more like a tortilla than bread, but again… very good. It was grilled flatbread covered in garlic. Then we made an olive oil/balsamic vinegar mixture to dip it in. Even better.
