Under the Sea

Third port of call; Cozumel, Mexico

We had the hardest time deciding what to do in Cozumel because there were too many great choices.  We had gone back and forth between 2 of the boat excursions; a swim with dolphins, which Jarom pointed out would be more memorable and a boat ride to a secluded island with snorkeling, volleyball and hanging out on the beach one that sounded like a low-key good time.  Another contributing factor to our indecision was thinking it might be a better price if we find the same excursion off of the boat.

We ended up deciding not to go through the boat and headed to Chankanaab Park on our own to swim with the dolphins.  This place was recommended by Jarom's brothers who had a nice time snorkeling there a few months ago.  I was impressed with Cozumel in many ways.  The hagglers were less "in your face" than on the Riviera and there were signs for tourist that helped us know upfront how much things like taxi rides cost and what is available for excursions.  At the park we found that the price was the same as the boat (plus the taxi ride) so that was a learning experience. 

Walking through the park, we observed the dolphin interaction exhibit for a while.  Then, we walked up the beach where there were lots of beach chairs for lounging, snorkelers in the water, a beach-side restaurant, hammocks in the shade and dive huts...3 of them.  The first shop offered us a dive for $65, the second beat the first with a $40 dive, but they didn't take American Express.  The third sweetened the pot $40 dive, American Express AND pictures!  We passed on the dolphins for another chance to dive, which truthfully, was only enticing because I wanted some pictures.  My throat was still hurting from the day before, my nose bruised from pinching it to pressurize my ears and I didn't trust that the Mexican guide would be as concerned with our safety as the guide from the resort yesterday.  Jarom was confident that he could save me from anything, so I kinda felt better.  (Jarom is confident about a lot of ridiculous things, so it was hard to be completely reassured by this.)

The dive was pretty spectacular.  We saw eels, stingrays, an octopus, lobster and pretty awesome fish.  We also swam into a cave that had fresh water flowing through the top of it, which makes the water look like shimmery, iridescent rainbows. Besides the fact that our guide wasted tons of pictures on having us pose by the underwater statues of the Virgin Mary and having a leaky mask that I had to clear every few minutes and endure the terrible water-up-the-nose feeling the entire time, the dive was better than Roatan.

When we got back and they made our CD and let us use their computer to email pictures to my Mom and kids.  We had to pay for internet EVERYWHERE, so this was a big perk too. The day ended up being well spent, we checked out the rest of the park before we headed back to the boat.   There were some trails with "flower gardens" and "Mayan ruin replica's" and a small area for sea animal shows where the announcer spoke Spanish the whole time except for after he asked a question and the audience went silent.

The ship really pushes the shopping at each port and I suppose most people enjoy that activity a lot anyway.  It just seems silly to me since most of it is junk and mass produced in China anyway.  Many of the stores were even chains that we have in the US, I don't see the draw.  We did have people to buy for back home, so we stopped in a couple shops before heading back to the ship for a VERY late lunch.