First full day in Cozumel
On the dive boat were 2 retired guys living in Florida named Courtney and Dave, a couple from DC, a guy named John from Holland on his first trip to Cozumel or Mexico for that matter. There was also a small family also diving but their names allude me; I believe they were from Colorado.
We dove Palancar Bricks the first dive at 81ft for 45 minutes and San Francisco Wall for the 2nd dive at 63ft for an hour exactly according to my dive computer. Both were fantastic dives with great visibility and lots of swim-thrus and about 4 turtles.
Unfortunately there were not enough people that wanted to do an afternoon or night dive so I couldn't partake. The dive master was Mariano whom I have dove with 3 times before. He is awesome and always knows how to find and point out the smallest things that one might not notice. His buoyancy is also incredible. He dives with barely any weight. I highly recommend Aqua Safari and Mariano as a dm if you're ever in Cozumel.
Later in the night I ate at La Choza again since it's close and you can't beat perfection. I was feeling like my adventurous self so I decided to take a walk about 5 streets back from the waterfront and I stumbled upon a nice Irish themed place called Kelley's Sports Bar and Grill owned by an American and struck up a conversation with the local bartender name Sergio. The longer I am here my limited Spanish abilities seem to improve. I told him I wanted to go to a local bar so he offered to take me to a local cantina once he closed Kelley's since there was no business tonight. The beer at Kelley's is cheap (I think 20 pesos/1.5USD) and they have about 5 flatscreen TVs to watch sporting events.
Off I went on the back of his scooter to god knows where inland on the island. I was taken on a little night tour of the island before heading to the bar. Unfortunately it was Sunday night so there weren't many locals out however the Sol and tequila were flowing like water and the bar had a nice little jukebox with a good selection of rock. Curiously - why is it that Mexicans love Metallica and Nickelback? I can never figure it out but have noticed about three times.
Anyway I didn't stay out late because I needed to dive at 8AM. For 6 beers my bill was extremely cheap. I think each Sol was around 20 pesos. (1.5USD) fairly certain I may not have been charged for some them too. We left around 1am and headed to a local taco/torta place but the name also alludes me. I'm guessing it may not even have had a name. Some of the best tacos I've ever had for around 50 pesos (Little less than 4USD) Cheap.
Oh yeah.. I'm still swine flu free.
Bus to Playa Del Carmen and Off to Cozumel
Once I got to the ADO bus terminal I purchased a bus ticket for 90 pesos (approximately 6.8USD). The ADO buses are extremely comfortable and air conditioned and I would highly suggest them over a taxi or shuttle which could end up costing you 30-50USD which is a ripoff. They leave every hour to Play Del Carmen in the ADO bus terminal in downtown Cancun City Centre. You can take the R-1 public bus in Cancun for 6 pesos to get there.
Once in Playa Del Carmen you are bombarded with endless requests for taxis or invitations into the shops. As was the case in Cancun, the number of tourists was small compared to how busy Playa usually is. Just walk right by the shop peddlers and head to the ferry pier to get to Cozumel. The ferries leave every hour and take approximately 45 minutes to get to Cozumel. I believe the price is 110 pesos (around 9USD).
The ferry pier in Playa Del Carmen was the first big sign of the swine flu having been in Mexico. All the ferry attendants and police were wearing hospital masks and you have to fill out a quick medical survey before boarding the ferry. The goal is to keep swine flu out of Cozumel but you have to wonder if anything they're doing is actually helping since symptoms wont usually manifest themselves until 3-5 days later. Once again your temperature is also taken before boarding. Other than that, it was business as usual.
I checked into Suites Bahia which is a great budget hotel in downtown San Miguel in Cozumel. This is the third time I have stayed here. The rooms usually end up costing around 45USD/night. That includes 2 queen beds, a kitchenette, air conditioner and TV.
The location of Suites Bahia could not be better and the rooms are very no-frills and clean. Another added bonus is that the hotel also offers free wireless and a guest computer in the lobby. They also offer a great morning breakfast and free coffee.
Once I was checked in, I immediately walked the 2 blocks to the Aqua Safari dive shop to get my equipment sorted out for tomorrows diving. Aqua Safari has been in Cozumel since 1966 and is owned by a couple named Bill and Donna. Donna immediately recognized me before and was happy to see my business again.
She explained to me that they have also been hit hard by the swine flu. Normally Aqua Safari has 3 full boats going out each day and will sometimes rent 1 or 2 books to handle additional customers if they're full. Unfortunately they have only really had one boat going out each day.
I spent Saturday evening walking around the island to see what had changed. The last time I was on the island was before hurricane Wilma. There are tons of new restaurants and stores where old ones used to stand. More on this later...
I ended up eating dinner at La Choza one of my previous favorite restaurants also recommended by Donna. the original La Choza restaurant had a thatched roof and was hit by lightening and burned down however they moved next to a new location and more importantly without a thatched roof that can catch fire. I was one of the three groups in the restaurant. As usual, the food was great. Highly recommended if you go to Cozumel.
Arriving in Cancun, Mexico in the midst of the swine flu
I decided to take a long weekend trip to Mexico because I haven't been there in a while and I knew the swine flu would mean less tourists, cheaper flights and hotels. This thing has been completely overblown by the media and I would suggest if you're planning to go to Mexico not to delay or change your flights. The economy down here has been hit incredibility hard and most local companies/hotels/restaurants desperately need your support.
I originally booked my flight for Saturday and was supposed to be returning on Tuesday afternoon however my flight ended up getting changed around so I had to leave on Friday. The flight itself was incredibility cheap. I ended up using about 30,000 of my airlines miles to make the flight cost around 114USD. Ironically when I had to change my flight to Friday Delta ended up owing me 40 dollars back since I changed my arrival to Cancun rather than Cozumel. So basically my round trip flight to Cancun only cost me about 75USD. Not too shabby.
From the Boston to Atlanta the flight was fully booked however on the flight to Cancun almost everyone had an entire row to themselves. There were hardly any people on the flight. I didn't mind this at all; it was great. No mention of the swine flu yet.
Arriving in Cancun airport at around 1:00pm this place was like a ghost town. I was one of the first people to customs since I did not have any checked luggage. Got through customs and right to the shuttle bus terminal in literally 2 minutes. Quickest I have ever been through Cancun customs. The shuttle bus to the hotel zone is around 14USD one way I think. You can probably take the public bus for 6 pesos (45 cents) but it stops everywhere. In this case, the shuttle is faster and air conditioned.
The entire time in Cancun I did not see any safety advisories or people wearing masks. It would seem they are trying not to scare people with the whole swine flu. The only thing I noticed that made me realize something was slightly amiss was after clearing customs they had several people taking temperatures of passengers which is funny because if someone actually did catch the swine flu on the flight they most likely wouldn't show symptoms until 3-5 days after the incubation period.
Because I was flying into Cancun I decided to stay one night in Cancun and do a two-tank dive with my favorite company Manta Divers. I booked the Ambiance Villas (Kin Ha) hotel for one night which only cost 67USD after applying an Orbitz.com coupon I googled for. I could have easily picked a budget hotel downtown however I wanted something with a nice beach that was relatively close to the main hotel zone.
When I checked into Ambiance Villas I might have been one of 15 people in the entire resort. A couple people I spoke to on the shuttle to the hotel zone said that their hotels had been shifted around because most Cancun hotels were only booked to 20% capacity. A lot of larger hotels were forced to shut down and move some of their reservations to smaller hotels.
The room I had in Ambiance Villas was very basic, clean, and had 2 nice bed which is more than I needed. Generally I just require a place to sleep since I'm not too picky. The bathroom could have used a little work but other than that everything was fine. Thankfully the hotel offers free wireless so I was able to check my personal and work email and use Skype to call back home all from the confines from a beach chair overlooking the Caribbean. The hotel also has a nice little bar right on the beach with decent priced drinks (Decent by Cancun standards anyway).
I did not go out in Cancun on Friday night because I was tired but more importantly, almost half the restaurants and clubs
were closed. Senor Frogs and Pat O'Briens did not seem to be open. I ended up eating dinner at Outback Steakhouse..very authentic Mexican food I know.
Unfortunately, Manta Divers did not have enough divers to go out but I was able to stumble upon another company called
Scuba Fred's (formerly Nautilus Diving) which is located in the Cancun Clipper Club on the lagoon side. Fred is a former employee of Manta Divers and I remember from before when I dove in Cancun before.
The only people diving were me, the Clemente (divemaster) and a Mexican tourist whose name I do not remember.
We did 2 dives, one wreck called C-58 in about 80ft of water for 32 minutes and a reef dive called Punta Negra (technically also did Grampin as well) at 50ft for 44 minutes. Both dives were good. A lot of people knock Cancun diving but I actually think it is still very good just not a nice as Cozumel. Unfortunately, Cancun does not have anything near the reef structure that Cozumel has but it's always teaming with a variety of fish life. Saw a nurse shark and a couple rays (one was actually dead).
The wreck dive had lots of barracuda and the 2nd dive had massive schools of fish. In my opinion, the schools of fish are
always larger than one would see in Cozumel. If you've never dove Cancun I would say, you may want to try it at least
once, you might be surprised.
Scuba Fred's was a great dive op and based on my experience I would recommend them anytime. Manta Divers is also a good choice, I usually always dive with them while I am in Cancun but unfortunately with no tourists than did not have any dives going out. It's a shame because one of their DM's Miguel is a great guy.
After finishing up my dives in Cancun, Clemente showed me the pictures he had taken on the wreck. Most of them came out great so I decided to buy a CD from him since I had no pictures of myself under water. He also included pictures of lots of local sea life taken previously. The price was 40USD which I consider reasonable under the circumstances. If anything, I figured I would do my part to help the local economy.
After burning me a CD, Clemente was nice enough to offer me a ride to the ADO bus terminal where I would leave to spend 3 nights in Cozumel. Cozumel is actually the main reason I booked this trip. The diving there is fantastic and the people and culture are extremely great.
Thanks to Fred and Clemente for a wonderful albeit very short Cancun experience. Wouldnt hesitate to dive with them again.
A night in Mexico (and almost missing my flight home)
I am back home now but I figured I would add one last update on here. The bus trip from Tikal, Guatemala to Chetumal, Mexico got me there in one piece but was a far longer bus ride than I expected, still it was not as bad as the LONGEST BUS RIDE OF MY LIFE which took place in Cambodia. Actually, the Cambodian bus ride wasn't really that long though the trip was more painful than any driving experience I have ever in encountered, the roads in Cambodia SUCKED to put it bluntly. In comparison, the trip through Tikal to Chetumal which involved being stuck in a crowded minibus with a non-functional A/C was pleasant enough. I met a fairly well-traveled mother and son couple that were very interesting to chat with about their traveling adventures. While they described their trip in Central America, I described my trip to SE Asia to them. I also met a very weird German expat who has been living in Guatemala for 15 years and had just opened a bar. A fun bus ride indeed. The mother/son group whom I unfortunately not remember their names or where they were from knew of a good hostel in Playa Del Carmen so I took their advance to go there.
The roads in/around Tikal, Guatemala were a little dodgy (not paved) but once we got into Belize, things improved. The bus trip actually went directly through Guatemal, into Belize, onto Belize City, and finally getting to Corozal (border town in Belize) and then finally to Chetumal, Mexico where I got my onboard connection on a Mexican bus to Playa Del Carmen. Leaving at 5:00AM in the morning from Tikal, I arrived in Chetumal, Mexico around 3:20PM, booked the next bus to Playa Del Carmen which took another 4 hours. Around 6:30-7:00PM, I was FINALLY at my destination. Roughly 13.5 hours later, it is not a trip recommended for the faint of heart nevertheless it can be done in a day and is great for someone on a budget since multiple plane tickets tend to be expensive.
The hostel I stayed at in Playa Del Carmen is called El Palomar. Although the dorm was a little humid and stuffy, the place itself was very clean and front desk staff were very plesant. There was also one computer in the lobby for free Internet. Definitely a place I would stay again. They also give you a huge locker to store all your store and there is a free breakfast. If I remember correctly, I think I paid around 15-18USD for the night. Not too shabby.
Anyway, I spent the night roaming around at various little side bars drinking ice cold Dos Equis beer (my favorite Mexican beer). Found a very nice little Mexican restaurant and had a completely amazing meal for about 9USD. It's been a while since I had good Mexican food and that certainly hit the spot. Err..Yes yes, I know. Playa Del Carmen is extremely touristy and i'm sure the meal I had hardly qualified as authetic Mexican. Unfortunately, the bus trip made me extremely tired so I called it an early night and went to sleep around 11PM. The next morning, I spent a few hours at the beach but not so much since I got severely sunburned by falling asleep near the water in Caye Caulker, got some breakfast and then spent the next 2-3 hours walking around all the little shops buying some stereotypical souvenirs like T-shirts, coconut necklaces and other little trinkets.
I figured it would be safe to stroll around Playa Del Carmen rather than Cancun for the morning since my flight didn't leave until 3:30PM and buses leave from Playa Del Carmen to Cancun almost every 15 minutes or so and take one hour. Unfortunately, I VASTLY VASTLY under-estimated the time and ended up not getting on a bus to Cancun until 1PM! Gettng to the airport at 2:10PM, I was faced with an enormously huge line at the Delta check-in terminal. I figured I was screwed and there was no way I was ever getting on this plane in time. Luckily for me, I was able to get myself pushed ahead in the queue along with the other people who were supposed to get on the same flight. Apparently the bus they were on was late due to problems and I mingled with this group to get pushed ahead. Delta thankfully let us all cut the line and at the same time severely pissed off some obnoxiously loud sunburned Texan man who admitted his flight didn't leave until 7:00PM. If I had any energy to muster it would have been something along the lines of, "Fuck you buddy, my flight boards in 30 minutes and this line is at least 2 hours long!" Instead, I booked it after I got my ticket and ran as fast I possibly could to security and managed to make it to the gate 15 minutes before my flight boarded. Thank god! Crisis averted.
