Scuba diving in Cozumel on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve morning was a beautiful 85 degrees and sunny. I figured why not spend Christmas Eve scuba diving so I went out in the morning in with Aqua Safari. First dive was Palancar Caves. A beautiful dive with numerous swim-thrus. Max depth was around 90ft. Palancar Caves is easily one of my favorite dive sites in Cozumel. Total dive time approximately 1 hr and 2 minutes. Water temperature was a warm 82f.
Spend my surface interval getting some quality sun and working on my ailing sun burn. I also decided that it was smarter to pack a lunch rather than try to survive on free fruit included with the dive. I could have practically sold my sandwich to anyone on the dive boat for any asking price. The second dive was at Paso de Cedral. A great dive with a variety of different marine life. Depth was about 62ft. My dive time end up being around an hour and 14 minutes because I went into deco. (Shh...dont tell anyone). Towards the end of the dive I saw Jose (the divemaster) catching another lion fish and I descended again to watch and see if I could assist. I grabbed Jose's dive flag so he would have an extra hand while he corralled the lionfish using a poker and half of a cut off plastic water jug.
After diving I hit up my usual spots Kelley's and Woody's for some cervezas and later spent Christmas Eve sitting on a beach reading a book. That's my idea of a white Christmas; A white sandy beach and none of this snow business.
In the evening I went to Rock n' Java Cafe for Christmas Eve dinner with some local friends. Dinner was about 180 pesos and included turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables and desert. It wasn't bad at all but a little cold. Overall, Rock n' Java does great food. I was a bit taco, torta and fajita'd out so any different food was a welcomed change. My friend Mark had invited me to go to his friend's party at her condo at Rescidencias Reef so I took a taxi to the other side of the island for 130 pesos. Not a bad little party though I had arrived a bit late and lots of people had already left for the night. Beautiful condo with a great ocean view. Good beer and wonderful free food. Klara and Chad from Wet Wendy's brought along their famous homemade tequila and generously provided the margaritas. Both great people; I really love their little bar.
It's funny I think almost all the expats on the island know everyone or at least know of each other. For an island of 90,000 people Cozumel certainly feels a lot smaller. If you spend any significant amount of time here you will find yourself running into the same people and getting to know a lot of locals.
Eagle Rays, Punta Sur and Kelley’s
Woke up early this morning for diving. Headed to El Coffee Cozumel for my usual cafe con hielo (Iced coffee) for 20 pesos. Great little price with great coffee. Way cheaper than Starbucks.
I did the smart thing this morning and packed two sandwiches for lunch or my surface interval snack. I definitely cant survive on pieces of fruit anymore. Especially diving Punta Sur which takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get there on the slow boat.
Anyway, dove Punta Sur (or rather Devil's Throat) today with a good competant group of divers. My dive computer hit 130ft. Spend about 40 minutes in the water, almost hit deco. I find the Suunto computers are really conservative. My old Aeris would have probably given me another 15 minutes. It was a pretty average dive for Punta Sur we did about 3 caverns.
The next dive we dove was Paso de Cedral. Hit 56ft for about 58 minutes. Same water tempature. We were lucky enough to see two Eagle Rays, a green moray eel, and a nurse shark towards the end of the dive along with countless other fish. Overall, it was a pretty quality dive.
Got back around 2pm and met up with an Australian girl for lunch. Went to La Choza. Great place as usual. Think I am going to splurg tonight and head to Pepe's for dinner. A bit more expensive than I want to spend but the food is great there.
Went back to Aqua Safari to check in with them for tomorrow which I think will be my last day diving before I take off Christmas and head to Belize the next day. In the shop I saw that one of the divemasters had caught an adult lionfish at Yucab today. I think that brings my total to 5 lionfish in my 4 days of diving.
Currently sitting at my usual watering hole, Kelley's drinking some Dos Equis draught and enjoying free wireless.
Rain, French Quarter and more Lionfish
Last night sucked. It rained from about 4PM until about 10PM; heavy dourpouring. All the streets were flooded and it was like walking through an amazon river but only one that is situated in downtown San Miguel. Felt like I was back in Thailand during the moonsoon season. I almost needed my scuba equipment to navigate the streets. I can say with certainty that the people coming back from the afternoon diving looked absolutely miserable (and cold).
Stayed in the hostel until about 7pm drinking some cervezas and socializing with some of the other backpackers/travelers. I ended up going out to the French Quarter because they have Monday night football that includes a 6USD buffet and 1USD beers. Not really into football but it was better than doing nothing. Food was so-so. Standard cajun food with fried chicken, mashed potatoes and a few other things. Not bad for 6 bucks. Definitely seemed like a place where lots of local expats hang out. I havent been here in about a year and had never been upstairs; didnt realize they had two other huge sections here. The weather finally took a turn for the best and I think around 10PM the skies were clear.
Woke up next morning at 8am and headed for dive boat. We dove Santa Rosa Wall (83ft for about 52 minutes) and Villa Blanca wall (49ft for 55 minutes). Miguel caught another lionfish at Santa Rosa bringing the total to 4 that I have seen caught in my last 3 days of diving. We saw an Eagle Ray at Villa Blanca and what can best be described as the most massive green moral eel i've ever encountered. Water temperature was around 81-82 degrees though my computer did briefly register 79 degrees. Sun was finally out and the weather was beautiful. I am hoping the rest of the week stays like this. I want to be sitting on a beach come Christmas. We're supposed to do Punta Sur tomorrow and then I think I will maybe do 1 or 2 more days of diving in Mexico.
Didnt do too much today other than dive and buy groceries at the Mega. I figured I would try to save more money instead of eating out every day for lunch so I bought some turkey, ham, cheese and bread to make sandwiches. I also picked up a six pack for Modelo for about 52 pesos (about 4USD).
Brought my laundry to a place called Margarita Laundromat back on Ave 11 and Sur 5 (I believe). I think it's about 45 pesos (3.5USD) for them to wash/dry a load of laundry. Hopefully should be ready at 6pm otherwise i'll be stuck wearing swimming shorts and a dirty t-shirt I bought in Cambodia for 3 bucks. Classy.
Oh yeah, I also got a haircut at Antonio's for 70 peos (5.5USD). Looking a little less like a bum; next priority is shaving but that can wait.
No plans for tonight yet though this six pack of Modelo is going down like piss water, cold piss water. 7ocents a beer is better than 1USD-2USD beer in town.
Mini Golf, Wet Wendy’s and Diving in Cozumel
Been here 3 nights so far. Having a great time though it's a bit colder than usual here. Hostelito is a great place; Very nice clean hostel and nice little common area.
I was walking around the first night and got invited to the Aqua Safari Christmas party. It was great because I got to hang out with the dive masters and shop employees. Free alcohol and free tacos and food wasnt a bad reason either. It was a great time. Aqua Safari as I've stated previously is a great company. I was a bit tired so I ended up going home around midnight.
Next day I met up with my buddy Mark for breakfast whom I previously met when I was here in August who is also staying at the Hostelio. The port ended up being closed at 8:30am however they re-opened at 10:30am so I was still able to get some diving in. Water was pretty rough however and after 2nd dive I was freezing. I believe the water temperature was about 82 degrees however the air temperature was about 75s with lots of wind. I'm extremely glad I brought some long sleeve shirts. Not too fun but still way better than 14 inches of snow in Boston. We went to Punta Tunich for first dive and and ChanKanaab for the 2nd dive. Both dives were both about an hour. Saw 6 turtles on the first dive.
We ended up drinking at the hostel on Saturday night. Met a Norwegian guy and a Swedish girl and we started drinking vodka so I knew I was in for a rough night. We ended up playing Mini Golf where they give you a walkie talkie and you can order beers via walkie talkie while playing mini golf. It's located on Calle 1 and 15th Avenida. I think the place is just called Cozumel Mini Golf. After this I think I stumbled onto Kelly's. Went down hill from there (from what I can remember). Was an expensive 40-50USD night.
I ended up going diving the next morning and went to ChanKanaab Baloons and Las Palmas Wall. We caught two lion fish on the first dive and a third one on the 2nd dive. Hoping I wouldn't see any down here but it looks like they've arrived en masse.
I assisted Jose (DM) on catching the 2nd one. The 2nd dive ended up being about an hour and 15 minutes on AL80 tank. Almost went into deco. Not too shabby.
Didnt do too much Sunday night since I spent a lot of money on Saturday. I went to Kelly's for a few beers and ended up going to the cinema to see Avatar. It was in English but with Spanish subtitles. I think the ticket cost 65 pesos so it ended up being a cheap night. The cinema was extremely nice, all stadium seating. Definitely something cheap to do for the night Sound and picture quality was great.
Anyway, I'm currently sitting at Wet Wendy's enjoying some cervezas and catching up on some email with free wireless. Wet Wendy's is definitely the best place in Cozumel to get a margarita. Peanut butter and chocolate margarita is amazing. Food here is also great. Chad and Klara both make some mean margaritas. Not quite as cheap as some other bars on the island
but it's well worth the price.
Planning on doing a bit more diving and then leaving here on the 26th to head to Belize for a few days and then off to Guatemala to explore some Mayan Ruins in Tikal.
