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.
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.
