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Cozumel
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September,
2000 |
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TRAVEL
We visited
Cozumel during the last week of September, 2000. We booked the entire
trip off the web through BayAdventures.
They handled everything really well and we highly recommend them. We
traveled from the US mainland to Cancun via a Sun
Country Airlines
Charter from Detroit (booked through Funjet
Vacations).
When we arrived in Cancun, we had to take a shuttle to the other
terminal to catch our puddlejumper fligt to Cozumel. Once we arrived
at the Cozumel airport, we had to purchase a shuttle ticket to our
resort. Cozumel has a system where only shuttles can pick up arriving
passengers at the airport for transportation to the resorts, but only
Taxis can pick up departing travelers at resorts to take them to the
airport. Strange, but it seems to work ok except for the massive
crowds upon arrival trying to get directed to the correct shuttle for
their resort
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ACCOMODATIONS
We stayed at
the Costa
Club Resort (Formerly the Fiesta Inn) which was about a 15 minute
walk South of downtown. We booked our stay through Bay
Adventures Travel
and were thrilled with the package we got. The rooms are nothing
special -- two beds, a dresser, table and chairs, Cable TV and a
bath. Nonetheless, the resort is well maintained, has the best pool
on the island, and a great bar/restaruant that will serve your drinks
and food to you at the pool if you like.
The Costa Club
is across the street from the beach. However, they have a tunnel
running under the street (no need to worry about wayword taxis)
connecting to their beach which also has a bar and restaurant located
on it. The beach is fairly small with some beach chairs and tables.
Its not the typically sandy beach running down to the ocean. There is
sand above the beach wall, with steps leading down into the ocean. We
did some snorkeling there a couple of days.
Costa Club is
far enough away from downtown that it is quiet for sleeping. However,
it is an easy walk to get to the shops and restaurants. If you're not
much for walking, taxis are everywhere and a taxi ride downdown cost
about $2.
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FOOD
The Costa Club
has a good restaurant on site which is nice if you like to get
breakfast before the morning dive boats leave We also found a nice
little waffle house that opened earlier than the Costa Club for
breakfast -- something we needed the morning we left early for our
trip to Chichen Itza.
Let's face it,
you came to Mexico for traditional Mexican food and there are so many
good places to get it that you'll want to go out. We tried a ton of
restaurants in town and liked them all. We even successfully avoided
getting any intestinal distress from the local fare by drinking only
bottled water and putting lime juice on everything (its supposed to
kill any stray bacteria)
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Kukulcan
Pyramid - Chichen Itza
Observatory
- Chichen Itza |
ACTIVITIES
We did two big
"non-diving" trips while we were there. We did an excursion
to Chichen Itza and a Dolphin
Discovery Dive. Both of them are very popular so I recommend
making reservations soon after you arrive. We booked both events
right at the Costa Club.
We did the
Chichen Itza trip by airplane. You can also take a boat/bus trip but
we had heard stories about people leaving early in the morning and
getting back after midnight. As it was on the airplane trip, we left
the airport at 7am and we didn't get back until late afternoon. The
plane lands about 10 minutes outside Chichen Itza and they take you
over to the site in an air conditioned bus. We were led by an english
speaking guide that took us all over the site and told us the history
of what we were seeing. Personally, I found the trip fascinating. On
the return our guide gave us a tip. Although taxis cannot legally
pick up people in the airport, if you walk outside the airport (about
200 yards) taxis can pick you up (and they are waiting to do so).
Four of us grabbed a taxi and split the fare back into town for about
$5 a person. This works great when you have no luggage. I don't think
I'd try it when arriving with a ton of luggage.
As for the
Dolphin Discovery dive....I wasn't sure how I felt about it before we
did it and honestly, I still am not sure. Certainly it is exploiting
a wonderful sea creature but at the same time they do such a great
job of educating their visitors about the marine environment I wonder
if, in the balance, it works out for the betterment of the world.
Like I said, I'm still not sure how I feel about it. All that aside,
it was truly remarkable being in the water with these beautiful
creatures. They offer a few different experiences from just getting a
chance to pet the dolphin as it swims by (Encounter) to a full blown
get in the water and interact with them (Swim). We went for the full
experience. If you decide to do it, you'll never forget it. This one
definately sells out quickly so make reservations as soon as you
arrive or better yet before you arrive if you really want to do it.
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DIVING
Our dive
package was with Dive
Paradise. They picked up up every morning at the Dock at Costa
Club. The only time we went to their shop was on the day we arrived
to pick our dive days and get our free welcome tank. They let you do
a shore dive right off the beach behind the shop for free so bring
your gear when you sign up! This is a great idea as it let us get our
bouyancy all worked out before we dropped in for our first dive. The
reason they do this is because almost all of the diving off Cozumel
is drift diving. Since the currents can be fairly strong, everyone
gets in the water as a group and descends with a divemaster. The boat
follows along with the group and picks people up as they surface.
If you want to
take full advantage of the diving in Cozumel, make sure you have a
good dive computer. The reefs are so beautiful and have tons of swim
throughs. Problem is, some of the swim throughs get you down 90 feet.
No problem if you have a computer, but it totally blows your profile
if you use tables. Do yourself a favor and buy or rent a computer. We
were usually the first ones up in our group because we were diving tables.
Our overall
impression of diving in Cozumel -- Everything is bigger there. The
coral, the fish, the lobster......everything. I understand why people
go back year after year.
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VIDEO
View
from the top of the Kukulcan Pyramid - Chichen Itza: (169K
RealVideo®)
Dolphin
Discovery Dive: (181K
RealVideo®)
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LINKS
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