Sharing Cozumel with Friends

This was supposed to be our first time at Cozumel Carnaval for my wife Tammy and myself. Our friends Paul and Nancy are making their first visit to the isla. I could go on about Carnaval dates and such, but 3 weeks after booking our flights and condo the city changed confirmed Carnaval dates.

I am glad to be going to Coz anytime especially on a cold, frosty D.C. area Saturday morning. US Air provides on time departures from both DC and Charlotte. I am attempting to "import" several homemade, cooked goodies for our Super Bowl party on Sunday. I am also a mule for several items for some folks on the island. I will let you know how it goes. We are staying at El Cantil condominiums. Casa Phoenix is the name of the unit. A Scuba Board / Trip Advisor group dinner is scheduled for tonight at El Moro. I saw zzzscuba on the flight down. BUSTED!!!

I have been to Cozumel many times. I have brought crab cakes, cheese, beef, many, many dozens of cookies and never been challenged. This time I had a super plan. I cook for a living and wanted to have a taco, tamale, Mexican themed Super Bowl party. I cooked and concentrated cochinita, chicken pibil, beef barbacoa and the best damn chili you ever ate. I froze it, shrunk wrapped and put it in an insulated Sam's Club bag inside my dive gear bag. Well guess what? After an early arrival I am at the Stop/Go light and get the green. Money, I'm through. As I attempt to pass the guy says put the bags through the x-ray. I usually us a porter but they were not yet in the area because of the early arrival. "Senor, did you bring food with you?" "Yes, for our Super Bowl party." "What do you have?" 16 dozen cookies, 2 pounds kielbasa sausage, biscuit ingredients, rum cake ingredients, 3 berry fruit puree, 1 gallon sopa de lima, 3 nut rolls, Russian Tea Cakes, chili, cochinita, chicken pibil, cold cuts, barbacoa. They took the cochinita, chili, pibil and my kielbasa. They kindly allowed me to pass with the rest-and my crocodile tears! I knew it was a risk.

We are comfortably in our beautiful condo. Our first dive is scheduled for 2:15 with Jeremy Anschel, owner of Living Underwater. This will be Paul's first open water dive. It is a beautiful afternoon and Jeremy is waiting at the dock at 2:10. We cruise down the shore to the C-53. I have never dived here. It is a good choice for Paul's first dive. We are the only people at the site. We slowly descend to the sand, collect our thoughts and slowly approach the vessel. We enjoy practicing our buoyancy above the decks and spend a leisurely hour.

We take a cab to El Moro. We eat dinner with DS2, Scuba Bride, Rotarian David, Turquoise Sherry, Palapa Girl, Scuba Betsy, zzzscuba and many others. A good meal and a great time.

A 6 a.m. wake up call. My wife Tammy joins Paul and me for a walk up the malceon. I have been a member of Weight Watcher since October 23 and have lost twenty five pounds since then. I will be sorely tested this week, I'm sure. I figure a long walk is a good start each morning. We see many sights all week. The roof dogs of Cozumel are among my favorite sites. We are at Chedraui for the 7 a.m. opening. I need creamer for my coffee. A hot cup of coffee and as I sit down on the balcony I see the Jewfish has arrived, twenty minutes early. I hustle down and we are off.

We have Gustavo as DM today, as well as Francisco at the helm and first mate Ricardo. Diving with Alan from Springfield, VA and Steve and Jeanette from the El Presidente. Our first dive is Palancar Caves, down through the swim through. Paul and I are at the back of the pack and miss the Eagle Ray that passed by. It was to be the only Eagle Ray our group saw this week. We surface interval at Playa Palancar. However, at 10:15 on a Sunday Election Day there is no service. Our second dive is at Chankanaab Bolones. It is a nice dive. Both dives today were north to south, with light current. Cooler water than I have ever had here. I had a low water temp of 77. Paul did great today. Like most new divers he likes to breathe. His buoyancy is great.

Now, it's off to prep for the Super Bowl. Super Bowl after diving in Cozumel-priceless! After my attempt to import our Super Bowl buffet failed, my lovely wife Tammy and our friend Nancy set about Cozumel to purchase provisions. Fresh Grouper-"mero" from the Mercado. She bought a five pound whole grouper and the guy skinned and filleted it for about twenty bucks. Cochinita from El Super Hit, chicken from La Palapa, and the beans, rice, salad and fresh warm tortillas from Chedraui. Alcohol sales were prohibited due to elections. However, our condo previously purchased tequila, Sol and Tecate light-whew!! We are set. Here is the new Super Bowl menu: Tacos con cochinita Tacos con pollo Tacos con pescado Mero con ajo Mero con tomato, cilantro, ajo, ceballo Tamales, sopa de lima, beans, rice 3 berry fruit soup with my home made rum cake and helado coco. We had a ball. And we had leftovers for the week. LOL.

For all the Casa Phoenix included the Super Bowl telecast was not among them. We watched the first half on the NFL network watching the stats update. We all got a kick out of that. We watched the second half at Wynston's with Albert Dannerman. What a nice place that is. We had a great evening.

Watching the Giants upset the Patriots must have been the cause of my tequila over consumption. Not feeling the best Monday morning. I have never had a hangover while diving and I suggest you do not either. First dive Monday at Columbia Deep. I once almost wrote this dive off my favorites list. I find that hard to believe, now. I love watching the sky scraper coral heads soar to the surface. Our second dive is at Cedral. We will do it twice more this week. There are several ways to enjoy this site. I am using 32% nitrox on the second dive and rarely go below 45 minutes bottom time. We enjoy the eels, splendid toadfish, giant puffer fish, a big moray that appeared to be feeling ill, lobsters and much more. We are diving with the other Living Underwater dive master, Gustavo, and he provides a great experience. Captain Francisco (short legs) and mate Ricardo complete the team. Their service is off the charts.

A relaxing afternoon on the 7th floor balcony. Paul and I are working on the Super Bowl leftovers. Our lovely wives have been around town enjoying a massage by Barefoot Sally. I gave them gift certificates at the holidays. They really enjoyed them and Sally, too. Today begins their saga of the wooden bowls. A beautiful sunny day allows an awesome sunset. We head to town to visit Tony Rome. He and Maria are busy in the kitchen. No cochinera. Several members of the Cozumel boards are eating, visiting, checking emails, etc.

Tuesday morning-Fat Tuesday begins with a little shower, one of the few we experienced this week. Paul and I head south for our morning walk and watch the cruise ships approach and dock. I Googled one ship and was able to watch the ship's bow camera as we watched it from our balcony. It is a small world from the Internet.

Our first dive today is Punta Sur Sur. In November, we had five reef sharks and great viz. Today we had no sharks, no current and low viz. As we enjoy our SI at Playa Palancar, Jeremy stops by and we all chat. He has been enjoying a few days with his family. Our second dive is again at Cedral. Good viz and perfect current. This was a classic Cedral dive. We see tons of schooling fish, the resident large puffers, giant groupers, Nurse Shark, lobsters and morays. I love Cedral. Our third dive, a night dive at Chankanaab Bolones features lots of crabs, lobsters and splendid toadfish. We did not see one octopus, a first for me on a Cozumel night dive.

We shower, shave, and grab a cab to La Perlita. A well run seafood restaurant right across the street from Jeremy's house. The groupers that night had glassy eyes so I requested another fish. The person pulls out a beautifully fresh large Red Snapper. Please set the price before they cook it, but it was a great fish to eat. Nancy and Tammy had fish tacos, Paul had a Grande shrimp ceviche probably approaching 1 1/2 pounds. They always provide great service and a nice atmosphere.

Our first dive Wednesday is off the wall at Cedral. Lots of current, but very comfortable and after a lot of fining this week a nice change. We see some turtles and another Nurse shark, plus loads of fish. Our second dive is Santa Rosa. Gustavo took a long, relaxing trip through 4 swim through-they were simply fantastic. A nice current pushed along at a perfect pace. The last two times here the viz was lousy. The highlight of the dive was Gustavo seeing a scorpion fish from twenty feet above it. I could barely see it when I was right on top of it!!

The same group has dove together since Sunday, however Paul sat this day out. The girls recruited him to go up town and battle the crowds from the 8 cruise ships on the isla today. They had a great lunch at El Morito, a spin off El Moro on Calle 6 north. It is my wife's favorite place for lunch in Cozumel. We enjoy the afternoon by the pool and head out to El Pique. This is a great place for a sub, taco or great frijoles charros. They have cold drinks and a lively atmosphere, real fun.

Jeremy and Paul are back on board today Thursday, and we roll back on Palancar Gardens, starting the wall. We spot two sets of juvenile drum and enjoy a long, colorful dive finishing our safety stop poking around the coral heads looking for the good stuff. Our second dive is at Punta Tunich. Strong, but manageable currents keep the sponge growth and reef vibrant here. I think it resembles San Juan in places. Lots of color, giant parrotfish, turtles, and trunkfish, more drum fish and this cool worm. Today was to be the last dive day but my patient, understanding wife allows me to book Friday. Nice.

We have a great dinner at Sonora Grill, the only patrons at the time Thursday night. The all-inclusive hotels are killing the restaurants in town. We had surf and turf, camarones Sonora and a large Mexican platter with mole poblano was the highlight.

Now to finish the story (saga ) of the wooden bowls. My wife and her friend Nancy have been going between two stores since Monday haggling over bowls she wants for our catering operation. Berta, who has a store off the plaza and another store on Calle 2 Norte each have similar bowls. She finally consummated the deal Thursday evening with my wife winning the gold medal in bargaining and Berta still making a handsome profit, I assume. My wife had a look of satisfaction as Paul and I hauled the bowls back to the condo. It is part of the fun of Cozumel and gives us an excuse to head into town each day.

Let us talk about Casa Phoenix at El Cantil. $400 per day for 4 big bedrooms, each with private bath. It is the cleanest place you will ever stay. The nice housekeepers arrive daily and see to your every need. It has flat screens, Dish Network, Sirius, a fully stocked kitchen (they even provide coffee) and more. A nice pool, great dock for pick-ups and a great balcony with hot tub and chairs. It is a great unit for socializing and centrally located. There is parking and extra storage. I highly recommend it. It is available from Bill and Alison Mencarow @ cozumelparadise.com. Casa Phoenix is a great way to spend the week. I highly suggest it as a site for a family reunion, or for 3 to 4 couples to keep the price down.

It is Friday already and Jeremy heads the Jewfish to the north. Man, where did the week go. We will be diving a new site for me, Canterall or the Eagle Ray pass. It is another beautiful, calm and sunny day. The weather on the water this week has been spectacular. We roll back into fairly swift currents. The beginning of the reach is bountiful and healthy. However, half way through the bottom turns barren and the search is on for the Eagle Rays. We only find some squid and not much else. Ya never know til you try. We surface interval were we started at Playa Azul. It is a nice restaurant and beach with palapas. I did in fact run into palapa girl!! How about that? Our second dive of the day, and last of the week, is at San Juan. It is a great second dive with all those trigger fish and beautiful sponges. A good end to the week and we are at the El Cantil dock at 12:15.

We bid farewell to Jeremy and crew. Once again Living Underwater provided a great week of diving. From Punta Sur to San Juan we covered a lot of ground. I did two new sites for me, the C 53 and Canteral, out of 14 total. I had a ball sharing Paul's first open water dives. See you soon amigos.

After diving Friday it is jeep rental time. Actually, Tammy and Nancy rented it earlier Friday and had been sporting around town. It is an automatic with insurance for $60. It is not much, but never left us stranded. We head south and stop by caleta so Paul can buy some Living Underwater shirts. He proudly sports them on the way home on the plane. I wander around caleta and say hey to a few friends. We are off to the south past Fiesta Americana and down the coastal road. I still get a kick out of being here on this road close to the sea.

Bob Marley's Rasta bar is soon on the horizon. They have a nice crowd on Friday afternoon. I am the designated driver so it is Coca Light for me. The place is completely rebuilt since Wilma and the bathrooms are a huge upgrade over the ones across the street by the pigs, which we did not see this time. They also serve a nice pomegranate margarita. Home come a Rasta bar does not have any Jamaican food? What we did have was nice as we sat on the beach watching the waves fill the blow holes. We have a few drinks and vamanos al Coconuts.

We usually stop at Chen Rio but the time determined we would not this trip. We got the awesome cliff side table, the only one open at the time. We slid our feet into the sand and ordered food and drinks. The waiter said it would be awhile for drinks as the kitchen was in the weeds. I know that feeling. The place is packed with people, loud people, shouting people, drunken people and then the fun loving workers. We share tacos de pescado, shrimp tacos, shrimp and caracol ceviche and poppers. The drinks and food are good here. We had a ball here, looking out at the view and sharing the picture books with our friends. Imagine there looks when seeing the picture books for the first time!

Vaminos al Mezcalitos. We arrive at Mezcalitos at 5 p.m. and they are closed. We take the requisite snap shots at the Naked Beach sign and watch the heavy military presence set up there road block. Apparently some weed and cocaine washed up on shore Wednesday. They were still checking for the culprits, and seemed to be on a high level of alert. We head to town to get ready for the night. We had Friday night dinner at Tony Rome's. Lots of board folk tonight at the Embassy. It is always fun to put a face to the name. Patricia, Uncle bukethead, Minn Snowflake, palapa girl, Linda K and all there spouses and many, many more. I try to introduce Paul and Nancy to as many as possible and they fit right in. I think they may have Cozumelitis!! We have a nice dinner and drinks and just chill out. Mr. Tony held court and a great time was had by all.

We stop by Sorrisi for gelato on the way home. I had helado 3 times this week. I am really using my 35 bonus WW points this week. I have walked 45 minutes each morning to try and offset the added caloric intake. That did not stop us from going to La Choza on our last morning in Cozumel. They have a nice breakfast menu and fresh squeezed OJ. I had the Mexican eggs with beans, chilaquiles and that cool yellow salsa. Muy Bueno. We make a last pass around town and drop the jeep off at Less Pay. We stop by Super Hit and get tortas and empanadas for the flight home. I have my WW points list here somewhere. I will certainly need it when I get home.