Cozumel, MexicoJun 27, 2012
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Paradise Beach
Andy and Lucas at Paradise Beach
The girls loved the sand
The Mayans considered Cozumel sacred to the Moon Goddess, Ixchel, and women would make regular pilgrimages there to pay tribute and to wish for fertility in return. The Spanish arrived in 1518, bringing diseases that wiped out the Mayans and left the island all but deserted by 1570. It was an outpost for pirates until 1848, when war in the Yucatan drove refugees to settle there. A boom in visitors to the island came after 1959, when Jacques Cousteau publicized Cozumel's coral reefs among the best in the world for scuba diving.
In 2005 we visited Paradise Beach in Cozumel the year after a devastating hurricane. The beach resort was trying to recover and we had a wonderful time there. So rather than take a ship tour we hired a very nice taxi van and went there again. I will say, that Paradise Beach has truly recovered.
Besides the beach and the chairs and the umbrellas and the restaurant and bar and gift shop, there is now a huge pool, another restaurant and lovely buildings and all sorts of inflatables in the sea. We had a delightful time there.
Tonight was Pirates' Night on Disney and most everyone dressed the part, including the dining room wait staff. It was quite a sight. After dinner, everyone except us, went to see "Brave".
And at 10:30 they shot off fire works-another incredible sight.
