Jan 16, 2010 - Ron & Angie!!

Ron & Angie!!!!! After waiting for what seemed like forever, we were finally in a rented car and on our way to Cancún to pick up Ron and Angie. Yippee! It’s nice to be on the road, but it’s really nice to be with family, especially those two. The four of us always seem to have way too much fun when we are together. We were excited like two kids in a candy store! After a slight delay with customs......the airline didn’t have the correct forms on board to fill out in advance, they came through the doors. They were more prepared than some of...

Jan 9, 2010 - A day of rest

Everyone was all revved up for their last dive. Can't dive within 24 hours of flying, and everyone was leaving tomorrow afternoon, so they were ready for a morning dive to finish things off. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't done with us. We were only slotted for two nice days this week, and we used them up Thursday and Friday. In the middle of the night the wind kicked up again, and by morning it was raining fairly hard. They closed the harbor again. All of the new dive groups coming in were equally upset at losing a day or two of diving....

Jan 8, 2010 - Devil's Throat

Sun and warmth. I'm in heaven! An early morning boat ride to Punta Sur for the Devil's Throat. This is a huge coral formation that has produced caves at about 125 feet. That's DEEP! Terry and Stetson decided to go through the throat. I and one other diver decided to go over. I tried cave diving once and I did not like it, and it was not nearly as deep as this, so this was an easy decision. Good thing I'm not stuck on all of that machismo crap. Although I was spreading around a rumor that maybe I was going over the top just so the other...

Jan 7, 2010 - Night Dive

We finally had a day of sun without blustery winds. Many people did the AM dives, but I knew I wanted to do the evening dives, and I also knew that I'm not a 4 dive a day person, so I skipped the morning boat. Too much nitrogen in my bloodstream really makes me tired. The first dive at about 4pm was a twilight dive, and it was incredible. The slanting light gave the ocean floor a distinctly other-worldly look. We drifted over sloping mounds of coral with lots of small colorful fish. We found a rather large octopus hiding in its lair. It was...

Jan 6, 2010 - Our Last Days in Puerto Morelos

Jan 6th, 2010 Today was our big day to go snorkeling - it was sunny and clear, and diving /or snorkeling at the coral reef is THE thing to do in Puerto Morelos. Warner has been snorkeling and diving many times, but I had never gone before and woke up in the morning imagining everything that might go wrong - Warner would be sucked away in a rip-tide, a shark would launch itself at us from the ocean floor, a barracuda would nibble on us, a giant squid would eat us for lunch. The ancient guide whom the Alma Libre ladies had recommended,...

Jan 6, 2010 - More Sun, More Wind

Didn't look good to dive today either. Still very choppy waters. Everyone decided to continue with the scheduled scooter trip instead of trying to make up the lost dives from yesterday. We were finally allowed into the water in the afternoon, so Terry and I did a shore dive that was very easy going and lots of fun. Spent almost an hour on that dive. A few more pictures of underwater goodies, but the camera is still being very finicky. Something about being underwater (and under pressure) makes it think the batteries aren't working. So when...

Jan 5, 2010 - Finally Sun!

Woke up to sun finally. Unfortunately the wind gusting across the island prohibited any diving today unless you were game for a severe bout of seasickness. Actually they closed the harbor, so no boats under 50 feet were allowed to go anywhere. That didn't stopped the cruise ships which inspired Stetson and I to pretend to be patrons and spend the day shopping. Downtown Cozumel is nothing but shops for the thousands of cruise ship passangers. The cries from the vendors to view their wares was endless. Walking the two miles back to our resort...

Jan 4, 2010 - First Dive

Still cloudy! Where is this so called sun we were promised? I'm cold in my wet (currently damp) suit. First dives of the trip! An AM boat ride out to Palancar Gardens. Really strong drifts and narrow reefs combined with some dive group chaos made this a less than enjoyable dive. I did get to have some fun with the new underwater case for my camera, but after a few pictures it promptly ran out of juice. Oops, guess I shoulda replaced the batteries before putting in the case. Second dive was much more enjoyable. I could reach my zen fish...

Jan 3, 2010 - Warm Cozumel?

My brother Terry invited me on a dive trip to Cozumel. Thought it would be a great way to escape the St. Louis winter. I in turn invited my fiber buddy Stetson from Portland who also enjoys diving. The flights from St. Louis to Cozumel were thankfully uneventful. On time, no worries with snow, vacant airport and a breeze through security. Waking at 4am to 8 degree weather was no picnic, but we could readily imagine the warm sun and sand to come. Unfortunately that is not what we found. Instead we had a cloudy afternoon with a chilly wind. A...

Jan 3, 2010 - Playa del Carmen

Hotel Alux- (www.hotelalux.com) We loved this place. 600 pesos, lots of hot water, wifi, walking distance to everything, far enough from the action that you can sleep at night, wonderful owners, Highly Recommend this hotel! Playa del Carmen We pulled out of Progreso late, tired, and perhaps a little bit thirsty. Thank you again, Ray & Sherry, we had a wonderful time, and would do it exactly same way again, given the chance. We were on our way to Playa del Carmen, some 5 hours away. I had a 2 week Spanish course booked, and then Barbie’s...

Jan 3, 2010 - Gray Days in Puerto Morelos Jan 3-5

Sunday January 3rd The most frequent noise we heard in our hotel room in Puerto Morelos was the crowing of a rooster who ruled the chicken coop in a neighboring building. That was rustic enough for us, and at night he merged amusingly with the blues-bands who played at Cantina Habanero down the street. We liked this town just fine, so we decided to stay put and take it easy for a while since the rest of our trip had been so action-packed. The first day, Sunday we didn’t do much except eat. We went to Pelicanos, a famous local restaurant...

Jan 1, 2010 - From Tulum to Puerto Morelos Jan 1 & 2

We woke slowly on New Year’s morning; I had slept fitfully because for some it seemed the night never ended; intermittent bongos and whoops interrupted my sleep. We knew that our hotel wouldn’t be serving coffee until 10:00 and we had errands to run so went to town for breakfast. The roads were empty early and we finally shared a cab with a local guy. We had breakfast to the sound of popping New Year's even balloons at the very crowded Don Cafeto, one of our better and less expensive meals in Tulum. Following that, we went back to our room,...