Cozumel, Mexico dive trip

Last week, April 23rd - 30th, we spent some wonderful, warm days in Mexico.  The primary purpose of the trip was to scuba dive; we had five days of two-tank boat dives scheduled (10 dives total) plus one night dive.  The diving was phenomenal!!  We ended up with four days of two-tank boat dives (my stomach didn't cooperate for one of the days) and two night dives.  The reef and fish life on Cozumel is absolutely amazing.  Ken documented the diving very well here (with great photos!) and I'm sure Ben & Anna will also when they have time.  We forgot our underwater camera :-( however we had bought a great underwater video camera before the trip, so hopefully I can share some of that footage with you shortly.  Peter is working on editing the many hours (seriously!) of underwater video he took.  A quick list of some of the marine life we saw (all photo links courtesy of Ken & Liesl): Turtles (lots of them!!), Nurse Sharks, Octopus, HUGE lobsters, HUGE crabs, Lion Fish, Angel Fish (french and queen),  Rays, HUGE Barracudas, HUGE Groupers, Eels, Porcupine Fish, Frog Fish, Scorpion Fish, Cow Fish, Trunk Fish, Jaw Fish, Sea Cucumbers, Parrot Fish... I could go on and on!
Of course, the trip was further supplemented with some quality time with Ken and Liesl (you oughta feel like you know then by now, as often as they are on this blog!) and Liesl's cousin and his wife, Ben and Anna.  We made gingerbread houses with them two Christmas' ago - you remember, no?  :-) 
Ken and Liesl got their AOW (advanced open water) dive certification while we were there and Anna got her OW (open water) dive certification.  They (K&L and B&A) arrived a bit before us, so they had pretty much finished their cert's by the time we arrived. 
We stayed at a "dive hotel" called Casa Del Mar... which I wish I could recommend for others to stay at, but I think it would be best for you to expand your horizons should you make a trip to Cozumel, and lodge somewhere different!  :-)   
Editors note: I've upgraded the version of blogger I was using, so captions will be *below* the photos going forward instead of above. 

On the plane... ready for some warm water, sandy beaches & SUN!

Arrived at the hotel!

L-R: Ken, Liesl, Felipe (their Dive Instructor for their certifications), Anna & Ben

Us'ns - Waiting for the others to arrive at supper one evening ~

Scooters!  They are EVERYWHERE on the island.  I'd venture to say they are the primary mode of transportation for locals.

Cousins!

I had to post this one ~ Anna says this is her 'Cheshire Cat' face!  :-)

Hah.  This is what I get when I ask for a pose!

On the boat, on our way to pick up the other divers.

Our boat captain - he's been motoring this boat for over 15 years!

One of the boat crew~

Typical morning at the dock.  We didn't dive with our hotel's dive operation - so the company we did dive with (the Dive House) came and picked us up (via boat) at our hotel dock each morning and brought us back to their docks to gather the rest of the divers, their gear and our tanks.

On our surface interval - passing time until the next dive!

Love this one of L!

Towel Art!

One afternoon after diving some of us went to the "ruins" at El Cedral.  It was less than exciting... underwhelming is the best way to describe it - especially after touring Tulum and Chichen Itza on previous Mexico trips!   This ruin was no more than one tiny little cottage.  But hey... at least it was FREE!  :-)

:-)

Mmm... cold coconuts!

This little taco stand was just below our hotel.  Talk about authentic!!  There were two men that worked there... and they had a TINY little room behind the kitchen with a table that we took up residence at each afternoon for lunch.  You can't beat $1 Sopes!   

They cook on a Coleman stove!  :) 

Mmmm... this is making me hungry for them, just posting about it!

"Our table" in the back of the kitchen.  We're sitting about 5 feet from where they are cooking our lunch.  :-)

Ken & Liesl upgraded their room to a superior room, so they had a beautiful ocean view with a balcony.  Needless to say - we spent most of our time together in their room!  :-)

Beautiful Bougainvillaea everywhere!

Ken & Liesl's room was at the very beginning of the building (farthest away in this photo), on the second level.

Haha!

Waiting for the sunset ~

This was the day that we opted to not dive - I woke up not feeling so hot... so we just laid back and relaxed all day.  Bummer, huh?!

Furthest to the right is our Dive Master, Jose. 

Just picked up from our hotel - going back to their dock to get the rest of the tanks and divers.  Our gear is all set up on the far right, ready to dive! 

We saw some gorgeous sunsets... I couldn't pick my favorite photo, so excuse the multiple shots!  :-)

I can't even count how many snaps of this photo it took to get it clean, without people or cars!

Dinner, our last night in Mexico.  K&L had left for home, the day prior.

Avocado Pie.  Interesting!  Very creamy, very rich.  I wonder how many avocados it took to make just this one slice?!

This wall was just BEGGING for us to take photos in front of it! 

The Thursday prior to our leaving for Mexico, we had three brother workers stay with us for the night.  When one of them realized we were going to Mexico, he gave the above folks (C&P) a call as they were to be in Playa Del Carmen (a separate island, just across from Cozumel) for part of the time that we were in Cozumel!  Anyhow, they're from Norfolk, VA area - and we managed to schedule dinner with them!  Imagine meeting people for the first time who typically live only 3 (or so) hours away from you, over 1000 miles away in Mexico!  :)  We had a lovely dinner and evening together, before they hopped on the ferry to go back to Playa Del Carmen. 

Last sunset, final evening in Mexico ~

Needless to say, we had a wonderful trip!  A special thanks to K&L and B&A for sharing the week with us!