Cozumel, Mexico

The last port on our recent Caribbean cruise was in Cozumel, Mexico.  My first view when I looked out at the port was a beautiful one.

We got off the ship to head for our excursion. It was strange, though. Because it seemed super dark outside.  Then I realized, it was because of the massive ships parked next to each other. We were walking down a massive hallway where the sun had no chance to peek in.

I call it cruise ship corridor.  Look at that cute girl I was with.

Our excursion was with a company called Fury.  They have catamarans that ferry people around.  The catamaran itself is pretty fun.  They play music, they serve drinks (It was an open bar, people were doing their best to consume as much free alcohol as possible.  I even got in on the craziness, by drinking like 3 glasses of 7-up.  I still drank more water than soda, obviously.  Let's not get too crazy.) and you can look out at the beautiful ocean as you glide across it.

The first place the catamaran took us was to a reef area that was probably 20-30 feet deep.  Naturally, I was the first person off the boat.  While everyone else was trying to figure out how to put their fins on and then walk down the stairs into the water, I just jumped off the side of the boat and put the fins on while floating.  It's way easier that way.  Plus, I didn't have to stand in a line filled with awkward people trying to walk in fins.

I make snorkeling look good.

It was an amazing snorkeling destination.  I was surprised by how much awesome wildlife I saw.

We saw a ray.

We saw fish.

We saw lots of fish.

There was even a Robyn floating in the water.

I thought I saw a sea snake.  I did some research when I got home, and found it this is a sharptail eel.

If I had one complaint about the excursion it would be this:  there was a lifeguard type individual who was attached to a buoy.  The whole time he sat there yelling, "stay close to the buoy."  They never gave us any guidance about what that meant, but most people tried to stay within ten or fifteen feet of the buoy.   That meant there were loads of people stacked on top of each other.  So, it kind of made the overall experience not as good.  Despite that, I loved it, because it was an amazing location.

You can see how surrounded by people I was.  But I was also surrounded by fish.

Lots and lots of fish

After the snorkeling, there was a second part to the excursion.  We got back on the catamaran for about 40 minutes to ride to a private beach owned by the Fury catamaran company.

Chillin' on the catamaran

The sail, and all the people.

When we got there, it was a really nice beach with lots of toys available to play with.

The beach with all of the various toys.

A few different catamarans parked while their occupants played in the water.

I had to climb this mightly slide. (and slide down the other side)

.

Robyn did her mermaid float.  It's a little infuriating how easily she floats, when I just sink.

John and Carol were precious.

Our preciousness with the catamaran in the background.

We relaxed, we played in the water, we hunted seashells.  We had a great time.  Then it was time to head back.  We boarded the catamaran again, it took us for another 30-40 minute ride back to the dock where our ship was waiting.

On this part of the trip, there was a special little treat.  We were sitting on the front of the boat, and we started noticing flying fish that would periodically jump up and fly 30 or 40 feet.  It was soooo cool to watch.

The moral of the story (every story has a moral) is that Cozumel is awesome.  You should totally go there.