Tanner Life

“Somewhere on the Sea, Somewhere waiting for me….”

((I wrote these while we were still cruising, just couldn’t get blogger to post them while we were out there))

Monday, Day 2 @ Cozumel:

We woke up to beautiful sunshine and docking in Cozumel. After breakfast Andy & I headed off the ship for a little shopping. The pier area is super nice. There are very nice restrooms, shops out the wazoo, places to eat everywhere and super friendly people. You could get off and could spend hours right there within a few steps of the ship, they are doing big things now for cruise lines. We walked on down the street a little through town, then made our way back through the cruise terminal shopping area again. Back on board for a snack and getting ready for our excursion.

We debated for days, right up until the very last minute last night on what to do. I had read fantastic reviews from Cruise Critic about visiting Paradise Beach for just a few bucks for a taxi ride. There was an excursion though that seemed to offer something we’d both enjoy. Andy made the final decision and off we went. We boarded a 65foot catamaran through “Fury’s Catamaran” trips. It was huge, 3 decks! There were shady seats and sun decks, restrooms, a bar and all you could drink beer, margaritas or Pepsi. We drank our share of Pepsi! *This is the picture of our ship the Glory at the back, the Fantasy (which was the 1st cruise we ever took) there in the front and our catamaran coming towards the pier.*

The ride out was great and we stopped for 45 minutes at a reef for snorkelers to get their fill. Andy said it was the best snorkeling he’s done in all of our trips, and if you’re keeping up we’ve taken quite a few!! (this is our 7th cruise) That’s pretty impressive for him to say. He saw an enormous barracuda that he’s still talking about. You could jump off the side of the boat or walk right down the ramp into the water. I opted to lay in the sun with a great new book, imagine that. The snorkelers (is that a word?) reboarded and we were off again. This picture is of them in the water. There were guides out to help, direct you to schools of fish, be sure everyone was OK. It's actually part of a National Park Reef. There were buoys to keep people in one area. It was a beautiful sunny day, despite the fact my picture looks a little dark. It wasn't by any means!!

We went to a private beach, just next door to Playa Mia (Which is where we went on our last Cozumel visit) We had chairs, floats (mats), kayaks (no thanks) a bar, restrooms or horse back riding. Horse back riding would have been a hit, if it weren’t for the fact we were in wet bathing suits!!! Ick- We spent an hour at the beach. The water wasn’t as pretty as it had been where they snorkeled, but the water was relatively warm and we enjoyed it. Getting off the catamaran, down the ramp steps and into the water was a little exciting. We didn’t make it all the way up into the sand, we were in about waist deep water.
This picture is the private island!


The ride back was fantastic! The views were beautiful. With a motor running and both sails open wide, we were getting speedy! They cranked up great music of all kinds, the drinks were flowing (which made our shipmates quite entertaining to watch) and it made for a perfect ride back to our ship. We had never cut it quite so close, with 5 minutes to spare as we all sprinted back to the ship. Thankfully we’d been dumped off at the pier just steps away. It was a fantastic day though and I would recommend that excursion to ANYONE, of ANY AGE, ANYTIME!!! Picture of us on the ride back.

We came back for a snack, got ready and were off to a show. It was a great day and we were tired. After sitting downstairs in the lobby people watching, we went to check out the dinner menu. It turned out that what we wanted was also offered on the casual buffet and we opted to bail on the dining room and eat at the buffet. What a great choice! I got 4 things that were on the appetizer menu, a plate full of my favorite fish dish ever and we were stuffed. I wish I could find the same “Piked Perch with Cream Tomato Sauce” offered somewhere close to home, yummy!!

After dinner we called it a day and headed to get our beauty rest-



**Note** Since returning home and having the "what was your favorite???...???" discussions we have both decided that this excursion was one of our all time favorites. It was really a great day. I don't snorkel, but I wasn't the only one that didn't. Andy truly loved it and said it was the best snorkeling he's ever done and he's ready to go back. The ride alone in the catamaran out there and back was tons of fun, a great way to see around the island. I was worried about the "party" factor involved, since we don't drink. There were plenty of families on board who weren't drinking though and the music was lively and fun, but not inappropriate. Lots of line dancing for all ages. If you are a drinker, well... the free drinks is enough to entice you I'd imagine. The private island wasn't the most beautiful we've seen, but you're only there an hour and they offer a ton of things to do or you can choose to do nothing at all. I see us doing this one again, I stand by my recommendation for this to anyone! This picture of just how blue and clear the water was where they snorkeled. It was deep, but blue and clear as glass!