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Bloggings, Reviews, Reviews - Travel, Snorkeling, Travel

Whale Shark Excursion

August 24, 2015 Andi Leave a comment

So today we woke up super early around 6:15 so we could be at the Eco Divers shop by 7:45. I ate some leftover pizza from last night and took some Dramamine. I really didn’t want to get seasick! So we got to the shop and eventually 4 other couples joined us. One couple from London was very nice. Mostly though people kept to themselves and didn’t seem like they wanted to be friendly. Then we got on the boat and left the island to journey out on the water for about an hour and a half. It was storming all around us on the boat ride. It was pretty cool. I should mention that although we booked with Eco Divers the tour was ran by Ceviche Tours.

After a long time the boat suddenly stopped and the captain was pointing in the water so we thought maybe this is it! But some guy just lost his hat and they retrieved and we moved on. Also on the ride out we saw a couple of dolphins and a ton of flying fish. Flying fish were really cool.

When we finally got to the area with whale sharks there were a ton of other boats. The captain and the guide briefly explained to us how it would work. We were supposed to get all of our snorkeling gear on and sit on the side of the boat and 4 of us would go at once and swim with the shark. Don and I were in the first group so we got all ready and sat on the side of the boat. It was kind of hard to get up on the side. So we jumped and at first I didn’t see a shark. Then one of the guys said “right behind you!” so I looked down and there it was! So close!! So I got my first pictures and video! (Will post the video soon)

It was gone so quickly so then we all just sort of waited in the water for the boat to pick us up. It was so weird being in the open water like that. I would look down into the water and it was so blue and clear, but I couldn’t see the bottom. A couple of times I thought I saw big fish swimming far below us.

Once we got back on the boat we got ready to jump in again. The second swim wasn’t as good for me. I couldn’t find the shark at first, but then I did eventually and I swam behind it for awhile. I think Don had better luck this time. He swam pretty far with it and even managed to get a selfie.

The second and third swims were definitely not as good as the first one for me. Don had some luck. After the last round we were missing one of the girls from our boat. That was a scary few minutes. No one could find her and when the captain contacted other boats no one had an extra person. Fortunately we found her with a group in the water.

The experience was pretty cool. I was just so happy to see one! I was surprised at how tiring it was to keep up with them. All of the pictures you see make it look so easy and graceful. The shark is graceful but 8 snorkelers around it are not. If you were not first to the shark you were pretty much getting kicked in the face. I was surprised by how many people were in the water at once. I was so happy to do this, it was truly a bucket list day.

On the ride back a lot of people slept and rested. When we got near the port the guides gave us the option to snorkel, go to the port, or have ceviche and go to the best beach on Isla. Everyone but us decided to go to the beach. We were very lucky though because the beach happened to be our beach at our hotel. The ceviche was also amazing. It was very nice to sit on the boat, eat ceviche, and drink beer.

Once we were done we swam up to our beach and decided to check out the pool. The pool was great at Ixchel Beach Hotel. The water was so warm. When we were finished it was disappointing to find out that our keys did not work for our new room! Luckily housekeeping was around and let us in. Once we got cleaned up we relaxed and looked at our pictures and videos. It was pretty amazing to see this giant fish we swam with today! And BTW the hotel easily fixed our key this time so looks like we are good.

Someone had mentioned that a place called Bobo’s had great fried chicken and once we looked at the menu I was pumped to go. It’s a bar owned by Canadians and they have fried chicken, chicken sandwiches, and fish and chips. We were pretty much the first customers there and we decided to eat inside at the booth. I got the fish and chips. Don got some wings. The fish and chips were amazing. Don also said his chicken was good. It was the best meal we had so far. After we ate some people had come into the bar and were having conversation so we decided to come up to the bar. We met a guy from Austin, a guy from Chicago, and a guy from Arizona. The bartender was from Wisconsin! She was awesome and made some great drinks. It was a really great night…and we got pretty buzzed.

Once we left for some reason Don wanted to go to a hardware store to look for something. I took a selfie with a cat there.

Then during our walking around we looked at magnets and I was determined to find a whale shark magnet. No one had one! We were also stopping by Island Adventures Mexico to try to book a trip to Contoy Island tomorrow. We found a bar and went up to the second floor. Then I made sure the Contoy trip was a go. From where we were sitting the shop with the whale shark magnets was directly below us. Don thought it would be a good idea for me to go down there and bargain with them. I had about 70 pesos I believe. I picked out 2 magnets and tried to get them. The guy told me that would only get me one magnet. Of course I caved because my buzzed self really wanted the whale shark magnet and I am a terrible negotiator. We had some great nachos, ok drinks, and some fun at this bar, but I can’t remember the name. We also came up with this saying “If I can’t eat it, drink it, or swim in it I don’t want it.” Because that basically refers to what we do on vacation.

Bloggings, Reviews, Reviews - Travel, Snorkeling, Travel

Snorkeling Isla Mujeres

August 23, 2015 Andi Leave a comment

Today we slept in and we didn’t really have a plan for the day. Once we got up and out we decided it would be a good idea to talk with some tour guides to see what kind of snorkeling tours we could get. The first place we stopped at was really near the hotel and it was called Island Adventures Mexico (http://www.islandadventuresmexico.com/). We talked to a guy named Juan who told us they did a snorkeling trip pretty much every day at 10 am and 1 pm. This snorkeling trip went to 3 locations. So it sounded good because I think it was also 60 pesos for the two of us. We told him we would have some breakfast and come back.

We stopped at one other place before eating but something about this place didn’t really appeal to us. We decided to eat breakfast at Rooster. This place was also recommended by our hotel. I got a weird egg thing with chorizo and peppers in it. I don’t know what I was expecting but what I got was definitely not what I was expecting. It was okay though. Don got lobster biscuits and gravy. He liked his. Overall Rooster was okay. Here’s a few pictures…

After eating we stopped by one other tour guide place and had a long conversation about the island Contoy. I am really interested in going to Contoy but this guy was kind of creepy. So after a little bit of thought we decided well it’s almost noon…might as well go snorkeling with Island Adventures Mexico at 1! So we went back and told Juan. He was so helpful and this place was nice because we could pay in USD or pesos. I was a little apprehensive because I had not heard of this place in any of my research but decided to go ahead.

So starting from the beginning here, we were a bit frazzled upon getting ready and getting back to Island Adventures by 1. Everything was fine until we forgot something in the room and then tried to use the key and the key would not work. Then both keys did not work. I can’t even remember what we wanted to get, it wasn’t really essential, so we went to the front desk and they reset the key but it would still not work. By now we are cutting it close so we just decide to go and deal with the key issue later. From the get-go our experience with Island Adventures Mexico was a bit weird. We waited around until about 1:20 when finally a guide came and he wasn’t wearing any shoes. He was running because the pavement was so hot. So we quickly followed him to the boat at the beach. It was about a 5-10 minute walk/jog to the boat. We got on the boat with him, the captain, about 5 other adults, and 2 kids. No one really spoke much English. Then we took off and stopped at another hotel to pick up 3 more women. They did speak English, but they also spoke Spanish. So….seriously we really need to learn Spanish better.

First snorkel stop was off the shore a bit and there was a shipwreck half in the water and half in the sand. It was pretty cool around the shipwreck because there were a lot of fish. The current was very strong at this location so it was a bit tiring. I also didn’t feel that we saw anything that great, but it was okay snorkeling. Not the worst, not the best. It was challenging though because the guide did not speak to us hardly at all and he was really occupied helping some really novice snorkelers. Most of the time the guide is pointing out things, but this snorkeling trip I felt like I never knew where we were going or where we could go. This location had a good amount of fish though.

The second location was the Underwater Museum or known as the Musa Museo Subacuatico de Arte. I was excited to do this, but once again the tour felt very weird. We had no idea why there were statues and sculptures underwater. We were just swimming along and looking at things underwater. Come to find out I read later that they were put there to promote more reef growth. It was cool. I think this location was better than the first because there was not a big current to battle with. It was also cool to see scuba divers exploring the underwater museum.

Once we got back on the boat we rode along for awhile and stopped near the Dolphin Discovery to watch some people swimming with Dolphins. Then we docked and the guide was like “ok did you guys pay for lunch?” and we were like “um..not sure…I think so..but not sure.” At this point I really didn’t want to go to eat I just wanted to go back and get cleaned up but the guide was like “ok well you probably paid for it so let’s go eat.” Once again we all get off boat and no one knows anything that is going on so we all decide to sit at a table. One of the guys sat near us and tried to make conversation he was very nice. We had fish, rice, and pasta. The food was very good. I believe this place was called Playa Lancheros.

After we ate we noticed there was a pen in the water with a couple guys and people were lined up to get in the pen. Turns out there were two nurse sharks in this pen and you could pay to have your picture with them. I don’t think this was a nice thing to do to these sharks, but the guys seem to take care of them and love them. I really love sharks so of course I wanted to try this. So we got in the pen. The guy had to summon one of the sharks by basically carrying him in the water over to me. Then he instructed me on how to hold him up out of the water a bit to get a picture. The shark felt kind of like sandpaper. I expected it to be softer. It also started thrashing around a bit so I got kind of nervous and let it go. It just swam away an then Don got his turn. It was a weird experience and still not sure how I feel about those sharks being in there. I did ask one of our guides about it and he said they switch the sharks out every couple of months.

Once we got back to the hotel the key still did not work, but we proceeded to get cleaned up while they tried to figure it out. There was also an incredible sunset that we took pictures of…

Once we went out we decided to ask Juan at Island Adventures about a trip to Contoy. Even though our snorkeling trip wasn’t great, I still felt good enough to book another tour with them especially since he was going to give us a discount for already doing a trip with them. He put us down tentatively for Tuesday but we have to come back tomorrow night to make sure it’s a go. Afterwards we went to Mamma Rosa’s for some pizza. I read it was the best pizza on the island so we wanted to try it. The pizza was pretty good. After we ate we were pretty tired so we came back the key did not work still so they allowed us to switch rooms. We are still on the 4th floor just a few doors down from where we were. I think the room is a bit of an upgrade.

Bloggings, Reviews, Reviews - Travel, Travel

On our way to Isla Mujeres, Mexico!!

August 22, 2015 Andi Leave a comment

I will start off by saying it has been a long time since we have been on a proper vacation! Our last one was in Puerto Rico over a year ago, so it felt really good to get back into it again. So today it was nice because our flight from Chicago to Cancun did not leave until 12:30, so we were able to sleep in a bit. It was a direct flight on American Airlines. We arrived in Cancun around 4 pm and the process of getting through customs was pretty fast compared to most places we have been. Then it was the moment of truth–how would the transfer to the port be that I purchased? We are staying on Isla Mujeres so I had been researching ways to get from Cancun airport to GranPuerto, I found a company called CARM Tours and Transfers. A guy was there waiting for us at the airport and the van was nice, clean, and air conditioned. The transfer to the port was so smooth and I think we only paid about $30 USD (round trip) for the both of us. Totally worth it for the price and the piece of mind. The drive to the port was great we got to see some of the Cancun resorts and pretty much decided we never need to stay there.

Once we got to the port we got round trip tickets for the ferry to Isla Mujeres. I think these were about $11 USD per person. I was worried about getting sick on the boat because I am always getting seasick, so I went to the convenient store to get some chips and soda. I really wanted pretzels because those have been really good at keeping seasickness away but there were none so we got Cheetos and some weird pizza flavored chips. I also found Dr Pepper here so of course I had to get one and take my picture with it because that’s the tradition in every country we travel. Of course at the port I saw my first of many cats.

The ferry ride was great, very smooth. We sat on the top and a man was playing music.

Once we got to Isla we walked to our hotel, Ixchel Beach Hotel. Ixchel was about a 10 minute walk from the port and it is situated on the best beach of the island, Playa Norte. The walk was so hot, I was sweating like crazy! The check in process was easy and fast so we got settled in quickly.

Then we were hungry so we decided to get some food at Mamacita because we got a 10% discount there with our hotel stay. It was not that great. I got a beef burrito but it was mostly filled with a weird variety of vegetables. Don accidentally ordered a cheeseburger because he thought the waiter said it was a steak or something haha. But his cheeseburger looked pretty good. We each had our first of many drinks on the island, a Sol. We also had a few furry visitors while we ate.

Next we went to a bar called Kokonuts. We had giant margaritas there and some tequila shots. We talked to the bartender about American football and Fireball. They actually have Fireball here on Isla. After Kokonuts we walked and got some ice cream. And this was our first night in Mexico.

Bloggings, Reviews - Travel, Travel

3 Year Anniversary & Other Updates

October 12, 2014 Andi Leave a comment

A few weeks ago we celebrated our third wedding anniversary. We have been pretty busy since we moved back to NYC. We went camping with a group of people in PA in September. We camped at Locust Lake State Park. The park was awesome but the experience wasn’t our most favorite. It rained a lot and it was very cold. We also visited the Yuengling Brewery while on this camping trip. My friends Becky and Deni visited with us in September also. It was really good to see them and show them around the city.

So finally in the last weekend of September we went up to the Catskills and stayed at a bed and breakfast. We stayed at the Slide Mountain Inn. The grounds of this place were beautiful. The inn itself was also nice but we have stayed at nicer B&B’s. There were so many things to do just at the inn. There were hikes, paddle boats, and outdoor games. We went on a hike right up the mountain, but we didn’t go all the way up. The views were amazing. I don’t think I have ever seen more beautiful fall colors.

We also walked around the pond on the property. During this walk a snake snuck up on us and was right under my feet. It was pretty crazy. After checking out the property of Slide Mountain Inn we decided to drive around and see what we could find. We found a trail called Giant Ledge Trail. We thought might as well try it out. We were not really prepared at all for this hike, but the weather was beautiful and we felt like walking. We only had one bottle of water to share between the two of us. At first the trail wasn’t so bad, but then it was just like you were going straight up. After about 2 hours of hiking we came to a point where we would basically be walking straight up a cliff. We debated for quite some time if we wanted to do this. Everyone who came down said it was well worth the effort, so we did it. When we made it to the top the views were amazing. It was so beautiful and peaceful. I was so happy we were able to do it.

The hike back down was much easier than the way up. I think we even gained energy the way down. It felt good. We went back to the room and got ready to go out to dinner. We knew we wanted to check out the town of Phoenicia so we I found a place to eat there called Tavern 214. It was a more upscale bar and restaurant but not too fancy. We had a sausage slider appetizer. Don ordered a philly cheesesteak and I got the NY Strip. Everything was pretty good and I would recommend this place to anyone in the area. It was a good anniversary dinner. When we got back to the inn we noticed how pretty the stars were…they were so amazing.

On Sunday we got up and did not have breakfast at the inn because we wanted to try Phoenicia Diner on the way home. This place was pretty good. I had breakfast tacos that were probably some of the best breakfast tacos I’ve ever had. On the drive home we also decided to stop by a winery. It was called Palaia Vineyards. I loved everything about this place. The atmosphere was great and they were getting ready to have live music. They have live music often and there were also board games that I saw so maybe it’s a good place to chill. In addition to the wine tasting they had food, beer, and cider. The property was also very pretty. Visiting this place made me long to own something like this of my own. I didn’t want our weekend to end.

Every weekend in NY we have plans. Life has been very busy between fantasy football, school, work, and hanging out. We have been having fun though. We hoping to soon walk across the George Washington Bridge, visit some haunted houses, visit Little India in Jersey, and do some apple picking…

Travel

Last Day-Back to San Juan

December 21, 2013 Andi Leave a comment

Today we drove back to San Juan and returned our cars. We went back to our hotel that we stayed at on our first night and asked if they could hold our luggage while we wait for our flight. The guy there gave us a really hard time but eventually we left our bags there.

Then we went to look for a breakfast/lunch. We ate at Cafe Del Angel and it was absolutely delicious. I had the best cuban sandwich I have ever had there and they had the best salsa. We actually bought a bottle of the salsa it was sooo good.

After lunch we did a little shopping and then we walked along the beach. Our flight was around 3 so we left to go to the airport around 1. Judy and Steve’s flight was not until later that night.

It was a pretty good last day but I’m ready for our next vacation already.

GarbledSyntax