| |
|
For our last full day in latin paradise, we wanted to hit a "real" beach (aka fully commercial like you envision from watching TV or movies). On our excursion around the island, we had discovered Playa Sol, which offered a full range of food, drink, and activities along with the customary Mexican vendors. So on Sunday morning Mom and Shawn got up early (or at least early for me, normal time for them) and left for the beach at 8 am to insure we'd have a place to sit.
We hadn't realized that the cruise ships usually don't come in on Sunday. In fact, only one ship was at the island all day. And Sunday is also the day most of the locals took off work. When the rest of us arrived at Playa Sol around 10, the parking lot was empty save for the Tracker they had rented and one other car. Luckily, despite the vendors being closed (except for a range of about 20 minutes when the "Party Boat" pulled up to the beach) and only a few people being there, Playa Sol was open.
Playa Sol is designed as a destination beach, where you pay to get in and then stay all day. It cost $8 to get in which included use of kayaks, paddle boats, their pool (yes, a pool at the beach), and even entrance to a small zoo they had on site. For $30 you could also get free drinks; for $38 a buffet as well. Since we didn't plan on having six mixed drinks each, we opted for the standard entry pass.
Right after arriving at the beach and eating some breakfast, we came across this area where you could pay to jump on a trampoline while attached to bungee cords, letting you jump much higher and do flips in mid-air. The kids were really excited by this, and since the beach was pretty much empty and other business was not imminent, the owner, this young Brit with a thick accent, offered to let the boys jump for $10 total rather than each. Sebbie went first, enjoying the jumping but not liking the flips. Nate went next, easily hanging from the bungees due to his small size, flipping a number of times once he caught onto the motion. Of course, since he had been shown up by his younger brother, Sebbie went again, this time doing a number of flips himself – more than Nate had, as he eagerly pointed out. Then, of course, Nate wanted to go one more time, running inside the trampoline area trying to keep out of reach of us. Keith paid the Brit a little extra for giving them so much time jumping, so he told us that if we came back a little later he would let Nate jump again for free. Unfortunately, the slow business drove him away before we could take him up on the offer.
Along the beach were rows and rows of plastic sitting and lounge chairs. For $4 you could also rent an umbrella, which we did as I had so far been successful at not getting fried due to equal parts being careful and wearing lots of SPF 45 brought by Misty and Keith. As we sat on the beach made of finely ground coral and seashells, Francisco, our waiter, would come by so we could get drinks and food. I spent the morning walking along the beach looking for interesting shells and bits of coral, feeling the roll of the ocean, and just sitting in the shade, listening to the sounds of the beach and feeling the cool ocean air.
Shawn brought his snorkel gear, and he unluckily got stung by a jellyfish while out near the edge of the swimming area. Keith spent quite a bit of time swimming with the boys, while Misty did more wading though she did swim some as well. The boys really liked the ocean as well as hoarding shells and making futile attempts at sandcastles that would be inevitably washed up by the waves. Mom laid in her lawn chair reading. It was a very relaxing morning for everyone.
After spending some time on the beach, we decided to check out the Playa Sol zoo. The zoo was small, but it featured animals found around the area, with quite a few very large iguanas, some spider monkeys (luckily opting NOT to throw their feces this day), some South American crocodiles (Crikey!), and a Froot-Loopless toucan along with a couple other miscellaneous animals. What was really funny was that in and around the zoo were also these ceramic statues of more traditional zoo animals like lions, tigers and an elephant. Look, a puma! Wait, nope, it's a statue…
Playa Sol eventually wore its welcome out, as there's only so much laying on the beach one can do (even when it's a destination for the Party Boat – a two-tiered boat of "party people" that goes to various beaches, lets people off for a half hour or so before they get back on and party on to their next stop, their blood alcohol levels rising steadily throughout the day). Misty and Keith suggested we all go to Chen Rio, a beach on the east side of the island that they had visited the day before.
Driving to Chen Rio gave us a good opportunity to revisit the less developed though more beautiful side of the island. We weren't exactly sure where Chen Rio was, and Misty and Keith had gone the opposite direction with the kids as they needed to stop in town to get some more gas. Not having a map or even a t-shirt with a map on it handy, we stopped at a small bar to ask if they knew where Chen Rio was. The place was run-down, possibly lacking electricity, kind of like a Caribbean biker bar without the bikers. Upon my asking, the guy working there - a large Hispanic man with a grizzled beard and a pot belly barely covered by a dirty shirt looking pissed off as I was clearly not stopping at his bar for anything that would lead to money exchanging hands – told me that Chen Rio was the next beach down.
Sure enough, Chen Rio was the next stop, probably a mile or so down the road. One thing we noticed was that much of this side of the island was occupied by local Cozumelians enjoying the beaches on their day off. Chen Rio was especially busy with many families both at the tables along the beach as well as spread out with picnic setups, soccer balls, and snorkel gear.
Chen Rio has a good selection of grilled seafood, and their big thing is to push the seafood combination – a plate with shrimp, lobster tail, and more. On their first visit, Misty and Keith just wanted chips and guacamole, and the server told them that they were only available if they bought the seafood combination plate, though he later caved and brought them what they asked. Keith had been thinking the combination looked good for the past couple days though, so we ordered half of one on this visit, enjoying the tender shrimp and lobster.
Along the eastern shores, you can find many things washed up on the shore by the waves such as bleached conch shells and pieces of brain coral. I had found a few decent sized coral pieces on the prior trip to this side, and this time Shawn wanted to find one. We had stopped at a couple of the beaches, braving the sharp rocks in our search, but had been fruitless this time. Then, at Chen Rio, we happened to find a piece abandoned at the foot of our table. A little after sitting, a woman came by looking around, but since she didn't ask and we couldn't tell for sure, we'll just assume it wasn't her piece…
On the way back to San Miguel, we stopped back at the "Mexican Target" as Shawn wanted to pick up some sunglasses (he had lost his somewhere at Tulum, a modern gift to the Mayan gods). On our last stop there I had spotted an onyx-carved iguana for sale, but the guy running the shop had quoted the ridiculous price of $40. Now that fate, or chance, perhaps even destiny, had returned me to the iguana, I decided to go through the process of negotiating with the guy on price. I always enjoy the challenge of negotiation, whether it's for lowering my credit card interest rate, working a deal for the company, or buying something from a poor Mexican local. After some back and forth, feigned walk-aways, and "I'll be honest with you, Senor, if you'll be honest with me"s, I ended up getting the iguana for $23, a reasonable sum.
Sunday nights in Cozumel bring a weekly festival to the town center, complete with local music and dancing – no doubt to celebrate not having the cruise ship people in town. Wanting to take this reverie in, we traveled downtown after stopping at the villa to clean up. Looking for a nice scenic place to eat our last dinner in Cozumel, we ended up at a place called Acapulco thanks to the persistent calling out of a short man named Jose, along with the promise of a good second-story view of the town center from their balcony and also the added promise of free margaritas for everyone. Jose seemed desperate for the business which, like good Americans abroad, we gladly exploited for our personal gain – though he was tipped well for his great service.
Following a tasty dinner of, surprise surprise, fajitas, we went around the town center, listening to the music, looking in some of the shops which had opened up for the evening populace, and seeking out a churro (translation: fried batter sugar stick) stand where they sold five churros for only $1.50 – what a deal! We then stopped at the square to watch the dancers, which consisted of local salsa dancers smoothly moving to the music and Caucasian dancers spastically twitching to the beat, giving the locals something to laugh at on their day off.
Suddenly, the skies opened up and began pouring rain, causing everyone to run for it, many of whom ended up crowding the platform right along with the band, while others filled the edges and entryways of the local stores. We decided to take the cue and head for our cars to return to the villa. Of course, right as we got back the rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun, but we were ready to go to bed in anticipation of a day of taking in the last of the island and the return home.
Cozumel Con Queso Table of Contents:
Introduction
Day 1: The Journey to Our Mysterious Southern Neighbor
Day 2: The Ocean: Our Big, Wet and Salty Friend
Day 3: Under the Sea, or On Top of It Anyway
Day 4: To the Briny Deep
Day 5: Break On Through to the Other Side
Day 6: Ancient Cultures on the Mainland
Day 7: The Sun Beach
Day 8: The Return of the Wearied Travelers
Tons of Photos |
