1-3-04 Western - Day 5 - Dolphins!
We gained an hour going into Cozumel time so we got to set our clock to sleep in an hour more in the morning! Another day of great weather. We had an appointment to swim with the Dolphins at 1:00 at Chankanaab park. We decided to go shopping first then get a taxi around noon. When you walk off the boat you do down a long pier. At the end their is an escalator up to go across the main road. We went up the escalator. We are not really into shopping so we were kind of bored with the shops (tshirts, guitars, sombreros, tropical clothes, jewelry). We were ready to head to Chankanaab once we met up with Nancy at noon. We went down to the street and hailed a red and white taxi (there are plenty of them!). We asked the rate before getting in - $10.00 for 4 to Chankanaab. They drive fast because they are in a hurry to get to the next fare. There were no working seatbelts. I just hoped for the best and we arrived safely. We paid admission - I dont remember what it was - I think about $10.00 each. We went right to the Dolphin area. Here is a bit of background on how we booked this excursion. In the past I did the land and sea Wonder cruise. We did all Disney excursions. The dolphin encounter had been full in Nassau so we missed it. Once at Nassau I realized you could book it yourself, but we did not have time that day to go. This trip I did some research and found out about shoretrips.com. I discovered that the Disney dolphin excursion was just an encounter - you could book an actual swim on your own for Chankanaab - which I did. Well anyway we arrived at the counter and they told us that they were running behind and we would be at 2:00 rather than one. We went to the beach to get some chairs, etc.. It was pretty full, but we got 3 chairs and an umbrella and set up camp. My son and I did I quick look around the park. The fake ruins were extenstive - you had to go on a long maze like walk so we didnt get to see everything. We took some photos and headed back to the beach. We gathered everyone up and went back to the dolphin area. We were given life jackets and then a marine trainer showed us what we would be doing with the dolphin using a wooden dolphin for an example. We would be kissing the dolphin, then turning our cheek for the dolphin to kiss us, we would then shake fins with the dolphin. Then we would be given a belly ride by the dolphin! We walked out on a long pier and went past all of the people doing the dolphin encounter. They were in bigger groups in smaller tanks. They only kissed and shook hands and they were done. We were pretty happy about our swim plans. There were only 7 people in our group - us plus only 3 others. When we got to our area a video guy told us to wave and act happy which was easy to do. We then walked down onto a platform in the water (cold!!!). Our dolphin, Capi, came up and waved hi. He swam up to us and we could pet him. We then took turns doing the kiss and shake, being photographed and videoed the whole time. Then we each swam out to our trainer and Capi came up and gave us a ride back. It was spectacular! We then all donned masks and snorkels and swam with Capi while Capi did tricks and came up to us. After all of this we went back to the platform and Capi did a few more jumps and the stand up and swim backwards thing that dolphins do and we were done. We got out and went into the shop to see our video. The video was great we laughed so hard. We bought it for only $35.00. We then bought some 5x7s. I think they were about $10.00 each. They had photos of us kissing, shaking and riding. We then went to the beach and ate our peanut butter sandwiches that we brought from the ship (we really didnt want to spend $50.00 on lunch). There are drink peddlers going up and down the beach constantly so getting a drink is no problem. After eating we decided to snorkel. The water was starting to get choppy by now. My DD, 15 and Nancy got right in - you just walk down some steps that are right off the beach. There is also a railing to hold on to. My DS, 10 found the water to be cold and choppy and had a hard time snorkeling. He wanted to get out pretty quick, but did see a big blue fish that was pretty cool. I then walked with him over to the Sandy wading pool type area. We looked around for fish, but it was too shallow. I then told him that I did want to snorkel a bit because I didnt want to miss out on the Cozumel reef. I asked him to just watch me to make sure I didnt drown and that I would stay close to the shore. About that time DD got out and stayed with him. I got in and saw a few fish here and there. Some coral on the ground Then I noticed a bunch of fish coming out of this cave like hole and the bottom. Soon I was surrounded by tons of fish. All different species. I could hardly see through all of them. I surfaced after awhile and my kids were laughing at me because some of the local were throwing tortilla bits in the water and that it was what caused all of the fish to swarm. Some tortilla ended up in my hair and the fish all started nipping my hair and pulling and biting at it. That is when I decided to get out! We went searching for the Sea Lion and bird shows, but found out that they had been much earlier. If I went again I would go straight to Chankanaab when the ship docs. After awhile the park really cleared out and the water got even more choppy. We decided to leave - we didnt want to be the last ones there and miss a taxi. We went right out and found a taxi immediately for $10.00 back. No taxi problems at all. Once on the Magic we got ready for dinner. I had the grilled shrimp with rice appetizer, I ordered the veg enchilada, which I did not like (I am from Arizona so used to real enchiladas). I did not order a replacement because I was already full from the bread and appetizer. I had the Bananas Flambe for dessert. The servers put on a show and had everyone do the limbo. Later there was the sailaway party with lots of food, but we were to full to eat much. We we tired and retired to our staterooms for the night.
We gained an hour going into Cozumel time so we got to set our clock to sleep in an hour more in the morning! Another day of great weather. We had an appointment to swim with the Dolphins at 1:00 at Chankanaab park. We decided to go shopping first then get a taxi around noon. When you walk off the boat you do down a long pier. At the end their is an escalator up to go across the main road. We went up the escalator. We are not really into shopping so we were kind of bored with the shops (tshirts, guitars, sombreros, tropical clothes, jewelry). We were ready to head to Chankanaab once we met up with Nancy at noon. We went down to the street and hailed a red and white taxi (there are plenty of them!). We asked the rate before getting in - $10.00 for 4 to Chankanaab. They drive fast because they are in a hurry to get to the next fare. There were no working seatbelts. I just hoped for the best and we arrived safely. We paid admission - I dont remember what it was - I think about $10.00 each. We went right to the Dolphin area. Here is a bit of background on how we booked this excursion. In the past I did the land and sea Wonder cruise. We did all Disney excursions. The dolphin encounter had been full in Nassau so we missed it. Once at Nassau I realized you could book it yourself, but we did not have time that day to go. This trip I did some research and found out about shoretrips.com. I discovered that the Disney dolphin excursion was just an encounter - you could book an actual swim on your own for Chankanaab - which I did. Well anyway we arrived at the counter and they told us that they were running behind and we would be at 2:00 rather than one. We went to the beach to get some chairs, etc.. It was pretty full, but we got 3 chairs and an umbrella and set up camp. My son and I did I quick look around the park. The fake ruins were extenstive - you had to go on a long maze like walk so we didnt get to see everything. We took some photos and headed back to the beach. We gathered everyone up and went back to the dolphin area. We were given life jackets and then a marine trainer showed us what we would be doing with the dolphin using a wooden dolphin for an example. We would be kissing the dolphin, then turning our cheek for the dolphin to kiss us, we would then shake fins with the dolphin. Then we would be given a belly ride by the dolphin! We walked out on a long pier and went past all of the people doing the dolphin encounter. They were in bigger groups in smaller tanks. They only kissed and shook hands and they were done. We were pretty happy about our swim plans. There were only 7 people in our group - us plus only 3 others. When we got to our area a video guy told us to wave and act happy which was easy to do. We then walked down onto a platform in the water (cold!!!). Our dolphin, Capi, came up and waved hi. He swam up to us and we could pet him. We then took turns doing the kiss and shake, being photographed and videoed the whole time. Then we each swam out to our trainer and Capi came up and gave us a ride back. It was spectacular! We then all donned masks and snorkels and swam with Capi while Capi did tricks and came up to us. After all of this we went back to the platform and Capi did a few more jumps and the stand up and swim backwards thing that dolphins do and we were done. We got out and went into the shop to see our video. The video was great we laughed so hard. We bought it for only $35.00. We then bought some 5x7s. I think they were about $10.00 each. They had photos of us kissing, shaking and riding. We then went to the beach and ate our peanut butter sandwiches that we brought from the ship (we really didnt want to spend $50.00 on lunch). There are drink peddlers going up and down the beach constantly so getting a drink is no problem. After eating we decided to snorkel. The water was starting to get choppy by now. My DD, 15 and Nancy got right in - you just walk down some steps that are right off the beach. There is also a railing to hold on to. My DS, 10 found the water to be cold and choppy and had a hard time snorkeling. He wanted to get out pretty quick, but did see a big blue fish that was pretty cool. I then walked with him over to the Sandy wading pool type area. We looked around for fish, but it was too shallow. I then told him that I did want to snorkel a bit because I didnt want to miss out on the Cozumel reef. I asked him to just watch me to make sure I didnt drown and that I would stay close to the shore. About that time DD got out and stayed with him. I got in and saw a few fish here and there. Some coral on the ground Then I noticed a bunch of fish coming out of this cave like hole and the bottom. Soon I was surrounded by tons of fish. All different species. I could hardly see through all of them. I surfaced after awhile and my kids were laughing at me because some of the local were throwing tortilla bits in the water and that it was what caused all of the fish to swarm. Some tortilla ended up in my hair and the fish all started nipping my hair and pulling and biting at it. That is when I decided to get out! We went searching for the Sea Lion and bird shows, but found out that they had been much earlier. If I went again I would go straight to Chankanaab when the ship docs. After awhile the park really cleared out and the water got even more choppy. We decided to leave - we didnt want to be the last ones there and miss a taxi. We went right out and found a taxi immediately for $10.00 back. No taxi problems at all. Once on the Magic we got ready for dinner. I had the grilled shrimp with rice appetizer, I ordered the veg enchilada, which I did not like (I am from Arizona so used to real enchiladas). I did not order a replacement because I was already full from the bread and appetizer. I had the Bananas Flambe for dessert. The servers put on a show and had everyone do the limbo. Later there was the sailaway party with lots of food, but we were to full to eat much. We we tired and retired to our staterooms for the night.
