After a short delay...our day at Cozumel is up next. Disney Magic, day 5, our Mexican adventures.
When we awoke the sun was shining and we were slowly approaching Cozumel, Mexico. Numerous annoucements were being made about a "ta-do" that was going to be taking place at the pier. We were told that Mexican officials and Disney officials would be taking part in a pier reopening ceremony. We were the first ship being allowed to dock at the newly repaired pier (a hurricane had closed the pier and before our ship docked it had been a tender only situation). ANYHOO....we heard the annocements and really thought very little of it as we were there to have fun and enjoy ourselves on the beach for the day...however later on we heard that the official was actually the president of Mexico and that the "little ta-do" had actually been a huge thing.
Just goes to show how oblivious one can be when focused on getting to the beach!!
But enough about the ta-do that we didn't even attend. Our day was to be spent with our dear family friends at Paradise Beach. WOO HOO
I don't think a more beautiful beach adorns the island. This place is a real paradise...complete with something for everyone in the family...but I am getting ahead of myself
.
Once we walked out of the restricted area on the peir we were quickly approached by offers for tours etc. We actually chose to take one man up on his offer. He offered to take both of our families in one van (there were 10 of us total) anywhere we wanted all day long. He charged us $75 USD as a flat fee for the entire day and he would remain and wait for us as long as we wished at any stop. Before meeting Tomas we had planned on only going to Paradise Beach...but with our own personal tour guide, we figured we might want to expand a bit...
We asked him to give us a short tour on our way to the beach. He (like the guide we had hired the day before on Grand Cayman) was supremely helpful and his van was WAY cleaner then my van at home and the air was nice and cool. The way we figured it, a one way ride to the beach would have been about $30 for all 10 of us...the ride back would have been the same. This way we paid an extra $15 and had our own "friend for hire" (I swear, this is what "Aladdin" and "Abu" took to calling him...let's hope their was a language barrier and nobody thought they were talking about "those" kind of friends).
So on our way to Paradise Beach we took the scenic route...and it was eye opening and stunning. The eye opening part came when he pointed out that we were going through the "nice" part of town where the doctors, lawyers and other "professionals" lived. The "not so nice" parts of town in our part of the world rivaled them...with the exception of how clean it was...Cozumel was sparkling clean! What an eye opener for the kids. I want my boys to grow up and KNOW they are blessed. I don't want them to take anything for granted...I think that portion of the drive served that purpose very well! I cannot say how clean this area was though or how even though the standard of living was very different from what most people in the US are used too...it was still a very welcoming place and I would not have been afraid to be walking with the kids through the area.
And then we swung out along the coast...WOW, this is where the stunning came in.
This is also where I started having my dreams of a home along the Cozumel ocean front drive...
According to our guide, homes like the above are currently going for about $150,000-$300,000...thoughts of selling our home and buying one of these instead swirled throughout my head. With beautiful homes like those (my pictures once again do not do justice to the beauty of the homes) and BEAUTIFUL views like these...
It was hard to not want to become a home owner in beautiful Cozumel! Keep in mind, dh is much more level headed then I am and he kept me from abandoning everything I knew in favor of a home along the Mexican Caribbean (do I thank him or thump him for that one??
).
My reality pursuits on hold, I was ever so ready to hit the beach!! Pulling into Paradise Beach this is what we saw...the landscaping was BEAUTIFUL!!
Upon arrival we staked out our spots on comfy beach chairs and paid our $9 per person fee for an arm band that would allow us to use all the beach had to offer. Which was a ton!! They had kayaks, snorkeling equipment, a huge trampoline out in the water, an iceburg (ie inflatable climbing structure) out in water (dh LOVED this), and floats. A great deal! Especially for us, we took advantage of all the beach had to offer. "Goofy" spent his day snorkeling. He didn't ever want to stop! "Aladdin" and "Abu" split there time between the water trampoline, the kayaks, snorkeling and just splashing around in the waves. Dh loved the climbing iceburg and climbed to the top and then jumped into the ocean over and over and over again. "Stitch" spent his day with "Cinderella"...they built sand castle after sand castle and took a few turns snorkeling. My favorite part of the day was lounging on the beach, drinking a margarita and eating shrimp cerviche (fresh jumbo shrimp chunks, cilantro, tomatoes, onions and lime served with fresh tortillia chips). OH MY GOODNESS...better food I have
never had!! **YES, the ice and water were filtered and I would highly reccomend anyone looking for a beach to spend time on in Cozumel to head over to Paradise Beach**.
Here are "Aladdin" and "Abu" when they came up for air.
While the boys played away on the beach and in the surf, I went over to the stand and had my entire head braided (and beads and beaded flowers at the crown of my head) for $50...a real deal compared to the cost for the same service on the ship or at
Castaway Cay. And the combs were soaking in disinfectant...that is always a plus!
Here is the after picture of my new hairdo!
Paradise Beach was clean, the staff was friendly (and I felt downright decadent with my feet in the sand and the water lapping at my toes eating/drinking what they brought me), there was no high pressure selling of anything, one little wristband got you a whole day's worth of fun (and it cost less then $10 person), the water was calm and an almost unreal shade of jewel blue and well, it was just as close to heaven as you get down here on earth! **This may be grounds for being hung by my fingernails BUT...I think Paradise Beach is even more relaxing then the beaches at Castaway Cay....**
After spending about 4 and 1/2 hours at Paradise Beach we went and found Tomas who was waiting for us in the shade in the front. We dried off and hopped in and headed out. Now that we had enjoyed a day at the beach we were ready to stop and see Tomas's top suggestion, some ancient Aztec ruins.
While the ruins at this particular site were not on a grand scale (just the one ssmall structure) but for a quick peek, it was just right. Along with the ruins there was a small open air church that was quaint and very pretty. Also, there was a small row of open air shops where I found some "must have" buys. And yes, I did do a bit of getting the prices dropped...but really, they were so cheap to begin with that I wouldn't have cared to pay full price...but one should always follow local customs
.
On our way back to the port we saw these little soccer players and "Aladdin" (our soccer obsessed son) was in heaven seeing his favorite sport being played in another country.
Upon our return we did a bit of exploring in the mall across from the pier.
We stumbled across a man who would let you pose with his parrots for a small fee (I think it was $12 for 8 pictures on your own camera or 2 printed off taken with his). You will notice the absence of "Stitch". As you can tell by now, pictures (for some strange reason) set him off...well, after an entire day of new things...he was having no more "new" for him at all!
Above are my two favorite photos.
After this shot we made our way back to the ship. About 15 minutes after we made it back, the skies opened up and it started to pour! I was ever so glad that I was back in our dry room starting to get ready for dinner...tonight would be the Disney Magic's Pirates IN the Caribbean dinner and party...we were all looking forward to it!
However, those nifty braids I had gotten? I "had" to take out the back braids, they were starting to give me a headache. ISH...the ones on the top and sides were fine but the ones pulling at the back of my head? Nope, not gonna keep them...those little stinkers had to come out...so with only 45 minutes to go before dinner dh and I started to unweave those tightly done braids. 44 minutes later the last of the back of the head braids were finally out and the prepared cruisers we were (thanks to spending tons of time here on the DIS) we were all "pirated up" and ready to take on pirate night.
Coming up next...pirate night...TO BE CONTINUED!!
