Cozumel is an island in the Caribbean Sea off the neater coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. This popular cruise ship destination became famous in 1961 when Jacques Cousteau declared Cozumel one of the most beautiful scuba diving areas of the world. Since then, Cozumel has become an underwater marine park to protect the delicate balance of the coral reefs and abundant variety of tropical fish.
This is where I first snorkeled and looked forward to the experience. I had initially planned to take a local taxi to Playa Carona. As we left the pier, we talked to several tour guide operators and learned that the 2008 hurricane had changed the coast and the flow of fish. Instead of going on our own, we took an excursion with a local dive shop, which turned out fantastic. We visited three sites, had an attentive marine tour guide, saw plenty of fish, coral, and aquatic plants in crystal-clear waters. The snorkeling leader fed the fish, which meant we were surrounded with colorful Sargent Majors, deep blue parrot fish, and other vibrant fish of various sizes. He dove down for a sea cucumber and I held the strange sea worm in my hand. This excursion was by far better than the one we had on Roatan.
Once we landed we went to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville to buy souvenirs, and then we returned to the cruise ship. Mom had a lucky streak in the casino; she played for more than a half hour on $5.00 before loosing it all.
The entertainment was a comedian named Fred Bevill. His jokes were funny, but the true story of his first date at age nine was hilarious.
