Cruise Part III - Cozumel

Also known as Heaven. It was a perfect day, sunny and gorgeous. We didn't want to do one of the excursions because they're so expensive. We thought we'd just wing it. After getting off the ship, we asked a bunch of gift shop workers and taxi drivers what they recommended. They all said different things, haha. When we got to the taxi stand, they were telling us it would $30 to take us to the private beach we wanted to go to. Seriously? Yuck. We were hanging around waiting to see if anyone else from our boat was going there so we could try and share a cab. Hans overheard some guy negotiating with a rental company and heard him get offered a dune buggy for $55 a day. Then Hans stepped in and said "Ya, we'll do that, too." We took this little dune buggy all over the island, just enjoying the sun and the drive.

At the very southern tip of the island, we found an ecological preserve called Punta Sur. Entry was pretty cheap and there was a lot to see! There was a turtle nesting area, crocodile habitat, light house, and the most perfect private beach. The most beautiful white sands and crystal clear, turquoise waters. And almost abandoned. We saw only a few other people the whole time we were there. 

We rented snorkel gear, got all suited up and dove it! It was cold at first, but then felt wonderful. We saw a few, clear fish. And then I saw something huge. Like.... almost my size. And I kinda freaked. I was smacking Hans' arm to get him to turn back, but he didn't see it and kept swimming toward it! You could tell when he saw it. It was just lurking in the weeds at the bottom and staring at us. Creepy. I totally thought it was some sort of baby shark. We booked it back to the shore. As we returned our gear (with the guy teasing us for coming back so soon) we described what we'd seen to us and he's all "Oh, ya. That's a barracuda." Umm... what? No. I'm done with getting in the water. At least it's a good story....