Back in November a dozen or so of us headed to the Secrets Aura Cozumel resort to have a good time and ..
SCUBA Dive! After that trip, we starting dreaming and scheming:
Cheap Dive Trip!
. The original plan was for a half dozen of us Divers to head down , grab a cheap place. That soon escalated to a full blown 7 bedroom house with 15 folks rolling in. Bam!
Seemed like this trip would never get here, then suddenly it was time! A cold front was bearing down on us the Saturday we left, with most of us running to the heat from the cold. This was supposed to be a full blown dive trip, but in the end only 7 of 15 are diving. Between better halves and family members joining in, we had a full blow vacation mob, with 4 days of diving in the mix. Sadly, we lost a day of diving due to high winds, but we made up for it in alcohol abuse. Still, we got three days of 2-tank dives in, and a 1-tank night dive. By that last dive, most of us were beat. However, most of our time wasn't spent diving.. it was at our la casa! I'd locked in with AirBnB a month or so prior and the pics didn't' lie. Week before we left, the folks that rented to us hooked us up with a grocery 'getter' and the house was stocked with food and beer before we arrived. Grabbing some liquor through duty-free at DFW ensured we were stocked for a solid few days. We had nothing to do but ... enjoy Cozumel!
The night before the trip our daughter flew in from Cali' with an 18 hour layover at DFW (planned) so we picked her up and headed back home. Up early the next morning we headed back, pumped and ready. Soon as we rolled up, met up with the Fosters and Kennedys. We headed over to a nice lil restaurant in the
terminal for some grub and drinks; Bloody Marys n' Mimosas! Then we were headed over to the gate to get on the plane and .. .en-route to Mexico as the cold air was engulfing Texas. We were in First, another couple traveling there up front, and 1/2 the group in the first three rows of the coach cabin area. Let the fiesta begin? Yes .. it did. Have to admit, felt strange drinking Jack'n'cokes with my omelette, but hey .. it's Saturday and we're headed south. Nice part of DFW is it's only 2.5 hours from Cancun and Cozumel; just a quick jaunt. Sure enough, by noon we're through customs and parked at the lil 'margaritaville' stand by the vaca' greeters as you exit. From there, we grab our roll away luggage, head 100 yards outside the airport exit, grab a van and less than 3 kilometers later we have arrived. Our Casa de' Azul is awaiting us.
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| Home Sweet Home Arrival |
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| First view headed inside |
I'd be lying if I told you a few folks weren't concerned. Most normally stay at AIs. But we're located just north of town. There is a hotel 100 yards to the north of us with a restaurant. A bar. And .. taxis. We had pre-stocked the home with supplies. Me, I wasn't concerned. My only focus was getting folks into the correct rooms. This turned out to be a spin for me, since it didn't go as smoothly as I'd anticipated. But, lessons learned for the future on my part. Still as we walked in the front gate you could see the ocean up ahead. You knew.. it was going to be a good week. This house has an eclectic, feel to it it.... you pass bedrooms as you proceed to the main part... then you're in the main floor with an awesome ocean view. It's nice ... clean .. and inviting. Passing the stairway to the bedrooms , you head outside to the Pool area . Then the man made beach area. You soon find yourself on the waters edge looking onto the rocks
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| Backyard |
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| This will work! |
where the waves are breaking. Looks to be 12-20ft deep. Only way out of the ocean is a 'pool ladder' attached to the rock. Doing a 180 deg turn to look back at the house you see 3 floors ... main, and 2 floors of bedrooms overlooking the beauty of it all. Four bedrooms with the view, three towards the street side. I'm cracking a smile that I'll have for the whole week. Let the fun begin.
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| Bedroom Views |
No play by plays here. What I would say is, the week met my expectations and more. Most folks had never stayed on the economy. One couple had a jeep for 2 days at a cost of $40 in exchange for sitting through a BS Time Share presentation. Other than that, we utilized Taxis for everything. We were actually close enough to town to walk, but ... chose not to.We had a hotel next door that 1/2 of
us utilized several times for meals and their Karaoke bar. Hell, on checkout day, we rolled our suitcases over, their bell hops watched them for us while we had lunch and drinks. The water temp was in the 80s and we used the pool and ocean during the week. The man-made beach was a nice backdrop the entire time and the 6' foot walls one either side of the property gave us privacy. We had an awesome view and could see cruise ships, the 'pirate ship', jet-skis, dive boats, fishing boats, yachts... all day and into the evening. Many folks snorkeled off the ladder area. We had a grill and utilized it throughout the week for everything from dogs/brats to lobster/crab legs that we'd caught one night. The kitchen was a beehive of activity making drinks and grabbing cervezas all week. As usual we broke away from the place we stay out for a trip around the Island. Usually we rent a jeep, but this is the second time in a row we jumped in a van and let the taxi driver take us to various stops along the route, on the southern and eastern sides of the Island, which are 'off the grid'. All in all... it was an awesome time!
Still, the main purpose of this trip was SCUBA diving. On an average day, 5 to 6 of us jumped in a cab or jeep or back of a truck and worked our way back in forth between the house and Caleta Harbor. Our dive shop of choice is "
Dive with Julio." They've become personal friends to us and I wouldn't even think of diving with anyone else. I certified and dove my first several dozen dives with Dressel Divers. But, after diving with a small group and one where the folks do all the tank setup and swaps, etc.... can't imagine going back to doing it all myself. Hey, you get spoiled! So, since we didn't have a pier we could leverage for pickups, we made our way daily to their location which in all fairness, made the trip that much more memorable. These guys bust their asses daily prepping everything and we got to see it all first hand. Then, we'd load up, head out the small harbor port and off we went. This trip we got to see a lil' bit of everything. We did the shipwreck dive again, since some of our folks hadn't done that one before. I got to do my second night dive, but this time we were prepared with spears and brought home a dozen lobsters and king crabs. Hell, we had so many that after grilling them up, we still had leftovers with 15 folks ( okay .. not everyone eats it).
On the final day, Julio and Ishi stopped by to drop off some tee
shirts and a few settled up on their bill. It was hard to see them go, knowing we were now 24 hours from departure. We had 4 of us taking pics and videos to remember it all by though. As I write this, we are already planning our next dive trip. In the fall we head to the US Virgin Islands for my G'Nephew's Birthday celebration. But, I need another dive trip on Cozumel before that. I need to dive with my local friends down there. Just a matter of .. when?
So, would I rent another home on the island, vs using hotels and resorts? Hell yes! I would prefer to know each person well though, before we roll in so there is no drama BS. We had a lil' the first few days, then everyone sync'd in a groove. I never thought we'd fill up the house with 14+ people. Hell, just several days before we departed Johnnie chimed in with a request to come along... I joked as long as he didn't mind sleeping on the floor! He didn't care and .. didn't have to; he got a bed. Part of me would prefer a smaller group yet the other part of me enjoys the dynamics of all the personalities. So, will I do a repeat? Never say never. I've since found some killer deals on large houses. Small houses. Villas. Condo's. But next time, I think I'll budget in a small car so mama and I can sneak off easily. Yet, something to be said about not 'drinking and driving' ; taxi it and kick it up!
So many options.
All Inclusive (AI). Homes. Condos. Hotels. One only needs to lock in their airfare then go to AirBnB or VRBO to locate a low cost option to stay in.
A quick search shows more than a THOUSAND options. Wrap your head around that? So as I like to say .... yep... "YOU know what to do!"
terminal for some grub and drinks; Bloody Marys n' Mimosas! Then we were headed over to the gate to get on the plane and .. .en-route to Mexico as the cold air was engulfing Texas. We were in First, another couple traveling there up front, and 1/2 the group in the first three rows of the coach cabin area. Let the fiesta begin? Yes .. it did. Have to admit, felt strange drinking Jack'n'cokes with my omelette, but hey .. it's Saturday and we're headed south. Nice part of DFW is it's only 2.5 hours from Cancun and Cozumel; just a quick jaunt. Sure enough, by noon we're through customs and parked at the lil 'margaritaville' stand by the vaca' greeters as you exit. From there, we grab our roll away luggage, head 100 yards outside the airport exit, grab a van and less than 3 kilometers later we have arrived. Our Casa de' Azul is awaiting us.
us utilized several times for meals and their Karaoke bar. Hell, on checkout day, we rolled our suitcases over, their bell hops watched them for us while we had lunch and drinks. The water temp was in the 80s and we used the pool and ocean during the week. The man-made beach was a nice backdrop the entire time and the 6' foot walls one either side of the property gave us privacy. We had an awesome view and could see cruise ships, the 'pirate ship', jet-skis, dive boats, fishing boats, yachts... all day and into the evening. Many folks snorkeled off the ladder area. We had a grill and utilized it throughout the week for everything from dogs/brats to lobster/crab legs that we'd caught one night. The kitchen was a beehive of activity making drinks and grabbing cervezas all week. As usual we broke away from the place we stay out for a trip around the Island. Usually we rent a jeep, but this is the second time in a row we jumped in a van and let the taxi driver take us to various stops along the route, on the southern and eastern sides of the Island, which are 'off the grid'. All in all... it was an awesome time!
Still, the main purpose of this trip was SCUBA diving. On an average day, 5 to 6 of us jumped in a cab or jeep or back of a truck and worked our way back in forth between the house and Caleta Harbor. Our dive shop of choice is "Dive with Julio." They've become personal friends to us and I wouldn't even think of diving with anyone else. I certified and dove my first several dozen dives with Dressel Divers. But, after diving with a small group and one where the folks do all the tank setup and swaps, etc.... can't imagine going back to doing it all myself. Hey, you get spoiled! So, since we didn't have a pier we could leverage for pickups, we made our way daily to their location which in all fairness, made the trip that much more memorable. These guys bust their asses daily prepping everything and we got to see it all first hand. Then, we'd load up, head out the small harbor port and off we went. This trip we got to see a lil' bit of everything. We did the shipwreck dive again, since some of our folks hadn't done that one before. I got to do my second night dive, but this time we were prepared with spears and brought home a dozen lobsters and king crabs. Hell, we had so many that after grilling them up, we still had leftovers with 15 folks ( okay .. not everyone eats it). 
On the final day, Julio and Ishi stopped by to drop off some tee 
shirts and a few settled up on their bill. It was hard to see them go, knowing we were now 24 hours from departure. We had 4 of us taking pics and videos to remember it all by though. As I write this, we are already planning our next dive trip. In the fall we head to the US Virgin Islands for my G'Nephew's Birthday celebration. But, I need another dive trip on Cozumel before that. I need to dive with my local friends down there. Just a matter of .. when?
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