Iberostar Cozumel

I thought I'd also throw out a review of our hotel- Iberostar Cozumel. It was only the 2nd time I'd stayed at an AI (All-Inclusive) and we learned some things. Most importantly, we're not a huge AI couple. We like to wander off the resort, see the remote parts, enjoy the local restaurants, venture off the beaten path, and check out hole-in-the-wall restaurants. I love these huge reception/lobby areas on most resort hotels. It was one of 2 places that had WiFi (at $13USD/day), and it was equipped with a bar. My great plan to arrive at noon resulted in us getting there before our room was ready, but we had lunch, drinks, and a tour before getting to our room at around 2PM.

The thing we loved about this property is the landscape and layout. Small little bungalows with a few rooms spread out all over the property, separated by lots of trees and greenery. It was much cozier and more intimate than a gigantic building, and I loved hearing all the birds and wind gently rustling all the trees.

Although beautiful, the thing we didn't care for about the resort were the food options. I'd previously stayed at a Dreams resort, and there was a "burger shack" on the beach and room service around the clock. There were no such options at Iberostar, and the restaurants kept weird hours, especially for divers who are up early and return from a dive trip hungry.

As soon as you arrive, you are greeted by a small flock of flamingos that are fun to watch and add some spunk to the place. One of the other minor irritations was the dinner reservation system, which could only be made for *that* night and had to be made in person. Additionally, if you were staying 3-4 nights, you were only allowed to make a reservation in the morning for 1 night. Not a great system for divers, and really quite a PITA to walk all the way up front from the beach or pool area at 9AM to get a reservation at 6:30 instead of 9PM.

The resort also had some other interesting wildlife- including several large iguanas. Do you see 2 on the roof? In addition to these guys roaming around, there were also a few cats and some neat peacocks, but I never saw them when I had camera in hand! :(

The one nice (best) feature of the hotel (especially for divers) is that it's closest to the dive sites. It was less than a 5 minute boat ride after we were picked up from this dock. You could also snorkel (or kayak or catamaran) right in this area too. The pool was nice enough, except that the baby pool was right next to the area where you could put your chaise lounge in the water. The only day I hung around the pool, there weren't too many screaming kids near me as I dangled my feet from my chair.

The rooms were just fine and dandy, even if the beds were a bit hard. I slept just fine, but H was a little uncomfortable. These hammocks that were on every porch were awesome, and we took full advantage of it. All in all, it's probably just a fine resort, but it didn't fit that great with our needs. If we decided to do AI again, I now know better what to look for in a hotel. If we were to go back to Cozumel, I think I'd rather stay at the Ventanas al Mar on the east side of the island.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Refreshed after the weekend and ready for another week.

Downtown Cozumel

Sunday after our dive & a little afternoon siesta, we decided to head to downtown. I was a little leery to venture down there after seeing all the cruise ships flying in on Friday, but was pleasantly surprised to find it relatively quiet.

The boardwalk along the waterfront was decorated with all these great sculptures. I'm not sure if they were permanent or part of the Carnival celebration.

There was a giant stage set up for the festivities & many of the bars were advertising parties.

Many of the shops were closed on Sunday, which made the area feel almost deserted at times.

I loved finding little courtyard shops that housed inner quiet areas.

We walked for a few minutes & then stopped at the first street bar we found.

H had been wanting to eat dinner at this restaurant on Saturday, but I was too tired & didn't want to battle the Valentine's Day crowds. Luckily, La Veranda was open on Sunday & we were hungry by 4:30.

It's got a quaint little bar area inside with a few table, but we came to enjoy the tranquil courtyard.

For almost 2 hours, we were the only people in this quite paradise- enjoying the trees, birds, breeze and excellent service.

It was like taking a step back in time & that you were a million miles away from the crazy bustle of downtown Cozumel. We ordered a bottle of wine & started out with the shrimp scampi.

I loved their beautiful, detailed menus.

We moved onto a Cesar salad, prepared table-side. It was quite entertaining to watch it being made from scratch.

We both had Lobster flambe, which was again cooked table side to continue the entertainment.

As the sun set, the courtyard was transformed into a candlelit, cozy restaurant.

We really enjoyed our dinner & would highly recommend this place to anybody looking to get away from the All-inclusive buffets for a night.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I think I'll consider a weekend getaway to Mexico every February! ;)

2009 Preview

It's is going to be ANOTHER exciting year filled with awesomeness! I don't think I've ever looked this foward to a New Year. H & I both have some great things going on at work. We're finishing up some projects around the house & both determined to do more volunteer work this year. We're starting our 3rd year of marriage in February & we'll hopefully be finishing off all the little things on our 101 Things in 1001 Days list.

After doing a 2008 Review, a 2009 Preview of things to come.

JANUARY

My 7th Houston Marathon & then we head to DC for the Obama inauguration that night!

FEBRUARY

We're headed on our first dive trip to Cozumel for our 2nd anniversary over Valentines' weekend. We're staying at this great hotel with small little bungalows, surrounded by forrests, with lots of wildlife, near the dive sites and on a gorgeous beach. I've never been to the Yucatan before, but this will be H's 8th trip to Cancun/Cozumel.

MARCH

Disney Princess Half Marathon in Orlando with a friend of mine.

APRIL

Our birthdays!

Headed to Jazz Fest in New Orleans again to see Dave Matthews...I'm so excited about this!

MAY & JUNE

South Africa & Mauritius Trip

JULY

I'd really like to do another Mission trip to Mexico with our church next summer sometime.

SEPTEMBER

Hopefully we'll get out to California to visit some friends & catch some baseball for Labor Day.

I've been wanting to make it to the Austin City Limits Music Festival for years- maybe 2009 will be the year that it actually happens.

NOVEMBER

We're planning/aiming/hoping to sneak away for Thanksgiving or New Years for a little weekend trip. It's such a long way away, but we might do a long weekend with our family. Perhaps in Mexico or the Florida Keys.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: What a great year we're so blessed to be having!

The Windward Side of Cozumel

Saturday after our first dive, we rented a car and headed south to tour the island and check out the east coast.

Let me just say the drive was spectacular and I highly recommend that everybody check it out. There were lots of people driving ATV's and mopeds and Jeeps and every other mode of transportation.

At Punta Sur, there's a funky little rasta bar where we started on our first round of drinks and some awesome guacamole.

We decided to make it a mini-pub crawl and hit up a few of the bars on this side of the island and enjoy the view at each one.

This side of the island sports many more rocks, waves and gorgeous blue water, as well as lots of greenery.

I think I literally took about 200 photos of the crashing blue waves. I just couldn't get enough of the beauty of this place.

Seriously- P A R A D I S E! With the wind whipping through my hair, the fragrant smell of the tropics, the sound of the waves crashing, the fine sand between my toes and the warm sunshine on my face. I could easily have spent my whole vacation right there.

There is a single, narrow road that loops around the south and east sides of the island. It's a great scenic and relaxing drive to make.

Even being there, the color of the water was just surreal to me.

One of the other awesome things about this side of the island is it's remoteness and serenity. You could drive for miles and not see other people (except at the bars!). You could plop yourself down on the beach and have tons of privacy (except those driving by on the road).

I was also fascinated by all the rock (coral?) formations that sat just off the shore and withstood the constant abuse of the crashing waves.

I really wished we'd just pulled over, like so many others, and just laid on the beach or walked along the water's edge. Unfortunately, H wasn't wearing his suit- but we know for next time.

I was SOOO glad I didn't miss this part of the island!

This was our view from our second pub, where we sat at a beach palapa and sunk our feet into the sand.

I think the must have just finished filming a Corona commercial here or something. :)

Further up the coast, there was even a little lagoon area where many of the locals were hanging out and swimming in the shallow water with kids.

This drive was probably the highlight of the whole trip for me & would convince me to go back to Cozumel again.

Couldn't you just stare at this all day?

And when I can convince H to get all sorts of fun drinks, like the Coco Loco, why not?

I felt so much stress leave my body as I just sat there- sipping on drinks and enjoying nature.

There were quite a few bars, but we only stopped at two. We did see a real neat boutique hotel & lots of artisan-type shops with locals selling crafts.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I can't believe I'll be at Disney World in 2 weeks! It snuck up on me without any fanfare & now I'm super-excited!!

Landing in Cozumel

Most of the flight was over the Gulf, but approaching the Yucatan there was some very interesting coastline. I'm not sure what type of farm or area this is, but I love the blue waters, white beach, green plants, orange fields and then the brown bay on the opposite side.

Approaching the airport in Cozumel, we could see 4 giant cruise ships at port. There were several more located at another port a bit further down the coast. I'm sure glad we were staying at a resort way outside of town and far from the crazy crowds of the cruise ships.

We could also see the ferry from Cancun and all the hustle and bustle along the piers.

We made it safely to our hotel and had drinks in had before 1PM. Any place with a bar in the reception area is not too shabby.

And just because I have about 15,395 photos of the gorgeous blue waters, I thought I'd post one here to tease you with all the great shots coming up. I love waves and especially waves crashing against the rocks like they did on the east side of the island.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Back to my running & gym routine this morning.