winairtravel

The previous day when we arrived in Cancun, Mexico from our 8-hour trip from San Francisco the weather was bad.  Thank God, this day was different.

It was a beautiful sunny morning as I peeked outside our Westin room in Cancun, Mexico. I would be going south of Cancun to Playa del Carmen and to the island of Cozumel, off the coast of Playa del Carmen. As my friend opted to stay in Cancun to explore it more, I decided to go on the adventure alone.

I took my first McDonald’s breakfast in Mexico. You know, with chili and jalapeno, it was a different experience.

I took a public bus from our hotel to the bus station then I took a wi-fi enabled ADO bus to Playa del Carmen and you bet I was grinning from ear to ear during the entire, well, just one hour trip because I was connected to the world. Well, I did not have a data roaming or data-enabled local sim card so the free wi-fi was a real bonus for me.

In 55 minutes we were already in Playa del Carmen (PDC or Playa for short).

A colorful, seaside resort, PDC was cramped with locals and tourists alike.

A Catholic church in PDC.

I walked closer to the beach area which was two blocks away from the bus station. Awesome location!

Every time I go to a beach I always become so excited.

As I walked closer…..

..and closer, I was mesmerized, stunned, stupefied, overwhelmed.

So I had to sit down under one of those red beach umbrellas and set up my camera, put the timer on and had that one memorable beach shot.

It’s indeed a stunning beach.  Better than the beaches in Cancun.

Stunning!

It was quite filled with mostly locals and some tourists.

I rested for a while inside a bar sipping on a glass of long island iced tea while waiting for the boat that would take us to the island of Cozumel.

Then I headed to the jetty terminal.

The jetty terminal is situated in the middle of the beach.

This was the other beach to the right of the jetty terminal.  I was once again overwhelmed.

Typical of a Caribbean beach.

Yes we were headed to Cozumel, I knew that!

Quite a lot of tourists going to spend days in Cozumel.  I wish I had the time to do likewise.

This was the beach to the left of the jetty terminal where I spent time earlier.

As we boarded the boat and were seated inside, the amazing views were still truly attracting me so I took a picture of the beach to the right of the jetty terminal….

…and to the left of the jetty terminal.

And once again to the right of the jetty terminal as the boat got off to a slow start away from Playa.  This view actually brought tears to my eyes.

Goodbye Playa del Carmen!

Hello Cozumel!

As the boat docked I just went straight to stroll in the area near the jetty port.

Clean, organized, exotic,  Cozumel beckons.

Colorful restaurants….

…and colorful buildings such as the Plaza del Sol.

It was just past lunch time and everyone was probably taking siesta.  Suddenly I decided to take a snorkeling tour.  The group I was supposed to join already left but there was a way I could join them.

The tour company owner picked me up himself and dropped me at one of the stops of the snorkel group.  We passed by Barbie’s car when we cruised around town trying to get to our destination.  I wonder if Barbie was with Ken at that moment.

I finally joined the group.

Yes that’s me with the thumbs up sign.  It was a shame my photographer (the boat driver) did not ask me to take off my snorkel mask.  We then went to three more snorkeling areas swimming with beautiful, colorful schools of fish. I apologize that I am still not into underwater photography so no underwater shots of Cozumel’s colorful and rich marine life, would appear on this blog.

And so we headed back to the shore and passed by the empty docking area for cruise ships which probably had just left or were on their way back.

Souvenir shops, yes!

Really!?

I finally went to my final destination in Cozumel, Hard Rock Cafe.

It is the smallest Hard Rock Cafe in the world.

Even the way up in is narrow.

With a tiny bar that could sit less than 10 people and a main dining area with less than 12 tables, it’s indeed the smallest HRC in the world.

As I was waiting for my boat trip back to Playa del Carmen, I sipped on, what else, margarita!

It was good!

The bar.

Another addition to my collection of Hard Rock Cafe shot glasses.

It was time to say goodbye to Cozumel. I did not have regrets for not spending more time to visit the entire island because I know some day I would be back…..when I would already be into underwater photography and diving.  It was good to spy the island first.