Cozumel day 1 and 2

Tues Dec 3, 2013

Dona enjoying a cool beverage with chips and dip
at bed and breakfast

We left Dallas at 10:45am.  The flight was not full.  It was very pleasant.  Arrived in Cozumel by 1:10pm, got baggage, and thru customs AND to the bed and breakfast by 2:15.  We had to check into one room with private bath that shares a common area with another room because the room we wanted for the week wouldn't open up until tomorrow.  This is a very nice set-up.  3 blocks from the dive shop, 4 blocks from a couple of grocery stores.  Another few blocks to the town square and tourist traps.  BUT since it is winter, breakfast is not included in the cost.  The first thing we did after changing our clothes was to go to the grocery store for necessities:  beer, wine coolers, chips and dip plus coffee, yogurt, bananas, granola (breakfast items).  We didn't notice until later that night that there was no bath soap or shampoo and only 2 towels (no wash cloths or hand towels).  There was liquid hand soap.  That was good enough to clean off the day's worth of sweat.
For dinner we ate at La Mission.  We had eaten there on an earlier trip.  It was one of the restaurants the hostess at the BnB recommended.  Greg had Chili Rellano and I had Chicken and Beef-ka-bob (brochetta mixta).  They also have a cold salad bar with all types of marinated veggies (mushrooms, onions, cabbage), rice with carrots, jalapeno salsa, and a sour cream or yogurt salsa.  It was excellent...... especially the margarita!
Not much sleep because the noise on the street was loud and the room was hot (no air conditioning).

Wed Dec 4, 2013  Had coffee, yogurt, granola, and banana on the open-air terrace of the B and B.  Had to be at the dive shop by 8:25.  The dive shop hires taxi's to take you to the small boat harbor out of town.  So we were wisked away by 8:45am.  Got to the boat harbor at 9, and at dive site by 9:25 and in the water by 9:31....wow, pretty fast.  We did 2 dives this morning.  The dives were good and I didn't panic any; ears cleared good and I did really well with my buoyancy.  I felt like a real diver!  All the dives here are "drift" dives with different degrees of current.  We saw lots of fish and colorful coral; a small "sand" ray; and a nice sized morey eel swimming along.  Click on the link below and see a slide show of the 2 dives from today.  Greg lost a filter for the camera housing coming through TSA at the airport.  That is why so many of the pictures are light at the top and dark at the bottom.  He is working on correcting that.  I have put captions on some of the pictures so you have to click a picture to read the caption.
Santa Rosa Reef and Paradise Reef
After diving we walked from the dive shop and grabbed a couple of chicken burritos and beers and ate lunch back at the BnB.  Our room had changed to a downstairs with private patio/hammock.  Only a fridge no microwave BUT air conditioning.  That makes a world of difference.  The only annoying thing is there is an outside light right above a window in our room.  The window doesn't have a curtain or any way to close it so the light shines in the room all night.  It is taking some use to.  I brought eye shades for the plane so I've been using them.
For dinner we bought a rotisserie chicken from a street vendor with rice and onions.  Have enough left over for lunch tomorrow.