Revisiting Costa Maya

Some years ago we made a stop in Costa Maya on another cruise. I remember booking a dive excursion and experiencing one of the more scary dive trips we've had. Not because of what we encountered below the surface but rather what happened along the way. The dive boat didn't have all of their tanks secured and they were rolling around in the bottom of the boat. Add to that instructions difficult to follow and we vowed never to do that again.

We did enjoy the crazy little fishing village that we explored after the dive however and on this last cruise decided we would visit there again. The port of Costa Maya has been built by the cruise companies. It has a nice dock, albeit a very long one to keep the ships out of the shallows. There is a nice tram that runs back and forth from the ships to the shopping area.

What a change though! The little shopping area has expanded with restaurants and bars and at least double the shops or more. The one swimming pool has turned into three and an area built right against the sea has several dolphins that you can pay to swim with. Once we began walking through the port area, I began to wonder how our little fishing village had fared in the economic boom that the cruise industry brought.

You guessed it. The changes were amazing. We were corralled onto an open air trailer that seated about 20 people and was pulled by a pickup. We didn't know it would cost $3/person rather than the $2 the taxis charged. But there was a system. Take the trailer to the town. Take the taxi back. It was all explained when we were dropped off.

First up, I noticed that instead of the dirt and gravel roads to the town, everything was paved or cobblestoned. Then as we got to town I was amazed at its growth. The town had lengthened and widened to double its size. The beach was covered with tables and chairs from a slew of restaurants. And of course there were tons of souvenir shops and hawkers with home made gifts moving between all the tables. Endless massage tables lined the boardwalk/street along the beach. I'm guessing the price was right for those who enjoy that.

We lingered long enough to enjoy a cold beverage on the beach under the trees and watch all the activity. Lots of locals were there as well since it was a holiday week and I'm sure they were vacationing.

I'm happy for the economic boom for the area but I kinda miss the sweet little fishing town we first encountered.

Wordless Wednesday

It's All About the Cilantro

When we were in Puerto Vallarta on our whale watching excursion, we had some might good salsa and guacamole with chips. As my friend, Dalila who comes from Guatamala, says, "It's all about the cilantro."

Here's a simple salsa recipe that is similar to the one we enjoyed in Puerto Vallarta.

2-3 medium sized fresh tomatoes (from 1 lb to 1 1/2 lb)finely diced
1/2 onion, finely diced
small cucumber finely diced
Juice of one lime
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

If you want a little heat add one or both of these:
1 jalapeño chili pepper (stems, ribs, seeds removed), finely diced
1 serano chili pepper (stems, ribs, seeds removed), finely diced

Just remember when you are dicing the peppers to keep your hands away from your face. Nothing burns more than chili pepper juice on your mouth or in your eyes.

Let your salsa set for an hour or so before serving. The flavors will have a chance to blend.

Two Wheeling Through Cabo San Lucas

Our first time in Cabo San Lucas and what do we do? We join a Segway tour of course!

Actually it was a great way to see a good portion of Cabo in a short time and without a lot of walking. In fact, the most walking we did was to the tour office and back to the tenders of our ship. Cabo reminded me a bit of a Mexican Key West. Lots of stores, souvenir shops, restaurants, etc. Definitely a tourist town.

Since we have had quite a bit of experience on Segways, we had fun zipping around while other were getting their "Segway legs" which involves learning to get on and off without having the two-wheeled vehicle that takes off with the slightest motion of your body move before your feet are firmly planted. It doesn't take long to catch on and in about 15 minutes our whole group was ready to roll--literally.

Cabo was colorful to say the least and very desert-like with lots of cactus everywhere. The mountains made a scenic backdrop to the beach town that is made up of resort after resort after condominium. Some of the resorts that we rolled by were beautifully landscaped and I'm sure would have been impressive if we would have had time to look them over a little closer.

Our tour guide was a little disappointed that there weren't any shoppers in the group. She seemed to know quite a few of the shopkeepers. While she gave a running commentary through the ear piece each of us wore, I didn't pick out a whole lot of historical information. But then I was concentrating on navigating some very narrow sidewalks filled with people and keeping out of the traffic lane as we rolled along the street in some places.

I don't know why Segways have not been more popular. They are fun to ride but after an hour or so, your knees tend to lock up and your feet fall asleep. Of course around home in the winter, it could be a little rough in the snow and ice.

After our tour, we took a walk around the marina where our tenders were coming in. The area was full of interesting stores and restaurants. We stepped into one of the drugstores to purchase a bottle of water. I was surprised to see shelves lined with familiar looking pharmaceuticals that would be prescription drugs back home.

I was surprised that there were a lot of vendors trying to hock their wares but it looked as though anyone inside the fencing that surrounded the marina needed a license or permit. There were vendors at some of the places along the fence that had no stores blocking the vendors from looking through the fence and showing their goods to passers-by.

We stood and watched a fisherman as he tossed some fish to the pelicans. At least that's what we thought he was doing until we realized there was a big dark fish/creature under his boat swimming back and forth. It wasn't until we saw a seal on our way out of the harbor that we realized he was trying to feed the seal not the birds.

After lunch on the ship, I spent the afternoon reading on our balcony looking across at the famous Land's End rock formation where all the snorkelers and beach people were enjoying the sun and watching the parasails float by.

Whale Watching - The Chase is On in Puerto Vallarta

Observing Puerto Vallarta from Deck 10 of the Celebrity Constellation the city appeared to be much nicer than Acapulco, our previous port. It was however a mass of boat and ship traffic as we discovered when we were tendered in. We had booked a whale watching excursion (I'm a sucker for those big critters of the sea) and our group left the ship early in the morning to join up with the boat that would take us out to observe what we could of the humpbacks in the area.

Once assembled on shore, a guide took us to a smaller dock where we boarded a small boat to take us to the sailboat that would take us to the whales. Sound complicated? It was in a way. You see there were two large cruise ships already docked, a third that was pulling into it's slip and tenders in the water from two other ships, including ours, who were ferrying passengers to shore.

Our little boatful made it to the sailboat but then we had to wait while the HAL ship positioned itself in its slip before the harbor control would allow the other members of our excursion to come out on the other little boat. We did not lack entertainment however. The crew on the sailboat was delightful and we enjoyed coffee, juice and rolls while we waited. Obviously they'd had this problem before.

Once everyone was on the sailboat, we took off to the area where the whales are spotted most. And so did every other whale watching boat in the harbor. The government licenses whale watching boats and they must fly a flag and follow some rules in their endeavors to catch sight of the humpbacks. However, not all boats out looking for whales were licensed and they certainly did not follow any rules. The whales were outnumbered.

We did spot several whales and watched as they dove for cover again when all the boats scurried to where the spout of water was sighted. One of our guides suggested we all shout and point in the same direction and watch all the boats chase each other to where we pointed.

One of the more amazing attractions that morning was the small manta rays. The harbor was full of them. They would jump out of the water and for an instant look like a bird with a large wingspan. We have been diving with giant manta rays. I didn't know there was a smaller version.

While it wasn't like observing whales in Hawaii, it was a fun time. And the guacomole, salsa, and chips were out-of-this-world good on the way back to the dock.

Harry and Fred Take to the Ocean

While Acapulco, Mexico, may have once been a romantic place to spend a honeymoon or take a romantic getaway, we found the city itself to be less than what we would consider a place to rekindle the flames of romance. Perhaps the resort areas a bit away from the downtown are a little nicer but after our first experience in Alcapulco several years ago, we opted to get out of the city and do something a little different than fend off vendors and avoid the areas that were heavily patroled with machine gun armed personnel.

Our ship's excursion took us about an hour out of town and to another area less developed, with a huge beach area hopefully protected from too much development as this is where two species of marine turtles lay their eggs. Mexico is home to seven of the eight species of marine turtles in the world and the Acapulco area is privileged to have two of those species, the Loggerhead (Golfina, the Spanish name) and the Leatherback (Lute). Our mission was to release newly hatched turtles into the sea.

We arrived at a small compound (Campamento Tortuguero Manejo Ambiental Playa Larga) consisting of several shaded areas on the beach and a small restaurant with a small living area behind for the director of the operation, Victor Verdejo. Our tour guide did the lecture part of our experience under the guidance of Verdejo telling us about the turtles, the effort to save them from extinction, and the operation of the facility.

Basically it is a one-man operation. Verdejo goes out and collects the turtle eggs during the season, The turtles, depending upon species, lay an average of 110 eggs per nest which is then covered with sand. These are collected as soon as the female returns to the sea and reburied in a protected area in the compound. Each new nest is labeled with the species, date, and other pertinent information.

As the turtles hatch, usually within 45-60 days, they wiggle their way to the surface of the sand and are then collected and placed in a large shallow tank of water for a few days before release. Verdejo says he does not feed them because they will not want to go into the ocean for food if food is available to them on shore.


When the tour guide finished the lecture and showed the group how to carefully hold the baby turtles so as not to harm them, we were led to a flagged area along the beach near the water's edge and each handed a squirming turtle anxious to get along with his/her life. We were asked to name our turtles. Bob called his Fred and I named mine Harry. They may have been Fredricka and Henrietta for all we knew.


At the count of three, we all placed our turtles down and watched them scurry into the water. They looked so helpless. And as we watched, I remembered the statistic that was given. Only two out of 100 will probably survive due to predators and the other dangers that awaited them in the ocean. It was amazing to see them disappear in the surf and then see them bob to the surface, their tiny heads almost undetectable in the glistening waters that carried them further away.


It was a long bus trip for a short few moments of delighting in one of nature's wonders but it was so worth the effort.


Upon our return to the busy traffic-laden city of Alcapulco, we drove through several areas where we saw groups of military personnel with automatic weapons and one that had a truck with a machine gun mounted on it with a belt of ammo looped through it. Very unnerving for those of us not used to seeing those kinds of things on our streets.


We also marveled at all the VW bugs that were used as taxis often with a homemade luggage rack on top.

Port of Call - Santa Cruz Huatulco, Mexico

The description "a sleepy little Mexican town" is an oxymoron. While Santa Cruz Huatulco may have once been that, it is no longer. We went ashore to explore the little seaside semi-resort area that we once remembered as one main street lined with quaint Mexican storefronts that resembled a Hollywood movie set. Behind the facades were buildings that were hastily constructed all to create a port town for cruise ships and begin development of the area as a resort destination similar to Cancun on the other coast.


Now twelve years later, there were four times as many main streets, lots of restaurants, an open air chapel, scads of umbrella covered tables and chairs on the beach and resort type hotels on the hillsides above. And did I mention the hustle and bustle of industrious townsfolk, who I suspect did not all live in town, trying to attract your attention to indulge in their cuisine, or buy their goods, or take a tour, or. . .well, you get the picture.


Still, it was hard not to like this little town no matter what its origins or its hustle. The beautiful beach area was inviting for a day of sand, sea, and sun. And some of the offerings of the restaurants were tempting. We spent the morning walking along the beach and a few of the streets and then sitting down to just people-watch while we enjoyed the warm breeze and fresh air from the sea making us look as though we might be the sleepy part of this little Mexican town.