WHERE'S THE CHEAP AIRFARE? We found
some....
Check out these website for travel
bargains from your town.
Sample fares:
Houston -
Cozumel April
20-24 $333
DFW - Cozumel
April
14-18 $248
Chicago -
Cozumel April
18-25 $347
San Antonio - Cozumel
April 20-24 $385
*** Check frequently for Red Hot
Deals posted on Monday nights ***
Sample fares:
Detroit -
Cozumel April
12-19 $297
Minn/St.
Paul
April 7-11 $327
St.
Louis
April 4-11 $287
Denver
April 6-10 $287
Continental
also has had some good deals lately, it just depends on when and where you are
flying from. Check out their rates at www.continental.com.
Other links to check for bargains
--
A LESSON ON COZUMEL
CULTURE...or is it
anti-culture?
by Annie Thornton
Almost nobody visits
Cozumel only once, it's like a big potato chip! Some folks like it so much
they spend months here at a time or just move down for good. If you are
thinking about spending more than a few weeks on our fair island, here are
some tips that will help you fit in to the "Cozumel Culture".
1. If a wedding is
scheduled for 4:00pm, don't expect anyone (including the bride and groom)
to show up before 6:00pm.
2. When someone
says "I'll call you", assume that they won't.
3.
Enjoy drinking your beer with lime, salt, ice and Tabasco sauce, but
don't blame the orange juice in the morning for giving you
heartburn.
4. "Manana" can
mean only 2 things: "not today" or "never".
5. Toilet seats
are a luxury item.
6. When you ask
anyone for change, they will always reply "no hay".
7. If you hear a
blaring horn or what sounds like a loud music box coming down the
street, run out to get your bottles from the water
truck.
8. When you try to
leave a party at 1:30am, someone's grandmother will ask why you are leaving so
early.
9. Eat at least
half your meals at places that have a tarp for a roof.
10. Wave and yell
hello to the doggies on the rooftops to help keep barking noises
continuous.
By the same token,
many of us have lived in Cozumel for a long time, either full
or part-time. When we venture away from our little island home, we
too need some help with adjusting to "life on the outside". Here are
some tips to see if maybe you have adjusted to the Cozumel way of life a
little too well…
1. You have more drugs in
your toiletry bag than Walgreen's and you don't have a prescription for a
single one of them.
2. You keep a 50 peso bill
taped to the back of your driver's license.
3. When in the U.S., you
pause undecidedly when faced with three competing gas stations on one
corner.
4. You are surprised when it
storms and the lights don't go out.
5. You are surpised when it
doesn't storm and the lights don't go out.
6. A smooth ride in a car
makes you pull over in fright.
7. You automatically reach
for a tortilla at every meal.
8. You can quickly decide how
much money is in your wallet by the color of the banknotes.
9. Your favorite football
team is called the Striped Goats, and you find it necessary to say "American
football" when discussing the Cowboys vs. Packers.
10. You eat tacos, gorditas,
morcilla, moronga and medulla, but believe hamburgers are
unhealthy.
11. You only know people by
their nickname, or how they are related to somebody, or both.
12. You know a big red
lipstick smudge is on your cheek while you're out in public, but you just
don't care.
THE DIVING GREAT
GRANDMOTHER OF COZUMEL
by guest writer, Wayne
Henderson
Meet Doris Henderson, one
of Scuba Shack's most regular repeat customers, a.k.a. "The
Diving Great-Grandmother of Cozumel". Doris hails from Austin,
Texas, and was certified in 1992, anticipating her 68th birthday.
Why? Since the early 1980's, she and husband Vic had been to Cozumel a
few times and snorkeled in the warm clear water with the colorful reef
fish. It looked really inviting. In 1982, their youngest son and
daughter-in-law went with them on one such trip and were immediately hooked on
the island and all it had to offer. Son, Wayne, certified in 1987, was
immediately interested in photographing everything he saw in the coral reef
environment we all enjoy so much. That did it. After seeing photos and
videos of what's really down there below the snorkelers' world, his wife, Sue,
soon followed and they were able to convince "Mom and Dad" that they could do
the same. When Dad couldn't finish the course for health reasons, Mom
had to be talked into doing her open water checkout dives in Lake Travis.
Since then, her only regret
has been that she didn't start diving much sooner in life. With the
added certification of older son, Craig, the entire family now enjoys dive
trips together. For most of the last ten years, one son or the other has
been employed by either American Airlines or Continental Airlines.
Accompanying flight privileges have opened up a whole world of travel and
diving opportunities. Almost all of the family's travels now center
around Caribbean dive destinations, especially their adopted "home away from
home," Cozumel. Doris got her Advanced Open Water certification in 1994
and has now logged about 850 dives. Most of the divers who dive with her
for the first time, including the professional divemasters, are surprised at
her diving skills. With perfect buoyancy control, a relaxed
attitude in the water and an air consumption rate that rivals that of the
professionals, one would think she had been diving forever. And with the
hospitality the family has always received at Scuba Shack for over 10 years,
Doris hopes to be a repeat customer for another 10
years.
We
certainly hope so too, Doris!!!!
Ed.
======================================================================================
If you're craving for a taste of Cozumel,
this should do it! This is a great Sopa de Lima recipe...makes you
think of Cozumel no matter where you may be.
SOPA DE LIMA
1 3 lb. chicken
10 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
6 whole black peppercorns
3 parsley sprigs
1 stalk celery
1 bay leaf
1 medium onion, quartered
2 teaspoons salt
˝ teaspoon dried thyme
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 bell peppers or poblanos, cut in thin
strips
2 cups chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned
1 lime, cut in half
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Salt and red pepper to taste
Crisp fried corn tortilla strips
Addtional lime slices
Place chicken in large pot with
next 9 ingredients. Heat to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer until
chicken is cooked (about 1 hour). Remove chicken, cool and debone.
Strain broth. Add sliced onion, bell pepper and tomatoes to broth and
bring to boil. Squeeze in juice from one lime and drop both
squeezed halves into broth. Stir in cilantro and simmer 20 minutes.
Add chicken and adjust seasonings, if necessary. To serve, place some
tortilla strips in soup bowls. Ladle soup over tortillas and float a
slice of lime in each bowl. Provecho!
FYI
Cozumel - Playa del
Carmen Ferry Schedule
From Cozumel to
Playa:
5:00AM, 7:00AM, 9:00AM,
10:00AM, 12:00PM, 2:00PM, 4:00PM, 5:00PM, 6:00PM, 8:00PM,
10:00PM
From Playa to
Cozumel:
6:00AM, 8:00AM, 9:00AM, 10:00AM,
11:00AM, 1:00PM, 3:00PM, 5:00PM, 6:00PM, 7:00PM, 9:00PM,
11:00PM
SAMPLE TAXI
FARES
This is not a definitive listing
and is meant to be used as a guide only. A complete listing can be
found with each taxi driver or at their headquarters on 2nd North between 5
and 10. State your destination clearly to the driver and try
to have smaller bills because most taxi drivers will not make change for a
large bill. And make sure you don't leave any
belongings in the taxi.
North Hotel
Zone (Playa Azul, Sol Cabanas, El Cozumeleno, Paradisus)
to Downtown:
N$25 to N$50 pesos (about $3-$5
US)
South Hotels to
Downtown:
N$30 Plaza las Glorias, Villa
Blanca
N$40 La Ceiba, Casa del Mar, Park
Royal
N$60 Fiesta Americana, El
Presidente
N$90 Chankanaab
N$115 Reef Club,
Allegro
N$170 Iberostar
N$195 Playa Palancar
SCUBA SHACK (011-52-987)
872-4240
ROBERTA'S DIVE ECO-COZUMEL
(011-52-987) 872-4187
VILLAGE TAN
KAH (011-52-987)
872-4240
============================================================================
TECHNICAL STUFF:
This newsletter is
produced by Anne Thornton and Roberta Cwiertnia.
Sponsored by Roberta's Dive
Eco-Cozumel, Scuba Shack & Village Tan Kah.
We welcome all contributors,
although we reserve the right to cut and paste.
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mailing list, simply send an e-mail with