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The Cozumel Drift
Your E-Newsletter
from Scuba
Shack, Blue Bubble
Divers,
Dive
ECO-cozumel & the Village Tan
Kah
Cozumel,
Mexico
April
2008
Hello to everyone
again from your friends here in Cozumel at Scuba Shack, Blue
Bubble Divers, Dive Eco-cozumel and the Village Tan Kah.
This is
the 15th edition of The
Cozumel Drift . A
big WELCOME to all new
comers. This is our monthly or so newsletter to
keep you up to date with what is happening in Cozumel.
Either with the dive shop, hotel, on the island, etc.
And, as always, a HUGE 
thanks to all of our faithful customers and friends, all of you who make us worth coming
to work everyday ! We are so glad that we have gotten to
see so many of you in the last few months - what a
treat.
IN THIS EDITION:
Thanks for the
updates... don't
know so can someone
suggest...........
Scuba Shack Skinny/Blue Bubble
Blurb...
wait till you see what is finally done
!
Island
Info... interesting ingots
of island information - or something like that.
Other dive spots... where we are going to next
!
The
Moray eels incredible eating
abilities...
thanks Joe Roethele for this very
interesting
article
Travel News... and summer
planning - dates and the whale sharks
!
Recipe
Request... something new for you to dream
about......
* Thanks
for keeping us up to date
!
Thanks for updating our
database with all of your new E-mails. It is pretty much
complete. We are now going back through all of the dive
applications ( just imagine how many piles and piles of those
we have !?!?) to get all of our customers online. A huge
task, to say the least. But we are plugging
along.....  But, we need some help /
advise. There are so many of you out there better
educated on this than we are. Please, your  ideas are greatly
appreciated. I think that I need to convert from Outlook
to an external E-mail sending program/database for keeping up
with all of these E-mails. Our service provider
enforces a limit of 60 E-mail addresses per E-mail. And
with over 4,000 subscribers to this newsletter, well, there
are way too many separate lists to maintain. Anyone have
any ideas?? I am all ears - or actually  eyes, in this case
!
You can find all of our
previous newsletters here !
*Scuba Shack Skinny/ Blue Bubble Blurb
-
Done, it is finally done. Take a look for
yourself !!!!!
Yes, we have finally finished building down on the
beach side. We have
completed the walkway to what is left of the pier.
It is
really amazing just how much it
expands the diving area.
Everyone has lots and lots of
space now! In addition,
the small shop right on the front sidewalk
is done and rented out. There is a
new tour agent there where you can get info on tours to the
mainland and other options here on the island. Now, to
get the wall repainted !
In addition, a new restaurant has opened down here in
the south hotel zone. It is of the Mission Restaurant's
chain - Mission Tacos, Hacienda Mission, La Mission..... and
the newest addition -
La Mission South. They are open Mon - Sat, from
7 AM until 10 PM. The food is good, the price is
right, the beers are cold.... a great combination
!
Where is the best place to watch the sunset AND close
to the Village Tan Kah you ask?? At La Palapita bar
on the beach, of course. It is located right across the
street from Papa Hogg's. The have a really nice area
down on the beach - chairs, tables, nice bar, sand sifting
through your toes. And they have completed the
upstairs bar as well with a great view of the water and a
really nice breeze. The drinks are VERY reasonably
priced. AND, every Sat evening they have a great band
that plays there from 6:30 PM - 9 PM. They are open
every day from what ever time you get up to midnight.
This is a great meeting place before heading into town for
dinner.
*Island Info -
- So many of you have been asking about Coco's.
Well, recently, one of our customers spoke to Daniel, the
owner. Their very reliable waiter Manual has finally
retired after giving them many great years of service.
Thanks Manual ! But, that means that Daniel's role as
waiter would take up more of his time and energy. In
addition, he had to have a minor injury to his wrist, which
needed time to recover. So, very soon, when he is back
to 100%, he and Terri will decide to come out of
semi-retirement and reopen again. They are sorely missed
!
- New Government - Well, after the much debated
elections last month, the newly elected PRI government will
officially take office this coming Tues, Apr 1. When the
old government leaves, they tend to make some rather last
minute upgrades to the infrastructure here. So, this
past weekend, all of the streets where the new sidewalks were
built have now been lightly repaved. So all of the bumps
and holes and missing pieces are now smoothed out
!
- If you have not been to Cozumel since they built the
new sidewalks, you are in for a real treat. They are
beautiful. It makes for much easier walking down town - you no
longer have to keep one eye looking where you walk  .
It is also providing a
number of restaurants an additional area to set up terrace
seating. A long as the weather is good, you can enjoy
wonderful dinners out in the gorgeous Cozumel evenings
!
- Restaurant Review - El Chef - on the corner
of 5th Ave south and 5th Street - Another
great find. This small bistro type restaurant offers a
wide variety of salads, pastas, steaks - and an extensive wine
list. They have both indoor and outdoor seating, along
the beautiful new walkways downtown. It has an Italian
flair without being heaving on the pastas. Another must
try.
*Our next group
trips.......
Since the shop trip to Palau was such a huge
success, we have scheduled 2 group trips for 2009.
Next year, not this year. Fiji is planned for the spring
of 2009. 2 different locations -Taveuni for diving
the Somo Somo straight, and Wananavu to dive the
Bligh Water. Those are the 2 best diving locations in
Fiji. And in the fall, Wakatobi Resort is reserved,
in the southeast area of Sulawesi. This is, hands
down, one of the best diving locations in the world, and
becoming one of the most popular as well. Spaces have
been secured for both trips. If you are interested,
please send me your E-mail and I will send you then the
complete information for the dive
trips.
You know, people ask why I would want to go on a
vacation to dive. You know, Cozumel is great, but
there are so many other places to see. And I want to see
them all !!!!!! Even though we have the
best, seeing other locations can also make you
appreciate just how much we have
here.
Come and join us on a trip - we will spoil you
!!!!!!!!
*Moray eels incredible
eating abilities.....
If any of you have been
lucky enough to meet Joe, he is our science lab geek.
Thanks Joe for finding this very interesting article for all
of us !
Most bony fishes rely on suction mechanisms to
capture and transport their prey. Once captured, the prey are
carried by water movement inside the oral cavity to a second
set of jaws in the throat, the pharyngeal jaws, which
manipulate the prey and assist in swallowing. Moray eels
display much less effective suction-feeding abilities than
most other fish. Given this reduction in a feeding
mechanism that is widespread and highly conserved in aquatic
vertebrates, it is not known how moray eels swallow large fish
and cephalopods***. It has recently been
discovered that the moral overcomes reduced suction
capacity by launching it's raptorial pharyngeal jaws out of
its throat and into its oral cavity, where the jaws grasp the
struggling prey animal and transport it back to the throat and
into the esophagus. This is the first described case of
a vertebrate using a second set of jaws to both restrain and
transport prey. The extreme mobility of the moray pharyngeal
jaws is made possible by elongation of the muscles that
control the jaws, coupled with reduction of adjacent gill-arch
structures. The discovery that pharyngeal jaws can reach up
from behind the skull to grasp prey in the oral jaws reveals a
major innovation that may have contributed to the success of
moray eels as apex predators hunting within the complex matrix
of coral reefs. This alternative prey transport mode is
mechanically similar to the ratcheting mechanisms used in
snakes—a group of terrestrial vertebrates that share striking
morphological, behavioral and ecological convergence with
moray eels. You can see the complete story at
-
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7158/full/nature06062html
*** Cephalod - Any of various marine
mollusks of the class Cephalopoda, such as the octopus, squid,
cuttlefish, or nautilus, having a large head, large eyes,
prehensile tentacles, and, in most species, an ink sac
containing a dark fluid used for protection or
defense
Well, with spring break finally over, and the
masses of people gone, it is time to start planning for
the next vacation. And the airlines are going to need to
start filling up their planes again. Usually, about 7 -
10 days after Easter, the airlines will come out with many
last minute specials. So, if you are not tied into a
school schedule, this is the time of the year to keep your
eyes peeled, get signed up on those travel mailing lists, and
plan for a nice vacation down to sunny Cozumel ! This
next week should have lots and lots of specials coming out
! And many of these specials will pass on to the summer
months. So, with this in mind, here is a list of the
dates that the Village Tan Kah already has limited or no
availability
Village Tan Kah Summer
NON availability
Jun 5 and 6 - Only the Treehouse
Jun 7, 27 and 28 - Full
Jun 29 - Jul 6 - Shark room only
Jul 11 - 17 - 2 rooms left
Jul 23 - Aug 1 - 3 rooms left
So, if you are planning for the summer, please notice
these dates and plan accordingly !
And just to remind you, the Special
Pricing is still available for the dates of Apr
14 - May 14. Group special - 6 for the price of 5 ! Get your
friends together and have great time ! For example,
7 night
plus 5 standard 2-tank dives for 6 = ONLY $ 425 per person
!
In addition, most of you guys know that this is the
time of the year to go and see the famous whale sharks.
The time of the year to see them is from about mid-May through
the end of August, first week of Sept. I already have a
number of trips scheduled. Le me know when you want to
come and snorkel with the BIG DADDY's of the ocean
!!!!!!!! Look at how close you get !
*Recipe
Request .....
Just ask and you
shall receive ! Rhonda Frost asked for this
recipe. If you have any others that you would like, I am
happy to include them in the newsletters. From our home
baked pastries to traditional Mexican cuisine..... we will
begin to include 1 recipe per issue. So, ask away
!
Cinamon Swirl Cake
- 
This cake requires a bundt pan. I use a
springform bundt pan that you can get at IKEA.
It is so much easier to get the cake out of the pan -
especially when you make 4 at a time. This is for 1
cake.
- 1 1/2 C sugar
- 3/4 softened
butter
- 3 eggs
- 2/3 C sour cream
- 4 1/2 C flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder - 1 tsp
vanilla
Directions - Preheat oven to 450 F and grease the
bundt pan. Cream together sugar and softened
butter. Add in eggs individually mixing well after each
one. Mix in sour cream. Add in remaining
ingredients, mixing well. The batter should be quite
stiff. Place 2/3 of batter evenly in the bundt
pan. Mix together an additional 1/4 C sugar with 1 Tbsp
cinamon. Sprinkle all of the over the batter in the
bundt pan. Plop the rest of the batter evenly over the
cinamon. Bake at 450F for 10 minutes, then reduce the
oven heat to 325F and bake until a toothpick comes out
clean. About 1 hour in total. Remove from the oven
and let cool for about 15 minutes. Then remove from the
bundt pan. Once cool, you can cover with a simple
glaze. I just mix sifted powdered sugar with mail and
1/4 tsp vanilla. And voila, it is done !
Closing
Captions.......
Without all of our special friends
and customers (and this means you), we would not
have a reason to work ! So
thanks to much
for coming and visiting and diving with us.
We appreciate each and every one of
you ! We look forward to showing you the
underwater wonders of
Cozumel again soon !
Thanks
! 
Hasta Luego,
Amigos!!!!
Roberta , Robert and All of the staff of Scuba Shack,
Blue Bubble Divers and Dive
ECO-cozumel and All of the staff from the Village Tan Kah
hotel !
================================================================================
 CUBA
 HACK (011-52-987) 872-4240
On the beach between Casa del Mar & Park Royal Hotels
ROBERTA'S
 IVE
 CO-COZUMEL (011-52-987)872-4187
 LUE
 UBBLE
 IVERS
(011-52-987) 872-1865 and 872-4526
 ILLAGE
 AN
 AH (011-52-987) 872-6142
TECHNICAL
STUFF:
This
newsletter is produced by Roberta
Cwiertnia, sponsored by Blue Bubble
Divers, Roberta's Dive Eco-Cozumel, Scuba Shack &
Village Tan Kah. We welcome all
contributors, although we reserve the right to cut and
paste. To be removed from this
mailing list, simply reply to this an e-mail and
write "Remove From Mailing List" in
the body portion of
the E-mail. Thank you
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