The Cozumel Drift
Your E-Newsletter from Scuba Shack &
Village Tan Kah
Cozumel,
Mexico
June
2003
Welcome to the 3rd edition
of The Cozumel Drift, featuring the latest news from Scuba
Shack, Village Tan Kah and the island of Cozumel. We hope you all
are having a wonderful summer and can manage to fit Cozumel into your busy
schedules. Believe it or not, it's cooler here in the summertime than in
many U.S. cities...we'll be waiting for
you!
We
want your input for our newsletter. Please send in any
ideas you have for articles, or just questions that we can answer for you in
the next edition. And if you have a story of your own, please send
it in and we'll feature it in a future newsletter. Make sure to read the
article below by Paul Ellis. He's planning to
swim from Cozumel to Cancun next year, it's an inspiring story.
Thanks and enjoy this edition of The Drift!
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IN THIS
EDITION:
Travel deals of the
Month...Super summer fares to
Coz
Paul
Ellis...A diver with a
mission and an amazing story
Restaurant
Review...Garden of Eatin'
Club Caribe
Card...get discounts all over
Cozumel
Scuba Shack
Skinny...What's new at The Shack and The
Village?
FYI...Miscellaneous stuff
****** SUMMER TRAVEL DEALS TO COZ
******
Right now FunJet has the best
deals to Cozumel from 4 cities in Texas -- Dallas/Ft. Worth, San Antonio,
Austin and Houston. Air-only tickets are available but not listed on the
website, so you'll have to get a travel agent to check on availability of an
air-only ticket. On the website you can find air/hotel package deals,
mainly with the all-inclusives but several non-inclusive hotels as
well.
Good deals from Dallas to
Cozumel, most other cities require you to fly into Cancun. But the
tickets are really cheap (under $200 round trip), so it might be worth it
to fly into Cancun. Air-only and packages can be booked
online. Click on your city under the Red Hot Deals section for the best
fares.
www.hotwire.com We are still finding great deals on this website, from
just about any city in the U.S. Try several different departure dates
and you can probably find a good bargain.
Good deals this summer from
Denver and Phoenix.
THE
SWIM
By Paul
Ellis
Hello to all my dive
buddies. I am grateful to Scuba Shack for this opportunity to tell you
my story. It began, it seems sometimes, back about the time the Earth
had cooled enough to get in the water and see what was under the
surface. At that time the waters of the world seemed so full of Nature's
bounty the resources could never end, no matter how much we fished or brought
souvenirs to the surface. Not many people knew about the delicate
relationships that meander through the complex web of life that exist on or
around the coral reefs of the planet. Divers, and even dive masters, were
astonished at what was there and sometimes acted much like the buffalo hunters
of yore. How could something so vast
disappear?
Now we know. We know that over 250
million years have passed since the first tiny ocean organisms clustered
together, died and left their skeletons as foundation material for all that
followed. For roughly 50 million years the coral reefs have been in
their present condition. And we know now that within the lifetime of a child
born this year, it could all disappear. What would the world
look like without the coral reefs?
Science does
not really know. Good opinions range from another precious resource gone, to
the end of life in the oceans of the world. We know that over 25% of the ocean
life owes it's existence to the coral reefs. The ocean species either live
directly on the reefs or use it's protection in their life cycle. We also know
that only on the reefs of certain Pacific areas are new species born. Think
about that. If the reefs go, so does all new life. One day humans could
theoretically see an empty ocean. But many think human life would not really
be sustainable without a living ocean. Even if it were possible to survive,
what would it say about us as a species that we all allowed this to
happen?
Now we know, too, much more about the
connectivity of all our activities on earth and the effect they have on the
health of the oceans. Wasteful electricity usage in Kansas, and the dust
arising from the ever encroaching Sahara Desert have a direct effect on the
reefs of Cozumel and the romantic outcroppings of Polynesia, indeed on all the
planet's reefs. With all this knowledge, a doomsday outlook is readily
available and quite defensible. But, as always, knowledge is power. Now
the divers of the world are much more aware of the fragility of the reef
system and see how painfully long it takes to regrow damaged coral. One's
fingerprint literally takes many years to erase. Now divers are an ecological
army with the peaceful intent of spreading appreciation to others about what
they have seen and experienced.
I am one such diver
who has taken spreading this message to as many as possible as a personal
mission. Thank goodness there are many scientists, foundations, and aware
amateurs singing this same song. My verse is a little unique and I humbly
invite you all to participate. May 1, 2004 at midnight I will slip into the
waters from Playa Azul in Cozumel and attempt to swim from there to Cancun,
across the Yucatan Channel, a distance of about forty miles. I will be 61
years old at that time. This will be my second attempt. The first was
last July. I should have known better than to try during the summer as I have
been coming to Cozumel for thirty years and know the problematic nature of
summer currents. I'll need a favorable flow to make it. My attempt lasted
twelve hours, the last four with the water going against me, and you all know
how much fun it is to try and swim back to the dive master against the current
to look at whatever. The swim ended in frustration not exhaustion, and I knew
getting out of the water I would try again.
So many
things are different this time. The Mayor of Cozumel ( Lic. Carlos Hernandez)
and the Director Of Tourism and Economic Development ( Raul Marrufo) have
committed to making this a celebration of Cozumel and the National Park system
established through the care and wisdom of the island and the Mexican
government. It is well known that the Mexican Caribbean has among the
healthiest reefs on the planet and contain a blueprint for the rest of the
world to follow to have a sustainable system. I am proud of the fact that,
though my swim did not make it to Cancun, I did become the first non-Mexican
to swim the entire National Park system, from south of Maricaibo to Paradise
Reef. We want to have discussions, after the swim, at the Maritime Museum in
San Miguel on Cozumel as to the best practices on the planet, and we want the
organizations of the world dealing with reef ecology to know how much we
appreciate their efforts, and to think about the theme of the swim, which is
to leverage resources that are so precious and to find the power of
collaboration. We want to multiply the efforts of all those who are dedicated
to having our grandchildren see the same wonders as we see every time we dive
with Robert and Roberta. The swim's motto is, "Difficult...Possible." So is it
all. See you next May, and I hope its on the far side of the Channel. Good
diving and thanks to Scuba Shack for this grand opportunity to talk to all my
fellow divers who care at least as much as I do about the incredible
experiences of being witness to one of God's greatest beauties, the sublime
ecosystems known as Coral Reefs.
Restaurant Review
Garden of
Eatin'
Salas between Melgar and 5
Avenue
Not your usual Cozumel fare,
but an excellent choice for lunch when you've had your fill of tacos and
fajitas! Nice menu of original sandwiches, with or without
meat -- here's just a few examples from the menu:
Palancar
Beef -- Roast beef, Dijon mustard, sun dried tomoatoes,
marinated red peppers, pickles and black olives.
Smokin'
Salmon -- Smoked salmon, avocado, cream cheese, basil and green
onions
Club
Med - Feta cheese, marinated red peppers, basil, black olive
spread and eggplant salad.
Or create your own sandwich
starting with a fresh french baguette, whole wheat loaf, black olive loaf
or assorted bagels (we like the bagette and whole wheat best).
Meats include roast beef, chicken salad, smoked turkey, tuna or salami.
12 different kinds of cheeses to choose from and about 20 different spreads
and trimmings.
Fresh salads include:
Greek
God -- Feta cheese, tomato, cucumber, green pepper, red pepper,
onions, black olives, lemon & vinegar, with olive oil/oregano
dressing.
Summer
Spinach -- chicken breast, mushrooms, green onions, parsley,
spinach, roasted garlic croutons, parmesan cheese with balsamic
vinaigrette.
Lobster Delight -- Lobster, harts
of greens, green peas, spinach, parsley, greenonions, red pepper, green
peppers, avocado, cucumber and broccoli tossed with olive
oil.
Or create your own salad from
over 36 ingredients!
Scuba Shack is now offering our divers the
option of lunch delivered by Garden of
Eatin'. Place your order before the dive and your salad
or sandwich will be ready for you when you get off the boat. Swimming
with those turtles, sharks and barracudas can really work up an
appetite! Prices are between $6-$7 USD for sandwiches or salads.
Discount on orders of 5 or more sandwiches.
DEAL OF THE
MONTH
The CLUB CARIBE CARD offers some good discounts all over Cozumel. You may have seen
discount cards before, but this one is the best deal we've seen so far.
The card costs only $15 and is valid throughout your stay in Cozumel at
dozens of restaurants, shops, beach clubs and spas. What
separates this card from the others is that it's valid for 4 people, not just
2. It's also accepted at some of the most popular places in town such as
La Cocay (15% off), El Capi Navegante (15% off), French Quarter (10% off), La
Choza (20% off), Coconuts (15% off), Casa Denis (10% off) and Chankanaab Park
(30% off), just to name a few. Get 20% off a treatment at Kircher
Chiropractic and 30% off silver & gold jewelry at Blanco & Negro on
Salas. The money you save on one dinner for 4 at La Cocay will more
than pay for the card.
Club
Caribe cards available for purchase at Scuba
Shack along with a full listing of participating businesses and
discounts.
The SCUBA SHACK SKINNY...name game!
Our 2 new rooms
at Village Tan Kah are under construction and they
are going to look really nice. These will be large second story
rooms with a balcony. How about helping us name our new
rooms? As many of you know, we use names for our rooms rather
than numbers. The existing rooms are called: 3 Musicians, Sun,
Shark, Treehouse, Jungle and Guitar. There are lots of names that we
could use for the new rooms, but we'd like your input. So help us
come up with some new names...thanks!
That's not the only
thing we want you to name...Peso (our hotel mascot
and loveable pooch) will soon have 3 little kittens to raise. The Humane
Society is spaying and neutering the kitties and giving them their shots,
then they will be ready for their new home at The Village. So now
we need to name our 3 new kittens, one is grayish and two are
white. Help us come up with some original names! If we choose
one of your names, you'll get a free kiss from each kitten and Peso the next
time you visit...what a deal!
Help us
expand our lending library...bring a few old paperbacks with you on your next
visit. Muchas gracias,
amigos!
FYI
Don't miss a drive
around the island, but be aware of Cozumel's helmet law. If you rent a
moped please wear your helmet, especially on the road around the island.
The fine is $25 if you don't. Seat belts are also now required outside
of town -- there are checkpoints on all roads leading out of San Miguel, even
to the North Hotel Zone -- so buckle up or wear your
helmets!
Cozumel - Playa
del Carmen Ferry Schedule
There is now an another ferry service in
addition to the Mexico Waterjet ferries. The new service is operated by
Ultra Mar. They don't have a printed schedule yet, but they run just
about every hour and at different times than the Mexico ferries. So now
you hardly have to wait at all for the next boat to or from the island.
The following schedule is for the Mexico ferries.
From Cozumel to
Playa:
5:00AM, 7:00AM, 8:00AM...and then every hour
on the hour up to 10:00PM
From Playa to
Cozumel:
6:00AM,
8:00AM, 9:00AM...and then every our on the hour up
to 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
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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