Port #3: Cozumel

Our third and final stop on the cruise was in Cozumel, Mexico. It was the third port in three days, so Catherine and I were exhausted and relieved that arrival time was later than the previous days. Our excursion was also in the afternoon, so we had plenty of time to sleep in and then go explore afterwards. 

By the time Catherine and I had finished breakfast and headed back to our stateroom to prepare to get off the ship, we'd docked in port. While I was out on our balcony I snagged this selfie with the incredibly blue water. The water in Cozumel was crystal clear, but this water was beautiful and blue and I couldn't wait to go swimming in it later. 

Where we docked in Cozumel. We walked around the shops along the shore on the right.

We debarked the ship around 11am and headed down the dock to the shops and restaurants. We were on the constant search for sun screen. We'd already gone through 5 or 6 spray on bottles of the stuff and had just finished off our supply. The first store we walked into was selling sunscreen for $29 each. Needless to say, we continued to look in other stores.

We checked out the shops along the street that ran next to the shore. We poked our heads into a few stores, but I don't think either of us really bought anything. We did find a really fun bar that we stopped in, called Mr. Chile's. The bar stools had been replaced by swings- what a fun/ unique idea!

We ordered some cheap beers and ate some chips and "queso." Anyone who knows us knows that we can't turn down ordering queso when we get Mexican/Tex-Mex food. We thought, what better place to order it than in Mexico. However, it was not exactly what we were used to or hoping for.

A guy (who we think worked there?) started making balloon hats for everyone sitting at the bar. Catherine got a balloon crown and I got some hat contraption that came fully equipped with earrings! You should have seen the looks we were getting afterwards while we were walking along the streets shopping.

After an hour or two walking around, we made our way back to the ship to grab some free lunch and take a short nap. Our excursion didn't start until 3pm, so we had plenty of time to spare and we were just so exhausted, we wanted to relax a little bit before we went snuba diving.

Snuba= half-way between scuba diving and snorkeling. Just like scuba diving, except instead of each of us having our own air tank, the four of us shared one air tank that was on a raft at the surface of the water.

We left the ship again around 2:30 and found our excursion meeting point after finally tracking down some sun screen (for just $14 too!). There were just four of us in our group, so we got a lot of one-on-one time with our snuba instructor.

We swam up to 20 feet deep and saw all sorts of neat sea creatures like a speckled sting ray, a black and white spotted moray eel, and a little sea horse. It was fun, but I had to think a lot while doing it so I didn't accidentally breathe through my nose and then panic because I couldn't breathe. Catherine really enjoyed it and said she wants to learn how to scuba dive before next time! :)

Overall, Cozumel was a really great experience! We had a great time snuba diving and enjoyed our last excursion before heading back to Texas.