Ferry Ride to Cozumel 7-30-2004

By Bob Van Leer

(Cancun, Mexico, Tuesday, July 30, 2004) - Today, our last full day here, we took a cab from our hotel, Barcelo' Maya Beach, to Playa del Carmen, 13 miles north, where ferries from Cozumel dock. Cozumel is close enough to the mainland (11 miles) to see the island on the horizon. It is a 25 minute ferry ride and just $18.50 for a round trip. The island has such excellent diving areas it is considered an underwater national park. In addition, of course, there are lots of souvenir shops for the tourists. Cozumel is flat as a pancake, 29 miles long and 10 miles wide. The city of San Miguel (population 50,000) is the major settlement on the island

Betty and I visited the island once before as part of a Caribbean cruise. It is a popular docking site and there were four cruise ships in port when we visited. We are having a pleasant stay and Barcelo' Maya Beach is quite a hotel. It has 1020 rooms. It was built in 1999 by a Spanish company in two parts that are mirror images. It is still under construction and phase 3 is scheduled to open in 2005. There is room for a phase 4 and then the site will be built out. A hotel spokesperson said there was more than one employee per room. There are two buffets, two a la carte restaurants, one steak house and one snack bar. The room rate here is all inclusive, room, meals and drinks. The price is quite reasonable.

  It is the off season here, although you wouldn't know it by the number of people, and the charge is $701 per adult for a week. This includes seven nights in a first class hotel room, and all meals and drinks anywhere in the hotel. Even the room mini-bar is kept stocked. In addition, there is available at no extra charge, swimming pool, beach, snorkeling equipment, miniature golf, pitch and putt golf course, beach equipment and acres of manicured grounds to explore. Just off the hotel's dock on the beach is an excellent place for snorkeling to see fish and a coral reef. Wednesday, July 28, was a day of taking it easy after a busy day on Tuesday.

  We spent time in the pool, visiting, and had a Mexican dinner in one of the sit-down restaurants. The food was excellent wherever we ate. After dinner all 18 of us played nine holes of miniature golf which took a couple of hours. Thursday morning daughter Sally, husband Dave Shuey and their children Jordan and Maya, and I went snorkeling off the hotel's pier. The water abounds in tropical fish. Some we saw were: sergeant major, blue parrot fish, yellow goat fish, yellow jack porkfish and others. About 5:00 p.m. there was a tropical downpour, not the first time it has rained while were here, but by far the hardest. Every depression became a pond. After dinner most of the party came to our room to play cards for the balance of the evening.

  In Cancun itself, there is unrest going on that has almost a comic opera quality to it. In recent days the city has been unable to meet its payroll, some say because the mayor, Juan Ignacio "Chaco" Zalvidea squandered the city's money to improve his chances to be elected governor next year. The employee unions protested and the city council quit. The state government fired Zalvidea, but he won't accept it. He allegedly provoked a riot at City Hall Wednesday night, a violent confrontation in which tear gas was used and 54 were injured. The deputy police chief had the mayor arrested and taken to jail. At the jail he claimed he was having a hypertension attack and was taken to a hospital. He was treated and released, then taken back to jail. Hundreds of the mayor's followers attempted to storm police headquarters to free the mayor. They stoned the building and attempted unsuccessfully to rush it. Efforts are being made to seek the mayor's release on bail. In the meantime, a U. S. State Department advisory that U. S. citizens not go to downtown Cancun is still in effect. This, of course, greatly aggravates the downtown merchants. This story still has a way to run. Tomorrow we have to be in the lobby at 10:00 a.m. to start the long journey home.

----<>----