The Ladies Do Cozumel

I was the first to arrive in Cozumel and grabbed a taxi to Scuba Club Cozumel to await the other members of the Lady Go Divers group.  As I was enjoying lunch my roomie, Amy walked in and joined me for lunch.  Soon our fearless leader, Patty arrived and we all got checked in to our fourth floor rooms with awesome views of the Caribbean.  Patty also brought news that Beth, Amelia, Cheryl, and Pat were delayed because their flight was cancelled and would arrive the next day.  We got unpacked, checked into the dive shop and stored our gear in lockers by the dive shop.  We were assigned to Scuba II, a smaller boat for the week with two other couples.  Since the gang wasn't all together we decided to just eat at the resort and turn in early.
Up the next morning we enjoyed breakfast and prepared for our first dives......Manuel was to be our DM for the week.  Patty requested two shallow dives and it was great to be back in the water enjoying drift dives. Lunch was ready when we got back and then we waited for the rest of the gang to arrive.


Sunday night we grabbed a taxi and went to town to have dinner at Casa Dennis....it was hot and stuffy around the square and a group of fire dancers behind Cheryl and Pat really heated things up.  We walked around the square, watched the locals dance in the square and then headed back to Scuba Club Cozumel.  The coffee klatch on the deck each morning, thanks to Mr. Mario was a perfect start to the day. With all Lady Go Divers accounted for we enjoyed breakfast and loaded our gear for two great dives.  Janet and Eric from California and Tommy and D.J. from Tyler were a great addition to our boat for the week.  We did enjoy jumping off the top deck of the boat, synchronized swimming during our surface interval and a fish water gun fight with photos to document the event.  Dinner that night was at La Mission were Amelia worked her charms and got us some delicious free flan and a liquor shots. With big sombreros atop our heads we had pictures taken that turned out great.....a real keepsake.  Cheryl ordered the Mexican coffee which was quite a production.


Diving the next day, we enjoyed some very photogenic turtles, nice lobsters and lots of fish.  We did manage to lose our divemaster, but never fear Miss Patty kept the group together and we safely surfaced even though her safety sausage was a little limp!  Especias was our choice for dinner, since Gayla was delivering batteries to Adrian.  We did meet a (Rich)Texan, John that had owed a dive shop in Waco and he bought a red long stem rose for all of us.  Adrian was his usually charming self and all the gals enjoyed meeting him.  Dinner was great and the music of a young man playing a guitar provided an enjoyable evening for all.  Adrian wouldn't let us leave without Tequila shots for all and some funny pictures with a giant tequila bottle.  Diving the next day, our boat had engine problems and we were loaded onto another big boat with other divers from the resort....not as much fun as our group.  Casa Mission provided wonderful ambiance with awesome food surrounded by beautiful gardens.  Dinner was very relaxing, with lots of laughs and interesting conversation.  Our last day of diving was the Devil's Throat.....a deeper dive into a underwater cave.  With flashlights in hand we entered the opening at about 90 feet winding our way around, going up and down deeper before finally exiting at about 125 feet.....a feather in our cap!  The last dive of the week was a long shallow dive with lots to see, including a nurse shark sleeping under a over hang.  The piece de resistance was a small group of pilot whales that we spotted on our way back to the resort....a great experience.  During the Happy Hour of wine, cheese and crackers in Patty's room Cheryl surprised us with beautiful gifts of pashminas....thanks Cheryl.  Patty as usual had little surprise gifts each day for us.....Thanks Patty!  Guido's was the spot for our dinner and we invited our divemaster, Manuel to join us.  The food was great, but a rain shower forced us to go inside which was very loud.  Our final day was spent relaxing, shopping, and lounging at the beach at the Monkey Bar.....plus we began the packing process.  Dinner at Primo's was a perfect ending to a perfect trip with the ladies of Lady Go Divers.  A breathtaking view high above Cozumel with great food and drinks were enjoyed by all.  Amelia was served a large piece of Tiramisu after we sang Happy Birthday to her, which we all enjoyed.
After we strolled back to the resort we all grabbed a hammock down by the water to relax, talk, and laugh.
The week had flown by, new friends were made, stories were shared, and a great time with a group of amazing women was enjoyed by all.  Talk and plans of our next trip were already discussed.  As we each left the resort and headed to the airport our hearts were filled with bonds of sisterhood and friendship!

Fish Pics in Cozumel

Fluttering Around!

Working in my flowerbed yesterday afternoon, this silly butterfly just seemed to be yelling out "Take my Picture".....so I grabbed my camera and tried to capture him flying between the lantana and zinnas.  He didn't seem to be bothered by me and posed for his photos.  I thought this was the best pic.

Eels Invade the Brac!

Finally the time had arrived to fly to Miami to meet up with the Eels on Wheels group headed to Cayman Brac.  After checking into my room, I walked over to a local Cuban restaurant, Casa Juan with amazing food.....dodging a big thunderstorm.  My roommate Pasty arrived around midnight and we got a good nights sleep!
We arrived at the airport a couple of hours before our flight, as the group began to gather in anticipation of our Cayman Airways flight to the Brac.  Landing we were whisked off to the resort, greeted with a rum punch, and checked into our room.  This trip I was sharing a room with Jana, a nurse from Austin.  We unpacked, checked into the dive shop, and enjoyed our first yummy meal.

I was assigned to the boat named Big Sister for the week, or as Dr. Joe called it Big Mamma! We also were called the "Blonde Boat" and sometimes the "Booby Boat"! The sky was overcast, the winds blowing, and the seas rough.....but off we went to get in our first two dives.  Mick and Becky were our Dive Masters for the week and we had a great time diving, cracking jokes, and telling stories. I had the good luck of having a young man, Kevin as my dive buddy for the week.  Somehow I ended up with the nickname "Connie".....ask crazy Lynette...a long story!!!
The weather was not great and in fact on Wednesday diving was cancelled because of rough seas.  Our group persevered.....even diving in the rain several days.  I found it hard to stay warm with no sun, cloudy skies, and the wind blowing.  The dives were good, visibility could have been better, and we sure would have liked to see some sunshine.
The food at the resort was awesome.....desserts yummo!  We relaxed around the pool and sat around the bar renewing friendships and telling tales of the days dives.  On Friday night we enjoyed a great BBQ and a local band.  Lynette serenaded Mick with the song "Crazy"......pretty cute!
Saturday morning we were forced to get up in the middle of the night-4 am to catch our ride to the airport for our 6:30 am flight............Not Fun!  We flew to Grand Cayman, changed planes and then to Miami.....the airport I hate the most!  I had a few hours layover before my final flight to Houston.  Landing about 5:30, I called Dale and told him I was waiting to be picked up.....thank you Dale for driving! Sure was glad to see my handsome hunk of a man!

It was a great trip, made new friends, saw old friends, has lots of laughs!  I felt that I received more from the group than I was able to give.....blessed to just be a part of it.  Next year....Bonaire!

The Ladies of Big Sister in Cayman Brac

Make your own scrapbook design

Looking for Reds!

Up early, and on the road to the coast to try our hand at fishing.  It was a beautiful day and the parking lot was full of boat trailers.....guess lots of folks had the same idea.  Our first hour of fishing was quite and things weren't looking good.....but then they began to hit our gold weedless spoons.  The first fish landed was a 27 inch nice big red....with 4 more soon in the ice chest.  Catching the 6th legal red proved to be impossible....seems like only 18 inch guys were biting.  Oh well, we had a good day, a picnic lunch of fried chicken, potato salad, and sliced tomatoes out of the garden. 
Home with the boat washed, we are ready to call it a night!

We're Back at the Brac!

Our flight to Cayman Brac was quite an adventure!  Our plane was delayed by 2 1/2 hours in Houston because of mechanical problems......making catching our connecting flight to the Brac almost impossible.  We landed in Grand Cayman as they were boarding the flight to the Brac.  Dale and I raced off the plane, cleared Immigration, grabbed our bags, cleared Customs and raced to the Cayman Airlines ticket counter.....we looked just like an O. J. Simpson commercial.....leaping over counters and small children.  The lady at the counter informed us we wouldn't be able to make the flight....so we began to beg and plead our case.  She started typing on her computer trying to get us on the flight, and after what seemed like a long time she handed us our boarding passes.  Off we raced....clearing security and Immigration again.....walking up the stairs to our waiting flight....happy we weren't forced to spend the night in Grand Cayman.

Arriving at the Brac, we checked in and enjoyed dinner and crashed!  The next morning the diving began...I was on the Coral Princess for the week.  With two morning dives a day, I had the afternoon to enjoy with Dale relaxing in a hammock at the beach, or floating around the pool with other guest.  The weather was absolutely PERFECT.....clear skies, calm seas, warm water and a gentle breeze.  We had breakfast and dinner in our package and enjoyed lunch at the bar every day.  It was great to see familiar faces, and Omar loved to joke around with Dale.

The diving was good, our boat was very roomy and we usually had about 12 - 14 divers on board each day.  We saw nurse sharks, black tip reef sharks, turtles, rays, eels, crabs, lobster, huge Grouper looking for lunch, bunches of tiny creatures and lots of coral and sponge formations.  The best dives were over at Little Cayman on Bloody Bay Wall.......AWESOME!  The worst dive was a marathon swim we did on an afternoon dive in search of a shark......geeeez quite a workout.  I got to dive the  MV Captain Keith Tibbetts wreck twice during the week, a nice wreck with lots to see.  My deepest dive was about 102 feet on a wall, but the best diving was between 60-80 feet.

Dale and I met some really nice folks, a really cute couple from South Carolina...Mike and Leslie, a nice couple Meg and Kevin, a gal from New York that was my dive buddy most of the week....Jana, a 70 year old guy from Austin, Tom.  Dale found that some of the guys were pilots, so he had someone to talk to about airplanes.

Our trip home was uneventful.....but a very long day!  We pulled into the driveway about 10:45 pm.

The trip was great, very relaxing and we had picture perfect weather at the Brac.