Day 6 - Tulum

We have lived less than 70 miles from the Mexican border for almost 30 years, but we had to take a boat to get into that country.  On Friday, April 25, we pulled into Cozumel.  We had an early appointment to meet the ferry, which we almost missed.  We did make it on time though, and although we were warned we might get seasick on the ferry, the water was too smooth to make that happen. 

An hour later, we were being marshalled into a row of children on a field trip, walking to a bus.

A small ruin before our bus trip was our first stop, so that they could take pictures.

 Yes, that is a large reptile on top of the wall.  It was at least 3 feet long.

Day 5 - Belly Flop Contest

This should be a shorter post than the previous one. We were at sea from Jamaica to Cozemel, so things were a little slow.  We got up early and went to the fitness center.  Then we headed to breakfast. 

We mostly hung out by the pool until 11:00 AM.  I left Kayleen at the pool and wandered down to a specific place to sign up for the Belly Flop Contest. There were a few others waiting also, and the guy arranged us in ascending weight order.  I was the oldest of the contestants, and weighed about 40 + lbs less than the heaviest opponents.

First they introduced each of us.  I am in the middle with the orange flowered suit.

Instead of a Diving Board, we jumped off a 30 inch "Hurt Box"

 The second guy had an awesome result and took end place.

I went fifth and took 4th place.

 The walrus here did have a perfect flop. He mostly certainly was the winner.

My jump was as follows: 
1) Hike up the trunks --

 2) Try to physically perform what I mentally had practices --

3) Try to remember to not say "OUCH!!!" until after I surface
 

4)  Wait for the replay and the score.  The picture for this one is up above.

 

 

 

 

Day 4 - Falmouth, Jamaica

The day after Haiti, we sailed into Jamaica.

 We loaded onto a bus and were driven to Montego Bay for a Snorkeling trip. The views along the drive were wonderful, of course.

 

 

I took a few pictures, some of which were to get the names of some of the best resorts in he area.  Some of the best were of Montego Bay.



We got onto a Catamaran at Cornwall Beach to go snorkeling.

The whole trip, the water in the Caribbean was very smooth. We seldom even felt the rocking motion of the boat.

 



 The water was a little murky, but the coral formations were pretty neat, and the coral was also a lot healthier than what we saw in St. Thomas a couple of years ago.

 Yes, that is my finger in the lower left.  Sorry.  But the coral formation is what is important.

 Because of moon phase, the nodules on the coral were distinct.

 We do see a few fish in these next two photos, but overall, the fish were scarce.

After the snorkeling, the crew took us over to the protected part of the bay.  It turns out that the island brings all boats into this area during a hurricane, because the waves aren't bad at all.

The crew pulled up a jelly fish for us to see. 

We saw some pelicans flying around the boat.  I somehow lost the best photos of the birds.