It's SNORKEL time, Baby!!....Post Views...22,838

        On Sunday, Feb 7, we set sail for the distant shores of Isla Mujeres.  

 Views on the way to the pier.

 

On to Isla Mujeres
(Island of the Women)
 Their main goddess used to live there.


Ryan, Jake and Austin

In line, waiting to pay the $10 each harbor tax.
(Even the Americano presidente would have to pay the tax.)

Our catamaran, 

Samba 1

 windy on the front of the boat

 Gram G went to sit on front of the boat just in time to get drenched with a large wave.

 Getting ready to snorkel

 NO snorkel for me, too much exertion and too much water.... 

This is a Mexican national park... a coral reef.  Only a particular sun block was allowed...

Out to sea!!

"You all come back now, you hear?"


Where are you??




Out in the waves about 20-30 minutes

SUCCESS!!

 Ryan ended up with a hard case of shivers.  Wrapped him up in towels and sitting in the sun. 







Close (friendly) encounter with a reef shark

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Isla Mujeres (Spanish pronunciation: ['izla mu'xeɾes], Spanish for "Island of the Women") is an island in the Caribbean Sea, about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) off the Yucatán Peninsula coast. The island is some 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long and 650 metres (2,130 ft) wide. To the east is the Caribbean Sea with a strong surf and rocky coast, and to the west the skyline of Cancún can be seen across the clear waters. In the 2010 census, the namesake town on the island had a population of 12,642 inhabitants.^[1]
The island is part of the Isla Mujeres Municipality in the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico.

History

Former Maya ruins on Isla Mujeres

In Pre-Columbian times the island was sacred to the Maya goddess of childbirth and medicine, Ix Chel. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century they named it "Isla Mujeres" because of the many images of goddesses. The first information available about Isla Mujeres is from the period between 564 - 1516 AC, when it was part of the Maya province called Ekab. There were 4 Maya provinces in what is today the State of Quintana Roo. The Maya also exploited the salt that the island produced in the "salinas" (small interior lagoons). The salt was used not only for the conservation of food and medicine but also as a generally accepted currency for commerce of goods along the whole Maya region. The Maya goddess Ixchel had a temple in what is today the Hacienda Mundaca (Mundaca's Plantation House).
A small Maya temple was once located on the southern tip of the island. However, in 1988, Hurricane Gilbert caused extensive damage, leaving most of the foundation but only a very small portion of the temple.
Since the 1970s, along with close-by Cancún, there has been substantial tourist development in Isla Mujeres.
(from Wikipedia)
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Isla Mujeres.....south coast

Ate yummy buffet lunch here

white sand, lots of sea gulls and one black cat with stunning green eyes..

Two young ladies on the excursion....
The next day we discovered they were at our resort and spent the day getting acquainted...fun




The birds are real....

Nightmare "shopping" on tourist trap row, northern coast of island.....

SAILING BACK TO CANCUN

Tis a bit windy......

Doing the Macarana on front of the catamaran.....I did the arm part sitting down....

First sailboat ride for me.....

A whale of a time was had by all.....no whale.....

Back to Cancun and Super Bowl party

Game on theater screen

LOTS of good food.....

     This has been a good "snorkel time" day in the life of Grandma G.

"God called the dry ground 'land', and the gathered waters he called 'seas'.  And God saw that it was good."  (Genesis 1:10)