A Walk on the Wild Side ~ Cozumel

A few months ago, just before Christmas,  we 

had a few weeks without any major commitments

so we decided to go visit our Southern neighbors

down in Mexico.  We were hanging out in Playa del

Carmen and everyone said we HAD to go visit

Cozumel, it was a must see.

We headed out early one morning to catch the ferry

to Cozumel.  I love to be out and about early in the 

day and see a place wake up, cafes setting up their

outdoor tables, streets being cleaned, shops setting 

out their wares to attract customers, the locals going

off to start their work day...

Mr. Wonderful spent a lot of time researching where we

should go in Cozumel.  In this area, you don't just put

your towel down on a beach and hang out for the day.

You go to a "Beach Club", the prices and amenities and

facilities vary but they all cost money.  Personally, I like

a quiet place with a cafe that I can walk to for lunch or

 snacks and access to a clean restroom.  In the end, we

ended up in one of the most expensive beach clubs 

since Wonderful was reading lots of reviews of places 

and the information was sketchy and we figured we how

 many times will we do this?

Do you see the beach chairs in the photo above?  That 

is where the beach club maitre d took us to first.  I guess

it is considered a front row seat to the water view but you

were just about touching your neighbor in the next chair.

I opted for a cabana, the last one on the property

hoping it would be peaceful and quiet.  This club is

all-inclusive meaning you get all the food and drinks

you want by paying one price for the day.  Many of

the resorts in this area use this concept and I have 

stayed at these hotels but I am not a fan.  So the food

at this beach club was hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos,

nachos, cheesy fries, buffalo wings ~ think typical 

American bar food ~ but we could have all that we

wanted!  And then there are the drinks, I was in a 

beach cabana looking out at a turquoise sea so I ordered

a pina colada.  When I was about 3/4 done with the 

drink, another arrived, I didn't ask for it, so I drank it.

Somewhere in the middle of this one I realized I was

on my second pina colada of the day and it wasn't 

10 am yet.  That was the point when I said, "Agua

por favor".  They would have just kept them coming

all day...

At about this time, the people from the cruise ships

arrived.  This was the crowd that didn't want the 

pina coladas or more likely the tequila shots to ever 

stop at any point during the day.  All of these tables

were filled with people and nachos and cheesy fries

and empty drink cups.  And they got loud, the 'I'm

drunk in paradise, look at me!' kind of loud.  I was 

trying to read a book and Wonderful was off finding

out about snorkeling adventures when a woman a

few tables away said,

 "Bulllllsh******tttttt JeremYYYYY"

about 20 times in the space of 5 minutes.

And that's when it happened ~ I ran away...

I ran away from my all you can eat, all you can drink

"exclusive" beach club with the cabanas and hammocks

and cheesy fries and found this, the wild side of Cozumel.

This is what the beaches in this part of Mexico looked

like before the resorts and cruise ships and craziness

took over and it was blissful.  I sat right in the sand, I

soaked in the warmth from the sun, I tried to count how

many shades of blue I could see in the azure waters, I

listened to the birds and walked the coastline in peace

looking for shells.  It was heaven.

Every once in a while, groups would go by on

horses, others finding their bliss.

Someone brought me a conch shell to look at,

when that creature came out of the shell it was

frightening but it only got worse when it went 

back in and those claws clattered against the 

shell.  I suggested it needed to get back in the

water...

Since we did pay for the food and drinks and there was 

nothing on my deserted wild beach, we would go back

to our cabana a few times during the day.  During lunch

we saw a woman actually go over the "Bullsh*t Jeremy"

table and ask them to be more respectful to other people

around them.  Late in the day, we were back in the shade

of our cabana and watched as all the cruise ship tables

left to head back to ships.  Table after table left without

tipping the waiters,  These were not kids, the waiters

were grown men with families who ran around all day

bringing endless drinks and junk food to these people.

It was a hot day and they were working so hard, carrying

trays of food through the sand, and these drunken people

gave them nothing.  It was terrible to see, just days before

Christmas and people had no thought of anyone but 

themselves.  So much for goodwill to your fellow man or

even just giving someone what they deserved for working

for you all day.  We gave our waiter a very big tip because 

we felt so bad, even though we were hardly there all day.

I don't regret this experience.  It taught me a lesson.  I

know what I like but I was swayed to go to a place that

wasn't at all me because that's what everyone does in

this area.  If I were to ever go again, I would find a quiet

beach, bring a lovely picnic and enjoy the wild beauty

of a natural setting.  Lessons learned...