Waking up to an alarm on vacation seemed a little wrong, but our driver would be here at 8:00 am to pick us up and we had a lot to prep. We scurried around the condo packing for a full day without knowing for sure what was in store. From my conversation yesterday with Mike, I knew that we had lots of options. He threw out things like snorkel, beach, grill, turtles, dolphins, and even more but we all knew it was too much to do in a single day... right?
It took maybe 25 minutes to arrive at the marina. We met Mike who speaks pretty good English and Oscar our captain who does not. We boarded a pretty simple 30+ ft fishing boat and headed out to sea. The water was beautiful shades of turquoise and blue and we all enjoyed the fresh air on the ride. We headed west toward Isla Mujeres (a small island of the coast of Cancun). When the explorers first discovered the island, they only found women and children because the men were all on the mainland working... hence the name Women Island. The boat ride only lasted about 25 minutes but the time flew by as Mike offered fresh fruit and drinks.
As we approached the island, Oscar cut the engines near a small lighthouse. Mike told us it was time to snorkel so we all quickly applied sun screen and got on our goggles and flippers. Into the water we go! Oscar led us on a tour of this amazing reef that followed a good distance eventually ending at the lighthouse. Apparently this area gets quite busy later in the day but we were completely alone.
We went along at our own pace and stopped to point out new discoveries. We saw lots of fish, even some barracuda. At one point Oscar brought our finger down to touch the coral and as we approached, an animal quickly shot back inside and out of sight. (You know the ones, you've seen on the Discovery Channel) Sammy made it almost 2/3 of the distance before she decided to quit. We were constantly swimming and the current was pretty strong in some areas so I wasn't too surprised when she announced she was finished. The two of us swam back to the boat, that Mike had repositioned for us. As soon as we boarded, we were immediately greeted with more snacks and drinks to wash the salt out of our mouths.
As we rested and started to dry off, Mike asked if JC was my father or father-in-law. I paused only a brief moment and replied, "Actually neither, but they are good people who love our kids and treat us like family."
"Ahh," he replied with a slow pause... "It is a treasure, no?" As I sat in the boat watching the rest of our party finish their snorkel, I reflected on that gift... the treasure that our relationship has become. My heart is full.
After we all were back on board, Oscar drove us to a dock on the island. Mike explained that they needed to do some shopping for lunch and that he would rent 2 golf carts for us to take out and explore. He gave us a few suggestions on where to go and sent us on our way.
This turned out to be a very neat experience... driving through the city, seeing the local residences and businesses. We made a few stops for photos and ended up on the very southern end of the island. Its the highest point with beautiful rocky cliffs and a bunch of iguanas!
We navigated the traffic and returned the golf carts about an hour later. Mike still needed time to gas up so Mary and I took the kids down the beach to swim. When they were ready, we reboarded and took a quick ride around to the northern tip of the island. Here we anchored off shore for some time swimming.
The water was AMAZING! It was beautiful and clear and had incredible buoyancy... we floated with ease and enjoyed a nice rest in the ocean. At one point, Mike suggested we take the kids for a quick walk to a shallow area to feed the fish. Oscar led Scott and the kids and I as we headed ashore.
Oscar knew exactly where to go and when we arrived, we had the entire place to ourselves again. He opened a package of crackers and crushed them in the water. Instantly, hundreds of fish (4-12inches long) swarmed around us... swimming in between us and through our legs. Tyler immediately turned on his video camera and we took turns using the goggles under water. Because the water was so clear, you could see just as plainly from above so we all had a great view!
When we got back to the boat, we found Mary and JC still relaxing in the surf. We grabbed some drinks and joined them.
It was then that Sammy realized our boat was named Samanta, so naturally we took a pic!
The best part of this day is that Mike was so incredibly accommodating. He was always ready with snacks, drinks, etc. He had lots of ideas of things to do, but the timeline was always at our pace. We LOVED it!
When we were done floating, we boarded the boat again and headed around to the south-west shore for our next stop. Mike and Oscar took their groceries to shore... in the back kitchen to prepare our lunch while we explored the docks. We saw lots of goodies here. The salesman even taught the kids how play the conch shells.
Then we took the opportunity to hold a shark. Sammy opted for the baby but Tyler took on the adult. So proud of both kiddos and their courage to try something new.
It didn't take long before Mike and Oscar were ready to serve our lunch. We found a spot to sit and were greeted by this...
It was WAY more food than we could dream of eating, but we made a good dent. We reboarded our boat and moved a little further south to a animal rehabilitation center. Here we saw a dolphin that was rescued just 12 days prior. They are still assessing whether or not the animal will be released back into the wild.
The rest of the center focused on sea turtles. In various tanks, we saw turtles of all sizes and colors. Sammy even had the opportunity to touch... thanks to Mr Mike.
At this point, we decided to head back to the main land. As the port came into view, I reflected on the incredible day, God's incredible creation all around, and the incredible people in our lives.
As we loaded back into the van for our return home, we all looked a little worn, a little red, but the smiles on our faces said it all... it was a great day! I couldn't believe it, but we had literally experienced EVERYTHING that Mike had first mentioned. It was a full day but what a way to end our trip.
As we discussed our options for dinner, we all decided that staying in would be best. So we ordered pizza for delivery. As we waited for the driver to arrive, we hit the gift shop and let the kids pick out a souvenir.
After we ate, we took a first crack at packing and then headed to bed.
