Cruizin - Cozumel

As a completely random side note to that last post.... You are not Adele.  Choosing her songs for every karaoke session will not end pretty.  She is amazing and no matter how awesome you are, you will not sound as amazing as she does.  End Rant. ;)

Moving on .... Cozumel was our first stop on our cruise... and it was also our FAVORITE excursion of the whole week!  When we first started looking at excursions, one stuck out and was deemed the "priority" excursion.  So we booked it pretty much immediately.  What was this excursion you ask?  Motorcycle Tour of the Island.  I usually prefer not to use this word but it was amaze-balls!  Seriously.

In order to be part of the excursion you had to have a motorcycle license.  This was awesome because there were only 8 people on the excursion (4 couples) so it was intimate and exciting.  We had two guides: Carlos drove the lead Harley and directed us where to go, Sergio drove a pick-up behind the group which carried our bags and bottled water.

We started our trek on some back roads that were literally only about 4 feet away from the ocean.  It was hot but the breeze from the ocean made it nice and relaxing.  We then got on the highway to get to our next area.  The highway isn't the typical american highway so it was not as frightening as I would have been in the US but it was still a little nerve-racking.  We got up to 75mph which was faster than I have ever been on a motorcycle.

The next stop was a little town called Cedral.  We took a lot of dirt back roads to get there and it was amazing getting to see the beautiful cottages as we cruised.

We stopped in Cedral for some water and Carlos gave us the town history.  Apparently, Cedral was the original town on the island.  Now, it is mostly vacation homes for families on the island but it was so much fun listening to its origins.  I love history so this was a special part of the excursion for me. 

After we had our break in Cedral, we continued to the our next stop.  We stopped off at a "look-out point" where the ocean had made a blow-hole in the rocks.

We then continued on our trek around the island until we stopped for our "beach-break" ...  When the excursion description said there would be a beach-break, I was assuming that the end of the trip would be near a beach where we could hang out or go back to the ship.  I didn't realize that A) it would be in the middle of the ride and B) that we had the option to swim.   My bad. 

The beach area we stopped at was INCREDIBLE.  It had a large restaurant where we could change, pee, get boozed up or relax.  The restaurant does not run on regular power which J and I thought was awesome.  (They were actually installing another wind turbine while we were there)....  The beach by the restaurant was no where near any hotels or touristy spots so it was calm, beautiful and most importantly empty of cruise passengers ;)

The beach had some rocks that created a natural swimming pool with fresh water.  Oh, I wanted to get in it so bad.  Oh Well.   We relaxed in hammocks and enjoyed the view.

Lunch was also included in the excursion which I figured would be sketchy due to our diet.  BUT, it was amazing!  The food we ate on the beach was the best food we had all week... and quite honestly, the best fish I have EVER had!  The restaurant caught everything fresh that morning so we were literally eating the first batch of the fresh concoctions.  They served fish and shrimp tacos family-style with guacamole, beans, salsa, and with your choice of flour or corn tortillas.  They also made ceviche which was, once again, amaze-balls!  I had planned on taking photos but got wrapped up in the deliciousness and forgot.  oops.  I wish all food was that fresh. 

*on a completely random note: Sergio also made me this cute little grasshopper out of grass near the beach!

The remainder of the ride got a little more adventurous.  A 20 minute rain storm rolled into town which made me glad I was wearing long-sleeves and jeans.  I had never been on a motorcycle in the rain but it was actually fun... even though we were soaked.  We took a quick cruise through downtown Cozumel and then returned to our starting point.  At the end of the excursion, they had mexican beer waiting for us.  J and I agreed that it was definitely one of the top 3 most enjoyable things we have ever done.

So if you go to Cozumel - look up Sergio and Carlos with their Harley tour.  I promise you won't be disappointed :)

Our Snorkel trip in Belize got rained out ... so next up:  Cruizin - Jungle Style (Honduras)