My Cruise Adventures

Cozumel

Our final stop was in Cozumel, where we docked next to a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship at the new town pier, right in town. The other ships had to dock a couple of miles south and take taxis into town.

Here, we took a shore excursion to visit the Mayan ruins of Tulum. This involved a 40-minute ferry ride to reach the mainland 18 miles away, followed by a bus ride south to the ruins. The sea was rather choppy that day, with the wave height at about 10 feet. While the ride didn't bother us, plenty of people were losing their breakfast, and the boat had no airsick bags.

Tulum was the site of a Mayan city of perhaps 5,000 inhabitants. Many of the main buildings are still standing, and several show influence that may have come from the Greeks or Romans, such as the round columns.

As with most places in the Caribbean, the water here was absolutely stunning. Not only was the color beautiful, but the water seemed to be free of pollution.

The Mayans didn't build Tulum here for the beauty, but rather because it had a fresh water spring. The Yucatan consists of 6 inches of dirt over limestone. There are no rivers - the rain soaks into the limestone rapidly, and then appears in springs called cenotes. Many of the cenotes are used for diving, and many were used as sacrificial wells by the Mayans.

While the Mayans were decimated by sickness brought by the Spaniards, many still survive and embrace the old culture. Our tour guide was Mayan, and told us many interesting things about them and Tulum.

This photo shows a ceremony where young men climb to the top of the tower and tie ropes to their ankles. They then throw themselves off the top, and spiral down to the ground as the ropes unwind. The guy at the top has it easy - he just beats the drum as he spins around.

After returning to Cozumel, we had a few hours left to shop. Unfortunately, we couldn't find much that we wanted to buy, and my wife lamented that the shopping was better in Ocho Rios. We could have gone to Carlos & Charlie's and sat around and drank margaritas, but we didn't