Costa Maya Mexico was our last before heading back to Tampa.

We arrived at the port around 7am.  The skies were blue, the water clear but Costa Maya appeared to be deserted.  The port had 2 docks and what appeared to be a few little shops but otherwise there was nothing else to be seen. As Matt, Patrick and I took our little morning stroll around deck 6, this is the only walk around deck, we noticed an ambulance next to the boat.   We all wondered what was going on.  The guys headed up to breakfast and I realized I had forgotten my rings in the room so I ran to grab them.  As I was waiting for the elevator up I heard a couple talking about someone having a heart attack.  I guess that would explain the whitestar call over the PA last night at dinner.

After breakfast we hopped off the boat and headed for the port. The port had a few bars and restaurants as well as souvenir shops.  Since it was only 7:30 local time it wasn’t too busy. Jill and Steve had arranged a beach day at Nohoch Kay, a local beach.  Now we just needed to get out and find a cab.

It was a short ride to our destination.  The beaches were okay but there seemed to be a fair amount of trash around. We settled in under our hut and I walked around and took some pics.  I was oddly attracted to the dilapidation.  The area is still being rebuilt from the destruction caused by a hurricane a few years ago.

The staff was very friendly and kept the drinks coming.  Apparently I was the only one that didn’t realize everything was included until later in the day.  Anyway as the day went on the water started to turn beautiful shades of blue and you could see all the little channels between the grass.  The water had tons of grass which we all thought was weird.  Way out you could see the barrier that lead to the ocean.

Around 11am we walked across the road to the restaurant and ordered some food.  We had shrimp tacos, ceviche, and nachos.  The food was very good.  Then Matt, Patrick and I set off down the boardwalk.  We kept seeing signs for free wifi but all the networks were locked.  Come to find out our place also had free wifi. Dammit.  Apparently massages are big business down there because every feet we were getting asked if we would like one.  We finally decided to walk the beach back to our spot.  By this time the water felt considerably warmer so Patrick and I decided to go swimming with Jill.  We could basically walk out to the bouys where the main channel was.  The water was much deeper and super clear.  We only stayed out for a few minutes because we would need to head back to the boat soon.

After we dried off, Jaime (pronounced hi-me) the owner of Nohoch Kay, called us a cab.  We arrived back at port and headed to the boat.  As we were walking back I wanted to take some pics of the rocks by the ocean. By this time the water was crystal clear with shades of turquoise and dark blue.  The colors were spectacular.  At this point Matt is like Kelly look.  Omg!  There is a dolphin enclosure right beside the ocean and people are swimming with the dolphins.  Of course now I am going crazy taking dolphin pics.

We finally get back to the boat and the kids decide to grab some ice cream and wait for the boat to leave.  It was so hot outside and we couldn’t find any shade so we went back inside to cool off.  As we were sitting there Matt spotted something really large in the water.  I grabbed my camera and hauled ass outside to see if I could get a pic and figure out what exactly it was.  No such luck in figuring it out but it was cool.  A few minutes later the boat set sail.

Now we are on our way back to Tampa.   We had a quick stop in Cozumel last night.  Someone was feeling “poorly“ so they were removed from the boat.   Still not sure exactly what that means.   I asked the bartender while we were watching the NC State game but he wasn’t very chatty.

~k