TRAVEL Archives | TRAVELS WITH TAM

Meeting up with Amazing Woman Shannon O’Donnell!

July 29, 2015 By Tam Warner 16 Comments

One of my favorite bloggers is Shannon O’Donnell of A Little Adrift. Shannon was the 2013 National Geographic Traveler of the Year, and is the founder of Grassroots Volunteering. She is also the author of The Volunteer Traveler’s Handbook, which uses uses storytelling, research, and practical information to guide travelers to an ethical volunteer experience.

Shannon recently took her nephews and auntie on an exploration of the Yucatan Peninsula. As some of you may know, that area is my backyard since I spend a lot of time in Cozumel, Mexico. As her parents were stopping in Cozumel from a cruise ship, Shannon and I had the opportunity to meet up on the island.

Shannon and I at The Money Bar for breakfast!

We enjoyed breakfast at The Money Bar, then headed to my house for some pool relaxation. Nothing occupies kids better than a pool!

I treasure the people I have met during my travel blogging journey, and most of them I know only online. It was so wonderful to meet up with Shannon in person! The day after we met, I headed over to Cancun and spent an incredible 10 days with a fantastic group of adventurous, dedicated marine conservationists! More to come on that experience!

Be sure and check out Shannon’s blog, A Little Adrift!

The Ultimate Dive Experience! Part One.

July 26, 2015 By Tam Warner 3 Comments

The Ultimate Dive Experience at Occidental Allegro in Cozumel!

Spending the last month in Cozumel and Cancun has been delightful, and while I was on the island of Cozumel I had the opportunity to check out the Ultimate Dive Experience! Occidental Allegro Hotel and Resort and ProDive Mexico have created a diver’s haven in Cozumel.

For the diver who wants a great dive package with VIP treatment, Occidental Allegro’s Ultimate Dive Experience is really something. The divers have their own private area of the resort. There is even an exclusive Check-in and Check-out for guests of the Ultimate Dive Experience. Let me give you a glimpse of the resort, the diving, and fantastic San Francisco Beach. Carla Guardiola, Dive Coordinator of UDE, gave me the 5 star tour!

Need to use a computer? Check in has you covered.

First, there is the exclusive check-in/check-out service (9:00am – 5:00pm) for divers. There is also a separate lobby and lounge for the UDE. Divers receive a special ID bracelet which identifies them as an Ultimate Dive Experience guest. The accommodations are lovely for the avid diver, it comes with a wetsuit drying rack, a 32″ Flatscreen TV and DVD player, a multi-media docking station, a stocked minibar (I love minibars!!), free internet, a private pool area and a self-service bar with complimentary afternoon snacks. UDE guests recieve 2 preferential a la carte restaurant reservations during a week’s stay…book with Carla early!

A private lounge and bar for divers with complimetary afternoon snacks.

Chill out and enjoy the Ultimate Dive Experience!

They also have an option for a romantic dinner right on the beach! Carla can make magic happen.

I would say that the UDE at Occidental Allegro is similar to a liveaboard…one of the best things about it is that the divers have a part of the resort and beach to themselves, and getting to know other divers is always a terrific bonus. To be able to meet likeminded individuals, and dive with them, is always desirable.

Pro-Dive is located conveniently on the beach of the resort and the dock is easily accessible. With the Ultimate Dive Experience one receives one free single tank boat dive per day (24 hours reservation required), and an upgrade to a two tank dive is only $37.00 per dive. Pro-Dive offers free equipment storage at the dive shop so you don’t have to lug your gear back and forth to your room every day (I love that amenity!) One also receives a 15% discount at the dive shop toward apparel and retail items.

Keeping track of the day's dive schedule. — Keeping track of the day’s dive schedule.

Pro-Dive’s boats are nice and roomy, and for every 8 divers there is a dive master. The location of the resort is perfect for diving…right in front of the hotel is Santa Rosa Wall and Santa Rosa Shallows, two of the very best dive sites in Cozumel. No long, tiring boat rides to worry about, the beauty of the southern reefs of Cozumel is at your fingertips.

Are you a young family? The Occidental Allegro has your child’s day taken care of! The Kids Club has supervised and scheduled activities for your children or grandchildren, along with a Pirate themed water park. I think you might have trouble tearing your child away from the club!

Cool Kid's Club includes a water theme park. — Cool Kid’s Club includes a water theme park.

When you need some relaxation, check out the spa, or have a massage in front of the beach and feel the ocean breezes.

There is no need choose between a “family” vacation and a “dive” vacation. The Ultimate Dive Experience with Pro-Dive Mexico at the Occidental Allegro gives you both options. The Ultimate Dive Experience is a fabulous concept, and it is done well at the Occidental Allegro. I give it an enthusiastic two thumbs up! If planning a dive vacation to Cozumel, I recommend that you seriously look into the Ultimate!

Tune in to Friday’s Fab Photo Friday post, the Ultimate Dive Experience Part Two, and I will tell you all about my day of diving with Pro-Dive! The diving was, as always in Cozumel, spectacular!

Don’t forget to tell them that Tam sent you!

It has been a Trip!

July 24, 2015 By Tam Warner 6 Comments

The last month has been crazy and non stop. There are so many adventures to tell you about they will have to be broken up into several blogs.

As I last reported, my husband, Randy, had to leave Cozumel after 10 days to treat a virus. Since his double lung transplant (An Unexpected Journey) infections have been frequent. The anti-rejection drugs which keep his lungs breathing easy has a catch: it reduces his immune system. He is getting better, but the virus is still there. I am headed home tomorrow.

Enjoying the waters of Cozumel! — Randy, enjoying the waters of Cozumel!

After Randy left I continued to dive, and my bestie (*who owns Villa Torres, the home next door in Cozumel) came to town with kids and grandkids in tow! There were 5 grandchildren running around, from 2 years to 13 years. What fun!

Saying hello to Randy after he had to go home.

One of her grandchildren, Beck, is 5 years old. When he saw my Great White Shark photos and Manta pics, he was mesmerized. He loved talking about the “cookie cutter” shark whose bite leaves a perfect hole in its victim. Shark Week fascinated him, but also scared him a little. He learned, and remembered, so many facts and he is now fascinated by sharks. Excellent!

On my schedule was a Marine Megafauna Foundation Ray of Hope Expedition in Cancun, and I took the ferry from Cozumel and headed up on the 15th. The goal was to find the endemic Manta Rays, photograph them for ID, and take samples for DNA testing. It was also a lovely opportunity to meet up with my friend Rodrigo (who took the Great White photos of me five years ago) and partake in Citizen Science. I tell people to look Rodrigo up when they come to Cancun, he manages Solo Buceo, and it is an excellent dive operation. The meeting of the Ray of Hope directors and Rodrigo was a match made in heaven. They are definitely tribe members with their love and dedication to pelagics (sharks, rays, turtles, whales). Hopefully they will get together and cook up another expedition somewhere! I am on it.

Diving with Rodrigo of Solo Buceo with the MMF team.

Macro Thrills in Cozumel!

July 15, 2015 By Tam Warner 4 Comments

I have always loved looking at macro photos of the tiniest creatures in the ocean. I have a few dive pals who take exquisite macro photos…one of them, Diana Paboojian, was featured on this blog as one of my Wednesday’s Amazing Women. I finally went out and bought a macro lens, and while I cannot compete with Diana, I am enjoying learning to use it, and training my eyes to seek out the smallest creatures.

Have you ever seen Conch eyes? I love them. They are on stalks, and can look in all directions, which can have amusing results. The Conch is one of the first creatures I’ve tried my macro luck with, then I moved on to Hermit Crabs. Hermit Crabs also have stalks for eyes, and some crabs have bright blue eyes. I came upon an active, moving group of tiny hermit crabs, and enjoyed the milieu! They were in the process, it appeared, of finding new shells. These shells are so tiny! They were perhaps 3 or 4 inches long. As they grow they abandon their shells to find bigger ones. There was quite a lot of consternation in this scene! These were tiny little hermit crabs, and their eyes were a midnight blue. They resemble spiders when they are out of their shells, don’t you think?

A hermit crab in search of a shell to call home. He is tiny, tiny, tiny!

Another wonderful encounter was with a baby Pygmy Filefish. To even see a Pygmy Filefish is rare because they are small and blend in perfectly with their surroundings, but a baby! This little one was about half the size of my pinky finger…and I have small hands. The Pygmy showed no sign of nervousness and had no intention of leaving its soft coral surroundings. It took looking through the bifocals in my mask to even see it!

And there is one of my favorite mollusks, the Flamingo Tongue. Flamingos are mollusks and feed on gorgonians. Their shell appears to be white with orange spots, but actually it is the slug itself covering the shell with their mantle! This sea slug covers its shell with its body as it eats. I am not sure why, but the result is gorgeous.

This Flamingo has less of its mantle out.

This little shrimp was barely visible, and the pipe seahorse tiny, tiny as well!

Look at the size of this tiny shrimp! Isn't it cute? — Look at the size of this tiny shrimp! Isn’t it cute?

My dive guide points out the Pipehorse...so tiny! — My dive guide points out the Pipehorse…so tiny!

Sometimes the small things can be just as exciting as the big ones!

Photos: Excitement on the Reefs of Cozumel!

July 9, 2015 By Tam Warner 11 Comments

Not only dives! The snorkeling has been amazing as well. The little stuff has been incredible! Diving isn’t all sharks and huge pelagics, it is also the tiniest members of the ocean community that fascinate.

Randy and I have been snorkeling every day for the first time since his double lung transplant almost two years ago! He has been thrilled to be back in Cozumel. We have really been enjoying our time here, and on our snorkels we have seen several reef squid hanging around. I didn’t know if they were cuttlefish or squid, and a couple of readers let me know they are squids…Caribbean Reef Squid or Inshore Arrow Squid, they are still fascinating, even magical, creatures. On Tuesday, July 7, we were doing our usual route over the reef system in front of our house, and I saw a few squids. After looking around, I realized it wasn’t a few, it was an aggregation! They fly in the water like a squadron, and they were everywhere. When I swam between them they separated into groups, then regathered. They are intelligent, and you can see a lively curiosity in their large beautiful eyes. Like an octopus, they change colors, white to lavender to iridescent. I wanted to stay and watch them for hours, but finally Randy dragged me away.

Since the hurricane Wilma in 2006, sea horses and pipefish are hard to find. On Palancar Gardens on July 6, the dive guide, Yasser, found a pipehorse! It was so tiny, even for a pipefish! So tiny, and so precious! Again, I could have spent the dive observing it, but I had to move on.

Incredib le Pipehorse. — Incredible Pipehorse.

Prior to this trip I replaced my prescription dive mask, which was at least 5 years old. I feel like I am seeing a whole new world! Nothing like being able to see! For instance, I have always loved Christmas tree worms, but now that I have my new prescription I realize they have a body, or tube, which is also quite pretty! It is so easy to miss things…I could spend 24 hours a day for years on just this one reef and never see it all. It changes minute to minute.

A Hydromedusa — A Comb Jelly, non stinging. We see this often in the summer here.

2015-07-05 18.44.16 queen triggerfish — A gorgeous Queen Trigger teen turning into an adult.

The entire trip has been Squid Fest! It must be time to breed.

Look at the color of this Cuttlefish! — Look at the color of this squid!

2015-07-05 19.05.52 cuttle — Squid are very intelligent.

I do not know what they are doing, but their colors are amazing!

As I said, even the small creatures can be exciting!

Want to enjoy Cozumel? Check it out! http://tamtravels.wpengine.com/category/midlife-journey/transplant-an-unexpected-journey/

Dive Cozumel: Paradise at Night

July 4, 2015 By Tam Warner 12 Comments

A funny looking crustacean...a Slipper Lobster! — A funny looking crustacean…a Slipper Lobster!

Diving at night is a remarkable experience. The fish of the daytime hide and the animals of the darkened reef come out. There are huge crabs, lobsters, octopuses, eels, and the colors are glorious when illuminated by camera flashes or torches.

On Cozumel, the best place to night dive (in my humble opinion) is Paradise Reef. It is named Paradise for a reason. Paradise is a shallow dive, usually without much current (except for tonight when the current was crazy and strong), and is extremely colorful and busy.

Look carefully at this crab face! Alien, indeed!

Pretty little baby Octopus...or juvenile. — Pretty little juvenile octopus.

The blow up! A protective device to make them look bigger.

The most awesome event of the night was a Spotted Moray hunting, catching, and eating a fish. I felt sorry for the poor parrotfish, but holy sh#t! Eels move FAST, shake up and bite the fish, then swallow. I had never seen an eel actually eat before…it was my first time, and yes, it was very memorable!

Another fascinating day in Cozumel, Mexico!

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