The Mexican Caribbean is stunningly beautiful, and nowhere will you find more colors of blue than Cozumel! Cozumel’s blue waters are often referred to as the seven colors, or Cozumel de Siete Colores. I find the blues and greens on the island to be mesmerizing. Check out these photos and you will be ready to make a reservation!
So…ready to make your reservation? Head on over to Skyscanner and check airfares! Skyscanner is a great tool to use to find the best fares! See you there!
I spent last week in theoc. What is theoc? Orange County California! Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Crystal Cove, Balboa Island, Irvine, Orange, Anaheim…so much to see and do! Shopping, beaching, whale watching, eating, kayaking, paddleboarding, and a million other activities await you in Orange County. There is something for everyone.
Staying at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach was a good decision, not only did I love everything about the iconic hotel, but the location was perfect. On my first day I headed over to Balboa Island (it is walking distance from the Hyatt) and decided to either paddle board or kayak. I chose a sit on top kayak at Island Paddleboard for a specific reason. Next January I am headed to Antarctica, and there will be a lot of kayaking and walking. My spine, which is fused from L-2 through the sacrum complete with titanium rods and eight pedicle screws, does not like kayaks very much, so I have to get comfortable with kayaking prior to my trip. The sweet folks at Island Paddleboard set me up and set me loose. I wish I had seen a sea lion, but alas, they just weren’t around that day. I spent two hours paddling around the island, and enjoyed every moment of it. I did have to lie back once in a while, and switch leg positions, but all in all it went very well. I paddled against the wind for ninety minutes, so I certainly had a great workout.
The next morning I was up bright and early to go Whale Watching with Captain Dave’s Dana Point Whale Watching. When you are in California, you have to go whale watching. I went on the early morning cruise, hoping to see the animals active. I was not disappointed. Gray Whales were in season, and these animals very rarely breach. We saw two breaches from a momma Gray Whale! There were many bottlenose and common dolphins along with sea lions and plenty of birds. The most exciting animal was a Fin Whale! Fin Whales are baleen whales, and are second in size only to the Blue Whale. They can grow up to 90 ft in length…a huge animal. It came close to the boat, but did not breach (I’m not sure it could it is so huge!). The Fin was an amazing sight.
These two days, spent in Orange County, were incredibly fun. As everyone knows by now, I love water, so two days spent on the ocean was marvelous, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I highly recommend the tour companies mentioned, and of course, the wonderful Hyatt Regency Newport Beach!
Have you ever been to Orange County, California? What activities did you enjoy?
As I have said before, the Revillagigedos Archipelago is (so far!) the most exciting place I have ever dived. The big pelagic life is not only thrilling to see, but it is the only place I know of where Giant Mantas and Dolphins actually seek out humans for play. Mantas love diver’s bubbles, and dolphins like the camera flashes and the movement, they love games. I’ve been to this dive destination twice now, and I can honestly say I will go back. Here are the highlights of a great trip, taken with fun and engaging divers who are no longer strangers, on the Somar V, with the best crew and staff in Mexico!
Where in the world is Tam? I am currently in “the OC”. THEOC is Orange County, California. The county has Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Orange, Disneyland, and Anaheim within its borders. These are all attractions of one sort or another, so the county is full of incredible vacation spots. I am here for Wanderful’s Women in Travel Summit, which starts officially Friday evening. Arriving last Sunday, I thought I would spend some time enjoying the sights and activities of the OC.
I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, a wonderful, iconic Southern California luxury resort. It is at once elegant and casual, luxurious yet authentic. The resort was large, and had several wonderful features. The restaurant, SHOR, is quintessential California cuisine. Delicious! I love eating California style…outside in the cool evening, kept warm by heaters and braziers. Fantastic.
Do I recommend the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach? Absolutely. I loved everything about it. The rooms were bright and clean, the balcony was nice in the evenings, the staff was extraordinarily obliging, and the entire atmosphere said, “RELAX. ENJOY.” So I did, and I’m sure you would too!
Roca Partida is the most happening place in the islands. Roca Partida is a rock covered with birds and their guana, sticking up in the middle of the ocean. Beneath the sea are mantas, sharks, sharks and mantas. Oh, and dolphins. And fish. It is amazing. Since it is Friday, this will be a photo blog, mostly. Enjoy Roca Partida! The action was so incredible we stayed for 3 days!
Sorry about the lousy quality of some of my photos…very difficult to get good shots in the blue. I’m hoping some of the other divers got better photos of the hammerheads and dolphins than I did. Thanks to Bob Kaltreider and Marie-Elizabeth Mali for sharing.
Punta Tosca is a great dive site on the island of Socorro. It can become quite deep, so one really has to be conscious of depth. Sometimes, when you are playing with a dolphin or a manta, or watching sharks, you can forget your depth and look at your computer and say, “holy shit, I’m at 126 feet!”. That happened to me, of course. It is easy to get distracted. Let me show you some of the more distracting creatures!
Punta Tosca was a very nice dive site, it had more coral than most of the sites in the Revillagigedoes, so it was more colorful. I enjoy the big animal dives because they are so exciting, but I also love the dives where you get to see other, smaller fish. The Sharpnose puffer is only 3 inches or so long. Most of these fish have Caribbean cousins, and Indian Ocean cousins. Their coloration is different from place to place, thanks to good old Darwinian evolution.
On Day One, we traveled. As I said, it takes 24 hours to get to the islands from Cabo San Lucas. We did a check out dive at 4pm when we arrived at Socorro. A check out dive is exactly what it sounds like: checking your gear, is everything functioning correctly, is your weight right (divers need extra weight to descend since salt water is so buoyant.) We spent days two and three exploring the different dive sites of Socorro. Day Four was spent at San Benedicto. That night we headed for Roca Partida, the dive site everyone is always excited to go to. Roca Partida is famous for big pelagics, lots of sharks. It did not disappoint us on this trip! We spent two and a half days there, the diving was so fantastic. On my next blog…Roca Partida!
As you can see from the video, the waiting is the hardest part of strong current and deep diving. Often, you have to grab a rock, and wait for the animals. Sometimes they come, sometimes they don’t. Luck of the draw!
