lifes-a-beach

Our arrival time was delayed like an hour for some reason that I can’t remember. Catherine was aware of the delay and we took a cab to their little hut as soon as we could. It was, I think, a noon arrival. It was just me, my 30 year old son and my 28 year old daughter. We are all experienced and my daughter is certified in scuba as well. I say that to say we have our own equipment and our expectations are based on experience. There was a 3 person crew and we were the only customers. Two of the crew, a man and a woman, were in the water the entire time. The man was in front directing our attention to various sea life and leading us around where we needed to be swimming. The woman was safety and shadowed us with a life ring. The third man was the boat captain and remained in the boat. The water was quite rough that day and had we not been experienced and confident I’m not sure the trip would have been fun. Catherine did ask us if we were ok going out. If it turns out to be rough like that, and if you and your group are not somewhat experienced or wouldn’t handle the up and down of the small boat, you should consider cancelling. The good news is that rough water isn’t the norm. We did enjoy the trip and saw some interesting coral and sea life. Given the options, this was a good trip and I will go with them again. Catherine couldn’t have been more pleasant and the crew attentive. I’m a safety-first guy and they handled that aspect very well. We did not stay on the beach this trip as my wife had stayed on the ship and we are booked to return there several more times this year. We have been to various beach stops there many times, most recently Krazy Lobster which was ok. The Sargassum was very bad and all the beach clubs were struggling to keep their spots nice. We plan to try Maya Chan when we return in November. Gypsea is right next to YaYa and my wife and daughter had a good day there in May. My wife spoke highly of their service and the comfort of the lounge chairs, something lacking at some of the clubs. If they’re booked up just keep walking down the malecon back toward the lighthouse and you’ll see plenty more options.

For some reason I didn't have good luck with the gypseadivers website either. Try Catherine Giroux at coralnegro8@hotmail.com . She was very responsive to me and was there when we arrived.

We went with these folks in March. http://gypseadivers.com/ Good service. Water was pretty rough but they made the best of it. We have our own gear so I can't comment on that.

This is our go to parking facility. It’s slightly elevated so if it were to flood my truck would be high and dry. Reasonable pricing and excellent service. We have used them 5 times already this year and the drivers are very friendly. And if you’ve ever been on a shuttle when they drive too fast or unsafe you’ll appreciate these guys. When they drop you off he will tell you the number of the parking spot they occupy and will be there shortly when you get off. I recall our first cruise after the restart, they called me about 9:30 AM to ask if we were still coming. We were half way to Galveston and he said we were their only client that trip that had not cancelled. He thanked me and said he would be waiting when we got there, and so he was. We haven’t been disappointed.

Please convey my thanks to your husband for his service and tell him to wear whatever he wants. He’s earned it.

My wife and daughter were in Cozumel yesterday and went to Paradise Beach. For reference, we have visited there dozens of times over about 20 or so years. When they arrived they were told that it was sold out. There were 5 ships in port. Last night on the ship they spoke with a couple that had made the AI reservation. They said it was an absolute madhouse and far more crowded than they had ever seen. Disappointing that they appear to be moving toward the AI business model. We'll try them again but may need to make other plans as we don't drink alcohol or eat that much, even though when we were there in April our F&B bill was more than the AI fee.